Buenos Dias,

Before I write anymore, I would like to ask you all to please be in prayer for my host family. I did not really understand what was going on until my mom explained it me the other day. Last week, an MRI of my sister, Carolina’s, brain revealed a 2mm tumor on her pituitary gland. It was discovered because she is missing a growth hormone which was shown by some blood tests that she had done. And also, on top of that stress, my mom, Maria, has had an awful cold/flu which Carolina caught as well as of yesterday. Thank you for your prayers.

Ok…aside from all that, we have had some great experiences so far. Let’s see, where did I leave off? Oh! So, I arrived in Cuenca on Saturday around noon. We were all picked up by our host families and taken home. My home is beautiful. WARNING: I will be using that word a lot, because there is no other English word that I know of to use to describe things that I see here. So, I will include some pictures I took of my home, so you can picture it better. It is a very cool split level home, that all sort of flows together. My room (I have my own room and bathroom!) is tucked away behind the kitchen and it overlooks the backyard and yes, the BEAUTIFUL mountainside.

After showing my around the house, and letting call my mom, who, let me just add, EMAILED them saying, (in naggy mom voice) “Pleasssee have Lindsay call me when she gets there…I need to know she’s safe…” hahahah. Oh, mom, I wouldn’t forget… ummm, oh yeah, so after that, they took me to their Grandma’s house for lunch. Lunch is a big deal here. Lunch is like family dinner in the states. So, my first authentic Ecuadorian meal: chicken, rice (of course!), I forgot the name but it was this big corn stuff with eggs and other things in it, avocado (yum!), tomato juice (but NOT our tomatoes, they are very sweet, kind of taste like oranges, and they told me they grow of trees), and potatoes. Muy delisioso. Afterwards, I just sort of sat and talked with my brother Sebas (it’s short for Sebastian). He is a lot of fun, and is really good about talking slow for me and asking me questions. Once we got home, I unpacked my things and such, and then we had “dinner.” Do not be deceived. Dinner is actually a cup of hot chocolate and perhaps a piece of bread. I really like the meals here. I am hungry when we do eat, but it just makes more sense not to eat so much in the evening. Later that night, I watched a movie with Sebas and Carolina. It was in English, but we had Spanish subtitles. It was actually very helpful to read along in Spanish.

Sunday, we went to church. The church is called Verbo Iglesisa. It was started by missionaries about 20 years ago, I think. However, it did not start really growing until about 10 years ago. At that point they grew from about 100 to 200, and then continued to grow exponentially. Now they have about 1800 members, and are one of 2 Evangelical Christian churches in all of Cuenca. They also have dozens of different ministries, including a medical ministry which is where we will eventually be helping out. I will also share how Taylor first got involved with this group; because I think it is such a cool story. Dr. Moore, the director of the biology department at Taylor, and his family decided to host a foreign exchange student for a year when their son (who now attends Taylor) was in High school. The student they ended up hosting, Diego, was from Cuenca, Ecuador. It is evident that God’s hand was in this process because most of the students from Verbo Iglesia are involved in a foreign exchange program in North Eastern part of the states, but for whatever reason Diego decided to try a different one. Diego’s father is an elder at Verbo Iglesia, and also a medical doctor, who is a big part of the medical ministry that they have. So, at the end of Diego’s stay with the Moore family, Dr. Moore decided to ask if there would be any possibility of bringing a group of bio students down to see their work. This led to the Moore’s visiting Cuenca that summer, making an instant close relationship with Diego’s family as well as the entire church family. The next year, the Moore’s brought their first J-term Lighthouse team down to help with Medical brigades. And the rest is history. We are now the 3^rd group of students to come for a semester; the 2^nd group of semester students were actually studying business. Taylor’s ties with Cuenca, Ecuador and Verbo Iglesia continue to grow.

So! Sunday was church! (That was a long bunny trail). Their worship is very lively. It was so cool to be able to (actually understand the words I was singing) but also to worship the Lord in a very new and different culture with a totally different group of brothers and sisters in Christ. It was actually a pretty special sermon that week, because they were welcoming a new elder to the church, so the sermon was centered around the importance and significance of elders. After church, we had lunch at home, and then Sabes took me for a ride around their neighborhood on their moped! The rest of the day, was spent around the house, I took a nap, visited with the family, etc.

Monday and Tuesday were less exciting. We did get to go into the city, eat helado (ice cream), ride taxis and buses, see the university where we will be studying, and a couple of other cool sites. Pictures will better describe them…if I can figure out how to do it. Grr the internet is not doing what I tell it to.

I miss you all! P.S. did I mention that the one thing I forgot was my computer’s battery cord…estoy estupida. Good thing I have the most popular laptop model of the century and one of the other girls has the same one. She is sharing with me.

In Christ,

Lindsay