Making a Difference in the Galapagos Islands

We absolutely love Ecuador. It is a beautiful country and the people are amazing. This year we spent two weeks in the Galapagos Islands. We traveled by plane, bus, ferry, bus, and a three-hour boat ride to get to San Cristóbal, where we spent our first week.

We had two projects on San Cristóbal. Part of our eighteen-member team did some finishing work on the church building and the rest of the team did a Kid’s Club. On Sunday, we attended the second service the church has ever had. There were about a dozen people plus our team.

The construction team mixed and poured a ton of cement to finish flooring and sidewalks. They also moved huge lava rock boulders and built a lava rock wall around the perimeter of the church. This will eventually be used as a foundation for future growth of the church. Some of the team installed lights in the church.

The Kid’s Club team went out on Monday to the schools and soccer fields to invite kids to come to the church for the Club de Niños. Tico the clown(a.k.a. Taylor) and team members made animal balloons and gave them to the kids. Each afternoon at the Club de Niños, we played games, learned a Bible verse, had a puppet skit, gave out prizes, and had a lot of fun playing with the kids. The first afternoon, we had about 75 kids and about 10 parents. The second day the kids started arriving 30 minutes early to play with Tico and the balloons. On the third day, we had over 120 kids and parents! The kids had so much fun. They laughed and played and learned about Jesus. It was an awesome time!

On the Wednesday night, Pastor Wilson wanted to have a closing service with the team. When we arrived at the church, there were 12 boys from the Club de Niños at the church. We thought that they would leave when they realized there was no clown, puppets, games, or prizes. But, they stayed. The boys sat on the first two rows and listened. During the service, the team prayed for Pastor Wilson. We gathered around them and laid hands on them and prayed. The boys watched what we were doing, came up, put their little hands on the Pastor and prayed with us.

At the end of the first week, we traveled to Santa Cruz. The rest of the team went home. We facilitated leadership training for seventy-five church leaders and people in the church who are business owners. This was exciting for us as well as those who attended the training. This was the first training these leaders and workers had ever participated in. Their eagerness to learn, excitement and gratitude amazed us.

Pastor Wilson was at the training. As soon as he saw us, he grabbed the missionary, Bill McDonald, to interpret for him. He told us that on Sunday there were 30 kids from the kids club at church. They were all asking for Tico. Pastor Wilson said that the parents stood outside the building and listened. When church was over, he talked to the parents and they were pleased with what their kids were learning. Someone in the church bought a clown outfit for the pastor. He told the kids to come back on Friday for Club de Niños. Thanks to all those who donated supplies, we were able to leave games and other tools for the church to use for Club de Niños. Pastor Wilson said they are doing something every Friday for the kids.

Pastor Wilson told us they didn’t know what to do to get people to come to the church. But they watched the team go out to the schools and soccer fields and talk to people on the street. He said they learned from us and are excited about what God is doing in their church.In our November newsletter, we told you about the team member that had been a professional clown. He taught Taylor how to do balloon animals and told him some things to do with the balloons to share about Jesus. A week later, Taylor was using those very things in Ecuador. Coincidence? No. Divine? Definitely! God is doing great things around the world.