El Grupo en la Escuela (written by Candice Fulton):

Greetings from Santos Pamba!

This morning we played with the children at the school.  With this being Friday, it might be our last chance to hug and love on these wonderful children.  Along with our usual crowd, Paul, Greg, and Jeff joined us for a bit so that they could play and visit with children as well.  Since it was our third day at the school, the children were all over us as soon as we drove up.  It worked out great since we could not paint until the afternoon, so we played ring around the roses and swung the kids around.  I think Jeff was the favorite swinger since he was tall.  Some of those children probably haven’t been that far off the ground!  Karen had many girls around her as well wanting her hugs and love, and Kayleigh had many girls following her wanting to play as we left for lunch.

In the afternoon, Shelley led the brigade that painted the other half of a large classroom.  Even though it was raining through the roof of the classroom, we were able to complete painting the room.  God has blessed this team with wonderful attitudes.  

Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers.  This has been an amazing opportunity, and we have all learned so much through playing with these children and working on a place where we know that this community will gather.   It is such an honor to be able to be the light of Jesus to this community.  From painting nails to painting walls, we have not only been able to see a glimpse of heaven, we have been able to share it with the community of Santos Pamba.

Community Center Crew (Written By Paul Sassenberg):

Well, Old Man River was supposed to blog, but we worked him too hard this afternoon, so here I go.  Our day began with our usual bus ride adventure, better seen on video you will get a chance to view later.  As we arrived in Santos Pamba, as written by Candice, we took some time to see how our other team was doing at the school.  It was truly a blessing to be amongst the children and play a little.  Paul even took a turn a the hula-hoop, but to no avail.  

We then proceeded up a few blocks to the community center, where we found our our missionary Michael waiting for us.  As we began to work on the roof, Ernesto (local) again came to help with framing in the windows.  Before I go on any further, let me just say there is definitely a strong contrast in standards and practices of construction between Ecuador and America.  We are now pros in squaring off a tree branch for supports, and oh yeah, you can shim anything.  Ernesto is a true engineer, even constructing his own OSHA approved scaffolding…mucho respect for the enginuity and strong work ethic.  

Just before lunch it began to rain very hard and for quite some time.  It was during this time that a random act of kindness solidified an Awesome day.  Angela Snyder spotted a little girl walking home from school in the hard/cold rain and having to trek up the slippery dirt slope into the clouds.  She immediately grabbed her umbrella and ran to catch up with the child.  She proceeded to walk the young girl all the way home and even fell in the mud during her deed.  Needless to say, she was drenched and cold when she returned.  Good thing Paul had an extra pair of jeans in the pack…she was good to go.

Lastly, we finished the roof by placing eight capping sections and securing panels that were just placed without proper hardware.  We got a lot done and the day seemed to go by very fast.   

Again, thank you for your prayers, we are all being touched by our service here.  God is doing Awesome things; it is so wonderful to just be a part of it.

God Bless,

Paul, Captain Caveman (Greg), Mr. White (Old Man River), and Angela