Hope Now -- Food 4 Puyo

Learning their colors

2009-04-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Never let go

2009-04-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

The Gospel

2009-04-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

The pastor prayed and gave the kids the opportunity to ask Jesus into their hearts. Many seemed to genuinely mean what they prayed.

Teaching parts of the body at our english class

2009-04-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is the good-bye that we got every day from our students

2009-04-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Teaching a story about Jesus

2009-04-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is a clip from the English class where we taught about Jesus feeding the 5 thousand

2009-04-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

In our English classes we taught the story of when Jesus fed the 5,000 (Matthew 15). Jesus took the little food that they had and multiplied it so that they could feed many. We heard this story multiple times while in Ecuador and realized that God was doing the same with our trip. After Alyssa left we still had about $900 to give to help families in Ecuador. We had no idea that God was not only going to take us to Puyo, Ibarra, and Quito but to Cayambe as well. We started out with the hope of bringing food to at least 10 families...Out of the four places that we went to God provided us with the resources to bring food to 71 families!! We never imagined that we would be able to help this many families but, like always, God had bigger and better plans than we did. He works in ways that are beyond our expectations. He took our idea of 10 families and multiplied it just like in the story.

This is how we used the $900 the third week in Ecuador:

Food Pantry – $200

Mattresses for a church nursery - $60

30 Bibles for Cayambe - $100

Food for families in Cayambe - $160

Truck to drive to Cayambe – $110

Donation to Byron and Becky Gudino and their ministry Isaiah 61 - $300

So Thank You to everyone who supported this trip. God used us ALL to bring Hope to the Hopeless in Ecuador. We Thank You so much for your prayers. May God bless you abundantly for your willingness to obey and help those in need.

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again. Luke 3:8

Cayambe - An Indian Community

2009-03-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

The day started with an hour and a half smooth ride from Quito to the city of Cayambe. The ride from Cayambe into the indigenous community was another hour and a half ride but this time the smooth road had become very bumpy (And with four people squished in the back seat you can imagine how "comfortable" it must have been). Despite the bumpiness (and the occasional donkey, sheep, cow, or horse in the road) the view was amazingly beautiful and beyond words. And the more we stared at its beauty the more the bumpiness and squished hips seemed to be completely out of minds. It is moments like these that you really wonder how people can look at such a beautiful site and still wonder if there is a God. How can they still doubt He is the creator?

The night before we left for Cayambe we purchased 30 bibles to give to the church in the Indigenous community. We purchased enough food to give to 20 families in the area. We also brought a donation of girl toys, boy toys, and cloths given to us by a local orphanage. After giving the food to 20 families and giving the donations away we munched on some food and awaited the night ahead of us. None of us could even imagine what the night was going to hold. The only thing that we knew was that we were performing at a service where all the surrounding churches would be gathered. We knew there was possibly going to be about 300 people and that there was going to be music and a message. They asked us to be a part of the program so we prepared five songs to sing. The service was supposed to start at 7 (but since we are on Ecuadorian time) it started late at 8. There was singing, drama, dance, and 4 messages. Before we knew it, it was 12 in the morning and we still had not sung yet. We were a little worried that our voices would not allow us to sing because of how late it was but God definitely got us through. The people seemed to enjoy the singing! They were even asking us to sing more songs. The service went from 8pm to 1am…5 hours of worshiping God with a kind of music we had never heard before (some songs in their own language “Quichua”). It was such an amazing experience to see how simple the lives of these people were. They had nearly nothing (as far as material items) but it didn’t matter. In a way I sort of envied how naive they were to the outside world. There was nothing to distort or distract their thinking. They love God a great deal--that is one thing that did not go unnoticed and I don't think that anyone of us left that place unchanged

Friday - Food Pantry and Day Care

2009-03-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday we went to South Quito with Byron to bring food to fill up a food pantry which is run by a church in that area. This is the same food pantry that we were able to go to last June trip. We were able to purchase food for 20 families. The women who run the food pantry expressed their thankfulness with many tears and many hugs. They were taking pictures of everything we brought and were to excited to see us again. The pastors wife said she thought that we would never be able to go back to the food pantry. After filling the pantry we went to the church to see what it looked like. We noticed that the beds they had for children to sleep on in the nursery were very old and dirty so we decided to give the church money for two mattresses so the kids would have a clean bed to sleep on.

Later on in the day we went to a daycare in which 75 kids are taken care of. We brought toys, cloths, strollers, and much more things that the daycare needed. These are kids that come from poor families where both parents have to work in order to provide enough food to feed their family.

2009-03-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

On thursday night we went to La Libertad where we helped out with a youth group and VBS (Vacation Bible School). This is the same place that we visited last trip (in june) where we painted the outside of the church and the inside of two rooms. How cool it was to see how the rooms are used now. The bright green room is now used for the kids VBS and the white room is used for the adult and youth group. Bre and I were able to sing for the kids, youth, and adults. It made me so excited to see all the kids and how much they have grown. Most of them seemed to recognize me and Bre and it was just so nice to be able to hold the little ones in my arms again :) It was so awesome to see that the work that we started last June was still continuing to grow. God is definately at work in that little church and Becky and Byron are doing such an amazing job with the people in the area.

During VBS we taught the kids that God is the creator of everything. We gave the kids chalk and told them to draw on the wall things they knew God had created. Some of them drew mountains, clouds, the sun, water, people, dogs, cats, etc. One little boy decided to draw on his face :) (It made me laugh because...God did create him after all!) We also did a craft with the kids where we had them make little balls with pieces of paper and they glued them onto a picture of the world. The bottom of the paper says "God created the World".

By:Danielle

If It's God's Will Then It's God's Bill

2009-03-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who gave financially and prayerfully towards the Food 4 Puyo Project.

When Danielle, Efra and I decided in January to do this trip we only had enough money to purchase our plane tickets. We didn't know how we were going to pay for our own expenses never mind buying food for others; but when it's God's will then it's God's bill! Through the generous giving by EABC and Danielle's church family in Madawaska and the sale of Bre's CDs we have been able to do even more that we could have imagined! Jesus took our small offering and multiplied it to feed many. Let me list for you all the things we purchased to bless God's people.

$630---Food for 21 families
$300---Food for 10 more families for the Pastor to visit later this month
$100---ESL Materials & Gifts for 30 students
$250---A metal door for the Church building EABC helped built in June
$150---A special gift for the Pastor's Family
$80----One large bed for the family we met Monday morning

And that's not all......
we still have about $700 left to give away in Quito this weekend! By this coming Tuesday, the Food 4 Puyo project will have given away over $2,200 dollars!

Thank-you so much for your support; for it is better to give then to recieve. May your recieve a double blessing for the portion that you gave and may God recieve all the glory and praise.

by Alyssa

This Weeked--Elevation 18,500 Feet

2009-03-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

by Efra

This coming Friday Danielle, Bre and I will be purchasing food for the same food pantry EABC’s team helped stock this past July. In the afternoon we will purchase Spanish Bibles for the indigenous people group we will be working with the following day. Saturday morning the four of us, along with Byron Gudino from Isaiah 61 ministries will make the rough journey up into the mountains to visit a Quichua Indian community in Cayambe. This particular community lives off the land and they are very poor. Our team will bring them rice, sugar, and other items they usually can not afford to eat but are important for their health. In the evening Bre, Danielle, and I will perform a concert and then Byron will share the Gospel along with giving out the Bibles. The team will spend the night in whatever accommodations the community can provide. The following morning we will attend a church service and then head back to Quito for the remainder of our trip. Please pray for safety and health while we travel and spend time in the mountains. It is much colder in Cayambe because of elevation and it might be harder for us to breath. We are looking forward to helping out this community and sharing the love of God to them.

Saturday--More Than We Expected

2009-03-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the highlight of the trip for me. Everything happened so quickly but the gravity of the day will last for years. On top of bringing food to 5 families during the week, we also took time to personally invite 11 additional families to an outreach service on Saturday. That afternoon our team was running late getting to the service because picking up the fresh foods took longer then expected and we had to pick up a huge cake for our guests.

As we pulled into the drive way of the church we noticed all the children playing in the dirt and the parents waiting inside the church with anticipation. We unloaded the food into the building next door and hurried over to the church. Pastor Carlos introduced us to the families that we had not met previously and shared with them why we were in Ecuador. Bre, Danielle and Efra sang three songs that the people really seemed to like. One boy was dancing a little and a few ladies were singing along.

After the songs, a few of the parents stood up and thanked us, our church, and most importantly God for providing the food. Many seemed to understand that God had provided the food and not us (to Him be the glory!). Afterwards, Pastor Carlos shared the Gospel with the families as they ate cake; this gave us time to sort the food for distribution. Once everything was sorted we asked one family at a time to come receive their food. Everyone seemed surprised when they saw the amount of food we were giving them and they were very grateful. One woman could only get the word, “gracias” out cause she was crying so much. I was blown away by the joy that filled the air and all the smiling faces. I realized that the food we were giving was going to feed a lot more people then I had thought of before!

After the food was given out, our team realized that the some of the families could not carry the food home by themselves….SO…..we loaded as many people (and food) as we could into the back of our rental truck and took them to their neighborhoods. There was much laughter as we waved good-bye to each other. I pray that every time these families eat from the food God provided for them they will remember Him and give Him the glory. I pray that they will be filled with hope and will surrender their lives to Jesus. I think especially about the young boys and men who received food. They can be the leaders in their home and neighborhood and bring change for the better. I pray that the food we brought (that God provided) not only fed these families stomachs but also their hearts. We as a church planted the seeds now may God bring the increase!

by Alyssa

End of the Week English Party!!

2009-03-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

On Friday, after 5 days of teaching, we had a party for our English class. This was soooo much fun! The kids were so excited! We served food (meat, cheese, crackers, cookies, cake, and soda) and played review games to see how much the kids had learnt. They learnt so much English! We were so proud of them. We also had Pastor Carlos Moyas come and share the gospel. What a cool thing it was to see how many kids wanted to know God more and how many wanted God to be a part of their life. (Soon we will upload a video of the kids praying.) At the end of class each student was given a certificate of completion, a dictionary, track, book mark, and a photo of the entire class. What was ever more awesome was when we met the director of the school in which we had been teaching. He was so excited about everything that we had taught the kids that he told Carlos that anyone from his church is welcome to go anytime to do programs with the kids. What an awesome opportunity and what an amazing open door!!

Friday

2009-03-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today we visited two needy families. The first family’s story made me sick to my stomach…When we entered the house everything was dark except one room which had a full size bed in it. {Later we found out that this bed was for the whole family of 5 to sleep in.} That was just the beginning…in order to provide for her family, the mother {a widow}, works almost everyday. This leaves the oldest child {a thirteen year old girl} to take care of and cook for her three little sisters. Because she takes care of her sisters, she has only completed up to the 4th grade in school. This means that this bright young girl is not getting an education because she is left to be a caretaker of three young children all pretty much under the age of seven. This particular week the mother was gone and did not return home from Monday till Sunday afternoon. So for seven days the children were alone. This is the only option if this family is going to eat and provide for each other.

Please be praying that this family would be supported financially so that the thirteen year old girl would have the opportunity to go to school again.

The second family was an older couple…which might I add…were the cutest older couple ever. You could tell that they had been through a lot together. Their home was probably one of the worst I have seen. The smell of rotting wood and mold was overbearing. Their small house resembled what to me looked like a shack that most Americans would keep their tools, bikes, or even animals in. In order to provide for each other the lady washed cloths for people in the area and the man collected garbage in hopes of selling what he was able to find in the trash.

There were no words to describe how I felt when I saw such conditions. God has blessed me abundantly. I live in a nice house…I have all the food I need…I have a car…and a good job…How often I take these things for granted…

By Danielle

Thursday / March 12th

2009-03-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a Native American family. In this family are 3 children and a mother who is a widow. To provide food for her family the mother washes cloths for people in her area. Lately, because many more people are buying washers for their homes, she is pretty much out of a job. To continue to provide for her family the mother has been cutting neighbor's lawns. {This job also makes it hard because cutting lawns is not something that most Ecuadorian families do...they are definitely not like Americans when it comes to the upkeep of their lawns.} We saw from these circumstances that this family was very much in need of food. We shared the food and explained why we had come. The pastor shared about the love of God with the family and we all prayed together. Because the mother's native language is Quechua we are not sure how much she understood because she did not understand Spanish very well...but one thing is for sure...God was present in that home...and if God wants to speak and make Himself known...then language is never an issue.

By Danielle

A new door opens

2009-03-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night we were supposed to go to a family that lived far from Pastors house. Someone was supposed to meet us at his house so we can go visit this family. The person never showed up so we had to change our plans and ended up going to a family of Indians.

This family had been to church once a long time ago. Pastor Carlos explained to the mother why we were there and she listened to him carefully, after few minutes of listening to Carlos she said she was really thankful to God because of what we were doing.

Her husband arrived, from the way he talked he clearly wasn’t a Christian but he was open to learning about God. Even though He had had bad experiences with Christians before he said he still believed there’s a God that was always taking care of us and blessing us.

The husband said he didn’t know how to read so pastor told him that if it was ok with them he could come to their house once a week and work with them and try teaching them how to read using a Christian reading course put together by a Christian institution, husband and wife seemed to be really excited about this idea so they said they would love for them to come to visit them.

Pastor and his wife will be visiting their house every Friday around 6pm to talk to them about God and teach the husband how to read.

By: efra

Wednesday-God is bigger than any plan...

2009-03-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

The road before us was long, bumpy, dusty and would have been impossible to drive on if we had not rented a truck...The location of the family we were about to visit was nothing I had pictured. The houses in the area were all lifted off the ground so that when the rain came the house would not be washed away. The walls of the houses had spaces between each board...so that you could see the outside from the inside of the house...You can only imagine how wet it must be when it rains. The path that we had to take to get to the family´s house was made of logs (not very sturdy ones!) ....If you fell off the logs you would most certainly end up in the mud!!

On this day we set out to help one family...God had a much bigger plan though...we ended up helping 5 families. The first famliy we met with was a family of 8...living in a very small house. The mother was a widow and by her rugged stature you could tell that she was a very hard working lady!

The second family was a famliy of 4. They invited us into their home and we shared with them about the saturday outreach service. They were so excited!

We were not able to go to the third family´s home but the lady of the house was so excited to hear about the saturday outreach service and was very excited to also meet the pastor (Carlos Moyas). She expressed the need for a pastor in their area and how seeing pastor Moyas was an answer to prayer.

The fourth family was not home because they were out working so that they could provide for their family...This family´s house was like nothing I have seen before...it reminded me of a small shack...and there ¨kitchen¨consisted of a couple logs for a fire...

The fifth family was a famliy of 5 children who were alone most of the days...with no one to take care of them....

Each of these families God provided the means for us to help. How cool it is to know that God´s plan for the day (week, month, year) is so much bigger and better than we can even comprehend. What an awesome God we serve!

By Danielle

English Classes

2009-03-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Our English classes are going great! Efra, Alyssa, Bre, and I are definitely VERY tired when we get done with our two hour long class…who would have thought that teaching would be so tiring!? I am very thankful that God has been strengthening each one of us because sometimes I wonder how we get through the day without falling asleep standing up! Haha

The kids (and adults) are very smart! We were surprised at the amount that each person knew. I think the biggest thing that our students are thankful for is the fact that we teach them how to correctly pronounce words. The teachers here often don’t teach pronunciation—most just teach “the Spanish way” to say the words. Some of the lessons we have taught include…numbers, colors, simple greetings, body parts, and stories from the bible. We were so surprised to see that many children in the class had already heard the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. All of the children that we are working with come from poor families. We know this because of the school in which they attend. On Friday we will be having an end of the week English “party” for the kids and sharing the gospel with them. Please be praying that God would open the hearts of our students and that many would come to know our Savior Jesus Christ.

Monday Night

2009-03-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

On Monday night we brought food to a family whose house had been washed away. Their house now consists of a tiny wood and tin shack for 4 people—a mom, dad, daughter, and her husband.

The food items we were able to bring them were a little different from what we gave in Ibarra. We gave things like carrots, tomatoes, apples, 2 types of onion, lemons, pasta, a twenty five pound bag of rice, sugar, salt, detergent, two types of soap, cheese, 10 pounds of meat, etc. They were so thankful for the little that we were able to bring that it brought them to tears. They knew and understood that God was taking care of them no matter what state they are currently in. The big blessing in this story is that the government is now helping this family build a new house. It may be a long process but God provides!

By: Danielle

Monday Morning

2009-03-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

by Alyssa

I have been so humbled by the things I have seen here in Puyo. Over and over again I realize how ungrateful I am and how bless I am to be an American. The poor that I have seen in the US cannot compare to that which I have seen here. On Monday, we visited a mother and her three young children. The house was no more than the size of a one car garage. There were three boards of wood on the bottom half of the door to act as a child-safety gate. The house only had two rooms separated by a shabby wooden-panel wall and a tattered sheet. The corner where the sink and cabinet were held only a dozen eggs and three coffee cups. The dishes stored under the sink looked unwashed and used beyond their years. There was an unfinished table and three old plastic lawn-chairs which Danielle, Bre and I sat on. The mother told with us that she and the children share a mattress on the floor in the other room. The two oldest children were no more than four and five and the youngest was two. The mother looked tiered and the sadness that she expressed to us showed on her face. There was no glass in the large window behind her; only a sheet was used to keep the elements out. With tears in her eyes, the young mother was not bitter about her situation but adamant in sharing with us that she still had hope in God. I was humbled by her response to the difficulties in her life; I know that I would not be able to react in the same way. My heart went out to her and the many others single mothers that have been abandoned or left widowed by their husbands.

Craziness in Puyo...

2009-03-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been quite busy-- the heat and humidity definitely add to our exhaustion. But God is good…We have been able to bless 8 families so far this week. Here is what our days look like…We visit a family in the morning around 9:30 to invite them to our outreach service that will be held on Saturday. We usually get back to the hotel around 12 or 12:30 and then we eat and plan for our English classes which are from 3pm to 5pm. The class definitely keeps us on our toes…We have 35 students!! 30 of them are around the age of 11 and 5 are adults from the church we are working with. After a loud, exhausting, hot and humid class we head to the market to get fresh food for a family we visit around 6:30. After visiting a family accompanied by the pastor and his wife, we head back to the hotel. This is usually around 9pm. We then eat (because there is no time beforehand)…and we plan our classes for the next day. So as you can see our days are very productive…that’s for sure!! Without your prayers we would definitely not make it through the day. So thank you!! We will continue to keep you updated as time permits.

By: Danielle and Alyssa

Transportation

2009-03-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

by Alyssa

I want to say thank you to all of you who donated towards our trip. Originally we wouldn’t have been able to afford a vehicle but through your partnership and God’s providence we were able to rent a truck for the week.

This truck has been a great help to us; it has carried our seven large suitcases and got us safely through the mountains. We have also used it to transport the food purchased for the families. We had 250 pounds of rice and 50 pounds of sugar and much more.

The truck as also been helpful in getting to the homes in which are on roads with many pot holes, rocks and lose gravel. It is also much more comfortable riding with eight people in a truck then a small car or taxi since we can sit in back. I am thankful for this vehicle and the many ways God has used it to bless us and the people here.

Muchas Gracias!

God is faithful

2009-03-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

God has been really awesome to us the whole time we have been here in Ibarra..Since the first day we got here I had something in my head telling me that if at least one person’s faith gets strengthened because of the food we are giving away than that’s enough.

Today I was supposed to meet with the mother (Doris) from the first family we went to because she told me she wanted to talk to me about something important. I couldn’t meet with her but I saw her at band practice and she talked to Danielle and I. She said “I just want you guys to know that last week one of my relatives died and we had to do a trip to Colombia for his funeral. On Monday morning my husband told me that we had no money to buy food because of the trip. I told him that we needed to trust in God and he’ll provide. The next day around 5 pm you guys showed up in my house saying that you had food for us. God answered our prayers through you guys and because of that our faith is stronger” ….So I guess we are in the right place at the right time and GOD IS working in people’s lives. What makes this story such a blessing is that a few hours before we met with Doris we had wrote the previous blog... “For most of these families it is more than just groceries we are giving; it is an answer to prayer. It strengthens their faith in God to see that someone who has never met them before is bringing hope to them….” We had no idea that Doris felt this way or that she had been praying and trusting that God would provide food for her family. It wasn’t just her faith that got strengthened but ours as well.

By: Efra

2009-03-05T20:02:00.001-08:00

We met with our third family at the pastor’s house today. The family did not want us to go to see the environment in which they were living. Efra explained to the family that our small group of three has come on behave of a much larger group in the United States who send their support through financial gifts. These gifts are the reason we can provide the family with groceries. The mother of three was brought to tears with overwhelming gratitude. We saw the depth of her sincerity as she said “There are no words to express how thankful I am. Please thank the people that provided this for us.” For most of these families it is more than just groceries we are giving; it is an answer to prayer. It strengthens their faith in God to see that someone who has never met them before is bringing hope to them….

So thank you to all of you who listened and obeyed God’s call to support the families here in Ecuador. It is hard to even explain how thankful they are…their sincerity and gratefulness is amazing. Thank you so much for your continuous prayers for our team and for the families.

2009-03-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is the second family that we were able to visit. There are only 4 in this picture but there are 7 in this family.

2009-03-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

This picture shows the amount of food that we were able to give each family that we visited.

2009-03-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

This is the first family that we visited and gave food to. They are a family of five. The father was at work and the older daughter was at school. The mother is part of the worship team at the church we are working with here. Soon this family is facing possible homelessness because the house they are living in is not theirs. The owner of the home is coming back from Spain soon and they will have no where to live. Please be praying that they can find a new house very soon.

We Are In Ibarra

2009-03-04T15:26:00.001-08:00

By Danielle

It has definitely been an awesome first couple of days! Bre Martin is with us now!! She will also be with us for the remainder of the trip :)

...

Yesterday we went to visit a poor family from the church that we are working with here in Ibarra. Its amazing how much food 30 dollars buys here in Ecuador!!! We were able to get apples, oranges, chicken, green peppers, corn, lemons, cheese, rice, sugar, salt, two types of pasta, lentils, oil, toilet paper, detergent, soda (because that is a treat here!)....I might have even forgot some of the items...Cause there was so many! What an awesome experience to see a family so appreciative for just the basic items that we Americans overlook so many times (and I'm mostly talking about myself!!)...What a humbling experience...

We also had our first music class yesterday with the members of the worship team from the church we are working with. That went really well! This was a challenge for me learning the Spanish words for the songs that we are teaching the worship team...but I finally know them all...and it is so helpful to have Breanna here! She knows much more Spanish than I do and that is helpful!! While Bre and I worked with the singers, Efra helped the musicians get their parts down.

Today we are going to a very needy family...they are not only struggling with providing food for their family of 7 but the parents are also on the verge of divorce. So please be praying that God would help us to bring hope to this family...and a fresh start.

God is Greater!

2009-03-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

by Danielle & Efra

So after being told that we would never get out of Boston because of the snow storm God truly showed Himself...He is greater than a New England Blizzard ....thats for sure!! He got us in the right plane...He got us to the airport at the perfect time...We got a flight even earlier than ours....And here we sit in Houston Texas...Because God is greater than what our minds can even fathom! How Awesome He is! Now we have just an hour to wait until our next 5 hour flight to Ecuador! We are running on only like 2 hours of sleep but God is greater than our fleshly bodies! We are strengthened and Renewed and ready for what God has in store for us as we travel to Ibarra tomorrow morning! Please be praying that we would stay healthy so we can accomplish that which God has sent us to do. Please be praying that Efra's cold would get better because we will be giving music lessons tom. Please also be praying for the families we will be visiting and bringing food to. Pray that we will be a blessing to the family that has so graciously given us a place to stay the 3 days that we will be in Ibarra. We are so excited to be serving God in this way....we are here to serve, here to learn, and here to bring Hope...God's eternal Hope. We may have a schedule of everything we are going to do in these next three days...but God is greater than the plans we have...He is going to allow things to go beyond our control (like the huge snow storm today)... So pray that we would be open to any changes or situations we may face. Talk to you all soon!! And don't forget to pray for Alyssa as she will be flying to meet us on Friday night!!

The Video

2009-02-25T12:31:00.001-08:00

Here is our new video! Thanks for being apart of our team!

You can send your donation to:

East Auburn Baptist Church
560 Park Avenue
Auburn, ME 04210
Just write in the memo line: March Puyo, Ecuador trip.

Thank you for partnering with us to bring Hope to the Hopeless!!!

The Latest

2009-02-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

by Alyssa

I wanted to take the time to give you a quick update.

The last two weeks have been quite busy for Danielle, Efra and I. We had our pancake fundraiser last Saturday and we were able to raise $1050! I want to say thank you to our East Auburn Baptist Church family and especially to the staff at Applebee's Restaurant. We enjoyed serving the 65 people that came out for the breakfast. Also during last week, Efra and Danielle finished writing 5 English lessons and made the hotel and car reservations for our trip.

This week the "three-headed monster" put our heads together and planned a short video to promote the project...well tried. Writing a script for a 2.5 minute video turned out to be a lot harder then we thought it would be. We did a test run of Danielle's part but we weren't satisfied with it. So on Thursday we were happy to have our friend Adam, a producer at channel 8 news, helped us write a new video script.

With the script finally finished and Danielle feeling a little under the weather, Efra and I took Monday afternoon to shoot my part of the video. It took several...several...times for me to say my lines right but I finally got it. Now we need to pick out the pictures and record Danielle's part. Lord willing, the video will be shown at EABC this weekend, please be praying that those who are called to give will be obedient to God. Thanks for your interest in the food 4 puyo project we will continue to keep you posted.

God Bless!

Join Us For Our Yummy Fundraiser

2009-01-26T18:26:00.001-08:00

Elder Approved!

2009-01-26T17:58:00.001-08:00

by Alyssa

I am happy to announce that our trip to Ecuador has been accepted as an official missions trip of EABC. If you would like to donate to the Food 4 Puyo Projects you may send your checks to
East Auburn Baptist Church
560 Park Ave.
Auburn, ME 04210.

Why We Are Going

2009-01-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

by Danielle

What we really want to do is bring people hope. This word “Hope” is a word we are still trying to fully comprehend. We know that it’s not easy to tell people that there is hope when they have so little here on earth. But that’s the awesome part! Our hope is not in the things of this world but our hope is in a never-ending life with God! Once someone accepts Jesus as their personal savior they receive the Holy Spirit; they receive God’s grace and His mercy; and they are filled with a new found HOPE!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4).

When we are a child of God, we have hope in God’s loyal unconditional love and His immense compassion and concern for us! His blessings are new every morning, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is faithful to us and always meets our needs!

The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I have HOPE in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him (Lamentations 3:22-25).

We ask for your prayers as we prepare all the details for our trip. Please be praying that God would strengthen us and unite us even more as a team. God is going to do a work not only in our lives but also in the lives of those we will come in contact with. Pray for strength and safety. Pray that our focus would constantly be on God so that we may accomplish that which He has sent us to do.

What We Will Be Doing

2009-01-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

by Danielle

We are going to Ecuador!! Food for Puyo!! Hope Now!! The Three-headed Monster!! What does this all mean!?
:-)

It wasn’t until after the New York mission’s trip (Alyssa lead and Efra and I Co-lead) that we realized how well we all work together. “We are a three-headed monster,” we would joke—meaning we function so much better when we have our two other heads! What one-person lacks the other makes up for—how amazingly God works all together for the good! God has really given us each a desire to help people and to give a hope that can only come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After going to New York to see and speak with those on the streets we really felt God calling us to reach out to those who feel there is no hope. God tugged at our hearts and gave us a desire to help those in need in Ecuador. SO…from March 6^th to March 17^thEfra, Alyssa, and I will travel to the city of Puyo, Ecuador.
What will we be doing there you may ask? Many people have homes in Ecuador but not enough money to feed their families so our goal is to reach as many families as we can in the two-week span. For only 30 dollars we can help feed a family of 4 or 5 for a week! Think about that! Here in the U.S. we can spend 30 dollars on two people at a restaurant for just one meal! We are hoping to feed at least 10 families. We will bring them the food and then sit down to a meal with them to share the gospel with them.

We will also be teaching English while we are in Puyo. The cool thing about this is that we are going to be reaching two classes of people. We will be helping and ministering to the poor when we visit and bring them food and we will be ministering to the “rich” when we teach English. In Ecuador, usually only rich people go to classes to learn English because they have the money to do it. Our classes will obviously be free but the people who are more apt to come are those who have money. We will be using bible stories to help teach English—so we will have them learn and read right from the bible! What an awesome way to get someone into the word of God! Our hope is to be able to buy at least 20 bilingual Bibles so that our students can have not only a bible to bring home with them but also the English version so that they can keep learning.

We also would like to be able to visit a Daycare/Orphanage in Quito. On our first trip to Ecuador We will let you know more as God leads! we were able to fill the Daycare’s food pantry and we want to be able to help them again! This idea is still in the making!

His Compassion, Our Commission

2009-01-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

by Alyssa

In the past I never thought God would or was calling me to South America, yet here am I only 6 weeks away from taking my second trip to Ecuador with in a year's time. It's remarkable of how God as taken me to this point. I was nine when I first gave my life to the Lord. I remember praying, "here I am, Lord. Send me." I didn't know what He would do with my prayer at the time but with child-like faith I trusted Him. Today, I see God's hand leading me to surrender even more and to allow Him to work in my life. I still don't know how God will continue to use me but I say, "here I am." The prayer of my heart can be expressed in a song written by a staff member, Dick Grout, of Elim Bible Institute where I attended college. I will leave you with that :-)

His compassion, our commission.
Reveal to me Your heart for the nations.
His compassion, our commission. As I follow You, send me.
I don't know where this yes will lead me,
but I am saying yes to You, I want to obey.
Yes, I love You. Yes, I trust You. Yes, I'll follow You all the way.
His compassion, our commission.
Reveal to me Your heart for the nations.
His compassion, our commission. As I follow You, send me.

First Entry

2009-01-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog...

Authors: Alyssa, Danielle, and Efra