He estado viajando

Hola Everybody!
The time of my return is approaching fast. I've been wanting to do a little bit of traveling before I leave for home. I just got back from the Amazon as well as a town called Cuenca where there are lots of ancient Incan ruins.

The Amazon was very fascinating and hot. We went to a couple zoos, saw lots of monkies, reptiles, exotic birds. We also went on a guided excursion into the jungle and saw lots of interesting plants and stopped for a few minutes rest in a Shwaran hut.

Some ancient Incan ruins in Cuenca.

For my last few days here, I'm going to spend resting and spending time with friends.

Despite all the traveling, I am ready to come home and see most of you. It has been an amazing expeience here in Ecuador. A lot has happened in the past 5 months and I've leared so much. Once again, thanks to all of you for your prayers and thoughts. I will post at least once more on my blog while I'm still here in Ecuador.

Dios es bueno.

Hola a todos!
God is good. During our mission trip to Rio Bamba, we went to about 7 communities that have been affected by the Tungarahua volcano. In each community we did a VBS that involved dancing, music, puppets and the gospel. To each family of every community we gave food, shoes and bibles. To some we gave clothes and a bar of soap.
I believe the Lord worked through us during this trip. In every community, there were some that received Christ. One elderly woman was healed of her vision after the pastor prayed for her.

For a couple days during the trip a few of us got sick. Me and Josh (another american on our team) got it the worst. But despite that, the trip was still an incredible and life changing experience. Not only for me and my team, but also for the people of those communities. Thank you to all of you who have prayed!

"You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them." Nehemiah 9:17

A prayer request...

Please pray for me and my team from Portland as we preach the gospel for the next two weeks in Rio Bamba.
Pray that we will be effective in doing what the Lord may have us do.

Thank you for your prayers!

Hola!

Hey Everybody.
Here it is already mid July! Time is flying.

A quick update for you...
I already finished teaching English in the schools.
That was a very cool oportunity and I am very blessed now to have had that experience.

Last week, I went with some friends to a place called Baños. It's one of the entrances to the amazon (Not quite the amazon though). There were lots of waterfalls, rivers, an exotic zoo. It was very cool.

The weather here has finally started to get warmer. It's still cloudy for most of the time but there are fewer clouds now.

Now I'm really focusing on learning Spanish. Taking part in lots of conversations, reading, watching movies, taking notes. It's intense, but good.

Next week, some friends of mine from the US are gonna arrive here and we're going back to RioBamba. We will be sharing the gospel and giving clothes and other essential supplies to some of the indegenous people. Some of the people are still affected by the active Tungurahua volcano (I posted about it on June 16th).

After our mission trip to Rio Bamba and the surrounding area, I'm gonna do some more traveling, site-seeing, and learning of Spanish.

I do have some prayer requests:
1. For my grandma who is going to have surgery on July 23rd. That it will be effective and the healing process will go fast.
2. For my friend Rick Meigs in Portland, who is still healing from a nearly fatal accident a couple months ago.
3. For our mission trip down here in Rio Bamba. That the Lord would be with us and that we would be effectivene in sharing the gospel.

Thank you for your prayers and you friendship! May the Lord be with you.

Kevin
Psalm 105:4-5
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.

Gracias...

Yo quiero decir gracias a todos de ustedes para las oraciones y ser mi familia y amigos!
Dios es bueno!
No puedo esperar hasta que puedo ver ustedes de nuevo.
Que Dios te bendiga y que te ayude en tus vidas.

Gracias,
Kevin

Awesome weekend in Rio Bamba!

This past weekend I went to a town called Rio Bamba to accompany a local missionary named Irene. I had an amazing time! During the few days that I was there we visited a few communities around the active volcano "Tunguragua."


Me and some of the kids in the community.

The people that live in those communities have a very hard life. Since its erruption in 1999, the volcano has constantly spewed ash into the air and destoyed their crops and affected the health of the people. (I saw fields of choked corn and apple and pear trees that looked like they have black rocks hanging from them because the ash chokes and shrivles the fruit before it can fall to the ground.)


Part of an abandoned house, in the path of the volcano.

A lot of people have left the area but still lots more remain. It is too hard for many of them to move their families and everything they have. That and it costs money (which they don´t have) to find and buy other property that would sustain them.
Though it has been ten years since the erruption, they are still holding on to the hope that the Lord will shut the mouth of the volcano. On several occasions over the past ten years, the military has showed up to evacuate the people saying: "You have 5 minutes to get out before the mountain blows." This kind of news makes everyone there live "on edge" and in fear. They don´t know when it might expload again. On those occasions however, not everyone agrees to evacuate. Some would rather risk their lives and stay. One of the reasons for this are because of thieves that have come in before and stolen many things when the rest of the community is gone for days at a time.


Irene and Me

Not many people know about this situation. Therefore, Irene and I were there this weekend to:
1. Preach the gospel and share the word of God and our testimonies.
2. Make sure the people of the communities know exactly when we and a larger team will be returning and that the people show up to the town center on that day.
3. To get a list of how many people need clothes or specific thins.


Irene speaking in front of the community "Pungal de Puela."


Getting people´s names down on the list.

In July when we return to the communities with the larger team from Portland, we will again be preaching the gospel and giving the people clothes and other humanitarian aid that the team may bring.


Me and some more of the village kids.

I really feel that the Lord worked this weekend!

Life here

Hey everyone,

Besides teaching English and learning Spanish, I've been able to get out and do somethings such as going on hikes or certain tourist attractions.

Two weekends ago, I went to the Equator. What I found amazing is one of the demonstrations they did. They had a small tub of water with a plug at the bottom and two small leaves floating on the top. They placed the tub on "the line," unplugged the tub and the water and the leaves drained straight down. Then they moved the tub about 7 feet to the south, did the same thing and the water and the leaves drained clockwise. They repeated it once more, 7 feet to the north and the water and the leaves drained counterclockwise! Talk about a myth buster. That was very fascinating.

Last Sunday I hiked to the top of Mount Pichincha which is 15,000ft.

It started off with a cable car ride. From the top of the cable car you can see for miles!
The hike was very beautiful except for the very top of the mountain cuz there were lots of clouds. But after three strenuous hours and a little bit of rock climbing, we made it. It was worth it!


I have been training for a 15k race on Sunday June 7th. I've been running every day. When I run, in one hand I hold my water bottle and in the other I hold a rock or some object to defend myself from charging dogs. I've come close to using the rock, but thankfully I haven't had to. I've been training here in Tumbaco which is at 7,500ft, however, the race is going to be in Quito which is around 10,000ft. It may be a little different but I think I will be prepared. I think the fact that I've been training for the past few weeks helped me on my hike up the mountain. Once we reached the top I was the only who was still ready for more.
Me after the race.


In two weeks I'm going down to Rio Bamba for a weekend to visit with one of the missionaries whom I will be working with for two weeks in July and August.

I will try to keep the updates coming more frequently. It only depends on my internet access.

Thank you all once again for being my family and friends. I pray that God will bless all of you in the months to come!

Kevin