El Oriente

Well, we are on our last day here in the ¨oriente¨ what the Ecuadorians call this area where the Amazon is. We are in Misahualli, a small town at the entrance of the jungle. Since we´ve been here, we´ve had all kind of surprises. First of all, our plan was to catch a ride with my cousin, who brought a group from Georgia for a mission out here. We didn´t actually plan to stay with them- our plan was to go to a sort of resort called La Casa de Suiso. But God had different plans. We decided to stay half of the time with them, then go to our ¨vacation¨... but that didn´t happen either. In fact, yesterday when we woke up (taxi

(on our way to the oriente, notice the change in scenery as we approach it. this is the cotopaxi first day it´s seen, since clear skies.)

ready and everything) I was sick! I had a fever and sore throat and stomach cramps on top of that (for other reasons)! So our plans changed again, and we decided that it looked like God didn´t want us to go after all. So right now Jeremy and I are actually in Tena, a bigger city close to Mishualli, translating for an american doctor who is oberving how medicine is practiced down here. The group from Montebelo (where my cousin Roberto works) and this doctor are trying to figure out how to get medical care out to Misahualli. Currently they have no ambulance or doctor permanently there. The only doctor is the one who works here, in Tena, and once in a while has appointments over there. So we´re hoping we can find a way.

We´ve had a great time so far, except for being sick. My fever left me quickly yesterday, and now I just have a sore throat. This is why I´m here at the internet cafe. I needed a translating break. So Grace, one of the ecuadorian girls with us, took over. We´ve met some great people while here. Most of them are a high school group with their adult supervisors and 2 pastors. We´ve been doing a vacation bible school for the kids in the town and they love it. Even the adults come out to see why a bunch of americans are out here and enjoy drawing, singing, and playing with all of us. We´ve also distributed clothes in a town down the river, as well as had the town people welcome us with traditional dances and songs in Quicha (their native tongue). My cousin Roberto and his family are also building their house and a center out here for future missions and they are going to live here. It´s been something God has put on their hearts and I´m just so proud of him and their obedience to the Lord. We´ve been helping with the building of the house too. It´s been very special, and we´re blessed to be a part of it. It goes to show that while we may have plans, God has bigger ones for us. We are told we have been a great help with everything, including translating- how humbling is that? We can only be grateful that we are useful enough to be of help. We leave tommorow for Quito. We have plans to make it to the coast of Ecuador, Esmeraldas. But we´ll see how everything works out. Hopefully we can update more later. Pray for us for a safe return to Quito.