1/3+ there

The 1/3 mark was on Saturday (my moms birthday (Happy Birthday again)). It has flown by in a lot of ways. My time here has definately been great. In so many ways I would love to come home and share it all with you now and sometimes I want nothing more than to do just that. I miss you all like crazy but I keep resting in the fact that God still has more for me to do here. Work is going great and moving quite well. Last week we constructed all 15 columns to support the second floor, this week we are building the beams between the colums. Each day is great as God continues to fill me up with just enough for the day. I wake up each morning refreshed and refilled. The days are great and by bed time (9:30) im exhausted and crash. Pray that he continues to fill me and keep me safe. My hands are a wreck with minor cuts but nothing serious. Here are a few pictures of whats going on down here.

This is the living room of the house I'm staying at, just so you get an idea. God has blessed me with rather comfortable living conditions. I have my own room and everything. I definately wasn't picturing anything quite so luxurious when I left home. It has definately been great to return to each day after long days of work.

Here is the church. The door on the left is to the fellowship hall currently (when we are done it will be the second floor). THe middle 2 are to the back and the bathrooms, which will be finished soon. and the the right 2 are a storage closet and the stairs leading to the second story. This is prior to the columns being built, I will have a more updated photo next time.

The wall streight ahead (yeah the big grey brick one with the big opening) haha thats the wall we built to surround the church. Eventually (when exactly is perpetually in doubt) there will be a sliding gate in there to close it off. This is what we build the giant trench for and then refilled it with concrete and rocks and eventually layed brick and poured columns over. All in all it turned out pretty good.... just waiting for that gate.

All is going well but there is still plenty of work to be done, even before the floor gets poored. Continue to pray that all goes well and safe as it has, that God continues to fill me up each day and that I will continue to seek and find His calling for life, cuz its a heck of a lot better than mine. haha. Love you all and hope all is well.

-Eric

1/4 done

Hey all, so Saturday was the 1/4 mark. It seems to have flown by and at the same time soooo much has happened. Its been a long time really. haha. I apologize for not updating sooner, last week was pretty busy all around. If I remember correctly, the weekend of the 10th was pretty lax. Saturday the Inca's took me to Ambato, there home town about an hour away. They had big thermal heated pools there so we had a good time there for several hours. The water was yellow, which was slightly disconcerting until they told me that it was naturally that way... thank God for showers haha. No seriously, it was all good. Then upon return Fernando and I went to the youth group at the church. Another great time as we played games, sang and listened to a good lesson on living this new year to the fullest by finding our peace and joy and Christ and not in the circumstances that life throws our way. Sunday we went to church, which each week gets better and better as I understand and become more and more comfortable. Afterward, I just relaxed all afternoon. I watched some soccer with Juan, read, wrote a bit. Talked with Rosa and Juan. Fernando is generally busy with school work as he has a series of huge tests next week.
Last week was pretty busy then. Monday was Ethan's and Mark's last day and Lynford took us out to pizza hut, so clutch. haha. Not portofinos but some good American food. Haha. Tuesday, Rosa and I went to the market to buy produce. The market is freakin huge and filled with fruits and vegetables I've never seen before. We bought plenty, including guanabana (best fruit ever) and mangos. The mangos here are incredible. That afternoon Rosa and Guillermo took me to Centro Historico, the old, historic area of Quito. We saw a number of cathedrals plazas and statues as well as the government headquarters (the white house of Ecuador). I would post pictures but unfortunately I don't have my camera with me. Another time. The rest of last week and this week have been packed as we finished the wall (the door will be ready in a week) and building a closet under the stairs. Again, I would post pictures. I was actually about to write last Thrusday but we lost power, in fact 70% of Ecudor lost power for most of the evening. It was a good night though as I spent time with the Incas. This weekend I kept plenty busy as I helped clean the house on Saturday, followed by youth group that evening. I'm slowly learning all their names and its getting easier and easier to talk, although i'm still a bit slow to understand and speak. Sunday was again Church and a relaxing evening with the family, however, as Juan and I ran out to get bread for dinner, the neighborhood lost power for about 10 min. haha, just to keep things intersting.
This week is off to a fast start. haha. We are starting the second floor and oh what a project this will be. Monday we recieved a bunch of materials and set up the rebar for 4 of the columns and today we filled them. 4/15 done. haha. There is still a lot to go but over the next 2 to 3 weeks, it will all go up pretty fast. God has definately had his hand in it all as everything has gone smoothly without any injury. He has provided everything we need thus far. He has definately been working in me. Each day, despite my lack of sleep at times or soreness, he refreshes me everyday and fills me with joy to help and work. This week has been great so far. it rained more or less for 5 streight days, on and off last week but the last couple days here have been beautiful. I continue to thank God for his blessing in everything and he has definatley carried me along. I'm doing great and my Spanish is coming easier and easier. I still need to learn more vocab and work on my grammer but overall its getting better. Sleep is something of an issue. I've had some trouble sleeping at times, i'm not totally sure why. But somehow God has continued to give me the energy and strength that I need. Pray that he will continue to to do that as well as that he will give more confidance to talk to people. Its tough because my Spanish isn't great and it is difficult to understand them at times. Because of this, I don't talk as much as I want to. Thank you. Thanks again for your continued prayer and support. I love you all and can't wait to recount it all when I see you again.

Week 2

Hey there. So its been a week since I last posted and It has flown by. I've been busy learning about the people, language and country. I've spent time hanging out with some of the youth from the church and they seem like real awesome kids. The church is great and this second Sunday I accutally understood everything, pretty awesome. Also, on Friday we began work on the church. We are building the last wall surrounding the church property, which they will eventually build off from. We had to dig a trench 17meters long by .5meters wide. Three levels went to depths of 1, 2, and 3 meters deep. It was a lot of work but we had a lot of help. We then filled it with giant rocks and concrete. Today we began laying blocks on top of it, which we should finish tomorrow. Starting in February another group will arrive (there are currently 2 guys from perdue university here for the week to help) and we will build the second story to the church. Its been great, and a lot of work, God has been providing everything needed.

Things are slowly getting better, my spanish for one. Also I don't feel so lonely. Tuesday was rough but I'm learning more and more to lean on God. While I can communicate what I need in Spanish, there is still a gap and I'm definately not fluent. Its also tough as I've only known anyone here for about 12 days. Little by little its getting better and God has blessed me more than I could have imagined. Please continue to pray for comfort and reliance though. I'm still far from my comfort zone here.

I miss you all and wish you could be here with me. The coutry is gorgeous. The city itself is surrounded my mountains and on a clear day you can see them all and its phenomenal. They have more fruit than I could ever have imagined too. So many new types, completely forgein. But ooooh sooo good. Here are a few pictures.

The faint mountain is Cotopaxi. It is a volcano that rises to 20,500ft and is snow covered year round. It is far more impressive in real life. (taken from the Inca's roof)

This is WawaPichincha (left) and RucoPichina (right) also taken from the Inca's roof

This is toward the expance of Quito from Inca's roof. The small hill in the middle is Panasillyo upon which sits a statue of the vigin Mary that looks out over Quito.

This is the trench that we had to dig for the wall, starting at 3m.

I love you all and can't wait to update you again, hopefully a bit sooner. Have a great weekend!!