Too Tired For A Witty Title

The team at Le Mitad del Mundo!

     "I'm lost in a foreign land. If not for my friends, this place would fill my heart with anxiety and my mind with overwhelming doubts about my tomorrows. I don't speak the language. Google maps can't find a GPS signal and for me there is no cell phone coverage. How about this for a scary thought: I'm your team leader. 
     Today I am acutely aware of my dependence on others to change my reality from fear to security. I am grateful to be doing this with friends.
     You, my friend, have the ability to alter someone's reality. Look for that opportunity and take it. I can tell from personal experience that it makes a world of difference."
                                                                                                           - Steve

Our day started with a field trip to La Mitad del Mundo, where we got to stand on the equator!! Our claim-to-fame for the day is that we literally got to stand in two places at once - the northern and southern hemispheres! (Meg and Mandi couldn’t help but think of the movie A Walk to Remember’s “perfect 1st date” while experiencing this!) It was great to have the opportunity to see more of the city of Quito while traveling to and from this landmark, too! Such a gorgeous place! We were also blessed with sunshine during this first half of the day! The weather was quite the opposite during our afternoon Christmas party... 

Our awesome rain suits and ponchos were necessary at today's Christmas party!

Quite the change in the weather from this morning at the equator!

Today’s party was at Carman Bajo, a church in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Quito. There were over 700 people that came! The energy and excitement in the atmosphere was contagious! Even when it started POURING rain on us, everyone - volunteers and guests - still partied on and made the most of being there. At the end of the event, all of the volunteers from Extreme Response and Carman Bajo gathered together to share about the day and pray. Our very own Luis served as the translator! He was awesome! 

Aaron with some of the party guests and Luis translating at the volunteer meeting

"Today near the end of our Christmas party, I stood in the downpour and helped cut wristbands off of the kids so they could receive their gift bags as they left. It was pouring down rain, I could see my breath, it was so cold, and I was wearing 4 layers of clothes. Across from me were tons of little kids, wearing light sweaters, excited to be at a place where they got to play games, eat a hot meal, receive another meal to take home, and a small gift bag as probably their only Christmas gift, even if it was raining. As they came with smiles on their faces and said “gracias”  for their gifts and for the party all I could think was “this is what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus.” - Mandi

Precious kids at the Carman Bajo Christmas party. 

Tomorrow our team will be going to the Zambiza dump for the first time. We will be touring the site, visiting the Zambiza Day Care/Clinic, and serving lunch to over 300 adult volunteers who serve regularly at the Zambiza church/dump. Please be praying for our time at this site - that our eyes would be open to see what God wants us to see, and feel in our hearts the compassion only God can provide to be able to serve in such a place as this. We look forward to sharing about it with you tomorrow!

We would also ask for your continued prayer for our health. So far, we are all feeling good! But, given all of the changes in weather, the altitude, and minimum hours of sleep, we are in a susceptible place for sickness. We all want to be at our best while we are here! :-)