Early this morning, Don Efren's friends came to pick us up. It's a mother and a daughter who also make their living buying in Ecuador and selling in Colombia. Chris and I were so tired that we slept most of the way there. They dropped us off in Ipiales at immigration and then headed on to Ecuador. This was one of the most "modern" borders that we've crossed. They actually had computers and the stamp in our passport was done with a printer!! Thank God!! We didn't have any problems crossing today!!! After eating a little breakfast and calling our friends in Colombia one last time, we started walking!! (Something that made us smile...while we were eating breakfast, a man from Perú sat down beside us to eat his breakfast too! We're not very far now!!)
It is gorgeous...I love the mountains sooo much! The flowers are beautiful too!! Our camera is on its last leg though (so I could only take one picture of the flowers today)...it won't delete pictures anymore...I've figured out how to delete them on my Palm, but it takes a long time. Be praying that God will either hold this camera together from another couple of months or that God will provide a new one.
Something we weren't aware of...we thought that we were getting to South America in the dry season....we'll in Colombia, that's true, but as we get closer to the Equator the seasons reverse. So it's actually raining A LOT right now in Ecuador and it's pretty cold. We had walked about 3 hours today when it started sprinkling. I pulled out the umbrella and we made it a nearby gas station to wait out the rain. We were surprised to see soldiers at the gas station...so of course we asked what that was all about. Gas in Ecuador is $1.48 per gallon and Diesel is $1.03 per gallon. (Ecuador has petrolium and they are also on the Dollar.) Gas in Colombia is $4.00 or more per gallon. So a lot of Colombians try to buy quantities of gas in Ecuador and sell it in Colombia. That's why the soldiers are there...to help control the situation! Wow! So we talked to the soldiers for awhile...they were really nice! They also gave us some idea of where we should walk in Ecuador...they've served all over the country, so they talked to us about dangerous areas...for crime and for mudslides. We also talked quite a bit to Maria, the wife of the manager of the gas station. She's a really sweet lady too!
We waited and waited on the rain, but it didn't see that it was going to stop. Maria offered to get some lunch for us while we waited. It was delicious...like in Colombia (and Perú according to Chris) they serve a soup and a second plate at lunch nearly every day. It's a ton of food...and your drink comes with you meal...all for $1.50. Things are really inexpensive in Ecuador...no wonder there is so much business of people buying here and selling in Colombia. After lunch, the rain let up a bit so we decided to walk on...
After several hours, it was obvious that it was going to rain again. We were just praying for God to provide shelter, a town, or a ride. Finally around 5 pm, this car stopped to offer us a ride to Huaca. We'd walked more than 10 miles today, so we were ready for a break!! We hopped in, and just as Eliezer and Yolanda started driving again, it started pouring rain! Praise God for His right on time provision!! They took us to La Casa del Perigrino (The House of the Pilgrim) in Huaca. When they stopped there...I just smiled at the name!! We ended up staying the night there.
Thursday, February 21st
When we woke up this morning, I was sooo sore. The blisters on my feet were open again, so Chris said it was okay if we stayed one more night. We worked most of the day on journalling, erasing pictures that we didn't mean to take, and working on the spreadsheet of statistics. Pretty low key day. I did, however, lose my gloves. We figured out that I must have left them in Eliezer's truck. Thankfully, he works right next door, so I was able to get them back!! Praise God!!
Friday, February 22nd
Time to walk again...we walked about 6 miles and had arrived at a set of toll booths. We walked to the other side of them and sat down to drink water and rest. It started sprinkling...so we made a bee line for the shelter where the toll booths were. While we were waiting there, this guy, Edgar, came up to us and started talking. He's seen all kinds of people walking, cycling, on mule, on horse, etc come through the toll booths! We talked to him for more than an hour while we waited for the rain. Spiritually, I'd say he's a bit confused, but he did say something profound when we were about to leave. "Allow the new person that God has been forming on this journey to shine forth as you finish your walk and return home. Don't be afraid." Wow! Apparently God can speak through even non-believers!
We walked on...probably 3 more miles...then it started sprinkling again! Aaaahhh! We saw a gas station in the distance and there was a restaurant right beside it. It was lunch time, so we decided to stop in. It appeared to be a family-owned restaurant. It looked like a dad, a mom, a teenage son, and a little daughter. The mom kept looking at us. She had to leave before we finished eating...she had on a green jacket just like Edgar...we figured she must work at the toll booth too. When we finished eating, it was still raining. We asked the owner if it was okay if we waited out the rain. He said that it would be fine.
After we'd been there about an hour more, the owner, Oscar, and his son, Francisco, started talking to us. Doménika, his daughter, was a little more shy. We shared with them what we were doing, and they asked a ton of questions. Eventually, Doménika started talking to us too. Before we knew it, it was dark and it was still raining. We learned that they had only opened their restuarant about 1 week ago. They are still in the fight just to survive as a business! We kept talking with Oscar and Francisco and playing with Doménika. We looked down again and it was 10 pm...Alexandra was coming in the door from work. She was soooo excited that we were still there. She told us that she hoped that we would still be there when she got home. She and Oscar started making supper for us. Then they were inviting us to stay with them. They explained that they didn't have any room in their house, but that we could make a bed on the floor of the restaurant. They would lock us in and we'd be safe. And so we saw God's hand of provision again!!!
Saturday, February 23rd
We slept really well and stayed warm despite how cold it is here! We packed up our stuff and put on our walking clothes again. We had all intentions of walking on today. Oscar and Alexandra told us that we could stay as long as we wanted as long as we slept okay...they really wanted us to stay on. So we did. Just praying that God would show us when it was time to continue on!
When we were reading our devotion this morning, we felt like the passage in Hebrews that talks about Jesus being the new high priest was for Alexandra. So we shared it with her. They are very open to the Bible and learning more about relationship with Jesus.
After breakfast, Chris and I went with Alexandra and Doménika up to the market to buy the things that they needed for today's lunch. Tons of fun! We helped in any way we could by cutting up veggies, washing dishes, etc. We also played with Doménika a ton today...Chris showed her how to make card houses, and I taught her how to play Slap Jack. We shared some more with Oscar and Francisco when Alexandra had to go back to work. It was a good day...they are such a sweet family! We are praying a ton for open doors to share with them!! God's got something big here!
Sunday, February 24th
We helped out again today around the restuarant...sweeping, washing dishes, going up to the market to buy veggies, etc. Then we helped a little serve lunch.
This afternoon, they decided that we should go to visit Tulcan. (The town we passed through and waited at the gas station on the day we came into Ecuador.) Both Oscar and Alexandra are from Tulcan and both the kids were born there...they only just moved to San Gabriel 3 years ago. There wasn't much work in Tulcan, so they decided to move. They had a Karoke Bar and were doing pretty good until Alexandra got really sick about 4 months ago. She wasn't able to go to work, and they weren't sure what was wrong with her. Finally, they discovered cysts on her ovaries. They've been treating it with pain medicine, but she needs to have surgery to have them removed. We are praying a ton for her!
We went to Tulcan to meet Alexandra's family. First we met her brother, Danilo, and his girlfriend, Sonia. Then we met her sister, Monica, and her 3 kids--Juliana, Esteban, and Lizeth. Then we went next door to meet her other sister, Andrea and her husband, Homero, and their kids--Pablo, Margarita, Paula, and Sebastian. While we were visiting with Andrea, their mom, Doña Miriam walked up. She had just arrived from Pasto, Colombia where she was taking care of her mother. Wow!! What a surprise...we were able to meet the whole family!!!
Homero and Andrea decided that we should see the cementary in Tulcan...supposedly it's one of the most beautiful cementaries in South America. When we got there, we could see why. An artist works there full time shaping all of the shrubs...it's truly a work of art! While we were there, Alexandra showed us where her father was buried and their second child was buried. Alexandra miscarried when she was about 8 months pregnant...she dropped into a horrible depression, but then God gave them Doménika and through her life, God has begun to bring healing to Alexandra.
We had a huge family supper!!! It was great to be with them and the food was extremely tasty! Then Homero and Andrea gave us a ride back to San Gabriel...what a great day!
Monday, February 25th
Today began our routine in San Gabriel...in the morning after we had prayed and had devotion, we swept the restaurant and washed dishes. Then Oscar and Alexandra came up and we had breakfast together. Then we'd go up to the market to get the fruits and veggies for lunch. Next we'd walk to Doménika's school to pick her up and bring her home. We'd help with lunch and do homework and play with Doménika in the afternoon. When we had time, we'd run to the internet or work on journalling. Every time God opened the door, we'd share more from the Bible, answer their questions, and pray with them. God gave us a lot of time to share with Oscar, Alexandra, and Francisco.
Tuesday, February 26th
Today pretty much followed the same routine as yesterday. Chris did show Doménika how to make a quarter disappear today. She loves magic tricks!!
They are also trying to get their product providers in order. They had to change ice cream providers today. So we had to look all over San Gabriel tonight for a freezer to store the new ice cream. But we just prayed as we went, and God provided...a wonderful teachable moment as we try to share about having a relationship with the Living God!
Wednesday, February 27th
Not really anything different today. It was a really good day though! We've really fallen in love with this family!!
Thursday, February 28th
Today was pretty much like the rest of the days except we went back to Tulcan this afternoon! They had run out of ham, cheese, and yogurt, so it was time to run down Tulcan...it's a much larger city than San Gabriel...plus it gives Alexandra the opportunity to see her family.
So we picked up the supplies and then headed over to Doña Miriam's house. Esteban's little knees were hurting him a lot, and they were thinking about taking him to the doctor. We asked if we could anoint him with oil and pray for him. They agreed that it was okay, so we shared with them out of James 5:14-15, and we prayed over him. We explained to him and to the other children that they could talk to God any time that they wanted to...He wanted to listen to them. We share about how Jesus fussed at His disciples when they tried to keep the children from Him. Juliana had a hard time believing that God would listen to her. She's so young...please pray for this family!!
Getting back to San Gabriel was quite an adventure...we missed the 9 pm bus, it was cold and the next bus (if they would take us) was at 10 pm. So we walked out to the main road and prayed and waited. All of the sudden this huge tractor trailor stopped. Alex ran to ask him if he could take us to San Gabriel. He could only take us as far as Huaca, but we climbed up any way. We'd at least be further down the road. (I smiled to think that this was the same route with the same stops that we took when we came into San Gabriel last Friday!!) Oh, and the other funny thing...counting the driver and the other man that he picked up, there were 7 adults and Doménika in the cab of that truck!! In Huaca, we waited and prayed again. God sent an empty truck to carry us the rest of the way to San Gabriel. We climbed up in the back and off we went!
What an adventure!! God is sooo good!! Well, it doesn't look like we are leaving San Gabriel anytime soon. God hasn't given us an open door to leave yet. We did, however, receive news that the Emblers--Dad, Mom, and Brett--will be flying in to Quito to spend their Spring Break with us!! Aaaaaahhhh! How exciting!! God bless you and keep you! Seek God first above all else!! We'll be in touch soon! We love you!
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