We, again, returned to the school the next morning. As with the first few days, we started by singing songs with the kids in front of the school. My back hurt so bad, though, that I couldn’t participate. I had woken up numerous times the night before in pain and was never quite able to get comfortable so by the time we were at the school, I was in pain and I was tired. I was frustrated because I couldn’t participate so I sat on the sidewalk along the front of the school building by myself, hoping that the pain would be gone in time to interact with the kids during the lesson and the craft. Danny came over and sat with me to find out what was in wrong. In truth, I hadn’t wanted him to know the day before, or even that morning, how badly my back hurt or how I felt it was affecting what I was there to do. I didn’t want to be different and I didn’t want to need to be taken care of. Danny sat with me and listened and prayed with me and made me cry. He encouraged me to take the time I needed to lay down on the bus or stay back at the hacienda for the afternoon, but I refused to give up any time while I was in Ecuador. I only had ten days there; I wasn’t going to spend any of them in bed.
Our group took the students inside for the puppet show and lesson and I stood outside holding a sweet little baby named Leslie so her mom could hear the lesson and the gospel. The craft for the day was a picture frame made of Popsicle sticks. We had stickers for them to decorate the frames and then took a Polaroid picture of each child to go in the frame. Once their picture was taken, they could go and play soccer in front of the school. Most of the kids went out to the soccer field, but there was one little girl, named Maria, who wanted to sit in my life.
Maria is a member of a family that I fell in love with. She is nine years old with a seven-year-old sister, Luisa, and a five-year-old brother, Juanito. Juanito was my buddy. We spent three days with them before Juanito would smile but he always gave me big hugs and offered to share whatever snack he was munching on that day. Luisa is beautiful, too. I noticed her the very first day, even before I knew her name. Luisa has a smile that consumes her entire face.
On that particular afternoon, all Maria wanted to do was sit in my lap. So, we sat outside of the school, both of us just enjoying being loved on. As we sat there, I prayed for her. I prayed that she would find Jesus and that He would send her an Ava to disciple her and teach her how to live a life that glorifies Him. I prayed that in the future the Lord would give me an opportunity to return to Montalvo and see her again. We talked a little and I asked if she would let me pray for her in English and she agreed so I prayed for her again, this time out loud. She didn’t know what I was saying, but the Lord did and He heard. After I prayed with her, we began talking some more and the Lord set my mouth on fire with the Spanish language. This time as we talked, I was able to share the gospel with her. I didn’t struggle with the words or the translation which, even in the moment, blew my mind because those are words I don’t know in Spanish. I asked her if she understood what I said and she said yes so we prayed again. Later, when she was again sitting in my lap, Dan came by and said hi to her so I told him about our conversation and asked him if he would make sure she did understand. So, he talked with her and as he looked back up to me, his eyes were filled with tears. He held Maria’s face in his hands, looked in my eyes and informed me that she had said that she has Jesus in her heart now.
I’m glad I didn’t go lay down on the bus. That is why I wouldn’t go lay down on the bus. That might have been the most incredible experience of my life. I had prayed that I would get to see her again someday and I will. It may not be in Ecuador, but that’s ok. Well have all of eternity to catch up.
For lunch that day, we went to the Jesus Loves You Church in Montalvo. Jenni and her friends had made us soup and chicken and a dessert. After we ate, the ladies who had cooked for us, did a traditional Ecuadorian dance for us as well. Eventually, they had us all up and dancing with them. It was so fun…until Sarah, Jenni’s daughter, pulled me into the middle of the circle and the Ecuadorians pushed a guy named David out to dance with me. I have no rhythm. I have come to accept that. I’m ok with it…until people make me dance in the middle of a circle. But David was so sweet and he taught me how to do the dance the ladies had started with.
Before we left the church, our team took some time to circle around Hernan and Jenni to pray for them, their church and community. I had made a point every day to spend some time with Jenni, to tell her how special she was and how much I appreciated her. So, during this time of prayer for her, I wanted to be with her and made my way through the circle. She stood with one arm around her husband and one around me and as we prayed for them, both Jenni and I cried, a lot. After the prayer, she clung to me and wept and told me how much she missed her friends from the year before, Prasad and LeeAnn. In that moment, I knew that I was in no way prepared to say goodbye to her for good the next day.
That night we went back to the school at Jonhattan’s church and hung out with the students for a little while. Some of our guys played soccer and basketball with some of the students while we watched with some of the girl students. They took us inside, into the sanctuary with the stunning new floor, for an assembly that the students planned, prepared and executed. I was so tired, but the assembly was so cool, except for when I fell out of my chair and the girls in my row laughed at me. Just as on Sunday morning, Danny had wanted us to spread ourselves around the room and among the students. I was able to find a seat next to Ebony, Nora and the other girls I had painted with at Muchigrande with Ava directly in front of me and Lana behind me.
The assembly was loaded with performances the students had prepared for us. A group of girls, including Maribel and Pati (one of the other girls who taught for us at the school) did an interpretive dance to the Darlene Czech version of “My Jesus, My Savior.” They had a choir that sang a couple of songs in English for us. A group of boys did a dance with flags. After the students performed, Dan and Lance spoke to the students. Lance shared his story again, this time asking the students to write down their answer to the question of whether or not they knew where they would go if they died that night. Ebony and Anna both wrote “no” on their paper. I had spent time with them earlier in the week and it scared me that they had no clue about Jesus. I leaned forward and whispered their names to Ava to pray for them while Dan and Lance were speaking.
When Lance was finished, Dan had our entire group of gringos stand in the front and look at the students. He told them that he wanted them to know that we were there because we loved them and wanted them to know that the Lord loves them. He prayed for them and then, if they had made a decision for the Lord that night, he had them look at him while he spoke. Ebony and Nora never took their eyes off Dan as he spoke. Again, I cried.
After the assembly, the students had one last surprise for us. They had taken a collection and provided dinner for us…a rotisserie pig! We made our way through the line down to dinner. The line snaked its way down the back stairs of the sanctuary and through the downstairs kitchen, which included an opening with a counter through which food could be passed. The pig, the whole rotisserie pig, complete with head and tail, lay on the table. The mid-section of the pig was sliced open and the women from the church were scooping meat out of the pig and putting it on our plates. Wow. I had never seen anything like that before. I’m kind of hoping I never see it again. The meat was pretty good, but what I learned from that experience is that I have a difficult time eating meat when I’ve looked at the face of the animal it came from. I guess, too, I learned that I have a difficult time eating meat when the guy next to me has four of the animal’s vertebrae on his plate.
We got to hang out at the school for a while after dinner and I met one of the coolest kids ever, Omar. Danny has seen Omar every year now for three years. He took Ava and I on a tour of the church building and introduced us to the school secretary. When we were there, he was just finishing his first year of what we would consider high school so he has five more years to go in that school. Omar actually lives out in Montalvo behind the church. He, as an eleven-year-old boy, takes a public bus 30 minutes each way, to and from school. Combine that with the walk to where he meets the bus and it takes him about 45 minutes to get to and from school each day. He’s a sharp kid; it will be cool to go back to Ambato and Montalvo and watch him grow up.
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In this part of the story, I very briefly mention Patty. In 2006 she was one of the teachers at the kids club we helped with in Montalvo. When i returned in 2007, I went to the school at Jonhattan's church every day...each day there was a different group of people with me, but I was the only one who went every day. Patty was our interpreter at the school so I spent 4 to 5 hours a day with her and her sweet kids and, usually, we had a lot of time to just talk and get to know each other. We spoke Spanish as much as I could, and then we'd switch to English. Patty was my interpreter when I taught the 4th-6th graders at the school about the Bible...she was the one next to me when I didn't even realize I had begun speaking in Spanish and went on to share the gospel with 60+ kids in their own language. Since that week in 2007, Patty has become one of my dearest friends...I treasure her, her commitment to the Lord and her deeply abiding love for her children.
Her daughter, Keila, is 7 and was diagnosed about a year and half ago with Aspberger's Syndrome - a form of autism. Patty and her husband, Fabian, are working very hard right now to raise money for Keila to get the schooling she needs. Pray for them! Her son, Efraim...my sweet Epi! That child stole my heart...and he knew it. He owns it! The day we left Ambato he told his mama that he wanted to marry me so I wouldn't leave him. It's been over a year and that still makes me cry! I miss these sweet friends of mine SO much!!!
My dear friend and I:
My sweet Epi - how I love this boy!!!
