To the Middle of the World and Back!

This blog is titled "To the Middle of the World and Back" because that's where I went. Not like digging to China - middle of the world, but the Equator (picture above). I just got back last week from a two week trip to Ecuador which was very uplifting. We did a lot of things and saw a lot of different places in the two weeks but I will try and fill you in on the highlights. The reason for taking this trip was we needed to renew our tourist visas by leaving the country and then returning. My teammate Brent had taken some previous mission trips to Ecuador and his church is very involved with the work that is going on there, so Ecuador was an easy choice for which country to visit. We arrived in Quito, Ecuador on the 22nd of Oct. We were met at the airport by two missionary families: Kent & Sharla Marcum who have been working as missionaries in Ecuador for the past 19 years, and the other family was the Marcum's daughter Jauna and her husband Justin. The Marcum family have an amazing legacy of mission work. All three of their children went through AIM and are now all full time missionaries in South America (Later I will tell you a little bit more about all the great work God is doing through the Marcums.) On the day we arrived we traveled to a smaller town named Cayambe, which is an hour away from Quito. In Cayambe Justin and Jauna work as camp directors. They have a lot of work during the week with after school programs at the camp. Also on that same property there is an orphanage home and also a school that is run by a family of missionaries. Our team had the privilege to come up with a skit and then perform the skit for the children of the school. Another big blessing from Cayambe was spending time with the kids of the orphanage home. One of the pictures above is with Dianna one the girls from the orphanage home. The scenery of Cayambe reminded me of camping in Colorado with my family.

After four days in Cayambe we returned to Quito to meet up with Kent, Sharla and Brent's parents who had come down with another family from the United States. It was really good to see some Americans and be able to communicate in English. One of the biggest blessings from the trip was the time we spent in worship together in English. Worshipping God in your first language is something I didn't realize was such a necessity until I didn't sing in English for a while. I believe that the work that is going on in Quito is one of the biggest ways God is evangelizing South America. In Quito there is a school of preaching much like Sunset school of preaching in Lubbock, TX. Right now there are 47 full-time students in Quito from almost every country in South America. The training takes three years and then the school sends the students to different mission points throughout all of South America. It was such an encouragement for me to see the work God is doing there.

After a few days in Quito we boarded a plane and headed to Quayaquil, which is located in the south of Ecuador. The church my teammate Brent went to in the States supports two mission teams in Guayaquil. We went to encourage the Christians there and see the work that is going on. I was blessed to lead the church in taking of the Lord's Supper on Sunday. I told them that today while I take of this supper I am thinking of my church family in Lima and my immediate family that will take part of this Lord's Supper. Even though I am separated by thousands of miles, to know that I share in honoring and remembering the life of Christ in Spirit with my family makes me feel close. Lately I have been missing my family from home very much. I miss starting days off around our kitchen table with a morning devotion before we started homeschooling. Seeing their faces throughout the day and knowing that all I had to do was go to next room and ask Dillon to play basketball when I needed a break from my day. With parents and brothers back home and sister in Afghanistan I feel very far from them at times. God has given me such an amazing family and that's why its so hard for me sometimes because I miss them so much. Since getting back from Ecuador last Monday I have been struggling with staying positive. Please pray that my trust, faith, and love of God can be strengthened so I can operate more efficiently here. I talked to my Grandfather yesterday and he said that Satan uses fear against us and we can use our faith against him. Satan has been throwing a lot of fear at me recently and so I ask for your prayers of protection and that God protects me with his peace. I thank you all for your love and concern and that I have Christians like you back in the States praying for me.

With love, Brandon