If you think about it; please pray for me.
As is the story of my life, I thought I had things figured out, then I got thrown a curve ball.
I seriously have no idea what to do.
  Please pray for me and let me know what God tells you.

update 3; Manaal's turn

Hola! Buenos!

I guess its my turn to send the update...the days here are both short and long with the amount of life we have been experiencing and regardless of the length, they are always full of surprises.

I was busy cooking and glistening in the church kitchen, which is upstairs and faces a busy street with a HUGE window, in a tanktop, my ipod blaring and attempting lunges as i waited for things to simmer, boil and bubble. You can imagine my surprisa cuando the guards, who are normally restricted to the first floor, entered asking to refill their water container with the filtered water. after i got over my embarrassment, i asked if they wanted some food when it was done...20something guys...of course they said yes... and that was the start of our truly entertaining night. Hanna and i brought the 4 guys some of our makeshift baked ziti and as soon as we had cleared our own table, we were again surprised when they came up with a sachel with the most amazing rotiserie chicken, plantain chips and salad...and a huge doughnut to share. we were all full, but as culture would dictate we gratefully cut away at the chicken, sharing, when the other 2 came upstairs it was a full on fiesta. they dont speak english and we barely understand spanish... enter "google translate" Jen's mac and my mac were on opposite sides of the table as we all laughed at the translations while making conversation. I want a jelly doughnut!  we would have rocked america's funniest home videos.

These are the kinds of precious and memorable moments that have flavored our trip.

Ok, a few highlights from the past few days...

Earlier Today...We spent the whole day at an agricultural community an hour away in Saraceta. We taught a million kids (or so it felt) about sanitation then set up a mini-clinic and saw anyone who needed health care. we couldnt have asked for a more beautiful setting and group of people. we were in a shaded jungle-like environment with sunlight coming through the palm leaves like a movie. We even had stocked bathrooms (apparently built for specifically for a wedding by the owner of the plantation). The people were gentle and fed and stuffed us with snacks - when was the last time you got coconut milk and bananas for a snack? it was awesome. 

Yesterday was our dia libra, so we took a bus 2.5 hours away to the beach, where all the white people and myself got burnt... but it was a much appreciated day of rest. it was beautiful and the water was actually warmer than our mas frio shower. 

Wednesday - Pastor Samuel's birthday party was here at the  big church...the festivities included mobbing him at the stairs with signs and singing, a snack ( a veritable feast!) (are you noticing the food theme?) and more singing. then we had the opportunity to restock and catch up on logistics. as i mentioned, We are starting to understand spanish...sort of... at least, with the help of Jen's iphone translator and a combined 2 semesters of Spanish between all of us.   that morning, we managed to conquer the grocery store, find a laundramat (since hanging "drawers" in the church shower seems to be taboo), bought empanadas  and frozen yogurt for lunch. 

Wednesday afternoon took us back to Nigeria for more door to door health care outreach... we were welcomed into several family's lives for a few minutes or an hour each. Of particular note for me were the two last families.

First, a family with 11 children, an anemic mother, blind father (in one eye) several chickens, a dog with puppies all in a tiny home too small to host us, so we sat on their living room furniture (plastic lawn chairs) on their stoop, watching the neighbors wash clothes and dogs fighting. They shared stories of hope, miracles, and need...since the father cant work anymore. Even through their struggles they are so hopeful...happy and eager for us to pray with them. 

Humor goes a long ways in these neighborhoods, my absolute favorite visit soo far was the last gentleman of the day. 

... we were walking around nigeria door to door and i was saying "A-ver" which is what you say at the door to get someone to answer it... and a cute old man stuck his head out of the grated window... and said Buenas Dias, and then  in spanish "Come in"....he didnt know who we were yet... so we went in as he was pulling chairs around to give us somewhere to sit in his tiny one room area...and he said "so how've you been" like he knew us forever.... LOL, and we responded great! how bout you?...his reply " ummm, not so great! i took a laxative yesterday so i had a pretty rough night...but im ok now...(no pause) so who are you and why are you here:?" LOL. i couldnt help but laugh. we of course told him we were health care workers and here to answer questions and checkups and invite people to a clinic in a few weeks...after which he started yelling for his wife from down the street, she had the hugest knee and ankle i'd seen in a while and she was limping and practically crying... so it was a great visit... including the long conversation he had with eric our translator about  the history of how their home was a gift and life in general. at the end  i asked if i could take his picture, he said, yes, but why,  "because you invited us into your home!" and he said, " everyone is welcome here...everyone who knocks on the door, neighbors, visitors, sometimes even thieves"... he had such a great dry sense of humor and grace. 

I feel as though everyday, even though we are here to serve these people, that we are constantly being shown a kind of generosity and grace that amazes me. I can only hope some of it sticks to me.

Thanks for your prayers and support, 

Gratefully, 

Manaal  (and Jen, Hanna and Sheri)

Update 2

The last  two days have been very productive days. Sunday morning we met our second translator (eric) and headed to the Nigeria church for service. 

The pastor and congregation welcomed us very warmly.

We joined the congregation as they broke into groups and each group wrote down their ideas on things they would like to see improve in Nigeria, how they would make these changes happen, and then draw pictures of the changes.

It was beautiful to see the hearts of these people. They wanted to see beautiful things happen in the community; health clinics, places for counseling teens who face abuse, a no alcohol and drugs law, paved roads and parks. 

  Each member of our group was also asked to speak in front of the church.

 We were not warned in advance that we would be sharing, rather we were just called up to the front and told to speak to the group.

After the service we visited with the pastor a bit before heading out to go door to door for health visits. 

We picked one street and had one group go on each side.

There were alot of children with the flu and coughs.  

It was wonderful when some women would invite us into their homes just to visit.

 It took us only a few hours to go the length of the street, we returned to our giant church that we call home and with the help of our translators and some locals found our way to a much anticipated frozen yogurt place.

Today we again spent in Nigeria. We  went to a school there to talk with the woman in charge about doing some work there. Due to some conflicts we weren't able to see her. 

It took only a few minutes of us being there for the children to realize that we were there. They started running up to us and hugging us  and talking to us excitingly, they also practiced their english phrases with us.

A woman there gave us a tour of the school and told us about the schools history.

Getting home had its obstacles. We were all for taking a canoe across the river and catching a cab there, but our translator/body guard thought it was a terrible idea.

As a native he said that the other side of the river was too dangerous an area. He would say "I am your body guard, but who is my body guard?".

  He then walked up to a police officer and asked him to drive us out of Nigeria and drop us off somewhere we could catch a a taxi. We squeezed into the police car and rode out of Nigeria.

The police officer looked at us strangely when he saw us back in Nigeria just a few hours later.

We continued our door to door checks down another road. 

It was wonderful to have children who had seen us that morning run up to us and hug us when they saw us by their houses.

We saw less ill children on this road and more ill adults. 

We took time to pray with every person and love them as much as we could.

We spent our evening connecting with the guards who stay here at the church.

We joked that they were our babysitters, and they laughed and told us that we were very good children.

We heard their testimonies and stories about their families and great things God had done in their lives.

We all prayed together before finally letting our translator go home and we ourselves went upstairs.

I am excited that I will be here for three weeks. 

I feel that the people we are meeting here will touch me in more ways and teach me in more ways than I could ever help them.

  

Please continue to pray for our safety, health, our translators sanity, and our relationships with those in Nigeria and here at La Roca.

 -Hanna Coffey

This is update 1. Written by Jen

I'm grinning from ear to ear.
- So are Sheri, Manaal, and Hanna (the lovely ladies serving with me on this trip).
- So is the pastor of "La Roca Nigeria," a new church plant in a slum on the outskirts of Guayaquil. We spent the afternoon with him.
- So are the people we met as we walked around Nigeria today.

Why?

Because we're doing exactly what we were made to do:
Serve God by loving people.

Nigeria (Spanish pronounciation "nay-hay-ri-uh") is poor. Really, really poor. Like a poor part of Africa plopped on the outskirts of one of Ecuador's nicest cities. Standing water, trash, and feces in the muddy streets force you to watch where you're stepping. In our brief visit today we met children with lice & scabies, hepatitis, diarrhea, and unexplained fevers. We sat and talked to moms and were treated to snacks and drinks in each home. I love watching medic teams get EXCITED the harder the circumstances get - when our feet get dirty and our clothes start to stink (it is 90 F with heavy humidity here), grins just seem to get bigger. 

Answers to prayer:
 - I asked you to pray for quick bonding with our translators and local church leaders. This happened today. We're excited to be working together.
- I asked you to pray for smooth travel. Our overnight flight left us tired, but we had no delays or problem, all our bags arrived, and we got them through customs with minimal hassle.

Please continue to pray:
- For good reception as we visit families in their homes and build relationships while meeting medical needs
- For health and safety
- For wise decisions and direction as we prepare for a larger medical team the last week. In particular, please pray for our meeting with the school director in Nigeria tomorrow, and for connections with Guayaquil hospital leaders.

Thank you!

Jennifer

HELLO FRIENDS

In case you are feeling forgotten please know that I have not forgotten you. I have been having SOOOOOOO many adventures here in Ecuador and plan to share them once I am back in the States.
I have internet here, but am waiting till I can add photos to the days accounts.  I have been journaling every night, but mostly I am taking the time to enjoy myself here. I won't have as many photos from this trip. Some of the areas we are working in are not the sort of place you want to be snapping photos at unless you want to risk being robbed. That and I am working so it is not ideal to be snapping pictures as I am trying to listen to medical histories and take BP readings and what not.
I am very excited to share our stories with you!

I am going to post a few of the updates that we have been sending out, but to get it from my scatter brain perspective and hear my personal story though this, you must wait! :]

I have this friend with a beautiful gift and heart!!

A friend of mine wrote this on her blog and it about made me start to cry my eyes out. She has beautiful words and an even more beautiful heart. I can say these things about her because I have seen her through her rough times and have seen her when her heart is alive! I love this girl!

"for our last small group today my leader had us draw (yes, with crayons) a picture of our relationship with God right now. then we were suppose to draw out what we wanted our God relationship to look like.

i drew this really radiant sun in a perfectly blue sky that beamed above the earth, which is were i drew me standing far below, looking up at the sun. or...something like that. anyway, after i drew the first picture i began thinking about the second one and after a couple minutes i wrote this on the second half of my paper.

"i thought about drawing God more on my level, but then I realized I still want someone above my problems and brokenness."

To me, God is someone I can relate to, He's approachable. Like the sun, He warms my life with good things, and my life revolves around Him. much like the earth revolves around the sun. He deserves respect and awe because He is unthinkably beautiful and powerful. When I can't see the sun, i know it still there in the sky. Sometimes it doesn't seem like God sees me, but i know He still does. I just feel like the sun is a great analogy for God. at least for where i am in my life right now. and I'm content with that."

Ecuador- another chapter

It's almost here. The thing I have been waiting 4 years for.

I leave today for my first Medical Mission trip.

For those of you who have been on this journey with me for a while know where I am at.

For those of you that haven't let me tell you, it have been a long, hard, and WONDERFUL journey.

It started with my cross-country move from my house in Illinois to Idaho.

I moved in with a lady and her mom whom I had never met.

I have developed a relationship with these women that I wouldn't trade for anything. They have been a HUGE blessing in my life and I could never thank them enough.

I met so many new people.

Watched my parents move to the other side of the globe.

Pushed through EMT school and the 4 tests required to get nationally certified.

Two Skills practicals and two written tests.

All the while working as a barista.

Mission Medic class started the same week as my last EMT classes.
I learned how to poke people with needles, start IVs,
and place stitches along with so many other skills.

I spent Christmas with a wonderful family that took me into their home and shared their life with me for a number of days.

Was blessed with a number of beautiful friends that encourage me and help me be brave.

Got involved in salsa dancing which helped heal my knee immensely and brought even more great people into my life.

I gained an unbelievable amount of medical knowledge.

Mostly I learned what it meant to be brave. 

I leave today for Ecuador to do the very thing that I have dreamed of for years.

To do beautiful things in broken places.

Thank you for all the support and encouragement over the years, this year in particular. 

You mean the world to me! 

I will updates you on the Ecuador trip as soon as I can. 

mini-me showing her Mission Medic support!

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4