A Recap on Mission Ecuador 2008

The team members kept looking at each other marveling that we were in South America! Everything around us made that obvious - the weather, the people, the language, and those glorious mountain vistas! The twelve NCA students traveling to Ecuador led hours of activities for the 90-100 children at Compassion International in downtown Cuenca, comforted and played with abused and abandoned children at Remar House outside the town, and reached out through gifts, games and conversation to the children at a rural public elementary school. Mr. Kerwin and I were greatly blessed by the enthusiastic service and the open and willing hearts of this team!

Whether evangelizing someone on the street in faltering Spanish and gestures, or sharing our personal faith with clerks and tour guides, the Ecuador team seemed always aware we were in Cuenca to seek the Lord and His kingdom. That may sound just too noble- we were certainly a typical NCA group - but it’s true nevertheless. Even moments waiting or just walking to the next thing seemed fruitful. We continue in prayer for those we witnessed to in Cuenca, and will be processing the effects on ourselves over the next few weeks. Thank you for your prayers!

The kids will be presenting a special chapel for next week to share their experiences. Please join us if you are able, on Thursday, March 13th at 2:00.

 

The Return Trip

It is a bright and sunny 75 degree morning in Guayaquil Ecuador today. It was typically 20 degrees cooler in Cuenca every day the team was there.

The flight out of Guayaquil Ecuador was delayed a bit last night. The team arrived at 7:38am this morning in Atlanta. They are boarding flight 4874 leaving Atlanta at 9:38 now. It should arrive at 12:03pm this afternoon, depending on the weather.

Onto Cuenca

Our time here has been jam packed. After a day in Guayaquil, we made it here to Cuenca on Sunday evening. The Hotel Inca Real is absolutely marvelous! I have a suite with a living room area. The only downside is a bed as hard as a concrete floor - literally!

Monday was long and busy! We walked around town a bit and took a double decker bus tour in the morning. Then we went to Compassion for the afternoon. where the kids played hard. Dan Kerwin was exhausted and sweaty after 2 hours of soccer in the sun, and I was exhausted and going down fast.

On Tuesday we cut back a bit on our schedule and decided on just 2 hours outside at Compassion. Then we spent time inside at Verbo Christian School all morning. We had a lovely dinner at the hotel, (This team is the most adventurous regarding food. They order crepes, salmon, trout, portobella mushrooms, etc.) and then we sent the kids to crash briefly before going out to home groups, which were great!

Wednesday we had a lovely historic and cultural tour. We changed that from a 3 hour walking tour to a 3 hour bus tour with stops. The guide was a nice young man with excellent English.

Tonight the kids have gone to a big soccer game with several youth leaders from Verbo and Dan Kerwin and I beat it to the internet cafe. He’s on the phone with his wife and kids.

This is such a beautiful place and we are having lots of fun with the kids. We’ll see you all soon.

-Chris Urban

 

Hola! para Ecuador!

Hey Everyone! This is just a quick update on how things are going. Right now we are in Guayaquil at Howard Johnson´s. We made the flight yesterday and now are awaiting our connection to Cuenca which is at 6:30 this evening.

Wow, well what to say. Even though we didn´t make our original flight, God has really been with us the whole way through. We had a great time in serious prayer and assessing what our priorities are for this mission yesterday. One verse that really stood out for me is Prov. 16:9. We can plan all we want to in advance, but God is the decider of all that happens. I think this has been a good lesson at least for me in trusting God in every area of my life, especially in travel. He has an amazing way of showing us what we need to give over to Him.

Thank you everyone for your prayers! They are felt!

Blessings, Catey

Team All On Plane, Heading to Equador

Well it’s been a long day for everyone involved. The team was at the airport by 1:00 this afternoon but were still on standby for the 4:30 trip to Ecuador. A text message came in at 7pm noting that everyone made it, and they are headed to Ecuador.

You can track their progress at www.delta.com They just passed over Cuba. They should be arriving at 11:38 at Guayaquil, Ecuador tonight.

Leaving Manchester NH is Delayed

Flying Delta #4465 11am from Manchester to Atlanta, GA is delayed until 1:15 which will put the travelers into Atlanta at 4:19. They may spend the night in Atlanta and fly out Saturday to Ecuador.

Flying Delta #195 is on-time flying from Atlanta, GA at 4:30pm to Guayaquil, Ecuador arriving just after 11:30pm (1 hour time difference)

UPDATE: The teams luggage is on it’s way to Ecuador, the team is not. Stuck in Atlanta overnight they will be staying at a Ramada Inn. The flight was delayed for almost an hour as they de-iced the plane in Manchester. “It was really cool watching them spray the plane before we took off”. The flight to Ecuador was held for almost an hour but the team was about 10 minutes late arriving at the gate.

They are being picked up by a courtesy bus from the Ramanda Inn and after they are settled, are planning on having dinner there. The next flight to Ecuador is at 4:30 Saturday afternoon. They are on standby for that flight.

Mission to Cuenca, Ecuador

The first NCA missions trip of the 2007-2008 school year will leave from Manchester NH on Friday February 22, 2008 and return on Saturday March 1st. 12 students from NCA and 2 chaperones, Mr. Dan Kerwin and Mrs. Chris Urban will be traveling to Cuenca, Ecuador. The 12 students are:

• Meaghan Biggio
• Jamie Brienen
• Tiana Burelle
• David Cianci
• Eric Lizotte
• Matt Ezzo
• Catie Ham
• Dan MacDougall
• Sam Penkacik
• Anthony Smith
• CT Spaulding
• Chris Yoos

We are traveling first to Guayaquil Ecuador via Atlanta GA, staying overnight and then taking a short trip up to Cuenca, a city of 400,000 up at 9,000 feet in the Andes mountains. We will be working with Verbo Ministries in Cuenca and Compassion International. Part of what we will be doing will be working with underprivileged kids in an after-school program.

If you would like to pray for us we would appreciate it. We hope to be able to update this blog with our thoughts and some photos while we are on the trip.