Tuesday night report

All groups had a great day on Tuesday. The children's ministry team had 67 kids. They also had a great addition of Dussan, a theology student on his break who is helping out and translating for the group. He added some great new music for the group

The medical team also had a great day, in spite of the rampant dogs running through the clinic! They treated 180 patients, many of them families. It was a wonderful day and they were able to touch a lot of lives.

We had a great treat after worship. It was Rachael and my anniversary today and I surprised her with an anniversary cake that the hotel made for us. We have been happily married for 19 years and she is still my best friend, 30 years after we met.

We also had our first entertainment of the week. Mell and Lisa were late to the bus and had to perform a skit for us. They reenacted the scene where the two women argue over the baby in front of Solomon. Ray played the part of Solomon

Here are some pictures from the day
Cake
Scene from our entertainment

Cotacachi construction pictures

Here are some pictures from today.

Site as we arrived
View from the site
Completed church
Team picture

The Six Hour Church

God is good! We completed the church in Cotacachi at 1:55 pm today! The team has gotten really good and knows their role.

We were going to go to the next site to get started there, however two things prevented that: I told the bus and the truck to be there at 2:30 at lunchtime and should have told them earlier. Also, the site at Natabuela is unprotected, so we can't leave any materials or tools there overnight. So, by the time we got the truck and bus there and loaded, we wouldn't get enough done to leave them secured. We decided to head back to the hotel a couple of hours early and get an earlier start tomorrow and stay late. The team has an ambitious goal of getting both done tomorrow! If all goes well, we can make it happen, God willing.

More to come tonight.
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Pictures from Monday and medical/VBS report

Our medical team had a great first day. They saw about 180 patients! The setup and volunteers worked well and they had a good system.

The Children's Ministries crew also had a great start. They had about 55 children plus their parents.

The pastor for the last two locations came by today and had a wonderful worship for us. The pastors have both been very supportive and excited about the work here.

Here are some pictures from the job site today.

Job site as we arrived
The beautiful view from the job site
The 98 year old man napping in the sun
Gino and I working on the roof
The road up from the job site to the bus. Not fun!
The completed church (with all the roof on!)

Long day in Chinchinloma

We are on our way back from the jobsite. We completed the church, but had to wait two hours again for the last two pieces of roof tin. We are going to check first thing in the morning tomorrow to ensure we have 24 pieces.

Other than that, it was a great day. The scenery was beautiful, the weather was cool and we had a breeze all day. The breeze picked up as we were setting the roof tin, but everyone was careful and no one was hurt.

We are getting more efficient. We got to the jobsite late (long drive) and we still would have been done at around 3:30 except for the missing pieces of roofing. Tomorrow is our final dry run before we have two churches in a location.

One of the gentlemen at the jobsite today was a local that was 98 years old and walked up and down the steep hills with no problem. The hill down to the jobsite was very steep so carrying all of the equipment back up the hill was quite a workout. Boot Camp workouts have nothing on a mission trip at 8000 feet in altitude.

Contests are part of the jobsite, especially when we are waiting. Yesterday it was trying to throw rocks and hit into a small bucket. Today was rolling a rock down the steep hill to see whose went furthest (Cornell and Claudell tied--hard to verify). The last "contest" was that they decided to race up the hill. They regretted that one once they got to the top out of breath.

We also had a proposal on the jobsite today. Joel Estrada and Renata Santos are now engaged! This is actually the third engagement we have had on mission trips (hard to believe, but true!). Congratulations to the happy couple!

I will post more later with pictures and an update from the first day of medical and vbs.
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Pictures from the job site

Here are some pictures from the job site. The first is of the site as we arrived, the second is of our work group and the last is of the finished structure.

Awesome first construction day in Guayllabamba

We are on our way back to the hotel from our work day. We completed the first structure by 4:30 in the afternoon. We had to wait for a bit because we were short two pieces of roof tin.

Very proud of the team especially considering that we have three first time team members AND that it was hot and sunny, neither of which we expected. We were planning on cool and rainy. Oh well!

Also, we were swarmed with some sort of gnats or biting flies. Everyone that didn't have a long sleeve shirt got bit up, especially Curtis!

The church members were great today and helped on site in the morning. They brought some wonderful fruits for us for lunch. It was fantastic and a nice treat. We brought the leftovers back for the medical and VBS team.

We are looking forward to a cold shower and a good meal. We are pumped for tomorrow to get a bit more efficient and have fewer mistakes.

What a great day!!
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On our way to Guayllabamba

We are on our way to the first construction site, Guayllabamba. It is about an hour away from the hotel.

Mell and Lisa were late to the bus this morning, so they will have to perform for us this evening.

It is a beautiful day so far and we pray that the rain won't interfere with the work.
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Sabbath at the hotel

After a late night of sleep, we got up and had breakfast. Since it was so late, we had our own worship at the hotel.

Eliel Reeves led out in the Sabbath School, but everyone participated. It was well done and we were able to worship outside.

Tito then had a great worship sermon for us. While we may have missed out on worshiping with the church members, we had a very worshipful experience

Sunset over the ocean

Picture from the plane. Beautiful!
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Safely in Quito

We arrived in quito safely after an uneventful flight. It took a long time to get through immigration.

Everyone got their luggage except one and they should arrive tomorrow.

We are on our way to Otavalo. It will be a late night, so we are going to sleep in this morning and have a later church service.

Praise God for safe travels and that we get there soon!
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Cornell's plane attire

Cornell decided to save weight in his luggage so he is wearing his boots on the plane. VERY fashionable.....


Greg Hatch
Managing Director
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700 Louisiana Street Suite 900
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Mobile 832.492.4023

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Ecuador Mission Trip

We leave today for our mission trip to Ecuador. Our trip will consist of constructing seven church structures, a medical mission and children's ministries.

We have 25 missionaries going from the US, mainly from Houston with some from Atlanta, Tennessee, Dallas, Washington and Canada.

We are excited about new challenges. We will only be in each location for one day, so that will be a logistical challenge.

I hope to have access to the Internet to post on a daily basis.

Please pray for Gods guidance and leading on the trip!

Safely home!

We have landed in Houston after a safe trip. Thanks for all of your prayers.
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Night entertainment in Managua

We had a good bus ride to Managua. Outside of unexpected construction delays, we had a fun time on the bus. We had a microphone and speaker, so we had a few game bible game shows led by Michaela. It was a lot of fun.

We got to our hotel and everyone loves the air conditioning and hot water. Our meal was great and we had a wonderful last night worship. We got commitment from all of the youth that they want to make it an annual event so we will start recruiting and planning for next July. I am so happy that they want to do this again. We had a great group and they are the leaders for next year.

We are now playing our last game of mafia. The team has changed the rules and added new players and it is accent night. Very funny.

Last Sabbath with church

We are on our way to Managua after a wonderful church service.

We had a bible study as a group and then we got a chance to hear some of the songs the kids leaned during childrens ministry during the week. It was wonderful to see and hear their enthusiastic voices singing and doing the hand motions.

The local youth group then performed a funny skit. It was in Spanish and even though we couldn't understand, it was well done and got the point across. The best part is that one of the performers was Jimmy, one of the workers on the job site.

The pastor called me outside and asked if I could do him a favor and then asked if I could preach the sermon.

I have been asked his a lot over the years and have always declined because i am not a pastor nor did I have any sermons ready. Well, last year after the mission trip, God inspired me to get a sermon prepared in case I ever needed one. With Gods help and some input from Tito, I prepared on about six months ago. I had never even given a dry run ..... Until today.

I told he pastor yes and got ready. Needless to say I was a bit nervous but once I got started God took over and got me through it. It was very hot in church and I always sweat a little more when I am speaking in front of a group so I was soaked by the time we were done. God is good though.

We said goodbye to all of our new friends, ate lunch and packed up the bus for the long drive to Managua. We are staying at a hotel near the airport for our flight in the morning.

Last day on the job site

Our work and children's ministry crew both completed their work successfully today. Some of the children's team came to the job site to work this morning as well.

While there, we placed prayers for the school in the wall before we poured concrete. We also gave team shirts to the Maranatha workers that were with us all week at the site, along with the bus driver.

We completed all of our walls and cleaned the building. Another group will be here next week and the last group is coming in September. We can't wait to see the final building when it is ready for children in December.

After we were done, the tarps started busting again. Cole bought a slingshot at the market and got a chance to try it out. We had a few waterfalls going and two of the team members drug me under for an unexpected shower!

For the first trip with our young people, I am very pleased. Everyone did a great job and we made he progress we needed to. For having so many (22) first time missionaries, God did great things through us.

Here are a few pictures of our last day.

A day without rain

We had a great day at the job site. We didn't have hardly any rain and made great progress. We got more done by 2 pm than we did all yesterday.

Today was our excursion day so we left at two and let the group walk through town. It was a nice day to do that since we had very little rathe children's ministry team had 120 kids today. That is their high for the week!

Another rainy day

We had a VERY rainy day at the job site. It was pouring rain when we arrived and didn't stop till around 2 pm. That slowed up progress all day.

We started one new wall today. However, there was so much water on the floor we couldn't lay any block. Sweeping the water away didn't work so Charmaine came up with the idea to create a dam around the wall, which enabled us to lay the wall. Truly a first!

We have tarps on the roof and they tend to collect water between the rafters. So, when they get full, they can break the ropes or pop the tarp. Sometimes we poke holes just to relieve the pressure before it breaks.

Well, we had all of the above happen. Cole is our designated hole-maker. He has gotten good at throwing rocks and making holes. As you can see from the pictures, there are a lot of them. Cole decided to take a "shower" under one of the streams of water.

Around 1 in the afternoon, half of the tarp gave way soaking quite a few folks. We had to stop work till we got the pressure relieved and it was safe to work again. We fell a little behind as a result. Still made good progress though.

More to come tomorrow.

Halfway through the week

We have made it halfway through our work week safely. We have ten of our group that were splitting time between the construction site and the children's ministry. So this was the last day on the job site for five our team and we will have a few new people tomorrow.

We made great progress on the job site. We almost finished two of the high walls and completed one of the dividing walls. We will get all of jose done tomorrow and have two walls left.

Our children's ministry team had another 75 children today. The schools are running morning and afternoon so there are different children each day.

So far everyone is safe and doing well and are blessed by the ministry they are performing.

Second construction day

We had a great day at the job site. We didn't have any rain during the day, although we had a huge thunderstorm at 3:30 this morning. The tarps held up pretty well and didn't have any issues.

We made good progress and got done with two walls and got up to the 11th course on the two walls we started from the ground up. No injuries and not a lot of heat. A very good day.

The children's ministry group started today. After trouble getting the church open, they had a great day with the kids. They ended up with 75 kids. They will see how the schedule works out for tomorrow.

The pastor had our worship tonight. It was very inspiring as he told about the story of how the town raised the money for their portion of the school. It was a very moving devotional.

We are looking forward to a great day tomorrow.

....and on the 8th day,God created tarps

I was woke up this morning to a bird chirping right outside my window at 5 am. It stopped.....and I know why. The skies opened up and rain poured out. It had done this yesterday and then stopped after an hour or so.

Well, today it didn't stop. It rained hard till 2 pm. We finally got to the job site after waiting on the bus.

We knew it was going to rain so we purchased tarps and had them shipped down in advance. The workers only had part of them up when we got there do had to get the rest of them on in the rain.

We started working in the rain. We had the toughest part of any wall, the first course. It was especially tough with water pooling and running across the floor.

Eric and Cole did an admirable job under the circumstances and got it laid after a few challenges.

As you can see from the pictures the tarps held up pretty well, but had some challenges and some holes developed. However, God is good and we made it through. The team did great today especially because most of them are first time missionaries. We got about five courses done on every wall.

We have a good routine going and will make great progress tomorrow.

Our children's ministry team for organized today and will start their work tomorrow.

Church service in Nueva Guinea

We had a very nice bible study and church service today at the central church in town. They have been praying every morning at 5:00 in the morning for the building project we are part of. They invited us to join them. They are also baptizing 6 people next Sabbath and want us to join them!

First night worship

We made it safely to nueva guinea and are checked into the hotel. After a few issues with lights and water, we are settled in. Ernie and Renee had to move to four different rooms to get one that worked, but they are in good shape now.

We had our first meal and our worship. We are getting to know each other better and getting ready for church tomorrow.

Here is a picture of us at worship.

Safely in Nicaragua

We made it safely to Nicaragua and through the airport. Everyone got their bags. Dehkontee had her bag searched but no one else had problems.

We are now on the bus and are halfway to nueva guinea.

In the plane and on the way

Everyone made it safely to the airport and made it on the plane. Pray that we have a safe and quick flight and arrival in Managua!

Youth mission trip to nicaragua

16 of our youth and 18 adults are leaving tomorrow to go to Nueva Guinea Nicaragua. Once there, we will help with building a school and conduct a children's ministry program. We will do our best to post on a daily basis and send pictures and updates.

Please keep the group in your prayers for safety and for God's leading on the trip.

Safely back in Houston

We arrived safely (and even early!) back in houston. No issues in the airport. I was the one person picked for a random search of my bags--not once, not twice but three times! I had my checked luggage searched and then at security I was patted down and had my carry on searched. Finally at the gate, I had my carry on searched (again) and was patted down.

Very uneventful flight (and bus ride to the airport) so God is good!

This has been a fantastic trip and I will post some pictures/video when I can.
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On the way to the airport

We were awakened last night to torrential downpours. God was good and held off the rain till we were done with our work!

However, it made for a wet morning getting our suitcases to the bus. We finally got on board with only five minutes off schedule.

We had a bit of a scare a few minutes into the drive. A truck was coming the other way and we heard a large bang and crash. We thought it was a tire, but turned out that the truck passed so close, it hit the driver side mirror and shattered it! A little too close for comfort.
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Excursion day and last day of work

On Sunday, a group of five of us went back to the jobsite to finish the windows on the school. Actually, four of us started. Robert was sick at breakfast and I didn't think he was going so we left. He came out a few minutes later, got a taxi and joined us! The five of us then worked all morning to complete them and headed back. To get back, we walked into town and got three wheeled taxis to the hotel. If you have never ridden one before, it is like riding a dirt bike with a big covered seat in the back. Our two drivers decided to race each other down a dirt road. We have video we will post later.

The rest of the group either stayed at the hotel or went to a national park for hiking. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, although I am not sure Barb intended to go all the way to the top of the mountain. Nate gets the Mountain Goat award for running up and down the mountain--twice!

In the afternoon, we all went to a waterfall and river nearby. About 15 of us decided to go on a guided walk to caves behind the waterfall sounded interesting. What we didn't realize is that involved literally walking through the waterfall! It was an intense experience. I will try to post pictures later--we had a waterproof camera so we will see how it performed.

We had our final meeting and went over logistics for monday. The school administrator invited us to play volleyball and basketball with the kids, so a group of us went over. We lost a game of volleyball, but won at basketball.

We have had a great trip thus far and God has protected us and worked through us. We also have a great team!
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Sabbath at La Torre and the Orphanage

We had an awesome day! We started off with church at La Torre, which is where we conducted the VBS program. The church was full of the kids from the program. We did two of the songs they learned with the whole church.

Once church was complete, we headed back for lunch. We then prepared for taking our vbs program to an orphanage in the area. Everyone in the group wanted to go and help with the program. That was very helpful. We spent the afternoon with 70 kids from the orphanage and clinic. They were all so excited and a lot of our group also brought donated items to have the leaders distribute. We also gave away 30 dresses that our youth at West Houston made. The girls were very happy with their new dresses!! It was a great afternoon.

We have our plan for tomorrow. A few of us are going to finish a few things on the school and the rest are going to the national park.
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Friday report

We had a great day on Friday on the jobsite. We got all of the blockwork done on the bathrooms and put the roof on. We also got all but a few windows installed on the classrooms.

I was very proud of our team and how they pitched in to get everything done. Everyone did what was needed regardless. Of their job assignment. When God puts a task in front of us, he will equip us and provide the right spirit to accomplish his work.

Our VBS team completed their program as well. They had close to a 100 kids again. A lot of them are from the community and don't go to church, so this was a great outreach.

We ended our day with a great worship. We had quite a few of our volunteers give their testimony as to why they volunteer and how they cam to be on the trip. It never ceases to amaze me as to how God works to involve us in His work.
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Completed classroom

Here is one of the completed classrooms. We got them both completed except for five of the windows

Work group picture in front of bathroom

We finished the bathroom today and got the roof on

Thursday report

Our vbs team had another good day. They had 95 kids today and didn't have any issues. It was a nice sunny day so they could have their activities outside.

We got a lot done at the school today. We got all of the siding on the classrooms and some of the windows installed. We got all of the bathroom stalls completed and half of the dividing wall and storage closet.

We still have 6 courses and the roof to put on. We may not finish tomorrow. If we don't, we may have to work on sunday rather than go on our excursion. The group all seems willing to finish.

We had a great worship tonight. We had a lot of folks give their testimony as to why they are on the trip. It reminded me of a question one of my clients asked me: why not use the money that the volunteers spend for the trip (around 1500 per person) to send money down to have locals build the school. It was a good question that I had been asked before. One of the reasons is that these trips are ultimately more about building people rather than buildings. We spend this time away from our normal lives with other believers growing in Christ. We come back with a renewed spirit for Christ and a reminder of how blessed we really are in our daily lives. That is one of the key benefits from us going as volunteers, in addition to a real connection with the people we go to help.

Here are some pictures from today.

EZ Reeves-- strong like bull

Eliel reeves found a new way to carry block.