Day 1,728 - Zoos and Rodeos

Over the past week, Ethan and I have found ourselves having several opportunities to get out of the house and go on little adventures together. The two biggest though probably occurred on Tuesday and Friday as we hit the Zoo for his class field trip and the American Royal Youth Rodeo on Friday for a little Daddy – Ethan outing together.

Now, it probably comes as no big surprise that I had been looking forward to Ethan’s class trip to the Zoo for quite some time. The idea of getting to see him interacting with his classmates in a setting like that was certainly exciting to me. Honestly, on the way to the Zoo, I found myself fairly concerned that we were going to be late due to the multitude of traffic jams we encountered along our way. However, we ended up making it with time to spare.

Once we arrived, Ethan and I found his teacher among the mass of humanity at the gate and formally checked in. After checking in, we hung out with the rest of the group until it was time to formally enter the Zoo at 9:30.

While I had expected the class to remain together as we explored the Zoo, I was more than a little dismayed to discover that the entire group went their own way as soon as we reached the Polar Bear exhibit. Seriously, I looked around and there was no one left from Ethan’s class anywhere in sight. So, with that, a very disappointed little boy and I began roaming the Zoo together.

As you can see, Ethan certainly had quite the mix of emotions.

It wasn’t all bad though as we did meet up with several friends from church that also attend Ethan’s school at the aquarium, followed by us eating lunch with them. Following that though, I decided to take Ethan to the carousel before we headed home for the day. Honestly, I’m glad that I did because almost as soon as we were in line, Ethan’s best friend from school, Joe Ryan, walked up behind us. The amount of excitement that both boys had at finally finding each other was off the charts. While Ethan had been asking me the entire day if I thought Joe Ryan was at the Zoo, apparently Joe Ryan had been asking his mom the exact same question about Ethan. Even though their reunion was ultimately less than 15 minutes, it was still fun to see Ethan happily interacting with his peers and helped make our trip worthwhile.

Fast forward to Friday and our trip to the American Royal Youth Rodeo. This actually marked Ethan’s first ever trip to a rodeo. He’s been around farm animals plenty of times throughout his life but has never taken in a rodeo. While we left home with plenty of time to spare which I hoped would give us time to walk around and see some animals in their pens, the traffic we encountered on the way downtown kept that from happening. Instead, we wandered in to Hale Arena with only about ten minutes to spare before the Rodeo would begin.

After purchasing our tickets, we then wandered through the seating area until we found a nice pair of seats in an otherwise unoccupied area. As we sat there, Ethan anxiously asked several times when the Rodeo would begin. It was obvious that he was excited for a new experience. Soon enough though, all of the lights in the arena when dark and a single rider on horseback approached the center of the ring with an American flag for the national anthem. This was a chance for me to teach Ethan for maybe the first time that one should always cover their heart with their hand during the national anthem.

Finally, the anthem ended, the lights came back up, and the rodeo began. The first event was bucking bronco riding which Ethan watched very intently. In fact, he laughed slightly every time a rider flew through the air. After that, it was time for calf roping. Ethan asked me several times just how they were able to rope the calf to which I could only reply “Lots and lots of practice.” His favorite event though was probably team calf roping all because one of the pairs inadvertently roped a calf’s tail. I’ve been to my fair share of rodeos and I can honestly say that I had never seen that happen before Friday. For the record, neither had the arena announcer and I can guarantee that he’s seen a lot of rodeos, too!

Near the end of the rodeo, Ethan definitely started getting fussy as he was beginning to get tired. In fact, I didn’t know that we were going to get through the closing event of bull riding. However, despite his crankiness, he was able to tell Bethany all about bull riding and the trick rider who rode her horse not long before that in painstaking detail when we got home.

There's that fussy face again...

Outings like these are sometimes kind of hard for me when Ethan gets tired. I inevitably find myself wondering if he’s even having fun and feeling bad if I think he’s not. Those feelings are heightened when he’s showing signs of being tired, hungry, or bored. However, those moments when he’s more well-rested where he recites the highlights of his day to his mom in painstaking detail lets me know that he is indeed having a good experience.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,715 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Diez

3/30/24

So, here I am, somewhere in the air between Panama and Miami, waiting patiently for this flight to end. If I’m being honest, I’m ready to be home. It’s late or very early depending upon how you want to look at it and I’m coming to grips with an inconvenient reality of being on a plane: there’s just no good way to sleep.

Well, actually there is if you’re somewhat shorter than I am. As I look around at my fellow team members from my aisle seat, I notice that I’m definitely in the minority. Richard is comfortably reclined, snoozing away. Mason is resting his head on his tray table, using his hoodie for a pillow. Jordan is cozy and curled up, using Leslie’s lap as a bed. Both Kaylynn and Sharon are using their window seats as a comfy surface to nap on. Unfortunately for me, none of those positions are even remotely comfortable. I could lean my seat back but that’s the last thing I want to do to Andy who is sitting behind me, deep in a marathon of HGTV remodeling shows.

With no other alternative, I just pop my earbuds in and start the movie, ‘42’, in hopes that I’ll eventually doze off. Soon enough though, that’s no longer a concern as our plane finally touches down in Miami. With close to four hours to get through customs and to our next gate, rushing is no longer a concern. With Dan’s advice, we all actually preregistered with customs from the plane meaning that our wait time dropped to around 2 minutes. Seriously, check out Mobile Passport Control on your next international flight; it’ll definitely save you some time.

At customs, I was welcomed back to the United States by possibly the least enthusiastic customs agent of all time and headed to the bag carousel to await my luggage’s arrival with the rest of our team. Oddly enough, this is where we would spend the majority of our time in Miami as the carousel seemingly broke down, not once, not twice, but three times. I was able to spend the time sending a few Marco Polo videos to both Bethany and some friends, knowing that they wouldn’t see them until the morning.

Finally, our bags arrived and it was time to head to the American terminal to check-in for our flights. Now, if you’ve never been to Miami, here’s the part where I inform that there is no handy, dandy way to get around the airport. What it does have though is lots and lots of walking. Our best guess is that we covered at least a mile trying to reach the American desks which isn’t that bad if you’re not dragging a heavy suitcase with broken wheels (in my instance) behind you.

Once we reached the check-in desk, it was more than a little stress-inducing to discover that it was not yet open for the morning. All we could do was wait. Once it finally opened though, we were treated to more personality from some of the grumpiest airline employees ever. They even forced a member of our team to check a bag that she had successfully carried onto every flight of our trip. It was hard to be too unhappy though as we were getting ever closer to home.

After checking our bags and proceeded through TSA one final time, it was time for our team to officially break-up. Five of us, including me, would be flying home via Dallas while the rest would be traveling through Charlotte. Once I reached our gate, I started checking out my surroundings and realized there was a vacated gate right across from mine. With that, I abandoned the rest of my group and found a empty spot to lay down on the floor and take what may have been the most glorious 40-minute nap of all time.

Alas, my alarms (yes, two) went off long before I wanted them to but it was time to board my flight to Dallas. Rejoining my group, we boarded in our seats and took off for our next-to-last flight. While I kind of wanted to sleep more, I realized that it was probably a futile gesture. Instead, I perused the list of on-flight movies and decided that it was time for me to finally watch one of the most hyped movies of last summer, ‘Barbie’. Even though I felt some apprehension about doing so, I went for it. For the record, I don’t know if it was exhaustion or boredom, but I can confirm that it was not my cup of tea.

We finally reached our last stop in Dallas and as we disembarked the plane, I was a little stressed to discover that we had about 25 minutes to make it across two terminals. While Dallas does have a tram running continuously, I will say that it was a stressful journey. In fact, I reached our gate a few minutes before the rest of our team and checked in with three minutes to go before they were going to close the gate. The rest of our team made it as well and we were heading home to KC.

On our last flight, I found myself getting continuously more excited to get home while also trying in vain to get a little sleep. Somewhat unfortunately for me, it wasn’t happening. Therefore, I settled for spending time with Michael Scott and the rest of ‘The Office’.

Finally, our plane touched down in Kansas City and I absolutely could not wait to get off the plane. That feeling was probably amplified by the fact that Bethany and the kids had sent me a text that they were waiting for me at baggage claim. Eventually, I navigated off the plane and began to make my way to baggage claim. I descended down an escalator and through a set of security doors, turning left to head to carousel 3. A few steps later, Ellie and Ethan spotted me and took off for me as fast as they could. I knelt down on the floor and wrapped them both up in a giant hug as soon as they reached me.

While I wish there was a photo of that moment, I also acknowledge that sometimes it’s just as special to have something that lives in our memories. And with that, my ten days in Ecuador was over. I was back home with my family, and I had honestly never felt so missed and appreciated by my kids. That being said, I had absolutely no regrets over how I had spent my last ten days. Definitely worth the trip.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,714 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Nueve

3/29/24

Wow, I actually can’t believe I’m saying this but today is our final morning in Ecuador. It’s definitely felt like a long trip at times but it’s also been a ton of fun and super rewarding. This morning, it felt like there was only one way to start my day off and that was by sleeping in until 7:00 am! That’s the latest I’ve slept in over a week.

Once I had gotten all of my beauty sleep, I got myself dressed and made my traditional morning walk to the pool one final time. There I made sure to read, catch up on my journal, and spend a little time in prayer. Then, with more than a tinge of sadness, it was time to say goodbye to the pool and head to the cafeteria for one final Ecuadorian breakfast.

While we didn’t have any camp duties today, there was one final item to check off the agenda: BEACH DAY! It goes without saying that I was more than a little stoked for our beach day trip. I actually haven’t set foot on the sand since Ellie was one year old. Once I was dressed in my trunks and fully suncreened, I joined the rest of our dwindling group outside the auditorium where we killed time by watching Levi and Jamie have their hair braided by Leslie and Kalynn.

Finally, the time came to load up on the bus. I found my way to the back of the bus and sat near some of our Ecuadorian friends. Fairly quickly, a guitar appeared as if from nowhere and our bus became one giant sing-along. Did I understand anything that was being sung? No, not at all. Actually, that’s a lie. I did understand when our friends started singing ‘Jingle Bells’ in Spanish. That’s a fairly iconic tune regardless of the language.

Once we arrived at the beach, we hopped off the bus and started wandering across the hottest sand I have ever encountered. While it wasn’t always part of the plan, Matt decided that the team budget could handle the renting of several cabanas where we could gain relief from the sun. As I wandered the beach, it didn’t take long for my status as a tall, white, blonde guy to draw attention. It was cool though because the conversation I had with an older gentleman gave me the opportunity to share the Gospel with him. Definitely a flashback to my days of doing beach evangelism in Jacksonville, FL.

After my conversation ended, I abandoned my backpack and sandals in the cabana and headed to an area where other members of our group had gathered to play in the waves. There, I spent most of the next hour happily getting pummeled by waves. Finally, it was time to head back to the cabana and dry off in preparation for heading back to camp. Luckily, Richard had one last surprise for us as he purchased ice cream bars for the entire group.

Back on the bus, I ended up sitting by Matt and chatting with him most of the way back to camp. As for our Ecuadorian entourage, they were significantly more docile on our trip back to camp with a lot of them even falling asleep. Once we arrived back at camp, it was time for one last trip to the cafeteria where we were treated to an “American meal” of hamburgers and French fries. Definitely a super sweet gesture and it did not go unappreciated.

After lunch, we all took quick showers and packed up our belongings. Then, what was left of our group gathered inside the auditorium one last time for goodbyes and photo opportunities. Before we knew it, it was time for our team to board the bus one final time to head to the airport. Here’s the part where I share that entering an airport in a large bus can be slightly intimidating. That’s especially true when your bus is boarded by a soldier carrying a very large assault rifle as he checks for anything suspicious. Luckily he didn’t find anything and we were on our way.

We entered the airport and checked our bags. Then, with a couple of hours to kill, we quietly hung out and bought sandwiches from a little deli inside the airport for dinner. Eventually, it was time for us to head out onto the runway and board our plane for Panama. Here’s the part where I should share what our flight schedule was going to look like. While our flight to Ecuador took two days, our flight home would be done in one with the first group of us touching down in KC around 10:00 am.

After a fairly nondescript flight to Panama full of quietly listening to music for yours truly, we disembarked the plane and took a quick bathroom break. Then, we broke up into small groups to start heading to our terminal. Mason, Micah, Andy, and myself started slowly heading towards our gate when we were sidetracked by a Wetzel’s Pretzel stand. Overcome by the delectable smells, we hopped in line and patiently awaited our turn.

At about this moment in time, Mason received a notification that we were a 25-minute walk from our gate with about 35 minutes until boarding ceased. With that, we started booking it across the airport as fast as we could go. Somewhere along the way, we sadly lost Andy. We finally reached the terminal about 15 minutes later where we were dismayed to find that we would have to go through security to get on the plane. While we standing there deliberating what to do, other members of our team began showing up and we subsequently headed through security. Thankfully, all of us made it onto the plane with barely any time to spare.

In the moments before our plane departed, I took the opportunity to go ahead and take out my contacts and put on my glasses. After all, this flight would be flying through the night with us landing in Miami around 1:00 am. Now, you may ask “What do you do on a nighttime flight such as this one?”. Simple, when you’re as tired as our little group is, you spend a bunch of time watching episodes of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and waiting patiently for the inflight meal of meatballs and fried rice.

Somewhere in the air between Panama and Miami, our Friday came to a close and our Saturday begun. As for that Saturday, well, stay tuned for more.

#DaddyWrite

This is the face of a very tired international traveler.

Day 1,713 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Ocho

3/28/24

Wow, I can’t believe I’m writing this but today is our final full day in Ecuador and it is most definitely going to be a long one! We have our normal camp day but once it’s over, we will be heading into Manta for the camp concert at the pier. That’s definitely going to be a long day but I’m sure it’ll be fun!

I started my day earlier than normal so that I could watch the sunrise over the mountains by the pool while I write and read my Bible. Once I finished, I headed to the cafeteria for breakfast before heading to security training for the Manta show. That basically consisted of Steve giving us a map of the area and instructing us where to lead our kids to for the show. He also explained the show order so that we would know when it was our team’s turn to perform.

When campers arrived, I learned pretty quick that it was going to be a wild day. The combination of tired kids and a lot of excitement kind of made me feel like I was herding cats. I still strove to find ways to love on the kids though. David brought me a bag of homemade popcorn all for me which was definitely a sweet gesture. I also took an opportunity to play soccer with Jian. Even though I’m the world’s worst footballer, he still showed the most personality that I had seen out of him the entire week. Of course, there would be plenty of bottle flipping as well.

This is me and David.

Once the camp day ended, we had a quick sack lunch of ham sandwich, chips, apple, and juice. Then it was time to hop on the bus. While I had originally kind of hoped for a quiet ride, the mom of Sheila (one of our translators) sat down next to me and started chatting. We actually spent the entire drive to the pier chatting back and forth and I was happy to continually provide affirmation to her on her English skills.

Once we arrived, Wilton and I herded the kids to the grassy area where they would be sitting and waiting for their turn. This was actually a fairly stressful experience as I was constantly counting kids to make sure that I still had all nine. Several times, I had to use the translator app on my phone to remind my team to stay put and wait patiently for their turn near the end of the show. Finally, that time arrived though.

Part of my responsibilities as group leader meant that I would be joining the kids in dancing along to their song. While I’m certain that video exists of said performance, I haven’t actually seen it yet. Once the program ended, it was time for my final goodbyes to the kids, Leo, and Wilton. While I had initially expected to feel relief, I was definitely saddened to issue my goodbyes.

This is me and Leo.

If I’m being honest, my goodbye with David was perhaps the most heartbreaking as I watched him cry in his mother’s arms over camp being over. Mason and Micah saw this display and were quick to ask his mom if they could buy him a sno-cone from a local vendor. She was quick to say yes and even responded with giving us all big hugs complete with traditional “air kisses”.

Once everything was officially over and all of the kids were gone, many members of our team bought sno-cones from that same stand (I actually bought two; yes, I’m a pig) and explored the pier for the next hour. My favorite moment had to be when most of our American crew gathered near a large monument at the end of the pier and chatted about the week a bit while listening to the waves crash below.

Finally, the entirety of our team along with a few remaining Ecuadorians gathered to hop the bus back to Hacienda Los Cerros for our final night’s sleep at camp. Also, in perhaps the most important development of the day, the first thing I did once returning to camp was to shave! Bethany will be so excited; I just know it!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,712 - Adventures in Ecaudor: Day Siete

3/27/24

It’s kind of hard to believe but today is our last “normal” day at camp. We have one more full camp day after today but it will be followed by the concert in Manta for the kids so that will be a fairly long day.

Today actually was the first day that I really struggled to get out of bed. While my migraines have abated, I just really didn’t want to get up. Instead, I found myself lying in bed until 6:45 am! I did read my Bible during that time though so at least I accomplished something. Once I finally knocked the cobwebs loose, I showered quick and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Once breakfast was over, it was time for my daily ritual of applying copious amounts of sunscreen and tossing on my bright blue camp shirt. Then, I headed to meet my team outside the auditorium. When I arrived there, the kids were in their normal state of happily flipping water bottles. In addition, some had brought their recorders from home and were sitting on the ground practicing while waiting.

Once our camp day officially started, it didn’t take me long to notice one big difference from prior days: the kids were really getting attached to me. Don’t get me wrong as they had always seemed to like me quite a bit. Case in point, the relentless patting of my head and the nonstop stream of excited Spanish directed at me. However, today, I saw them really wanting to interact with me a lot. One way that they did so was by consistently asking for the English version of Spanish words. I love learning the language so this was a cool opportunity for both sides to really help each other.

Once our camp day came to a close, I tried to call Bethany and the kids on Facetime to no avail. No worries though as it was about time for dinner anyway. Dinner was an interesting experience if I do say so myself. For one thing, I found myself sitting with the oldest members of our team (70s) and one of the youngest members of our team (14) at dinner. Crazy generational gap, right?

The biggest reason for dinner being interesting revolved around one of the main dishes. We were served Ceviche. If you don’t know what that is, I didn’t either prior to this day. It is essentially cold fish soup. Chunks of fish are placed into a lime juice-based broth which essentially cooks the fish via chemical reaction. Then, it’s topped off with onions and lettuce. As far as my thoughts on Ceviche go, I honestly didn’t think it was too bad. I don’t know that I need to eat it every day though. If I’m being honest, getting to try new foods is one of the coolest things about traveling to new places. I highly doubt the opportunity to eat Ceviche ever would have presented itself at home.

After dinner, we had our final team meeting which was highlighted by a devotional led by Matt and our final Northland breakout session. After our meetings ended, it was free time until bed. Most of our American team headed towards the pool where we turned off all of the ambient lights around the pool and just enjoyed looking at the stars. I hopped out of the pool though once some of our team started racing from one side of the pool to the other.

I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the saddest part of our pool adventure though. Obviously, we all had our towels and shirts laying around the pool in various areas. While we were all hanging out, one of the camp dogs came to visit. Oddly enough though, it made a beeline straight for Efraim’s stuff, lifted its leg, and peed all over his towel and clothes. Then, as quickly as it came, the dog left. As Dan put it, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that dog had a vendetta against Efraim.”

I guess anything is possible, right?

#DaddyWrite

Bonus Day - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Seis

3/26/24

Remember when I said that yesterday was full of struggles. Yeah, me too. I probably shouldn’t have said anything though because if yesterday was a struggle, then today is most definitely an epic struggle. My struggle today is based around chest and throat congestion, dehydration, and epic migraines. Clearly a fun way to start one’s day in a foreign country, right?

Regardless of how I am feeling though, the day can’t stop. Therefore, I got up and dressed myself and then walked up to the cafeteria to write and read my Bible. Eventually, people started wandering in to eat breakfast so I joined the line and picked at the food in front of me that I had no appetite for. After breakfast, I made a quick stop in the auditorium to pick up my freshly laundered camp shirt and got myself changed for the day. Somewhat unfortunately for me, I absolutely could not find the ibuprofen in my suitcase that I knew was packed so I finally had to give up and head to the auditorium sans medication.

When the day really got underway and the music started blaring, I could immediately tell that this was going to be a day that I couldn’t wait to end. After all, loud music, squawking recorders, boisterous kids, and intense heat are never conducive to getting rid of a migraine. Regardless though, I pushed through. If I had to pick a highlight of the day, it would probably be recreation time as I got to hang out with the kids in the shade as they played on the playground equipment. The lowlight though would be music time as I wanted nothing more than to curl up in the fetal position and go to sleep. Unfortunately for me, I was much too stubborn to let people know I was struggling and instead just tried to tough it out.

Team flags make a great sunshade in case you're wondering.

Somewhat mercifully, the day finally ended. The kids on my team were great. It was just the migraine that was wearing me out. There was one fun surprise though once the camp day ended. Andy had finally obtained the camp’s Wi-Fi password meaning that I could reach out to Bethany and the kids at will. I also gained the ability to send texts and Marco Polo videos to people too!

One of the only things I really remember well from this day was Abel working on a 12-sided Rubix cube and me expressing my doubt to him that he would get it done. He proved me wrong when I saw him about three hours later.

Reaching out to Bethany and the kids was actually the very first thing I did after receiving the password. While reception was a little spotty, it was still really good to see them. In fact, I found my way back to the auditorium later that night for an extended conversation with Bethany on a set of stairs leading to the stage.

After my initial conversation with Bethany and the kids, it was time to head to dinner where I spent time talking with Matt and some of our Ecuadorian friends. Taxing my brain by trying to speak in and understand Spanish probably wasn’t the greatest idea after having my migraine. It was an idea though. After dinner, it was back to the auditorium for our nightly debrief where Dan gave a really stellar devotion.

After our nightly debrief ended, it was actually free time for the rest of the night. While I had originally planned on sitting on the edge of the pool and letting my legs dangle in the water, it was unfortunately closed for cleaning for the night. Instead, I wandered back to the swings by the soccer fields and hung out with a bunch of Americanos and Ecuadorians as we watched the ferocious games unfold. Finally though, it was time to call it a night and go to bed.

At least I thought that was the case. Right after I had laid down, I heard someone calling my name inside our cabin. I drug myself out of bed to find that one of my roomies had scraped a scab off his leg in the shower and was bleeding everywhere like crazy. I fulfilled his request to grab his first aid kit and then passed him several band-aids and pieces of gauze as he tried to put his leg back together. Finally, he everything bandaged well enough that he was able to head to the camp’s first aid station to get some real bandages. The moral of the story is that even when one goes to bed on a mission trip, that doesn’t mean the excitement for the day has stopped. At least, I think that’s the moral. I’m not really sure.

#DaddyWrite

I promise no one died here...

Day 1,711 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Cinco

3/25/24

I feel like in any mission trip, a person inevitably meets those days that are full of struggles. For me, today was one of those. I woke up at 6:00 am with an agonizingly sore throat. If I had to guess, it’s probably due to extreme temperature shifts between the sweltering heat outdoors and the intense A/C indoors. Regardless, I couldn’t let a sore throat get me down so I took a quick shower to get myself going and headed to breakfast.

Just a tree. A really pretty tree.

Once I finished eating breakfast (which was actually quite a struggle), I headed to the auditorium to wait for my team to arrive. Before long, buses began to arrive carrying the campers and teams congregated together outside the building until the day officially began. Now, our days at camp are actually more than a little long. They are an intense nine hours of VBS-like activities. I don’t care who you are; that’s a really long day. The day begins and ends with large group assemblies in the auditorium but the remainder of the day is spent rotating through the following stations: Rhythm practice (Boomwhackers), swimming, a Bible lesson, recreation, recorder practice, music and dance, and art.

If I’m being completely honest, nine hours of VBS makes for a fun but exhausting day. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt as loved by a group of people as I do these campers. My blonde hair makes me a bit of a novelty so I don’t think that I have ever had my head touched as much in one day as I did today.

Once our session ended and the last of our teams departed, we had free time until dinner at 6 pm. Since it had been several days since I had been able to talk to Bethany and the kids, I borrowed Micah’s phone and called home. Even though it was a relatively short conversation, that call was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. I had seriously underestimated just how difficult ten days away from home would be. After all, the last time I had been on a mission trip was nearly ten years ago and there was no Ellie and Ethan in the picture.

After dinner ended, it was time for our leaders’ meeting where Leslie provided a devotional, followed by our Northland breakout. At this point of the evening, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t exhausted. In fact, the call of my bed was almost too much to resist. However, I decided I needed to make the most of my evening so I wandered to the hammocks where I spent time watching our Ecuadorian friends play soccer at the turf field.

While laying there in my hammock, I felt an unmistakable push to go be social and make friends with some Ecuadorians. With that, I wandered a little further down the path and struck up a conversation with five of my new friends who were hanging out by a series of porch swings. As I stood there talking with Rebecca, Gabi, Salma, Aldo, and Breisa, I found myself forgetting how tired I was and instead just having a good time. By the time our convo was finished, we had spent nearly an hour talking about our families, favorite foods, jobs, and school. If I’m being honest, this conversation was actually my favorite moment of our trip thus far and that’s not just because I learned that all of my Ecuadorian friends believed that I was only 25. Don’t worry, I told them the truth about my age to which they responded, “Imposible!”

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,710 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Cuatro

3/24/24

It’s a few days into my journey and I find myself having a rough time actually keeping track of what day it is. However, today it’s actually clear because it’s Sunday and that means it’s church day! Like each day thus far, I set my alarm to wake up early enough to spend some time reading the Bible. Then, I got dressed and wandered around the camp for a bit.

On this day, I ended up finding myself down by the swimming pool and spent some time sitting on a pool chair and praying for a while. For one thing, I’m totally certain why it was God’s plan for me to be in Ecuador as I’m still feeling like I’m not certain of my place on our team. After all, everyone else seems to have strong connections that they came in with except for me. No worries though as I’m sure things will be clearer at some point, right?

Once done at the pool, I wandered over to the cafeteria to join the rest of our team for breakfast before going to change clothes for church in Manta. After the bus ride, we unloaded and headed into the sanctuary where we were instructed to split into men and women for Sunday School. Now, I don’t want there to be any misconception about my ability to speak Spanish. For one thing, I have little to no ability to do so beyond small talk. Therefore, a Sunday School lesson largely conducted in Spanish was kind of a challenge for me.

Once Sunday School ended, it was time for church. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised but the sanctuary was actually really full. At one point, our entire team, which was spread out all over the room, had to stand up and be recognized. Unfortunately, those of us that don’t speak Spanish had no idea when to sit down so we had to be directed to do so via hand motions. Fortunately, we did receive a break from listening to nothing but Spanish as Matt gave a message over Romans 5:6-11 via the aid of a translator.

Once church ended, we quickly shifted gears and changed into different clothes so that we could prepare for the first day of camp which would be held at the church. Once everything was ready to go, I headed into the sanctuary where I met my group’s co-leaders for the week, Leo, a bilingual 17-year old who has the goal of studying English at the local university, and Wilton, a middle-aged man who either works for the church or just has very deep ties (I could never figure it out for sure).

Over the next hour or so, campers began arriving. At first, I entertained myself by attempting to converse with the kids and learn about them. However, my Spanish eventually ran thin and I resorted to never-ending games of Bottle Flip with the kids.

Once service began, I immediately fell in love with how high-energy it was. The band, which was partially made up of kids from Shekinah, was unbelievably talented considering that they’ve only been playing music for less than five years. After quite a few songs, it was time for groups to break off on their own for a bit. Our blue team headed upstairs to a classroom set aside for us where the kids spent time decorating a team flag. Then, we had a paper airplane folding exercise (side note: I had to ask multiple people how to fold a paper airplane as that is one very noticeable gap in my knowledge base) and a science experiment involving the mixing of what I assume was baking soda and vinegar.

After breakout times, it was back to the sanctuary for one final full-group assembly full of lots of music and dancing. Then, all there was to do was wait for parents to pick kids up for the night. Once the last kid left, it was time to head back to camp for a late dinner.

Once dinner was over, we had free time until 9 when we gathered for a full-staff meeting. During said meeting, Micah led worship again and Andy led a devotional for everyone. After that, our Northland crew split off and spent a little time talking about our experiences so far. However, everything is still new enough that I don’t feel like I have any huge things to contribute to the conversation.

Finally, it was time to head to bed for the night as I know that we have a huge day and week ahead of us starting tomorrow!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,709 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Tres

3/23/24

Guess what? After two relatively full days of traveling, I’m finally ready to spend my first full day in Ecuador. Despite me not needing to be awake so early, I set my alarm for 7:00 so I could spend a little time in my Bible and have some much-needed personal time before starting my day. Normally, I would start my mornings with a refreshing shower. However, I’ve learned on past trips like this one that I’m better off showering at night since I will undoubtedly be sweaty and gross before 10:00 am.

Our cabin

Once 8:00 am rolled around, I joined the rest of my team for a breakfast of pancakes and eggs. I honestly thought it was pretty sweet of the camp’s food crew to make an Americanized breakfast for us. After finishing up breakfast, Matt voluntold Jamie and me to ride into town with Steve to pick up music equipment from Crossworlds. Honestly, I was onboard with this decision as it gave me some time to see the city and the surrounding countryside in the daylight as opposed to the dark like the night before.

After we got back to the camp, we actually only had a brief moment before those of us that were new to Ecuador loaded up in a van to go back to Manta to see various sights. One of the places that we checked out is a group home called Shekinah. Shekinah is designed as a safe place for young boys and girls who have been taken out of abusive situations by the government. The goal is to eventually reunite families which sometimes will happen and sometimes will not. After that, we drove to pick up Chinese food for lunch for our team. Also, have you ever seen a lady on stilts handing out advertisements in city streets for Hyundais? Yeah, I hadn’t either before today.

After we finished up with lunch, we were joined by our Ecuadorian team members for some teambuilding exercises. For me, probably the most difficult part was just learning everyone’s name. That was especially true considering one of our exercises involved going around a circle and repeating the names of everyone that came before you. That was really inconvenient for me since I was the next-to-last to go. I honestly felt like I was going to have a panic attack just thinking about how hard that could be. I made it through successfully though! After that, we had a couple of more teambuilding exercises before it was free time where I found a place to write all of this down.

Here is the part where I should write about me hanging out in the lunch area to write alongside the company of a blackbird who was stuck inside. Once Andy arrived though, we started a mission to get the bird out an open door to the enjoyment of our Ecuadorian meal team. After several laps around the mess hall, we finally succeeded though and the bird had escaped! Not long after this, we regathered in the auditorium for setup and instructions regarding the week ahead.

After that, it was time for hanging out and playing soccer together in the auditorium where I kicked a ball around with Levi and our new friend, Efraim. Finally, to wrap up the night, we met for a bonfire in a large outdoor courtyard where Micah led our entire group in worship, followed by Adrianna delivering a devotion as translated by Sheila (pronounced Shay-la) for both teams. People then spent some time roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and otherwise just hanging out together until bedtime.

Don't get too close, Andy!

Not a bad first full day in Ecuador if I do say myself.

#DaddyWrite

"TA-DA! Now please buy a Hyundai."

Day 1,708 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Dos

Just a friendly reminder that these stories already happened...

3/23/24

It’s Day 2 of our Ecuadorian adventure and by the time today is over, we’ll actually be standing on Ecuadorian soil! Crazy stuff, right?

I started my day off with my watch alarm buzzing away on my wrist at 6:50 am. That could only mean one thing. It was time for Duolingo. After all, I need all the practice I can get if I’m going to spend a week in a Spanish-speaking country. It’d probably be nice to actually understand some of the language instead of just pretending to do so.

Once Andy woke up for the morning, we got dressed and headed to the McDonald’s next door to grab some breakfast. It was actually pretty funny to see that five other members of our team had the exact same thought process. Once we were finished eating, it was time to head back to the hotel and pack up for our trip back to the Miami airport. Just like the prior night, it would take two trams to get us to the airport with the same people waiting for the second tram.

At the airport, we checked our bags in for our flights and headed to security. Unfortunately, the lines in Miami aren’t quite as efficient as in Kansas City so we were waiting for quite some time. By the time we were finally putting our shoes back on, we only had about an hour before boarding. After finding our terminal, I proceeded to join Jamie for a walk around the airport to kill some time before boarding our plane.

The thing about traveling though is that nothing ever goes quite according to plan. In this instance, the torrential downpour outside was certainly wreaking havoc on our travel plans. In fact, it was so bad that we ended up delayed for at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. After a while of sitting on an airplane, you end up losing all semblance of time. That’s especially true when you don’t have headphones that sync up with the airplane’s media system. Finally, the time came to take off. However, we found ourselves mentally preparing to spend a night in Panama as we expected there would be no way for us to make our connecting flight.

When the plane landed in Panama, I learned something about airplane etiquette in other countries. Rather than patiently waiting for each row to disembark, people instead start shoving and heading towards the exit as quickly as they can. While all of this was happening, an announcement was made that our plane to Manta had been held due to there being at least 25 people on the delayed flight from Miami. So with that renewed hope, we booked it down to the gate we would be leaving from and boarded to the stares of many unhappy passengers. Although, I probably would have been unhappy too if I had been waiting to leave as long as they had.

If I’m being honest, our flight to Ecuador was more than a little bumpy. At one point it seriously felt like our plane was a roller coaster. Crazy, right? Soon enough though, we arrived in Manta and departed the plane via stairs on the runway. Seriously. One of my goals in life has always been to get on and off a plane via stairs on the runway and now I can truthfully say it’s happened. We then successfully navigated through customs and retrieved our luggage where I was dismayed to learn that my suitcase wheels had partially melted at some point during the day. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to roll a suitcase with melted wheels but it doesn’t work well at all!

After exiting the airport, we were met by Steve and Robin, a pair of missionaries in Ecuador, and a pretty cool bus equipped with tons of neon lights to take us to Hacienda Los Correos, the camp where we would be staying for the week. After dropping off our luggage in our little cabins, we boarded a pair of vans to head to a rotisserie chicken restaurant for a family-style dinner. In case you’re wondering, it was seriously one of the tastiest things I’ve eaten in quite some time. After dinner, it was time to load up again and return to the camp for bedtime. After all, tomorrow is going to be a full day!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,707 - Adventures in Ecuador: Day Uno

As you may or may not have noticed, I’ve been missing for a bit. Of course, that goes along with the territory when one is out of the country for ten days. My destination? Ecuador. Whenever I go on a trip like this, I always strive to spend time journaling about my experiences. After getting back on Saturday morning, I thought that I might share some of those entries as people might be interested. So, with that in mind, let’s get started.

3/21/24

It’s finally here. The first day of my Ecuador trip has come. It honestly kind of felt like this day snuck up on me. Even though I’ve known that it’s been coming for a bit, I honestly didn’t let myself think a ton about it until this week. Part of the reason for that might be because I don’t fully know what to expect. I know we’ll be working at a VBS-like kids’ camp for several days but I really feel like that’s the extent of my knowledge.

I started off my morning by making it a priority to spend time playing with Ellie and Ethan. Honestly, I wanted to do whatever they wanted to do this morning since they wouldn’t see me for 10 days! Their choice was to spend some time playing board games and reading a bit. Before we knew it though, it was time for us to take Ethan to school. I gave him a big hug in the hallway right outside his classroom and told him that I’d miss him. I don’t think that he really understood that I was leaving though.

After that, Ellie and I made a last-minute stop at Dollar General as I realized that I hadn’t picked up any kind of granola bar or snack to have on hand. As I didn’t totally know the food situation, I wanted to be prepared for any uncertainty that might arise. From there, I decided to treat Ellie to a scone from Joelle’s. I made it clear though that she needed to share it with Bethany who was working from home for the day.

When we got home, I slicked Ellie’s choice of a white chocolate scone in half and Ellie took half up to Bethany. With that, Ellie and I had a little bit of time to hang out and chat before it was time for Bethany to take Ellie to school. When that time came, it was definitely hard to say goodbye. That was especially true since Ellie was near tears and continually proclaiming that she didn’t want me to leave. Fortunately, my ride was arriving just as it was time for Bethany and Ellie to leave so I didn’t have a ton of time to sit and think about it.

Attempting to go from left to right:
standing in rear: Amber, Levi, Mason, Micah, Dan, me, Jamie, Matt, Richard, Sharon, Andy
standing in front: Terry, Eden, Kalynn, Adrianna, Hannah, Jordan, Leslie

When I arrived at the terminal, it didn’t take long for me to meet up with the rest of our team as we checked our bags and headed through security. Once we were done, there was still more than an hour to spare before boarding so I took some time to explore the airport a little bit before it was time to leave for Charlotte. Soon enough though, it was time to board our flight to Charlotte where I killed time by watching old episodes of The Office while simultaneously wondering if I should really be allowed to still watch it on an airplane in 2024.

Once we arrived in Charlotte, our team of 18 disembarked and began searching for food. I found myself at a little deli in the airport along with five other members of our team where I ate a chicken Caesar salad. After lunch, I spent some time chatting with the Bettis family who I really didn’t know prior to our trip and exploring for a while before it was time to head to Miami on the biggest airplane that I’ve ever been on. Seriously, there were eight seats per row!

In Miami, we claimed our bags and headed to the shuttle zone to await the van that would take us to the airport Ramada. Unfortunately for some of us, the van wasn’t large enough to take our entire team at once. Therefore, Matt, Micah, Mason, Jamie, and I ended up staying behind and waiting for the next one which took nearly an hour. While it was a bit of a bummer, at least the five of us were together. Finally, though, the shuttle arrived and we headed to the hotel.

Once I arrived at the hotel, I headed to the room that I would be sharing with Andy to drop off my stuff. Then, Andy and I headed downstairs to the hotel’s sports bar where we met Jamie and all four Marrs for dinner. With all of the excitement of our trip, I had honestly forgotten March Madness was beginning today so enjoyed getting to take in a few games since I knew that wouldn’t be a thing the rest of the week.

Once our dinner was over and we paid our bill, I made a quick phone call to Bethany and then it was time for bed. After all, we’ve got a busy week ahead and I can’t be too tired or I’ll never make it!

#DaddyWrite