Saturday, July 2, 2011

June 30th (Day 11) Travel and Sleep Deprivation


Our last day in Ecuador began early with a 3am wake-up call and a tired anticipation for seeing family and friends by the end of the day.  Our team was very tired with 3-4 hours of sleep and all were looking forward to sleeping on the plane.  We arrived at the airport a little before 4pm and made it through with no problem.

We did have one rather comical moment when the airline called three of us down to ask us about our checked luggage piece.  One of them was Noah Danner who had his suitcase full of Hannah Miller’s clothes.  When they opened his suitcase it was filled with underwear and bras and they asked Noah if this was his suitcase and he just smiled and said yes.  I am curious to what kind of witness that was to this luggage handler J  13 of us got on the flight to Panama at 6pm and then caught a flight to Houston.  The other 11 went straight to Houston and both groups were rather silent during those legs of the trip.  The group that came to Panama were delayed a bit so by the time they got through customs they were running through the airport to get there on time.  The last 3 of them arrived with our plane half loaded. 

When we got on the plane they had a few electronic issues and ended up being delayed by about 40 minutes at the gate.  It was a little bit hot but we passed the time talking loudly to each other and possibly annoying some other travelers.  It seems that everyone doesn’t appreciate the joy and love that mission team has for each other by the end of the trip.  We had a safe trip back home and were excited to see our loved ones by the time we landed.  When we got there our entire luggage arrived except Arthur’s (which came on a later flight and delivered that evening).  When we got to church it was great seeing so many of our loved one’s and lots of laughter, tears and hugs were shared.  We ended it the way we should with a group prayer lifting many of our thoughts and hopes of the next steps in our lives.

What a joy and privilege it was for me to spend the last 11 days with each of you on this trip.  It was one of the best mission experiences I have had with a group and look forward to see how God will use this experience to shape you for further ministry.  Remember you are never alone as you have 23 other brothers and sisters and most importantly your Heavenly Father who has watched over you and protected you during this experience.  May God continue to bless each of you and continue to serve and be a witness to Him.  He must become more and we must become less.  Dios lay bendega.

Derek Broten

Day 10 (June 29th)


Well good morning!!  Or is it night??? Hmm….. I’m not really sure because right now, it’s 4:54 in the morning and we’ve been up for 2 hours already.  The hardest part about being at an international airport at this time in the day is not the sleep in our eyes, the headaches we have, or even our brains not fully awake yet, but the issue of hydrating our bodies. As you are probably aware, we are not allowed to bring a full water bottle past security. You can bring an empty one, but not any water.  If we were in the states, NO PROBLEMO! Fill it up when you get through, but being in Ecuador, and not really in the mood to get parasites, we all decided it was best to not drink the water no matter how much our heads hurt or our throats scratched.   Buying water was not even an option because none of the stores are open. Other than that minor little detail and scare of infestation of parasites in our final hours in Quito, WE’RE GREAT!!!  Nevertheless, the time we have spent in this beautiful country has been one of the best experiences in our lives.

Yesterday was our last full day in Ecuador.  Interesting enough, the word “Ecuador” comes directly from the word “Equator.” So after a M.Y.O (make your own…..for those of you who are not quite as familiar with texting lingo) breakfast, we headed to the middle of the earth. Quite literally. After making sure everyone in a mile radius knew we were American tourists by our thorough use of cameras and creative poses, we were able to do some shopping!!!!!  This we did in tradition Ecuadorian fashion: we bartered.  We had veterans, we had rookies, we had some with a natural talent and some who struggled. And we are slightly concerned about some people continuing this habit once back in our homeland.  If anyone had any questions about why we were there, those questions were gone once they noticed a bunch of Scandinavians parading through the streets of Ecuador in alpaca ponchos carrying giant hammocks. Which coincidentally, most Ecuadorians don’t wear ponchos.  Go figure. But we looked good! 

After a delicious 4 course Ecuadorian meal, we once again climbed onto the oh so familiar bus and headed to a retreat center called El Refugio (The Refuge for all you Gringos). Started in 1994, this 300+ acre property is a place where up to 3000 people a year, come to experience God in nature. Our purpose was to have 3 hours of hiking and quiet time with our heavenly Daddy.  It is amazing how fast the time went and how everyone was able to connect with God in a personal and unique way.  After quiet time, we had dinner. 
Hotdogs, chips, watermelon and carrots; normal right?  Well did I mention the Qui? For those of you who might need to look this up, it’s Guinea Pig. Yep. That’s right. Those tiny little creatures we keep in cages in our children’s bedrooms, name, feed, and care for. We had the opportunity to see how they are underneath the surface.  To be quite honest, it did taste like chicken. A little bit greasy, but for the most part, not bad. We finished off the meal with an Ecuadorian version of a s’more. Which our host and resident Ecuadorian Diana thought was a funny word.

Our final debrief was spent sharing our experiences during quiet time and reflecting on our entire trip.  As the memories of the last 10 days flooded our minds, we remembered what touched us, what made us laugh, and what we learned.  We were also reminded that this is a mission ‘experience’ and not a mission ‘trip’.  A trip has an end, but an experience goes on.  And with this, we were challenged with what fruit we wanted to bear for the kingdom and how we wanted to impact others once we returned to Woodbury. All in all, every one of us is leaving feeling blessed to be a part of this team and this family. We have no regrets and are thankful that God has brought us here and given us a bond both with this country and with each other that none of us will ever forget.

Sunny Stansbury and Becca Petrich







Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Day 9 (June 28th) Waterfalls, Unicorns, and Pizza Crust

Today was a travel day. We drove from Puyo to Quito, with a few stops along the way. One stop we made was a trail called El Pailon, which was where we ate lunch. Along the way, we went to a waterfall more exhilarating than we had ever seen. This day was a day where we heard God’s voice. Literally. Revelation 1:14-15 says, “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.” The sound was deafening, the sound of pure power. Thinking of this as Christ’s voice was a radical thought.

            When we ate lunch, we discussed how sweet it would be if Christ came back this week. This brought us to thoughts about creation and heaven. We wondered if the unicorns actually did exist, and were just eaten by lions or grizzly bears on the ark. We discussed different theories on what life was like before the flood. We walked back to the bus a bit more intelligent than the way we came in.

            The drive itself was incredible. The mountains were surreal to me. I remember one time when I realized the sheer mass of rock and tree that were standing almost straight up from the earth. I looked across the valley and saw a small road. It was only then I realized just how small the trucks were that drove across it. This gave me a small idea of how big the God I serve is. That He would mold mountains with His bare hands, shape valleys with a flick of His wrist…why He would care to listen to something as small as me is beyond my comprehension.

            We rounded a corner and I saw a snow capped mass emerging from the green of the surrounding jungle. I literally stopped what I was doing to stare at the immensity of it. It was then that Chris told everyone to look out the right window, and this time I watched the faces of our team light up when they saw this volcano. It was called Tunguragua. It had erupted two years ago causing the people of Banos to evacuate their homes as their city was covered in ash.

            Dinner was a delicious meal of Papa Johns pizza. I believe the record was 10 pieces eaten – the record currently held by Arthur Grant. (And yes, the crusts do count Shelly) After dinner, we washed the dishes and meandered downstairs for our second to last debrief. We had a time of encouragement. The question was how we’ve seen God work through others on the team. We got to use a beach ball as a prop, throwing it to who ever we wanted to recognize. I am pretty sure it lasted over 2 hours. There were many tears, and even more thank you’s. Prayer and worship came after. I can honestly say that with this team, I have not felt the Lord’s presence quite that strongly in one room. I was shaking with His presence. He is so good, and He has worked nothing short of miracles in lives of the youth on this team.

Rowan Opheim







DAY 8 (June 27): God is bigger than a hole in the road!

The pleasant morning came quickly after the awesome previous day. I looked out the window with an hour before breakfast so I woke up Joel and other team members with me whistling a sublime tune. Breakfast consisted of an amazing new blackberry juice that shocked the tongue pallets of most. All of us were asked “Leche o agua?” And this would determine what else we drank—coffee or hot chocolate. The ham and eggs gave us the energy to start our day off right.
We all boarded the bus ready for the hard work that we were prepared for. The bus ride started off with the sound of some gracious strumming by Aaron, but sooner then later we all broke out into song. Before we knew it we were at the bridge that we crossed the last time by foot. We crossed our fingers hoping the ancient looking bridge wouldn’t collapse.
We made it to the other side and boarded the second bus in which Kyle and I rode shotgun with the bus driver. Unexpectedly we reached a large gaping hole in the road over the river as a result of the other nights pouring rain. Three cars lined up and some local Ecuadorians were busy filling the hole precisely with wood planks. Thinking of this as a huge set back it was quite enjoyable to see all the efforts and teamwork of everyone collaboratively trying to fix the hole. Rocks and rocks and rocks the hole filled up and the guys got together to lift a truck out of the way. “Yes! Lift a truck out of the way” Anywho… we watched with hope and anticipation the bus crossing the new bridge we just created.
This predicament seemed to build up our great attitudes and we started singing Bohemian Rhapsody. To our surprise we managed to sing every verse and with great ease. After that song we kept singing until we arrived to the church at Tuniame.  The church was mostly completed and it looked very awesome, the aroma of the wood and burning sawdust gave off a nice calming vibe.
We took a moment with the Pastor and the other workers and prayed over the church and were thanked for our being there. I thought after we left the church they did a great job and finished all but one wall.  As we took a group photo, I remembered the great joy we had in being able to help build a church we got on the bus and headed for Chai to our next destination.
At this point on the ride the unexpected was the expected and the morning held many surprises. At Chai it was a steady flow of rain. Due to the hole in the road our work was canceled and we were all to do VBS with the kids. But unexpectedly to us, me and Dario and the pastor were outside in the rain looking at the bottom of a 20 foot deep pit which was suppose to be our project of the day. The thought of a bathroom being located there was hard to see but we started to put planks over and got ready for the rebar and soon enough concrete.  Surprisingly after some base work the sun appeared to us and the heat came. The view seen from the church was phenomenal. A look into the jungle was foreign to the look most of us see in Minnesota. It was breathtaking pretty much breathtaking.  
Back to the work however, lunch couldn’t come soon enough. PB&J, chips and Oreos was the delicacy of the day along with water, water, agua y mas agua. We soon all congregated in the school to sing some songs and do crafts, play games, do a skit and tell stories.  After that, we broke up our groups and we went to work on the bathroom again. Nathan Ledesma and I brought over the bags of concrete and the other tools necessary. The project was becoming more and more, concrete was being poured and rocks were being gathers to place over the pit. 
Throughout the day I can say that me and Kyle found the most interesting creature. We stumbled upon a creature with many many legs that was the size of Kyles hand. The other interesting creature was found by Rachel and it was a frog that was black and yellow with orange spots on the side.
Nonetheless the project was becoming more and more as the concrete was being poured and every one was taking turns mixing and drinking water and enjoying the view. By the time we were finished our work there I noticed a smile on everybody’s face as well as a bunch of sweat.
We all gathered in the church with the most magnificent view and met with the pastor of the church whom just arrived by bus. He hadn’t expected any of us to be there since earlier in the morning the bridge was washed out. He was very grateful that we persisted on going to the church anyway. He also thanked us for helping out because if we had not been there then it probably would have been washed out for a while.  (The pastor told us how throughout the day when people got to the road that was impassible they asked how the road got fixed and the news was spreading that the Americanos came to fix it and that they are the ones that love Jesus.  There are five different villages or more that use that road that will hear that witness) 
We prayed over the people of Chai and we were given a great thanks. Personally I would like to thank them for the great opportunity we had to experience all that could be experienced. I felt a great joy in my heart knowing that I could benefit society a little bit more than I could in Minnesota. I would also like to thank all the warm hearts that greeted us at Chai and all the happy children that were there to chill with us. All the support that we had was awesome.
After the goodbyes and the thanks and the prayers we set out on our journey to the other bus. Out of everything that has happened I realized with Diana on the bus that I’m learning my Spanish better than when it was taught at school. We took a group photo on the bridge and then to the bus for another journey to find dinner. We eventually had burgers and cola for supper with was muy delicioso. After supper and an interesting contemplative conversation with the guys at my table we walked for some ice cream the “Mora” was very tasty.   Then we walked home. 
          The contents of the day cannot truly be described by words unless I wrote a book. But the thoughts and feelings of everyone were blessed and today was a great day. Knowing that the only expectation in life is unexpectation, everyday turns to be an adventure. And no matter what your plans are for the day, God can change plans whenever he likes. God allows us to do things.
Working at Chai gave the greatest joy and feeling of accomplishment to me. It was truly a Nice day.



Lucas Arneson (Derek’s comments in brackets)




Monday, June 27, 2011

Day Seven: (June 26) Joy. Holy Spirit. Togetherness.

The joy of the Lord is all over this team. God’s fingerprints are everywhere, obvious on each person.
(We started the day celebrating Kristen’s birthday and when she came down to breakfast we were all wearing birthday hats and when she walked into the room we sang happy birthday to her)

We started off the day with church; a sermon that only a few of us could understand because of the language barrier. However, we learned that many things are universal and can be conveyed without words. For example, the pastor had an altar call and several members of the congregation went up to the front. As the pastor was praying for these people, emotions filled the whole room. Tears filled their eyes as God reached down and touched their hearts. Many of us took one glance at these people and it was almost as if we could read their minds. No words had to be said; we just knew that God was at work in them as he is at work in each of our lives.

(During the worship service they invited Kristen Jung onstage and sang Happy Birthday to her in Spanish.  The Pastor than came on stage and prayed over her.  It was a great moment for Kristen)
After church, we went out to lunch (blackberry juice, steak, fries, rice and a type of vegetable soup and a strawberry mouse type thing) and then had very little time to relax because we were off to play soccer with the locals. I think I can speak for all of us when I say this, but everyone was absolutely exhausted and lacking much needed energy. By the time we got on the soccer field though, the tiredness was overtaken by the excitement of the game. Competition, fun in the puddles on the field, and great encouragement was the backbone of our game. (Several of our team members were covered in mud by falling into the puddles.  It has rained everyday in Puyo creating some fun soccer obstacles.  By the time we finished, we were sweaty and caked in mud, a recipe for a fantastic day.

At dinner, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Kristen for the fourth time.  We sang twice in English and twice in Spanish, we are that talented J. (For dinner we had chicken with gravy, rice, broccoli, fries, a vegetable type soup and a chocolate ice cream type of dessert) The restaurant gave her a small chocolate cake, which she shared with us. The rest of the night was followed by Colin giving his testimony during debrief and a powerful time of prayer. The Holy Spirit had definitely descended in the room as we laid hands on Colin. We finished up the day with some absolutely hysterical moments.  If I were to explain one of the outrageous times, you parents and friends at home probably wouldn’t understand. Half the stuff we laugh about probably isn’t even funny; it might have to do with our lack of sleep, but the joy of the Lord is our strength.

I’m so grateful for the team and the way God is at work in each of our lives. Can’t wait to see what other surprises he has in store. He is SO good.

Lindsay Ahlquist



Sunday, June 26, 2011

Day Five: (June 25) Unity and Witness

Today was by far the best day of the experience so far.  When it started out I expected it to be much worse.  Today was preceded by a day of sickness not to mention Derek’s warning of how the exhaustion usually makes the 6th day of the trip the hardest.

However the day quickly turned around.  Derek gave us the challenge to sit next to different people than usual and the team immediately took it on when we got on the bus.  On the bus ride out into the jungle, we sang worship songs mostly to practice for what we would be performing at the church service later that night.  The happiness and the fun totally set the tone for the rest of the day.

Our experience began with us having to get out of the bus and walk across this magnificent bridge that spanned the most beautiful river I’ve ever seen.  Then we got on another bus which navigated the most windy, muddy road I’ve ever seen and included a point were we literally had to drive through a large stream.

This whole driving experience brought us to a tiny little Shar village in the middle of the Ecuadorian jungle where a church was to be built.

(Derek Side note:  The shar people are an indigenous people that the pastor in Puyo has been ministering to for the last 7 years.  This was the first time he let anyone beside himself go to this village.  On the way out there Dario told me that this village hasn’t seen white people for over 50 years when the last biblical translators left that village.  We met one of the head guys in the village who was a believer that was a young boy 50 years ago when the last missionary left their village and he waited 43 years for God’s Word to come back to him.  It was a great honor for them to let our group go.)

For the first half of the day we all took part in some aspect of the construction putting up walls to the church. (sanding, painting, moving wood and nailing up boards on the wall)  Despite having bodies drained of energy everyone worked very hard and diligently.  Some of the ground even got to experience the true wildlife of the Ecuadorian jungle (Giant cockroaches the size of which none of us has seen). 

After lunch a small group of us went off to lead a VBS for the village kids.  Most of the kids were very shy (first time seeing white people) and nervous.  Despite our attempts at affection such as the gifts of friendship bracelets we had made on the plane ride to Ecuador they slowly began to open up to us.  We read and acted out the story of David and Goliath for them.  We played games like duck-duck-grey duck and little red riding hood and san worship songs with them.  All of this managed to break the language and culture barrier and by VBS we were walking back to the construction site with the kids literally clinging to us.

We had a small amount of time to play with the kids after VBS, and we managed to make small conversations with them but the true love was felt with the smiles and laughter.  The hardest part of the day by far was leaving the kids.

After we trekked back through the jungle we had a “traditional Ecuadorian meal” as Derek told us which turned out to be pizza (It was fun listening to the youth guess at what they were going to have to eat and several were relieved to see pizza’s).  We ate 14 pizza’s as a group and then went to youth group at the church.  It was there that we performed our two songs and it was great to see the people joining in with our Spanish singing, or lack there of.  (Kara Hayden also gave a great testimony of God’s healing of her dad)  We played more games, heard a moving sermon from one of the local pastors, and got time to attempt to converse with the youth group members of the church.

The bus ride back to the hostel and our de-brief were both filled with laughter and emotion, which was a perfect topping to a wonderful day.  And as if a sign from God during prayer on the sheltered roof of the hostel, rain began to poor down from the heavens: A sign of His wonderfulness.  Though this technically didn’t happen on my journal day, the group sang Happy Birthday” at midnight and was one of the most meaningful things anyone has ever done for me.  I’m so glad to be a part of this group.

Kristen Jung (Derek’s comments in brackets)






Day Four: (June 24) Roughing It???

Today we got up around 7:15am and got ready to go to Puyo.  We had several people willing to serve making lunches, moving luggage and packing our donated items.  After breakfast and some instructions we were on the road around 8:30am.

Kristen had a rough start to the morning as she wasn’t feeling so good.  The first hour was a tough drive for her but she did feel better toward later afternoon.  Becca and Kara also didn’t feel great during certain parts of the trip as well.  Lots of prayer was lifted up for them. 

We had a beautiful drive through the mountains and amazing views throughout our day including some beautiful waterfalls.  By the way we had to stop about 10 minutes into our trip this morning for Aaron Mertens and Lucas Arneson because they had to go to the bathroom.  I forgot to remind them J
We stopped in a city park for lunch and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  While we were waiting to go a game of ultimate Frisbee broke out and was going well until Kyle decided to dive into a metal basket.  Thankfully he didn’t hit it straight on and was OK. 

Our next stop was puyo and we arrived around 4pm.  We were more than a little surprised when we got to our hostel and it’s a very nice hostel.  We were expecting to rough it but our rooms are very nice and everyone has a nice bed and shower (2 or 3 per room).  Our hosts are treating us very well.

At 6pm we went to dinner with Dario (he is our host for the next 4 days in Puyo and is funny and a treat to be around) at one of his cousins restaurants.  It was a very nice restaurant and we were served carrot soup, papaya juice, rice, fish (some plates still had the head on which brought mixed reactions) and fried papaya’s.  We had fresh fruit for desert and was a great supper.

We than headed to the church in Puyo for a mission service they were having.  Our main church that we are partnering with is very mission focus and they started the goal of starting one new church a year but have upped it to two churches a year they want to start.  This evening was to help them raise some funds toward that.  It was suppose to start around 7:30 but was after 8pm before it started.  We found out this evening that services go a little longer here.  It was a three-hour service and included lots of different things. 

We started with giving a small greeting from our team and had lots of different elements within the service.  Aaron Mertens and Phil Stebbing gave a personal testimony and did a great job.  We also had 3 testimonies from their congregation, a guest preacher, several songs, slideshows, black light theater, drama group and I am sure there was something else that I forgot.  Our team did a great job staying away after a long day of travel and not being able to understand a lot of what was said.  It ended around 11pm and they served some empanadas with syrup and they were very good.  They also had some different things for us to try including some fruit drink, a spiced chicken cooked in leaves and some potato with an interesting texture. 

We loaded up and headed back to the hostel.  I can tell tonight that they were tired and we are at that half way point where its easy to start getting irritated with each other.  Please pray for good attitudes, a good night sleep, that our team would continue to mingle and get to know each other even better.  Tomorrow will be one of our longer days with a lot of construction work on our docket. 

God is good and is keeping us safe.