Today I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here.
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After an intense Saturday visiting our sponsored children, we spent Sunday enjoying a wonderful church service and doing a bit of sight-seeing.
Before the church service began, we took a quick tour of the facility and had some Q&A time with the pastor and his family. 
While viewing the rooms, my heart swelled to see my sweet Josue’s name – even though it was not the same Josue, it made me happy, nonetheless.
Finally, we entered the sanctuary and were treated to several wonderful performances by the children before the preacher took the stage to deliver his sermon.
These girls were precious with their performances. Clearly, they had been preparing for the dance for quite some time.
They were also very excited to get their photo taken…
And to take photos 😉
This sweet girl in her beautiful white dress was a bit sad about not getting to be in the dance routine with the other girls – she seemed to be the one that’s often left out, but she smiled a mile wide when I asked for a photo of her by herself. It’s all in the little things, you know?
After the church service, we loaded up and went to each a delicious restaurant near the Equator. 
And now, I can officially say I’ve had one foot in each hemisphere (even if it was just barely for the photo)
When we got back to our hotel that night, Compassion brought in formerly sponsored children who now travel and sing to perform for us during dinner. They were fantastic, and just one more example of how sponsorship really works. 
After such an emotional trip, I’m so glad Compassion scheduled this “down day” to let us recover and process what we had been through. The time to just be a tourist was very much needed. Monday would mark our last full day in the country – and we’ll finish off the trip with a visit to the main country office and then the local market. I can’t wait to share those with you!
With Elephant Grace 
How fun to say you have been in both hemispheres! So, are you already planning your next trip? 🙂
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Haha, Yvonne – you know me well. I’m looking at Ecuador and Peru in 2015 😉
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How neat that the performers were former Compassion kids. It’s always encouraging to see evidences of Compassion’s work. And the kids from the church are precious!!
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It was a really neat experience – it was a great way to confirm what we already knew about Compassion and see a glimpse of all of our sponsored kids’ futures – plus those church girls, they were adorable!
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