After a good night’s sleep for some and a not so good night’s sleep for others, we all ate a lovely breakfast of bacon and eggs and piled into the three trucks headed to the community. We arrived and were greeted by around 75-100 locals all ready to work. We learned that we were here to help fix a failed water project from many years ago, so with our boots on and shovels in hand, we hiked up a large hill about half a mile, and began digging. We dug for about two hours, succeeding in digging a two foot wide, four foot deep, and half-mile long trench. About 200 feet from the starting point (a large water tank) we unearthed a sturdy pipe that still had water flowing through it. The project’s engineers realized that about 200 ft. of the old pipe was deep enough and still sturdy enough that we could use that stretch of pipe for our project. Unfortunately, that also meant that we had to fill in about 200 feet of the ditch we had dug. It was a bit frustrating, but it was still a good bonding experience and it was a blessing to work alongside the hardworking locals of the community.

Then we took a break for lunch, to our relief. And the kind locals actually made us lunch of chicken, rice, and soup, which we enjoyed alongside the sack lunches we had brought. The dogs who were wandering around enjoyed it too as they got to eat our leftovers chicken bones. We then rested for a bit, waiting to be let into the building where we were to hold VBS. 

We took the three trucks back home through the city, very exhausted and ready for dinner. As we were on our way back, we had a gorgeous view of snowcapped Chimborazo. Once we arrived back at Codeinse, we had beef stew for dinner and then we did our debrief and preparations for tomorrow. We all went to bed, looking forward to how God will work in us tomorrow.

The highlights of our day include being able to do crafts and play futbol with the kids, being able to get to know each other more, and for some, playing in the dirt. We are very much looking forward to Wednesday, as we hear the mayor will be coming and there will be a big lunch and celebration. We’re looking forward to seeing how far God will take us tomorrow and we look forward to seeing all the kids again for VBS, as we very quickly fell in love with them. We are very surprised at how much English the kids know, as they know more English than some of us know Spanish. We are also surprised at how much we were able to get done, even though we had to undo some of it. 

We are so incredibly thankful for first and foremost, Cesar and Nancy. For the VBS, Nancy took it away and her love for the kids was evident. The kids immediately relaxed as soon as Nancy took charge and we are so amazingly thankful she was there. We are also thankful for how much we have been able to get to know each other and learn about each other, and we are thankful for the diversity of our strengths. For some of us, it’s trench digging, and for others, it’s working with kids. Some are better at planning and some are better at making those plans a reality. We’re also very thankful that we are all safe. We brought a large first aid kit, and although we have been doing quite a few risky things, we have not had to open it yet. 

We have been very much enjoying our time here and are so thankful we get to be here to help out. Even though this work is so incredibly exhausting, we are so grateful we get this opportunity.