We closed Friday and welcomed the Sabbath by gathering together with the local Adventist congregations at the new school site for communion.  The chairs were positioned in the shape of a cross with an arc shaped outer set of chairs on each side of the cross.  The communion table was stationed at the head of the cross and was attractively lit by many glowing candles.  Scattered along the concrete walls were additional candles casting soft light over the communion participants. 

The people from the left side of the cross funneled past the communion table in one direction and made a loop around the other side of the cross to return to their seat.  Simultaneously the people seated on the right flowed down the opposite side of the table and back around the perimeter to their seats.  We enjoyed our communion with God and our fellow believers and returned home for the evening feeling peaceful and contented.

Our second Sabbath on the island dawned bright and beautiful.  We rejoined our new-found friends at the school construction site for worship again.  In the afternoon we took an excursion up into the mountains again but this time we spent our time at a 4-star resort’s restaurant and grounds.  The area was delightfully decorated with festive white lights and table runners brightly woven in their local Ecuadorian pattern.  We enjoyed our final few hours together as a team before retiring to our hotels to pack for our long journey home.

Sunday we rose early to send our bags off to the airport and gathered for our last team breakfast.  We have enjoyed our time together and with fond farewells we set off for each of our final destinations (some for additional travels in Ecuador and others to their home).  Hugs and “Hope to see you at another Maranatha Project” filled the air as we went our separate ways.  Many lives were touched by people willing to commit their time to God's call.  It was an awesome experience!

We are nearing the end of our mission trip.  Over half the 106 volunteers are over 70 years old.  The majority of the remaining volunteers are over 50 with the youngest team member in her upper 20´s and a scattering of those in their late 30´s or early 40´´s.  There are many years of experience and wisdom with this team.

David Schwinn told the team this morning that his goal during the trip was to take us out of our comfort zone.  The times we allow ourselves to be out of our comfort zone are the times when God can fully work in us and through us.  It is not easy to step beyond what we’re accustomed to, but the end result of God leading us is always a dramatic blessing for all parties involved.

The team is tired now after working so hard and thoughts are turning towards home.  As one walks among the volunteers taking a much earned rest, you can hear them excitedly discussing where they will go next to serve.  They may be weary now, but they know that God will give them the energy, motivation, and financial means to travel to the next destination to reach others with The Good News!  All they need is a willing heart and God will take care of the rest.

Today the group will wander about town, rest beside the pool, start packing for home, and spend time together sharing stories of how God has touched their life and those that we came to serve.  We will close Friday and enter into Sabbath by celebrating with an Agape Feast (communion) at the new school.

The painting of the current school is completed!  Even just 2 short days ago the crew was unsure whether they would meet their goal however the interior classrooms and the exterior (including courtyard and play area) look great!  Sadie Torres, the painting supervisor, said that angels must have helped them.  A Loma Linda worker came to check on the progress and was so thrilled with the results that he gave Sadie a mucho grande hug!

All but 20 to 30 feet of the new school wall is done.  Grates were installed on a window and on the wall near the street corner to help people visualize the soon to be finished product.  All that is needed is more concrete and the next wave of volunteers.

The ESL students are saturated!  Washington, the Director of Communications for the city, spoke with all the students and he is very happy with the results of the tutoring sessions.  Teaching English is not like painting where you can see a very positive, immediate end result.  However as the Maranatha volunteers went souvenir shopping in the community, they heard the shopkeepers using their newly learned English and courtesy skills!  It was music to their ears to hear a shopkeeper say:  “May I help you?”

The weather is now definitely into the rainy season.  While it is still very warm and muggy, it also is overcast in the morning and raining by evening.  The volunteers have been working very hard and are getting tired so tonight they booked the community center for a Humor (Talent) Night.

Laughter abounded when Carroll Rushold liberally sprinkled Norwegian/Swedish jokes throughout the night.  If you see Carroll sometime, ask him how Oley got the two black eyes!  It’s a hoot!!!

The volunteers and the community enjoyed American, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian music.  Peruvian music must be the official music of heaven!  The Last Resort Singers (an eclectic collection of voices from around the U.S. and Barbados) enthusiastically sang their versions of Cool Water, I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You, Catch a Falling Star, and Amore.

Humor again engulfed the community center when John Marriott performed A-hab the Arab (a translation nightmare that brought fits of laughter to the translator!).  George Baehm told his Cow Story (picture a 5 year old city kid, George, trying to find the switch on the cow to make the milk come out!).  Arlene Rushold’s poem The House Behind the House (about a lovely 3 hole Outhouse and Grandfather’s disastrous outcome) tickled the crowds funny bone!

The son of a local taxi driver performed as Michael Jackson complete with sequined glove, felt hat, and trademark moonwalk.  The crowd loved it! 

Jim Crabtree rounded out the evening’s entertainment with a touchingly beautiful rendition of O Sole Mio. 

There is a community plaza on the waterfront near our hotels.  After work hours, the plaza fills up with the local people who play volleyball or just sit and chat while their children play in the playground next to it.  It is a very popular place for the natives and tourists alike.   

This evening, Maranatha volunteers joined with the native members of our team to put on a concert at the plaza.  The music was quite varied!  We had lively local instrumental music, Old West (American) tunes, classical music, and contemporary vocal selections (thanks to The Last Resort Singers!).   It was interesting to see the Scandinavian tourists singing along to the Old West tunes!

VBS is thriving!  The VBS workers arrived early to find a boy and his sister already at the community center.  He was so excited that he had memorized his memory verse from Tuesday.  He and his sister were very sad however because they did not have a Bible.  This was a humbling lesson for the entire Maranatha team—many of us have 2 or more extra Bibles that often just sit on the bookshelf while these little children have none available to them. 

The VBS team did bring 10 Spanish Bibles to give away.  Today they put the names of the children who had memorized their memory verse into a hat and had a little girl draw out one name.  Guess whose name she drew out?  Si--the little nino!  God smiled upon this little boy and put the paper with his name on it into that little girl’s hand!  He and his sister were overjoyed!  They were seen later with heads bent over together intently reading their new little Spanish Bible.  This is another reminder as to why we are here--to reach others with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

A boat coming from mainland Ecuador bringing us fresh vegetables for our meals and concrete for the new school construction had difficulties and needed to return to the mainland for repairs.  We have had to scale back on construction which disappointed many, but at the same time offered us the opportunity for excursions around the island.  The remaining concrete on-site is being used to continue the rock wall surrounding the school grounds.  The crews are rotating taking time off for a fun half day of sightseeing around the bay area.

Maranatha had funds for about ½ the amount of classrooms needed by Loma Linda for the new school.  While this was disappointing to the staff at Loma Linda, they had hope and faith that God would intervene.  Maranatha Galapagos Team One felt led to start raising additional funds so that a school could be built that would meet all their needs.  Each room is $35,000.00  which at first seems an unreachable goal until you remember that God is in control.  The fundraising is continuing with Team 2 and it is exciting to see how God is working through the volunteers to help accomplish this goal.

A mission trip is a great way to challenge your perspective on life!  There are so many things that we accept or even expect as a part of our daily life.  Being in a foreign country opens your eyes (and heart, if you are willing).  Here is just one example:  There are no washcloths, something we take for granted in the U.S., to be found in the areas of Ecuador that we have been in.  When this complaint was brought before the group, one volunteer said she had brought something like 24 washcloths that she had planned to leave in Ecuador when she goes home!  Approximately 24 volunteers were very happy to use them in the meantime.  Now this is a small issue concerning a mere travel inconvenience, but it shows us that God is good….even the small matters! 

John Esparza, a Maranatha volunteer, is taking his faith and putting it into action.  There was a local girl who was coming to the hotel at meal times and taking some of our food back home to her Grandmother.  She was very shy, but John befriended her.  She has lived a very difficult life so far and John felt God calling him to help her.  John took her shopping for new clothes and she is now more confident mingling among the volunteers showing us how beautiful she is!  John is working on obtaining funds to put her into the local Adventist school, Loma Linda—considered to be the finest school on the island.  He has raised funds for one year and hopes to be able to put her through a total of eight years.  What a lesson John is to all of us!  God will work through anyone (regardless of faith, age, station in life, etc) when they are open to His call.

On Sunday, the volunteers rose early refreshed after a Sabbath’s rest.  The Construction Crew ate a hearty breakfast and then hit the dusty trail to the escuela nuevo and had a very productive and safe day.  The superintendent, David Schwinn, said that it’s a very good day when no band-aids are handed out!

The Painting Crew walked to the current school and continued making progress with the interior painting.  They are challenged by corrugated ceilings and how difficult it is to use a paint roller, on an extension rod, overhead to paint a “rolling” surface.  While this did slow them down a little they remained focused on the task of serving God to the best of their ability.  One volunteer reminded us that “with God all things are possible”.

The VBS group was ready to start working right after breakfast and brought out all the wonderful craft items that they had brought with them from home.  It wasn’t long before they commandeered the hotel dining area to stage their craft preparations!  The room was filled with activity and laughter for hours as the team excitedly prepared their program to teach the local children about Jesus.

The English Tutors poured over their Spanish/English dictionaries and pictorials to prepare for tomorrow.  A few members of the team were quite anxious about how the tutoring would work out.  It was being staged in an unfamiliar area (the native’s shops, hotels, and restaurants) instead of the usual classroom setting.  Nadine Proctor had an immediate change in countenance when she said:  “Where God calls, God enables.”.  This became the team’s unofficial motto for the challenge that God had in store for them in the upcoming week. 

The kitchen crew (Josephine Vitangcol and Myrna Greaves along with natives Elizabeth, Edgar, Edita, Rossy, and Lucia) have been hard at work every day helping to prepare three hearty vegetarian meals for 106 people.  They are having a blast!  Myrna said they are bonding with the native workers and learning to cook with native foods.  Myrna and Josephine said that as they are teaching English to the native workers that they are in turn learning Spanish!  This sentiment has been a common theme in all the teams.

I ( Lynda Cazort) am currently viewing the wonderful frigate birds floating effortlessly in the beautiful blue sky.  God desires that for us too.  If we focus on Him as we serve others, the challenges and obstacles we face will not daunt us in our work.  We will soar on His wings as comfortably and competently as the frigates. 

We gathered for worship at the new school site joining with the local congregation in a bilingual Sabbath celebration.  The day dawned hot and bright, but the tarps over the steel roof beams brought some welcomed shade.  The worshippers enjoyed music presented by both nationals and MVI participants.  Pastor James Crabtree, the groups Spiritual Leader, gave the sermon focusing on the trials of Job and his unwavering commitment to God.

After the service, the group traveled to the mountain where a number of local Adventists were camping.  Traveling to a higher elevation brought slightly cooler temperatures and misty rain.  Due to the frequent precipitation we found the vegetation to be more abundant and lush.

The people separated into two groups—one visiting the lava tunnels and tortoises and the other walking or hiking around the immediate area.  Inside the tunnel you could hear a jumble of languages, but the singing of familiar hymns and choruses (simultaneously in English and Spanish) brought us into a cohesive group—all followers of Jesus Christ.

Being in the tunnel reminded Lynda Cazort of her spiritual journey.  She started out wandering aimlessly not quite knowing where she would end up.  Sometimes she would “trip” over events in her life or bump her head into an unseen obstacle.  Just when fear seemed about to overtake Lynda, she saw a glimpse of Light.  She instinctively knew that was where she needed to go—towards the Light.  What joy it was to go from the slippery slopes of darkness into the warmth of the sunlight and the light of God’s love! 

Seeing the giant tortoises was an adventure; a stinky sticky adventure!  These tortoises were meandering in a cow pasture.  Some were even lounging in the mucky water in the field!  Our guide chased away the cows so that the only obstacle left was dodging cow pies as we searched for tortoises to photograph. This will be one of those memories that sticks with you!

The groups returned to the main camping hut and joined in a short discussion of what the locals learned in Sabbath school.  As the sun set in a blaze of orange light, we ended our Sabbath with music, singing, and prayer.  We left our new friends feeling very blessed to have spent time with them.

Our long-awaited first day of work!  The construction crew at the new school and the painting crew at the current school were hard at work.  They came back sweaty, dirty, tired, and very happy!  Their enthusiasm for doing God’s work was untouched by the uncomfortable working conditions.  Their smiles shone through the dust and paint on their faces!

The English tutors met for orientation and quickly found that David Schwinn’s (the construction superintendent) motto “flexibility, flexibility, flexibility” was to be put to the test.  The tutors found that instead of being called to teach simple business/tourism phrases to parents of the Adventist school students, they were being utilized only as examiners for the oral portion of the student’s final exams.  However as they pondered the change in plans, God was at work in the community bringing people together in a new and exciting way!

Shortly after the tutors learned about the change in direction, The Director of Communications for the city of Puerto Ayora came to the English orientation to request we help teach English to the nationals at their work site.  He planned on advertising it on the radio and TV and also went personally to businesses to speak to them about it.  The project blossomed far beyond anything the tutors could have dreamed!  With some anxiety of the unknown but also knowing that where God calls He also enables, the group adjourned to prepare their plan of action for tomorrow. 

God was not finished!  He was again working in the community and among the volunteers to coordinate a Vacation Bible School (VBS).  You an read more about this miracle on Sunday's entry.

The day ended with everyone gathering after dinner to worship and sing and welcome in the groups first Sabbath on the island. 

Stay tuned for updates from the Galapagos Team 2 Project, January 20 - February 4!