well...not priceless, exactly...but awesome!

The University Project is expanding here in Ecuador. We accepted our first non-local student into the program! Andrea lives in Babahoyo which is about an hour away from El Recreo by bus. Babahoyo is in a different province of Ecuador (El Recreo is in the Guayas province while Babahoyo is in the Los Rios province which borders Guayas). This is a new adventure for us. Andrea found out about the University Project through her boyfriend Miguel whose sister is one of our program members. Miguel heard about the project and told Andrea she should apply. Since she's from out of town and I didn't know her personally, I had to write up a pastoral reference form and have her ask her pastor to fill it out on her behalf. Her application was accepted and she is now part of the program.

I had the opportunity last week to take a bus out to Babahoyo and interview her in order to write her bio. I got to meet her family, have lunch with her in her home and spend some time in a part of the country I've never seen before. it was a cool experience and I'm looking forward to spending more time with Andrea as her project representative, and praying God will provide her with a sponsor. She wants to study to become a surgeon.

Yesterday afternoon I had the blessing of having to buy several folding chairs for my apartment, and the joy of preparing for the music ministry Bible study by moving my desk and bookcase out of the living room and into my bedroom since last Monday night there were 11 musicians squeezed into my tiny living room for our study! We're still studying James (it's a pretty detailed study...we're going on month 3 of the study and we're just beginning chapter 2) and it just keeps getting better and better. It was good I got the chairs because there were 15 of us in my tiny living room yesterday! I don't think I can fit anymore chairs in there. At least no one seems to mind being cramped in a small space.

God is doing really interesting things with this group of people. Last week after we finished our study we talked about what we were going to do during the week to put our faith into practice. We had been talking about not showing favoritism and Ismael suggested we do something to show love to a family in the church that, to be honest, not everyone gets along with. We decided that was a great idea and since they're a family of 7 we decided that maybe a food basket was the way to go. We decided we were all going to contribute something toward the food basket and started going around the room sharing what we were each going to put in the basket. It was awesome! God is changing hearts and attitudes for sure. For a lot of these guys, money is kind of hard to come by since they either don't work or if they do work, their jobs don't pay well. But I wish you could have been there to see the generosity rearing its ugly head :-). It was great...it almost sounded like some kind of auction going on in my living room last week. Jonathan said he would put in 5 pounds of rice. Someone shouted out, "Is that all? You have a job!" Jonathan's response: "Yeah...fine, and a can of tuna." And everyone laughed. Then José said he'd put in 5 pounds of potatoes after which someone shouted, "You work too!" To which he replied, "Ok, eight pounds. And five pounds of rice." Manuel said he'd put in a bag of lentils. Someone shouted, "And beans!" He said, "Yeah, and beans." Someone else shouted, "And milk!!" He said, "Yeah, ok, and milk too." Then things got more interesting. An anonymous member of the crowd in my house shouts, "Did you hear that, Jonathan?! Manuel's putting in lentils, beans AND milk! And your job pays way better than his!!"

(cultural note: apparently you can say things like that here and not offend)

In any case, Jonathan's response: "Cheese. Put me down for cheese." hahaha! It was hilarious. Everybody was trying to raise the stakes for everybody else, and nobody seemed to mind. It was actually kind of fun. And the best part, the absolute best part, was that everyone came through, not only with what they had said they would put in the basket, but with even more (Jonathan, for example, upped his own ante and made it TWO cans of tuna!)!! Our food basket was overwhelming! It didn't even all fit in the laundry basket we bought to put it all in!

Everybody gathered at my house at 7:30 last night with all their food and we put it all in the basket. We spent some time praying for the family we were about to visit and then headed to our destination. We spent some time sharing with the family, and most everyone in our little group realized that it was God's timing that we took that food basket over there last night. Their family is going through a really hard time right now that no one had known about until Sunday, and so it was good to be able to share love with a family that really, really needs to be shown love right now. We prayed for them and let them know we love them so much and they're not alone. It was really neat, and I can't wait to see what happens next time I ask what we're going to do to put our faith into practice!

1 liter of vegetable oil $2.00

1 package of cheese $2.50

2 cans of tuna $1.50

20 lbs. of rice $6.00

8 lbs. of potatoes $3.20

12 eggs $1.20

1 chicken $4.00

6 packages of pasta $3.00

35 green bananas $3.50

½ lb. of lentils $0.60

½ lb. of beans $0.60

2 liters of milk $1.40

14 packages of juice mix $5.00

5 onions $1.00

5 tomatoes $0.75

3 green peppers $0.75

12 limes $0.50

¼ pound of salt $0.30

4 lbs. of sugar $1.40

2 lbs. of margarine $3.50

1 lb. of instant coffee $5.50

1 laundry basket $7.00

taking food and love to a family who needs food and love: priceless!

My bag boots got ruined in the end.

So the music ministry at the church here in El Recreo has a Monday night Bible study each week and we have been studying the book of James for the last couple months. It's going great. Not only are we getting a lot out of hanging out together for a couple hours a week outside of church services and band practices, we're also getting a lot out of studying James. It is really rewarding to see the good work that God is doing with this group of musicians. James is all about taking our faith and putting it into practice. He is all about the practical…not just professing faith but showing it. And the message is sinking in which is so awesome to see. Last week we finished up chapter one. James says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." We read it and I asked if they know any orphans or widows. And we talked about that passage for a while and what James means by it and what it means for us. And all of a sudden José’s face lights up, and his hand shoots up in the air and he says, “Magdalena is a widow!! And she needs someone to build her bridge!”

Magdalena's husband Byron died a few years ago of a heart attack and she was forced to leave her home with her children because she could no longer afford it without her husband's income. She had to find a piece of land outside of town in the marsh area called "La Invasión". She and her children live in a house made of bamboo, up on stilts because when the heavy rains come during the winter months, La Invasión is under 3 feet of water. During these months, bridges are a necessity. If you don't have a bridge that connects your house to the other bridges which lead out to the main road in the city, then you're stuck in your house for the duration of the winter...unless you have a boat. Magdalena's bridge, like everyone's, gets damaged every year during the summer, and she has to rebuild for the winter. When the first rain comes and softens the ground, everyone starts repairing old bridges and building new ones, and hopefully they finish before the next rain.

We all went to her house last Wednesday morning and dug holes for posts, cut beams for the bridge, and began putting it all together. It was fun to see the guys in the band working--serving--in a different way than what we are used to doing (leading worship during church services). And it was a blessing to see that not only Magdalena was being blessed, the band received blessing as well. And, on a who's-laughing-now note, everybody here makes fun of me for saving plastic grocery bags after I go shopping. But, they came in pretty handy after all. So...I think I've earned the Eagle Militia plastic-bag-work-boots badge for my thriftiness and quick thinking in the face of mud.

Anyway, we didn't get the bridge done, but we got about half of it done, and someone else went to finish her bridge on Sunday, so now her bridge connects to the bridge in front of her neighbor's house. But the thing is, all the neighbors' bridges connect to each other on the way into town. In other words, they all depend on each other when it comes to these bridges. If somebody doesn't get theirs build, then everyone beyond them can't get into town when it's flooded. And Magdalena lives about half a mile off the main road and there are a lot of bridges that need to be build between her and the main road. So now she's just waiting on the rest of her neighbors to build their bridges so she can have a way to get into town when it rains.

I am excited to see what other kinds of ideas we will have as we continue this study. I'm excited to be a part of what God is doing with the band here, and most of all, I am excited that we've moved the Bible study on Monday nights to my house instead of at the church because I can not handle the crickets anymore. They are monstrous and crawly and yucky and jumpy and there are thousands of them and they jump and fly and scurry all over the place and I do not like them. And by the grace of the Lord, they don't come in my apartment. I think He knew I wouldn't be able to handle it if they did. So we meet in my apartment now.

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue working with the music ministry at the church in El Recreo--that I might make a positive impact on this group of musicians. And pray for my health...it's been not that great, and I don't want it to get worse with the rainy season. Thank you for your support and encouragement!!

"Fixed the newel post!"

Merry Christmas everyone! And a happy New Year as well. My holiday season this year has been interesting, that's for sure. This is the first year that I've celebrated Christmas and New Year somewhere far away from home, and I experienced a big mix of homesickness and excitement. I really missed taking the annual family Christmas photo in front of the tree in the living room. And I am sorry to say, I was sorely disappointed when I saw the family photos this year. Just look for yourself!


It is an outrage! Not one family member made a dumb face. Everyone is looking in the general direction of the camera. It's all smiles. Dad's not even in the middle of a sentence! And I have to ask...what will become of my poor nieces and nephew without their Aunt Amy's encouragement of self-expression during the Christmas photos each year? I don't know. I just don't know. I feel I have let them down. I've let the whole family down. I know how much my mom enjoys examining the Christmas pictures each year looking for the one with the least amount of shenanigans possible so she can add it to the Christmas album. I'm sorry, Mom. I will make every effort to be present for Christmases to come.

In any case, even though I was homesick, I was still looking forward to my first Ecuadorian Christmas. I had plans to go to my future-in-laws' house for a midnight dinner followed by walking around town wishing a Feliz Navidad to the neighbors and all our friends, delivering some Christmas cookies and hanging out until the sun came up the next day. This, apparently, is how they roll down here. I spent the 23rd and 24th baking. I made fudge and butterballs and candycane cookies from the recipes (and ingredients) my mom sent me. I watched the most classic of Christmas movies to get into the spirit of things.

I arranged all the cookies on plates and wrapped them up, I took a shower, I put on some semi-new clothes. Ismael came to get me and we were about ready to walk out the door to go to dinner when all of a sudden...the stomach virus I had unknowingly caught unleashed itself. I will not say anymore about the unleashing.

About a half an hour later I thought I would be ok so we went ahead and walked to his house where everyone was starving and anxiously awaiting our arrival to eat the Christmas dinner. Well...I should have stayed home. I didn't even make it five minutes into the dinner before feeling yuckier than before. And I felt like I kind of ruined things for everybody else. I think they all envisioned their Christmas dinner a little differently. So, that was a bust.

The highlight of the holiday, however, was the gift I received from my future in-laws. They got me a shirt. It's black and it's got writing on the front. Not just any writing...it's gold, sparkly, studded...your general bling. And it says, no joke, "My boyfriend is cuter than yours" so...that is awesome. And the absolute best part was that it's written in English, so they had no idea what it said when they bought it. I opened it and they go, "what does it say? I hope it's nothing bad" hahaha. nice! They were very excited to find out what it was exactly that they bought me. So... awesome, indeed.

All this took place in a span of about 15 minutes. So...that was my Christmas. I spent the next six days suffering the symptoms of the stomach infection, followed by symptoms of an allergic reaction to the first antibiotics I was given, and pondering why, exactly, I decided so long ago not to pursue a career in North American theater. Ismael took good care of me and made sure I was well-fed. He brought me soup, which he made. He even cleaned my house for me while I was out of commission for a while. What a guy! He took me to see a doctor (my appointment was at 10:30pm December 29th...who makes appointments for 10:30pm??) and I got some antibiotics that I am not allergic to, which was great. That seemed to do the trick. More or less. And I was able to enjoy the New Year's celebration.

New Year was awesome. The "celebration" at midnight sounded more like a civil war than anything. Looked like one too. Much different than yelling "happy new year!" and playing with noise makers and party poppers for about 30 seconds after the stroke of midnight.




In Ecuador they burn the old year. Literally. They make these dolls out of wood and paper mache and then at midnight all the neighbors gather in the street and they all pile their dolls (the "old years") on top of each other and they pour on some lighter fluid and voila! New Year's celebration to the max.

Well, in other good news. The Guayaquil airport has got The Wireless. So...it seems worth it to make a weekly trip to the airport café so that I can actually upload pictures and video and that is what I will be doing. Thanks for hanging in there with me while I get this internet communication deal all figured out. Hope you're all doing well and that you had a happy Christmas and New Year.

I don't want to leave this internet café ever. It has air conditioning.

"BTW - are you keeping a different blog nowadays? (i.e., not amyinanaheim)" -my dad

Oooops! No, dad, I am not keeping a different blog nowadays. Just...not keeping this one. HA!

No, but seriously, I am embarrassed that I haven't updated for a long time, and I hope your "dead blog" lists will forgive me.

First of all, IT IS HOT! It's getting to be winter time, and you know what that means...(probably you don't, if you don't live on or below the equator). It means it is gross. It is hot and yuck. And it's not a dry heat, that's for sure (whatever that means). It is a nasty, heavy, suck-the-life-out-of-you kind of heat. The kind of heat that literally destroys your will to do anything productive and forces you to submit to it. So...long story short, I have been spending my days inches away from my fan, trying to stay hydrated.

Uh...and working on the University Project...obviously.

No really, it's going great. We accepted a new student into the program and will begin looking for a sponsor for her soon. We currently have two students in need of sponsors, and are working on ideas for finding them. Also, Paddy and Gianna are working on ideas for fundraisers in order to have extra funds in our account for extra, non-sponsorship money (right, guys? RIGHT?). This month, because of the extra funds we had available in the account, we were able to help one of our sponsored students afford the two field trips he needed to go on for his major. He wouldn't have been able to go otherwise, and would have missed out (probably his grade would have suffered as well). This month we began a study with the University Project students. We are going through The Truth Project by Focus on the Family and began with session 1 this month. It was really good. We had a good discussion after watching the dvd and I think they are looking forward to the next study. I hope the students will be open to the idea of holding the study every other week instead of just once a month. We'll see.

The music ministry in the Iberoamerican church where I have been serving is going well also. We started a Bible study on James (it's my favorite :-)) and have been learning a lot about the purpose of trials and temptations. It's been neat to hear the thoughts and opinions of the rest of the group. I think this kind of study is new to them. They are accustomed to "Bible study" being a meeting in the church where they go and listen to some information and then leave. But this study is designed around them answering questions and discussing their own opinions. I felt they were a little surprised at the beginning when they realized my questions weren't rhetorical; that I was actually going to wait for a response from a few of them before moving on to the next question. But now that it's not so weird to actually talk during a Bible study (gasp!), we are having a great time. We meet Monday mornings at 9:00am (that's 6:00am to you, my friends, if you are on Pacific Standard time).


The thing is, we are in desperate need of your prayers here. My observation has been that the church here is tired and discouraged. One of the big problems I've seen being that guilt is often (always) used as a tactic for making people serve in the church. Church services are held in an atmosphere of guilt and disappointment instead of celebration, and the underlying message communicated is generally one of "you're not doing enough" which, to be honest, just makes people want to give up altogether. I have had several conversations with prominent leaders of this specific church who are seriously considering leaving it to find another. It makes me sad. I would like to ask for your prayers for wisdom, and that God will encourage his church here-give it new life; revival. And that something would be done about the message of guilt that is being communicated so frequently.

Thank you for your prayers. I hope to hear from you!

So far, so good!

My parents and I arrived in Ecuador at about 3pm on Tuesday the 22nd of September and were met at the airport by Ismael and his family. Our friend, Corey drove us all to my apartment in El Recreo and we unloaded our suitcases (all nine, most of which were only ounces under the 50lb weight limit) from the truck and carried them upstairs.

And since we had the entire afternoon and evening left, we went ahead and got to work on the apartment. We went to a store about ten minutes away in Durán that’s kind of like a combination Super Wal-Mart/Home Depot sort of place. We found pretty much everything we needed-paint, brushes, rollers, light bulbs, cleaning supplies, dishes, glasses, and a little table and chairs. We went back home (aww…home J) which was easily the most uncomfortable truck-ride my mom and I have ever had. We were crammed into the cab of the truck, I was on her lap, there was only enough leg-room for probably half of one skinny leg. And there we were. My dad and Ismael rode in the bed of the truck with our purchases.

The next day we started painting, which made me soooo happy. The apartment had been painted (badly) in a lovely shade of orange and accented brilliantly with green on every pillar. (Look at my face. I am clearly disgusted by the walls.) I agreed to a rental contract on this apartment only after being assured I would be allowed to re-paint it. I am convinced that if I woke up every day in a green and orange apartment, I would be a very angry person on the inside. Anyway, needless to say…



And the painting went well. We borrowed a ladder from Gregorio’s mom (the lady I lived with from April to July) and got the whole place painted in two days. NO MORE ORANGE AND GREEN!!

Over the course of the next few days we were able to get everything I would need to live and work in my new place-furniture, food, stove, refrigerator, dresser, desk…we (my dad and Ismael)

hung shelves, curtains, and pictures, fixed my leaky sink (haha), and we taught Ismael how to play Rummikub! We had a really fun time together, and I’m really glad mom and dad got to come here and spend time in my new home, with the people I love here.

My new place is beautiful! I love cooking in my new kitchen, and I love having breakfast at my new table every morning, I love sweeping my new floors and making my new bed and washing my new dishes in my new sink. I love my furniture that’s so comfortable on which to sit and read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

(which was an incredible end to an excellent series all about faith and love and friendship and sacrifice and unity and fighting for what’s good and true. Indescribable! Thanks, Paddy).

I love it here! I love that it’s not orange and green. I love that it’s really safe and that my landlords are really nice. I love that my friends can come visit me.

There is only one thing that I do not love. I do not love the other tenants. They are dirty and gross. GROSS! One of them came in my apartment last night…TOTALLY UNINVITED! It was an outrage!! He squeezed in through the crack in the cement at the bottom of my back door and hid under the bed. Ismael immediately came to my rescue when I called (what a wonderful fiancé I am blessed with!) and after about ten minutes of making lots of noise and prodding under the bed with a broomstick to scare him, my unwanted guest made for the door. But he didn’t make it in time. Ismael bashed him in the head with the broom….

Yes, I admit, it made me a little disturbed to watch him die…but anything that poops in my room has got to go-bottom line. He will bother me no more. I hope the others will be too terrified to try and invite themselves in. One can hope, right? Wish me luck with that.

In less-gross news, this week I am talking with all the University Project students who now have sponsors (thank you, sponsors), to let them know they now have financial support for their studies. I talked with Becsy this morning. She is so excited! She got a little emotional when I showed her the video we showed at DFCC a few weeks ago. She didn’t know I had used her story to share the vision of this project. She was so touched when I told her she has a sponsor now. She seemed really moved that someone from so far away who she had never met would care enough about her to help change her future. I think God is doing a great thing through this project, and I feel really privileged to be a part of it.

Please keep all the University Project students in your prayers. And please keep me in your prayers as I adjust again to life here. I think I will be all right here…after all…I am not alone….Horatio Caine, you never let me down!!

mmmm, airplane food!

The University Project had a big day on Sunday-the presentation we made at DFCC seemed to go well and we got to talk to a few people after the services. And seven out of our eight students now have sponsors! It's finally starting to sink in that this is really happening. And that I have a big job to do once I get back down to Ecuador. I'm looking forward to the challenge of making this program work really well for the students in El Recreo.

My parents are going down to Ecuador with me for about two weeks! They're going to see Ecuador for the first time (not just in pictures), help me get moved in to my new place, and they're going to meet Ismael for the first time! I'm excited about that. Our flight leaves on Tuesday at 2:21 in the a.m. and we have a long, 5 hour-45 minute flight to Costa Rica, followed by a short (HA) 3 hour-40 minute flight to Guayaquil.

We've been packing our bags for the last two days. We're each allowed two checked bags, one carry-on and one personal item, and we are maxing out our allowed baggage with things I will need for my apartment. The thing I'm worried about are that we have one over-sized bag which exceeds both the size and the weight permitted for a checked bag, and the Taca website says that it will have to be checked "standby" so...hopefully A)they let us check it standby at all and don't tell us they won't allow it, and B)it will get on the flights and make it to Guayaquil. Also, two of our three carry-ons exceed the 22lb. weight limit. Hopefully they haven't started weighing carry-ons since the last time I've flown. And a few of our checked bags exceed the 50lb. weight limit as well, so we have to re-arrange some things and re-think some things, and...well...I just hope everything I want to make it down there makes it down there, and anything that doesn't...I'll just have to get over it.

I'd appreciate your prayers for our travel-that we won't have a stressful flying experience, that there is no weirdness with our bags, or with my visa, or with anything...and that we are safe. Also that visiting El Recreo will be a good experience for my parents and that they have a safe trip home in a couple weeks on the 1st of October.

I can't wait to put some pictures of my new apartment on here! :-)

The University Project

Here's a little sneak peek, my friends.

This is what will be shown during the church services at Downey First Christian Church tomorrow morning. We'll be sharing the University Project with the congregation for the first time and looking for sponsors for seven different students in Ecuador. Karen, Gabriel, Becsy, Isabel, Christian, Cristina and Pablo. May God use this project to bless their lives richly, and use them to change the world they live in. May God bless their sponsors in ways they've never imagined possible. And may God bless Gianna and Paddy for taking action in the first place to make this project happen.




All it takes is $40 a month for a student in Ecuador to get a college education. I know, unbelievable, right? We thought so too a year ago when we (Paddy, Gianna and I) decided to start the University Project. Our hope is that others will be able to get behind the vision we have as well and that we can make a big difference in Ecuador by investing in the lives of these students.