20 Things I wish I had Asked My Sponsored Kids

Last September, when I traveled with Compassion International to meet my two Ecuadorian sponsored children, Josué & Emily, I had no idea what to expect. No idea how I would react or what I would see. I've written about my trip here, if you're interested in following along. They, our group leaders, did tell us to …

Ecuador: Main Country Office

Today I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On our final, full day in Ecuador, we visited the main country office. Here, we met the country director and several of his staff. The first hour or so, we were blessed with a presentation on …

Ecuador: Sunday Morning Church & the Equator

Today I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 …

Ecuador: Fun Day

Today, after a long break from this space (my deepest apologizes, dear readers) I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After our hour-long bus ride, we arrived at a water/play park. Since it was Saturday, the park was open to the public, but Compassion …

For When You’re in Hot Water

To say I have felt care-free, relaxed, or even at ease these past few weeks would be a lie. It's been quite the opposite, I'm afraid. Stress is a funny thing. It builds constantly without release until it bubbles over impacting far more than you expect. Have you ever been in a situation that is …

Ecuador: Meeting Emily & Josue

Today, I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. My apologies, I was planning to have this post run last Thursday, Feb. 6, but we've had some major winter weather for our area & I took some time away from the computer to enjoy the snow …

Ecuador: LDP Student Breakfast

  Today, I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The morning of our final day in Riobamba, we were all a flutter; in a manner of mere hours we would be holding our sponsored children, hugging their guardians, and showing love through more …

Ecuador: The Second Home Visit

  Today, I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During our second day in Riobamba we visited Child Development Center EC420, a center with an active Child Survival Program. For more on this program, and our time at the center, click here. After spending …

Ecuador: After the First Home Visit

Today, I’m continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After we left Paul's house, we returned to the Child Development Center (EC469) to observe a typical class and have some fun with all the children. This is the first time that we really got to …

Ecuador: The First Home Visit

Today, I'm continuing my series of posts relating to my recent trip to Ecuador. For previous posts, click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After we served the children of EC469 lunch, we broke into 4 smaller groups and went on our first home visit where we would spend "a day in the life" of a sponsored child and …