God is faithful

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

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.

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.

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

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

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 :)

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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!

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!!