Beginnings
Wed. June 12 - 5:00 PM As all good adventures, this one has a beginning. And as all good beginnings, this one is rapidly approaching. This evening the other interns arrive and tomorrow morning we'll start our first orientation meetings to get us on the ground before we start work. Going into this trip, I was unsure if I would be able to raise sufficient support. But God has been faithful. I've managed to raise everything I need--all $3800 including the plane ticket--and I wasn't even able to send my support letter out to everyone I had intended to for fear I would raise far too much! This reminds me once again that God graciously provides for all our needs. This previous Thursday, then, I flew from Chicago to Ecuador (via Panama City). Since I'm already coming for the internship I would be remiss to not take the opportunity to spend a week with my family before I head out to the jungle and they head back to the States. I've thoroughly enjoyed the time with them. It's incredible how fast my siblings are growing up, both in maturity and physically (I'm only barely holding on to my title as tallest in the house; Joel is certainly giving me a run for my money.) I've also gotten to see friends and teachers from school, go to the 6th grade play, and help out with a garage sale. Now, in an hour and a half I'm going to get in a van and head down to the airport to pick up the other interns. I would be headed down there right now, but storms are a-brewing in Miami right now and flights are a-delaying. I'm excited to meet the other members of my team. Tomorrow, then, will be the start of a couple days of orientation and Sunday afternoon we'll head down to Shell! Orientation
Fri. June 14 - 10:30 PM The last couple days have been a bit hectic. They've been full, but they've been fun. Everyone arrived safely at the airport on Wednesday evening (though the last person landed at 1:00 after delays in Miami!) Now, the last two days we've been going through orientation to Ecuador, safety, cultural adjustment, etc. I've also really enjoyed getting to know my fellow summer missionaries. I realize that if I introduce them probably nobody else will really remember them. But if I don't then it will seem strange. So perhaps I'll compromise and at least list their names. Mark, Kevin, and I make up the engineers. Raquel, Anna, and Riva make up the nurses/medical people. And Kathryn is the business/administration person. Beyond that I will restrain myself and perhaps more details will come later. But between the 7 of us we have a lot of fun and I'm really excited to be serving with them. This evening was the monthly HCJB missionary meeting for all the Quito missionaries. We had the privelege of helping prepare the meal and set up chairs for the event and then join in on the festivities. I don't think I realized how many missionaries I know, even outside of my mission. It was really exciting to get to participate and see a lot of people I'm close to. It also made it sink in that soon we will be leaving for Shell and our real work will begin! On a very practical note, perhaps it would be more convenient for me to send you an email everytime I update my blog. I don't want to spam your inbox, but if you're really interested in reading about what I'm doing maybe it would be convenient for me to send you a brief reminder whenever I update it. If so, please fill out the form below and I'll be glad to put you on my email list. Blessings, David |