Sunday, July 3, 2011

A great day!  We experienced our first bus ride, although it was a little limited; we hailed a taxi at the Marriott (yes, The Marriott! about a block from our hostal - we may be "rich" gringos by Ecuadorian standards but not by American!) and went to the coliseum and caught the "express" bus to Cumbaya.  The view along the route was beautiful as we were near a deep canyon on our right most of the way.

We attended church services at Brother Jeff Davoll's church, just outside the town circle, across from where the new mega mall is being built - don't know how long it will take; probably no one else does either! :-)  The service was great and we met several members from one of Jeff & Deanne's supporting churches in New Jersey.  One of the group, an Ecuadorian who lives in America, was Jeff's Spanish teacher and soccer coach when Jeff was in Jr. High!

After church, we (the group from the States, Jeff's family, and us) went to a small Turkish restaurant for lunch; Jenny and I had something like a chicken wrap but much larger than anything we've had in the States and so much tastier.

Then, to Jeff and Deanne's home to celebrate U.S. Independence anniversary (it was, by  the way, Cumbaya's 200th anniversary of their founding).  They had a house full; not only were the aforementioned but several others who came over for the celebration and fellowship.  It was a tremendous time of testimonies of God's blessings upon Jeff and Deanne's ministry to the Ecuadorian people as well as how God has worked, and is working in the lives of His people and churches. Several Ecuadorians were there and gave testimonies of their salvation and spiritual growth. 

I must share one miracle of God's love:  Juan, Jeff's teacher/soccer coach has a brother who is a pastor here (in Quito, I think).  He became sick and was diagnosed with appendicitus and immediately went to the hospital for surgery.  Apparently he has no insurance (usually not needed and very expensive) and did not have the $1,000 for the surgery (how much would that surgery cost in the U.S.??).  From what Jeff told us, he would have had to pay the full amount (a considerable amount for Ecuadorians) at discharge so the church prayed for God to intervene and meet the need.  When we go to Jeff's house, Brother Frank (forget his last name) called back to New Jersey to ask for prayer and, if possible, some financial support to help cover the surgery and hospital expenses; the church authorized payment of the FULL amount!  God is good!  Oh, and Jeff also told us that another requirement before discharge is a donation of 10 pints of blood - no, not from the patient; from donors in the name of the patient!  The national blood bank has had shortages for a long time so the government took it over and instituted that requirement to build up supplies.  How's that for government control?  If the minimum requirement is not met, the patient must pay and additional $250.00 per pint (I think that's the amount; if not, you get the gist) short.  Jeff's church will meet that need!  Wow!

It was late when we broke up so we were prepared to get a cab from Cumbaya to our hostal but Jeff, the gracious host, brought us back and took the folks from Jersey to their hostal as well.

Oh, as part of the festivities, several of us (I was by far the oldest!) went to the park near the Davoll house and played American football (remember, in Latin American countries, football is actually soccer).  Some Ecuadorian boys were there so Lucas (Jeff & Deanna's son) invited them to play with us.  After some discussion, it was decided to match Gringos against Ecuadorians - not at first, it seemed, a good plan because our team was much older than the other.  However, we won 4-2!  As I told one of the Ecuadorians, there were no losers, only winners because we played for fun and it seemed all did.  I'm not sure the young Ecuadorian boys agreed, after losing to older gringos.

We had intended to go on the city tour of Quito tomorrow but forgot to remind the tour office of our intent so no list was posted; if tours are scheduled, the guide comes in early. They always post a list for sign up because the more people that sign up, the lower the cost of the tour.  So, we'll put this tour off until Wednesday (Miracoles).  We also want to ride the trolley and more buses, and go shopping for another suitcase!

Again, un gran dia!