Answers

Andrés and I have been praying some very specific prayers lately. I don't always do that. Maybe I am afraid that God won't give me specific answers. Or maybe I am afraid that my God won't respond at all. I can be so silly.

Sunday night we spend a good chunk of time praying. Monday we got a specific answer. This morning we did too.

I scurry around so often trying to solve my own problems and I bet God looks down at me and thinks, "Dana, chill. I've got this. Just ask."

What a girl will do for some gas

Over the weekend we ran out of gas...which means we didn't have any hot water. So Monday morning, I decided 3 days was too many to go without a shower. I walked out my front door, wearing mismatched pj's and my Yoda robe (courtesy of Drew, thanks dude) only to find our guard and 2 cops in front of my house. Being completely shameless, I decided to take advantage of the situation and asked the cops if they could help me track down a gas truck. They of course looked at me like I was the crazy gringa. I walked back in my house and sure enough, a minute later, I heard the sirens go off and lo and behold, the gas truck showed up at my house. I wish it was always that easy to get gas.

Skaters

Last week I got to hang out with some skaters at La Roca. (La Roca is a Youth World ministry for skaters here in Quito.) They have a sweet set up...pretty much a mini skate park. I grew up around skaters so it was awesome just to be around it again. Skaters here are disenfranchised and misunderstood, which makes me want to bake them cookies and show them that I'm not afraid. (I have the 6th love language: baked goods.) I love talking about spiritual things in passing...without opening up in prayer or a Bible in hand, and that was my favorite part of sitting on the bench at La Roca: talking with one of the skaters about Ruth and how gnarly it was that she left everything she knew to be with her mother-in-law and how hard it is to find books in the Bible without using the Table of Contents. That is the kind of ministry I love...

I would have been speared

Tonight I got to spend time with two of my favorite grandpas. 60 years ago I would have been speared for setting foot near their territory. Tonight I helped them button their shirts and combed their hair before they shared their testimony at a Samiritan's Purse conference. I asked Grandpa Mincaye if he likes sharing his story. He said, "yes, because people don't know." How simple and true...

Corrupt

Lately Ive been feeling the effects of living in a corrupt country. Every culture has its sin and Ecuador has been kicking my butt lately.

I need to get my wedding band sized before the big day... But everywhere we go we hear a different story about the process, price, and risks. Then we have to come up with ways to ensure that while it is being worked on, no one rips us off.

Yesterday Andres and I were sitting in the car in front of my house talking about our plans for the next day. After a couple minutes he got antsy and said, "we should go inside before we get robbed." Sitting in the car in my neighborhood is not a luxury I have here.

I love Ecuador but I hate its corruption.

A real post about the Sewing School

Here come the sewing machines!

All set up in the new Sewing Room!

Well it's all set up! Our hope for this Sewing School is that it would give mothers in the community a chance to learn new skills and provide for their families. If you know anyone who want to come teach some sewing workshops, let me know!

Cardboard keeps you warm

A couple nights ago I went out to dinner with the Casa G boys. (Normally I have them over to my house but Wilma was having seizures and I couldn't bear the thought of traumatizing her with the boys.) Anyway, we walked to dinner. At night. Yup, we walked outside at night. That is the joy of being with the Casa G boys, I never worry about getting robbed! Anyway, we were walking down a main street and one of the boys pointed to the steps of a building and said, "That's where we used to sleep." Another boy chimed in about how they used to make cardboard houses. It was a pretty cold night, so I asked how they stayed warm on the street. They all chimed in and said that cardboard boxes kept them warm. I was like, "No, really, did you have blankets?" "No, just cardboard." "Well I'm cold right now, I can't imagine trying to fall asleep out here!" "We should get you some cardboard then." Then we walked into hamburger restaurant and feasted. What a strange world...

When you help start a Sewing School

So over the past week I have been helping start up a Sewing School in Carmen Bajo. This photo has just about nothing to do with the Sewing School, but all week long while I was at Carmen Bajo I kept running into these little troublemakers. I asked the kids what they learned at school today. They said,    "Cows go MOO!" I'm not sure if they actually learned that or if they were just messing with me.

Meet Chancho

The other night we got at call at 8pm from our lovely empleada. She said she was in the neighborhood and asked if she could stop by. I looked at Christy and said, "I hope she's bringing us chancho." Sure enough she walked in with a bloody bag of fresh chancho (pork). She slaughtered the little guy at 5 and put it in my hands at 8. It was still warm. Thank God for crockpots, otherwise I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to cook chancho.

Sewing Machine Hunt

Today we spent the morning and afternoon finding sewing machines for our new Sewing School in Carmen Bajo.

If I was in the States I would have had the help of Google or the Yellow Pages. In Ecuador we do things a little different. I had checked out the pricing at a couple places a few months ago, so we started off there. While en route we wound up stopping the car on the side of a highway 3 different times to check out sewing machines we saw in store windows. We also took the advice of tailors and security gurads as they pointed us in the direction of sewing machine distributors.

Information can be unreliable in Ecuador, especially when someone is trying to sell you something. So we wrote down every salesperson's opinion and pricing, and sat down over lunch to come up with a game plan. (Making gameplans while eating shrimp always calms down a Sewing Machine Hunt.)

We're gonna sleep on it and spend some time in prayer and consult some friends in the business, but I think tomorrow we will be ready to buy the sewing machines. Sewing School Phase One: mission almost accomplished.