Guayaquil

There was a small crowd of people watching a wrestling match on a television screen facing the street in Guayaquil.  This woman caught my eye and I could not resist taking this photo adding to my collection of......

'FACES of ECUADOR'

Coming down off the mountains on the road to Guayaquil takes you to a whole different climate.  There are banana groves and all manner of fruit.  There was one small tree or large bush with pods hanging off of it that I just couldn't figure out.

This is the Cacao plant, where our chocolate comes from!  When the pods turn a yellow color then they are ready to be harvested.  I buy the dark bitter chocolate here and put a bit in my coffee.  That along with eating flaxseed and grapefruits has helped my cholesterol numbers to drop about 30 points.  Now I'm not sure which one has done it but something is working....(When you get to my age you start talking about cholesterol numbers,,,hope I'm not boring you too much)

TAXI ANYONE?

 

 

 

 

 See the bananas growing with the neat green plastic bags over them.  I wonder how they get the bags to grow over them like that?

The best way to store a pineapple is hanging upside down to get at all the sweetness.

These are SOOO DELICIOUS.

Finally we arrive in Guayaquil!

First thing on the agenda after checking in at the hostel.

Street preaching and prayer in the park.

 

 

Oh and I can't forget the Iguanas. Even though we've been to this city a few times, it took Pastor Jesus to lead us to the Iguana park.  We probably walked past it a dozen times and never even noticed it. They are all over the place and have a favorite tree where they hang around like ornaments.

 

Waiting in line for a vegetable and fruit drink next to the hostel. 

 

 

 

 

Revival meeting

The last week in August we had revival meetings with Pastor Jesus Ceyala.  The church received him very well and we were so excited to have our old friend here with us for a whole week. Here are some photos of that week and the next post will have a record of the drive and events in Guayaquil afterwards.  It is much more practical to fly into Guayaquil and then get a ride or a bus the rest of the way to Cuenca.

We had lot's of eats after every service.  I guess if you know anything about us, we've always liked to get everyone together to share a meal and enjoy each other's company.  It just so happens everyone had the same idea and each service someone ended up bringing something totally unplanned.  I did the meal the last night and introduced everyone to New Mexico RED Chili!!...woo.hoo!!...

Ok on the left we have Pastor Jesus, Jose & Maria! Pardon the pun...

And last but not least a view overlooking our fair city of Cuenca.  I think Pastor Jesus is freezing as he is dressed for Guayaquil not the Andes mountains!

 

 

Let's take  a 20 second stroll down the street across from the free market.  It's a very busy part of town.  Turn up the speakers and maybe you can catch the sound of the street vendors selling their wares and fresh fruits and vegetables.... 

 

 

 

 

We are so grateful that the church in Guayaquil  was able to come down to help us on the outreach.  We had a great time.  Here are some more pictures from that day.

It sure is hard to get everyone together for a picture.  The phrase for the day was "Has anyone seen Alfredo?"






I'm not sure but I think he's over there.

Getting ready

We've been very busy, or a least one of us has.  Mostly my husband is busy so I am busy by osmosis Ha!  We had an outreach team come in from the city of Guayaquil, by the coast.  So, I got busy whipping up some good old "New Mexican Style" breakfast burritos!!!  It was a hit, but maybe they were just very hungry and tired from riding on the bus all night to get here in the morning.  It was about an 8 hour trip.

Pour on the hot sauce... that's the way to eat a burrito all right.  Sorry, no green chili.  Mayonnaise is really the favorite here to put on everything.




What is coming to mind for the blog this week is faces...Faces of Ecuador.....
              When you first come to Cuenca, I think the things that stand out are the street vendors and the ladies with the hats and colorful dress. 

This guy is literally usually hanging around El Centro.

A common sight to see are the women with a small blanket or shawl folded and sitting right on  top of the head!  I guess it's important for them to have some protection from the sun and this is just a convenient way to do it!  I've yet to learn to wear a hat.

So you say.... this is definitely NOT a face.  I have you fooled I think......Look a little closer please and you will see a face!  No, it is not some image on a tortilla or sidewalk or anything like that.

It's just the face of supper on it's way home!

Talk about fresh meat.....

I did notice at the market this weekend that some of the plastic bags hanging from the arms of shoppers were squirming around and squawking......

Well, here's a happy face.  Hey, this is Alfredo. In his home town they speak the language of Quichua along with Spanish.

Hopefully you can see the ladies in this picture each have a precious little bundle strapped across thier backs.  I always wondered how in the world they managed to strap those little babies in.

I got my answer on Saturday during our outreach.  I was filming and lost a perfect opportunity to capture it because I was so interested in just watching!  So, I will just describe what I saw.
The lady bent forward, leaned her head slightly to the side and lifted a little baby over and behind her head until his stomach was laying directly on her back.  He must of been about two or three months old.  As he lay flat on her back she quickly let go to gather the ends of the blanket.  That little guy just lay there, precariously straddled on her back, balancing like an acrobat with arms and legs outstretched. She then manuvered the blanket over him and her shoulder and across her back and tied the ends at the front! Now I am sure there different methods, but this is just one that I observed.

Finally a Building!

Today is July 15, 2012. It is the date we finally opened up with our first service in a building in this city.   Here are some pics  from our very first service.  We had an outreach on Saturday morning with four adults and three children coming in from outreach alone. 

Almost completed building.  This is the sanctuary area. 

The kitchen/nursery/prayer room still needs to be expanded. 

We had six or seven nursery candidates this morning.

Preaching

Prayer for the sick

Now some snapshots of some of our newly found brethren!!

That's all folks for now.
We've got a lot of new names to remember.

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Added more stuff to the Leaving the USA page.

This is a very good time to thank all those who are supporting this work in Ecuador in prayer and finances.  I am anticipating wonderful things for this city.  Thank you so much. We appreciate you. To my family and friends, I love you and miss you and you are constantly in my prayers.

PROGRESS ON THE BUILDING!

Here are some teaser photos on the building. It still needs a wall or two, kitchen/nursery area needs work and we are and waiting another week for the chairs to come in, but I'll give you a sneak peak.

Very Important.

The clock at the back of the church so Pastor doesn't forget what time it is. lol

The carpet in the altar space.

Curtains covering the huge window a the back of the stage.

There will be a banner or something covering the window towards the street hopefully soon

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OK so that's it! 

I hope everyone got a good idea of what the church looks like.

PSYCH!!!!

Here's a little bit more.

The pulpit and stage area. 

 Manuel, from our bible study, had someone work on the pulpit for us.

Looking good.....

A little more view please.

Amazing what a little paint can do!

Nuetral colors for small spaces.

Before........................................................After

Good news on the biopsy today. 
No cancerous cells were found and it is healing up just fine. yeah!