Kyle's Ecuador Trip

I am copy/pasting from the Lakeview website so we can see what Kyle is up to in Ecuador!!! Pray that he has a wonderful time, stays safe, and learns lots. We love you, Kyle!!!!

Hola Lakeview!

It´s pretty amazing what 26 students can accomplish in a day!
We worked all day yesterday at the church-plant we are partnering with here in Cuenca...some dug a ditch around the outer perimeter of the church floor so that when it rains the water will not run through the church but along the outside of it (right now the church meets under a big blue tent that has a concrete floor); some sanded, stained, and varnished tables used in the church and the stage at the front of the church; some designed and painted a sign that was hung in the front of the church (Psalm 121 was the verse written with mountains painted in the background); and then some worked at the missionaries house and office/guesthouse sorting through donated clothes, building bunkbeads, and cleaning. A lot was accomplished yesterday to say the least...and what was so fun to observe throughout the day was how much fun the students had working together! We ended our day with a Birthday Party for Lycia Mallison at the missionaries home...we had dinner, games, and of course cake and ice cream!

Today (Tuesday) we will work for a 1/2 day back at the church and put some finishing touches on the projects we did yesterday, and then we will have some free-time this afternoon.

But before we head out for today, here are some more Student Perspectives:

Jessie Reed: It has been a lot of fun getting to know the pastor and those who work with him. I am used to working with kids on mission trips but we are only around them at certain times and with the older men more. It has been good being able to encourage them as they are the strength of the church so they may better focus their minstry as well. It is also fun because they understand our spanish and work with us more on it. We are able to joke a lot and pick on eachother. Jewel and I had a mud fight with them and we were covered from head to toe... awesome.

Nick Pattengale: haiku for you:
Cuenca happiness
Papayas taste like bad breath
They call us Sucos

Kyle Broyles: We varnished for many hours and my skull turned to flame. After the fires subsided, we played birthday games for Lycia that involved collecting trash, which I believe sent a mixed message about our feelings for her, but they were well received. My team won noggys which we soon realized were the nectar of some higher being.

Keaton, Ryan and I talked to Carlos (the hotel attendant) and his friend Edgar for quite a while in the night. I was amazed by how much we could communicate and even make small talk. The connection we made with those guys was incredible. I was amazed to see how many things transcend culture and language.

From a Team Leader´s Perspective: James Reitz yes yes life is amazing Yesterday a group of us spent hours digging a trench untill i hit the pastors water line with a pick it was a fun filled time running around the city trying to figure out what to do. it was great i burned my thanks for the prayers

EQUATOR UPDATE: getting closer...

Thanks for praying!
Mr. V

04.16. 12:40PM
Hola Lakeview!

Yesterday (Sunday) was another great day of ministry...and fun...here in Ecuador!
A student commented to me yesterday about how much fun they were having doing the sports ministry that we were doing...and then said that this (i.e. having fun while also ministering to people) was not what they were expecting on this trip! :-) So we are having a great time, and God is doing some really neat things in the team members lives and in the lives of those we are working with down here.

Here are some more Student Perspectives:

Lycia Mallison: Happy Birthday to ME!!!!! So, everything is good. At first I was a bit sad, because i saw everyone else connecting with the children. It was really hard for me because i speak very little spanish. But Saturday, a little girl named Anna Paula caught my eye.
She was hiding her face from my camera. She is a fun girl. And now, she is "I love you" with Kyle Broyles. Good Times.

Derek Saylor: Everything so far has been pretty good. We´ve had fun playing with the little kids and even the older ones. My music group helped in worship sunday morning, and it was a sweet experience. I´ve enjoyed taking pictures of all the sports and the group projects.
Until next time....

Phillipe Sallade: I don´t think we could have a better time.
Giavanni took Ryan, James, Keaton, and I back to the church to put away some of the chairs and tables used for the gameday. On the way back, he took us mudding, with Keaton, Ryan, Myself, and Alexander (the assistant pastor) hanging on the sides of the truck. He then proceeded to drive down the street as fast as he could. When we got done we were crying from the wind and laughing so hard.

A Teacher´s Perspective: Jennie Martin--- It is beautiful here! I can definately say we are so spoiled in America. I have had a great time her so far and its been so much fun not only meeting new people but being able to get to know all the seniors since I don{t have them in class. For me, its been somewhat difficult because I speak no spanish... but the experience of being here and seeing God work through all of us out weighs anything that is negative! I am going o have to say that I absolutely love the coffee here. Its amazing!!!!
We have 2 days left here in Cuenca and I know it will be amazing!
Thanks for all your prayers!!!

Andrew Coleman: Cuenca: It`s awesome. My pants: They ripped.
Cheerleading shorts: They`re comfy.

Jared Horn: this trip has been nothing less than amazing. i love it here and leaving is going to be hard.

Kim Buckenroth: The trip has been awesome! I have enjoyed playing with the kids and playing music with the pastor. Yesterday we played for church and there was a jumping spider crawling on my keyboard. Dad, I survived, surprisingly. I am burnt, but it´s getting better everyday.
I love it here, and I´m looking forward to the next couple of days.
The weather is amazing!!!! Te amo.

Loren Hall: This trip is amazing. So much has happened in so little time. The city is beautiful because it`s surrounded by mountains. I didnt sleep for 40 hours and 30 minutes when we first got here. And also, im dying, its called limp lip. Its a disease that slowly eats away your lips and face and it looks like sunburn.

Rebekah Freemyer: Ecuador is awesome. The scenery is beautiful and the people are so nice. God has blessed us abundantly and has taken care of each problem that has come across our path. The weather is amazing, although the sun is a little hot. Playing sports with the kids was awesome. Time is flying and so much is happening each day. I can not wait to see what the next few days have in store for us.

EQUATOR UPDATE: DAY 4- ...not yet

Thanks for praying!
Mr. V

04.15 - 5:30PM
Hola Lakeview!

Yesterday (Saturday) the church we are partnering with down here hosted an all-day 7 vs. 7 Soccer Tournament. It was so great to have the opportunity to meet other students from Cuenca, play on teams with and against them, and have the opportunity to build relationships.

Here are some Student Perspectives:

John Calache: Yesterday I experienced the awesomeness that was and is the soccer tournament. My team composed entirely of Ecuadorians, barring myself, was named Los Incredibles, The Incredibles. Lesson #1 of Saturday, Ecuadorians are futbol in its purest form, they eat, sleep, and live this sport....this was obvious yesterday.

Jewel Reed: yesterday i was able to build an amazing relationship with
6 ecuadorian girls who invited me to be a member of their futbol team, the rebel hearts. they were very interested in who i am, what i am doing here, and what life is like in the states. between practice games and the tournament i had the incredible opportunity to give a personal testimony about the goodness of god, his amazing love in my life, and the importance of being on his team and allowing him to be the coach of our lives. i have found gods presence to be so strong and evident in these mountains and i am anxious for what today will hold, and to see the opportunites where god will use me and our team.

Julia Christman: This has been the most AMAZING experience. I have SO many memories already...the one that stands out to me most though was yesterday when me and a couple other people had the opportunity to meet an ecuadorian woman (Maria Fernando) who is learning to speak english (she is doing very well if might say so)...A few of us now have the opportunity to go and speak english to her University English class here in Cuenca on Tuesday...I am SO excited...Its kinda funny-- Im here to serve others, but I almost feel like they have given me so much more...

Micah Price: So I love it down here! All the people are really nice and yesterday me and a group of others met an awesome ecuadorian. Her name is Maria and we all got along so well that on tuesday we are going to the universidad and working with her and other students on their English. It is an awesome opportunity! Also on a sadder note I am one of the team members with the worst sunburn but life is still good!

Anna Woodard: I must say that I have completely fallen in love with everything here and everyone here! It is so beautiful and even tho many people are shy at first they warm up to you quickly and extremely accepting. Our team is getting really close and there are so many memories being made and funny stories surfacing! For example: when walking thru this valley full of cows that was a said ¨short cut¨ we had to walk really close to this one cow and since it was muddy we were all trying to avoid slipping down farther into the valley...well, Julia lost her balance and sat down about 3 feet from a cow.
Absolutely terrified, she screamed at the cow ¨DON´T TOUCH ME!¨ And she continued to scream that till Josh informed her that cows don´t speak english in Ecuador...

Heather McClimans: Yesterday at the soccer tournament was really fun.
The kids were all really good at soccer. My team won the girls tournament. The whole day was really nice to be outside and thank God it didn´t rain!

Dane Brankle: Apparently the higher the altitude the closer you are to the sun. Sunburn and/or a good tan galore for the team. For me especially my legs got burnt which is a completely new experience.

Equator Update: DAY 3- It has been three days and we have never been closer to finding the equator. On the day before yesterday {friday} seven strapping young lads from our group, dane phillipe loren john kyle keaton and ryan {me!} went to find the equator. After talking in broken spanish with the locals we discovered that there may be a small piece of the equator buried in the foundations of the new church. It is fabled that this piece had fallen from the rest of the Equator after the last hurricane season. We excavated the site for hour and hours to no avail until that fateful moment when we thought we found it. Slluuggish from the mud we spotted a brief red glimpse of what may have been the fabled piece of the equator. Unfortunately after pulling it out of the mud it ended up only being the bloody foot of phillipe.
But fear not! Today is a new day, and we will not rest until we find the Equator!

Us

Thanks for thinking of us and praying for us...
senor V

04.14 - 9AM
We´re heading out this morning to an all day youth soccer tournament that the church down here is hosting. The VBS went great yesterday...there were about 60 kids there and it was wonderful to see our LCS kids loving on them and playing with them and sharing the gospel with them.


04.13.07 - 7:45AM
Flight arrived to Guayaquil about 45 minutes late. They were heading up to Cuenca. Everything is as expected.
Multiple phone calls coming in throughout the day yesterday. The students were in great spirits and were recounting the memorable moments already. Did you know they saw a tornado on the runway in Indy?
All the flights are secured for their return trip. I have spoken with the travel agent and the time on the website are correct. The mid-day arrival is correct!

04.13.07 9AM
SPECIAL NOTE FROM MOMS IN TOUCH:
Mom in Touch have been praying consistently over the last few months for the seniors! They send their encouragement that God is in control and His plans are better than our feeble human expectations. May God grant them safety, fun, bonding, and life changing Christ experiences. ...

04.13.07 11AM
We have a busy day today with a VBS this afternoon and a Soccer Tournament tomorrow, but we wanted to give you some first impressions from students:

Kali Brodt: we arrived finally in Cuenca and it was different than what I expected. It is very pretty, and we have a great hotel with a great view. We are all very tired but ready to finally start working here in Cuenca and with the church. Thanks for your prayers!!

Keaton Owen: It is very exciting being in a completely different culture. Everyone is very excited and things are going well. I am really enjoying the differences from our culture to theirs. I am excited for what I am going to see with in the next week. Be jealous haha. Tell Stephen Conrad that I love him. Oh and Connor too.

Lyra Skinner: We´re finally here, it kinda felt like we´d never make it, and we are all still very tired, most of us didn´t get much sleep last night. The plane rides were fun experiences, but we are all ready to see more of the city. We are in a really neat hotel. keep praying!

Ryan Moore: What a steal ! Not only did we get the oppurtunity to go to Ecuador but we also made it to Cleveland and Houston too! Talk about getting more for your money. But on a more serious note we did pass the equator at apprx 12am this very morning. UNfortunately due to lack of sleep and misguided pilots we were unable to actually get a good look at it. After talking to the locals and getting a good feel for the area we now understand that the supposed location of the equator is about 3 hours north. Give us two days. We will find it. And maybe we will bring you back a piece! hiya!


Wednesday, 04.11
Continental (#2238)
DEPART Indy 6:30PM
ARRIVE Cleveland 7:30PM
Continental (#1445)
DEPART Cleveland 8:40PM
ARRIVE Houston 10:30PM

Thursday, 04.12
Continental (#810)
DEPART Houston 6:50PM
ARRIVE Guayaquil 12:11AM (04.13)

Friday, 04.20
Continental (#818)
DEPART Guayaquil 1:05AM
ARRIVE Houston 6:28AM
Continental (#2090)
DEPART Houston 7:40AM
ARRIVE Indy 11:04AM