The Final Days

It’s time for another update!  I arrived at home in Wisconsin yesterday.  I don’t know where the time has gone.  Since my last update I have went to Baños, I have seen more surgeries, I have taken Salsa classes, I had to say goodbye to Shell as well as the hospital and I went to the Equator (Mitad del Mundo).  I have learned more about the Lord and His faithfulness within the past couple weeks, and I have come to embrace the call that the Lord has to go to the world with His Gospel.

A view of the hospital after work. 

I went with my team, Jennifer and DeNise Love to Baños a week and a half ago.  We left for Baños, a neighboring city to Shell, after work on that Friday.  The bus ride took about an hour and a half.  When we arrived we were tired and hungry, so we went out to dinner at a Café called ‘CafeHood’.  Much like CafeHood, Bañosis a hub for American and European travelers so it’s common to hear English being spoken in the markets and in the restaurants that we went to.  I was beginning to feel sick with a cold that night so I went right back to the hotel to sleep after getting dinner.

In front of CafeHood in Baños. 

The next morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and then got ready for our canyoning adventure.  We met our guides, Marcos and Enrique, at the Geotours office in Baños at 9am.  We got suited up and drove to our canyoning site.  We began by hiking up a couple hills to get to the first waterfall.  We had a little tutorial about how to repel correctly before embarking out.  I was a little nervous at first, but I felt confident in our guides.  We chose to do the half-day option of canyoning which involved going down four waterfalls which ranged in heights from 10 meters to 30 meters.  It was amazing to see the Lord’s creation in all of its beauty and wonder.  That by far was one of my favorite parts of my time in Ecuador!

Our canyoning group!

After canyoning we went back to the hotel and showered off and had lunch.  We then walked around and went shopping.  It was really fun to see all of the authentic gifts that we could buy.  I was able to buy some gifts for my family which will hopefully give them a unique taste of Ecuador.  After shopping we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  By dinner time I was feeling worse than I had earlier that day.  I left dinner early to go back to the hotel to rest and ended up sleeping for ten hours.

Going down the first waterfall.

In the morning I was feeling much better so I went to breakfast and had some journaling and alone time.  It was a perfect morning.  I had bread with jam, eggs, juice and hot coco.  There was salsa music playing in the background and the sun was rising around Baños.  I met up with the rest of my group after breakfast and went shopping with them.  We then packed up our belongings and headed towards the bus station.  On the way there we stopped and bought some empanadas.  The best one was the chocolate and banana empanada.  We then loaded onto the bus and road back to Shell.

We had Bible study with the Fogg Family that night.  It was a powerful Bible study for me because of all of the wonderful reminders of the Lord, His provision and His.  They also urged us to remember to be on mission at home.  Whether we are in the grocery store, church, in Ecuador or in the States we are on mission if we take the Great Commission seriously.  It was wonderful to reflect on why I am in Ecuador.  It isn’t just a trip for me nor is it just an internship.  I want to emphasize more and more that this is an opportunity to see what the Lord is accomplishing in Ecuador, on the mission field.  He has reminded me of living and believing that He is real.  Believing that what I pray for can happen, that the Lord is the Creator of all, and that we are His hands and feet to the people around the world has been some of what I have gained from this opportunity.

Hospital Vozandes del Oriente

We worked our last week in Hospital Vozandes del Oriente.  It was really difficult to say goodbye to a lot of the patients that I was able to get to know over the five weeks that I spent in Shell.  There were a couple women that I met during their pregnancy check-ups that I was able to then see them with their babies after they had given birth.  It’s absolutely incredible to see that kind of progress and to truly get to know people from another country.  One patient that stood out to me during my time at Hospital Vozandes del Oriente was a 60-year-old man named José.  He had severe lesions on both of his legs from his knees down to his ankles.  One of the first weeks that I was in Shell I had the opportunity to treat his legs by wrapping them with something called a uni-boot.  It basically consisted of a couple layers of gauze followed by a covering.  This allowed his legs to heal.  On my last day at the hospital he came in for his final check-up.  I was able to take 30 minutes or so washing his legs and talking with him.  It was so enjoyable to laugh and praise the Lord for the improvement that we had seen.  I might never see him again, yet the Lord used him in a very impactful way in my life.

At my last morning meeting with the doctors at rounds.

The next day we packed up our baggage and said goodbye to our home in Shell.  It was difficult to leave.  If I didn’t have family, friends and school to come back to in the States I think I could have stayed in Shell for a couple more years!  We drove with the Leon’s, DeNise and Jennifer towards Tena.  On the way to Tena we stopped at this beautiful swimming hole called Laguna Azul.  It was a series of waterfalls and huge rocks perfect for sun bathing in the Napo River.  We spent at least three hours exploring, swimming and enjoying the beauty of that place.  We then loaded back onto the bus and headed to Tena.  We were heading to Casa del Suizo, a resort on the Napo River close to Tena.  In order to get there we needed to ride a boat there.  After a fifteen minute ride in a motorized canoe, we arrived at Casa del Suizo.  In the middle of the jungle stood this resort.  It was breathtaking!  We spent the next day and a half relaxing and debriefing from the trip.  I shared the same opinions as my teammates that we wished we would have been able to stay in Shell longer instead of going to a resort.  I am happy to say that I was able to fully experience the jungle when we went to Washinsta instead of experiencing a fabricated, tourist version of the jungle.  Nevertheless I enjoyed my time at Casa del Suizo.

Decorations at Casa del Suizo. 

We got back to our bus two days later and then continued the long voyage to Quito.  When we arrived in Quito I experienced a lot of culture shock.  This was mostly due to the amount of people, cars and how americanized Quito was.  We were able to go to the legendary market and buy any last gifts that we wanted to buy.  We were also able to go to the Equator.  The hardest part of the last couple days was saying goodbye to my team.  I am not sure if I will ever see them again even though we have hopes to have a 20 year reunion back in Shell.  I was incredibly blessed to spend the last six weeks with them.  I wouldn’t have wanted to spend it with any other group!

I landed in Minneapolis last night after having a long day of travel.  I am sad to say, “Goodbye” to Ecuador, so for now I will just say, “See you again soon!”

At the Equator, Mitad del Mundo, before my last day in Ecuador.

Thank you for all of your prayers, support and interest throughout the summer.  I couldn't have done this without you and without the Lord's provision.  I pray that the Lord may encourage you as He has me to go out with His strength and to share True Life with people through the Gospel.

¡Chao Chao!