Friends in Quito: What? No rain?

On the bus after the Extreme Response’s Main Christmas Event at Zambiza Dump today Mandi and Megan got to sit across from Russ Cline and talk about the day, life, and Extreme Response. When we asked how he thought the day went, he said “smoothest we have ever had!” We agreed that it was an amazing day! (We even had perfect weather! Our first party pf the week with no rain!) Extreme Response does an exceptional job, not only in ministry and partnership with the people of Ecuador, but also in the organization and implementation of multiple large parties in less than a week. I (Mandi) am very impressed...and that is high praise from me! :)

For Luis and Aaron, the day started extra early when they were picked up from our housing at 5:45am to serve on the early set up crew. The rest of us gathered at 7:00am with the rest of the Extreme Response team and about 400 additional volunteers from local churches and ministries within Quito for a brief orientation. After we were all prepped for the day, we loaded onto busses and headed to the Zambiza dump. The party included TONS of games, crafts, face painting, temporary tattoos, nail painting, a live band, and bags of gifts and food for each person that attended. Each person that works in the dump was given 10 tickets to come to the party and they could invite whoever they wanted. There were about 3,000 people that attended the party! Aaron, Steve, and Noah rocked the games today. Mandi gave temporary tattoos to more kids (and adults) then she can count. Megan painted beautiful Ecuadorian faces. And Luis was a busy man, serving food, giving out candy, painting faces, helping with games, and translating for whoever was around him in that moment (he’s a rockstar)! At the end of the day, as the last people were leaving, the live band sang “How Great Thou Art” in Spanish. It was a powerful moment as we acknowledged the greatness of God in multiple languages and the work that He had done both in and through us today.

“While I was serving in the face paint/tattoo/nail art tent today, a little boy, about 6 years old, came up to me and asked if I would put a temporary tattoo on his hand. While I was getting the tattoo ready to stick on, he reached into the cup, pulled out a handful of the tattoos, and stuck them in his pocket. Of course, I saw him, and confronted him about this. He was extremely hesitant to give back the stack, but he wasn’t running away from it - he was joking like he would - even though he had been caught. One of the ER staff members saw me trying (in my broken Spanish) to talk to him and came over to help. After a few minutes of back and forth, the little boy finally gave in to us and handed back the stack of stolen tattoos, with the exception of one more. I put on his “bargained” christmas tree tattoo, and immediately after it was revealed, he pulled me down to his level and gave me the strongest hug I have ever felt. He held me so tight for what seemed like at least 5 minutes, only releasing for enough time for him to look into my eyes and exclaim to me “Feliz Navidad!!” He stayed with me a little longer, never letting go of my hand, until he went to go play some more games. As he walked away, I realized that this little “thief” only needed to be loved!! He was craving it! And I am so blessed that I got to be the one to love him, through showing mercy and simply holding him tight.” - Megan

They say a picture says a 1,000 words and today we wanted to give you a glimpse into how we experienced God today...