I met Darrell Sullivan some 15 years ago when we were both students at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. After pastoring churches in Mississippi, New York, and New Mexico, he has returned to his native Oklahoma to pastor FBC Wellston, some 75 miles north of where he grew up. Darrell had been to Ecuador a few years ago as part of a short-term mission trip and was wanting to return with a group from his church. Late last year he found out that I was serving as a missionary in Ecuador, so he called me to discuss the possibilities. We did some preliminary planning and then visited FBC Wellston back in April during our furlough to give a presentation and to meet those planning to come to Ecuador in July.
After we returned to Ecuador from our furlough, I stayed busy during May and June trying to plan and schedule the trip for FBC Wellston. I had emphasized to them during our visit and in written information the need to be flexible. It turned out that applied to me as much, if not more. Situations and circumstances constantly changed as I attempted to finalize our schedule, but I truly believe the Lord’s hand was in it all, engineering the changes.
Darrell and his team of 10 arrived in Quito late Sunday night, July 17th. Besides Darrell, the team consisted of his children Eli and Rebekah Sullivan, his youth pastor Jim Slaton, Joe Conaway, Jessica Gaitan, Kylie Space, Janice Wilson, Chad Hinkle, and Shawn Sullivan. We put the team on a chartered bus and Darrell rode to the Hosteria Nevada in Pifo with me. On the way I explained to him about our change in ministry direction (moving to the States, while continuing to work in Ecuador training pastors) and found affirmation in his interest in being involved in this as we plan to use teams to help. We got the team settled in at the hosteria around 1:30 a.m.
On Monday we had the team over to our house for breakfast at 8 a.m., which would become the routine later in the week. A lady at the hosteria had originally agreed to do all of the cooking for the team while they were here, but backed out at the last minute. So, Cathy and Elisa (my ministry partner’s wife) decided to take on this chore for themselves, cooking breakfast and dinner for about a week. We boarded the bus after 9 a.m. and headed down the PanAm south to Ambato and then arrived at Baños before mid-afternoon. This Baños/Shell trip came about after the plan to conduct 3 days of VBS at a church fell through. After grabbing some sandwiches, we drove out to see some of the beauty of God’s creation. We rode the tarabita (suspended cable car) out over Agoyan Falls and then took another tarabita down to a suspension bridge and over to the base of La Manta de la Novia (Bridal Veil Falls). As we drove back to Baños with darkness approaching, the clouds began to disappear, revealing a spectacular view of Tungurahua, the nearby active volcano. And what a magnificent sight, with its snow-covered peak glistening in the fading sunlight, spewing a column of steam all the while!
After a good night’s rest and a wonderful breakfast (during which we celebrated Glenn Salcedo’s 11th birthday) at Hotel Sangay in Baños, we headed out for another waterfall. We exited the bus and hiked for half an hour or so to Pailon del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron), whose incredible volume of water creates a mist that soaks everyone who comes near. It is really neat to be able to go around behind the waterfall. One is reminded here not only of the beauty of God’s creation, but the power of the Creator. The hike out created quite an appetite, so the bus took us a few mile down the road toward Shell to a trout restaurant. After we had placed our order, the owner harvested the fish from the trout ponds between the restaurant and the river, dressed them, then placed them on a grill so we could watch them cook. What a delicious meal! From there we drove back toward Baños to the Agoyan Falls tarabita, where 8 of the group rode the tarabita to the other side, then zip-lined (canopied) back across, suspended several hundred feet above the falls and river.
After spending the night again in Baños, we made our way to Shell on Wednesday morning, where we were privileged to be able to spend some time at Casa de Fe, an orphanage which is home to some 55 Ecuadorian children. It was such a blessing to see the children being well-cared for in a great Christian environment. I was also impressed that the children are learning English, which will greatly increase their potential for finding good jobs later in life. Our group made a donation to help meet the operating expenses of Casa de Fe. This is a great organization that needs as much financial support as it can get.
Before leaving Shell, we stopped to visit the Nate Saint House. This was very meaningful, since most of the group was familiar with the history of the 5 missionaries that were martyred in the Ecuadorian jungle back in the 50′s, with Nate Saint having been the pilot who flew the missionaries as they made contact with the tribe that killed them.
After a short stop for shopping in Puyo, we headed across the jungle through Tena and back up into the mountains, catching good views of the volcanoes Reventador and Antisana, along with several waterfalls. We got back to Pifo around 8 p.m.
Thursday kicked off our 3 days of VBS at Guadalupe mission. We also were able to order some construction materials on Thursday for our project of completing 2 classrooms and a restroom for the children at the mission. Indecision among the group at the mission had led to a delay in getting this project started. We had a great VBS Thursday afternoon; I was quite impressed with the preparation and presentation of the team. It is always good to see our visitors loving on the kids.
On Friday we were able to take delivery of the blocks during the morning and do round 2 of VBS that afternoon. Our nights were spent huddled around the firepit in our yard. The team certainly enjoyed the cooler temps, considering they had experienced several days of above 100 degrees before leaving Oklahoma.
On Saturday morning the men of the team started out with some hard physical labor. A dump truck unloaded 10 cubic meters of sand in the middle of the road in front of the mission. Our task was to get it out of the road and up the hill to a location beside the mission building as quickly as possible. With shovels, wheelbarrows, and buckets, we had it moved in less than 2 hours. Most of the men mixed mortar or laid blocks the rest of the day, while the others did the final session of VBS. We had a great group of kids all 3 days and what a blessing to see this gifted team from Oklahoma working together! Most of the men were tired and sunburned and chose to get in the bed earlier on this night.
On Sunday morning, we attended La Conexion, a Baptist church planted in Cumbaya by our friends, the Davolls, whom we met in language school in Costa Rica a few years ago. When we arrived at the church and introduced Darrell to Jeff Davoll, it was one of those “it’s a small world” moments. It turned out that Darrell and Jeff knew each other from several years ago when they had both been pastors and had taught at the same school in upper New York. Following the church service and lunch at McDonald’s, some of us hiked on an abandoned railroad (converted to a biking/hiking trail), while others rested.
Monday was another work day at Guadalupe, as the men of the team spent the day working and obtaining more materials for the project there. We got off to a good start, getting the building to a point where, hopefully, the men of the mission can complete it by working a few Saturdays.
Tuesday was the last day in Ecuador for the team. We journied out to La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) monument, located on the equator north of Quito. This was the opportunity for the team to do some souvenir shopping and to eat some cuy (guinea pig, a delicacy in Ecuador). We returned to our house for pizza, followed by a time of sharing and prayer, before the team left for the airport around 8:30.
What a wonderful 9 days spent with an incredible team! They were everything we had hoped for and much more. Not only did they help us to further our work here, they were a tremendous encouragement to us. It was amazing to see God not only work through them, but in their individual lives while they were here. We can only pray that God will send them back, or at least other teams like them!
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The brave souls who zip-lined over Agoyan Falls
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Volcano Antisana
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Volcano Tungurahua
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Jim Slaton and Eli Sullivan trying to avoid getting soaked by the spray of Devil’s Cauldron Falls
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Working with the kids at Casa de Fe
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The team in front of the Nate Saint House
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The kids enjoyed games at VBS at Guadalupe
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Some of the VBS kids at Guadalupe
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The sand pile
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Darrell, Shawn, & Chad laying blocks
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Balloon animals were a big hit at VBS
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On the equator!
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Joe with some tasty guinea pig