Memories of Ecuador

We returned home safely last night. However, we wanted to add one more post with photos of some of our memories of Ecuador. These are in no particular order, but hopefully will give our readers a more accurate feel for the country itself and the wonderful people we met there.

David Quinatoa, Ricardo Ortiz and Miguel Quinatoa from Ambato. David and Miguel preach for the church in Ambato. Ricardo's father was responsible for starting the work in Ambato years ago.

This is the room in Marcelo Lopez' house where the church meets. They set up chairs in this area for the worship services.

One of the guards at the Presidential palace in Quito.

Straddling the equator...one foot in the northern hemisphere, and the other foot in the southern hemisphere.

Interesting street food...fresh (?) snails anyone?

Some tourists will do anything for a photo!

View of part of Quito from one of the towers of La Basilica. Quito is a city of about a million and a half souls.

Ines made hot chocolate for us, but we participated in the whole process.

Ladies removed the husks from the cacao beans Ines had roasted.

Guillermo ground the beans into a powder.

Beautiful sunset on the coast of Ecuador, at Puerto Bolivar.

Sugar cane directly from the fields.

Cacao beans are inside a tough pod. These are removed, roasted, husked, ground, and added to sugar and milk to make the hot chocolate.

April with two of the girls she taught in Bible class at Machala.

The Campas family from Machala. What a wonderful group!

These are the chilren in the youngest Bible class in Machala. What fun they were!

The older children work diligently on their Bible lessons.

This is the view out of our hotel window on Sunday morning in Machala. Street vendors set up shop very early.

Normally, Ingrid Campas and Ruth Davila teach the youngest children in the Bible class at Machala. Here they are with the felt books we brought for those children to use in class.

One of our favorites...Lysette (sp?) is one of the seven people who worship at the congregation in Las Palmas.

This is the group that came to the special Bible study on Saturday afternoon in Las Palmas.

We traveled with our own "candy man". Bert took enough candy to put the entire congegation in diabetic shock...but the children loved it.

The babies are precious. April got to hold this fourteen-day-old doll while her mother was baptized into Christ. What a memory.

Preparing for the baptisms with Bible readings and songs.

One local woman was doing her family's wash in the river near the spot where the baptisms took place.

The group hiked to the baptismal spot.

Just one example of the precious faces we saw in Machala.

Jose Cueva and his wife, Yolanda, came to Machala for the weekend. He preaches for the church in Santa Domingo and other congregations in that area. They have five children.

One of the street vendors in Machala...fresh, warm goat's milk for sale.

Machala has electricity, but from time to time it goes off for a while. We think we know why.

So... who is ready to go to Ecuador to visit the Christians and encourage them? Knowledge of the Spanish language would be nice, but is not required. For more information about the work of the Lord in Ecuador, go to www.churchofchrist-ecuador.info. If you have questions about the work there, or if you would like some help in planning a visit, contact Olen at ecuador1830@gmail.com. There will definitely be other trips to the area in the future, and we would love to have you join us.