South America A

We started the day with breakfast at 7:45 and then headed to La Roca Skate Church. They have a large skate facility that is for the community to come and skate and learn about Jesus. We met the manager David, along with some skaters like Walter, Jesus, and Gabax. Walter represented this country at multiple skate championships in Rome and Dubai! David also shared with us his testimony, and how God took away his Mom’s cancer! The whole team tried to skate, with some better than others. We started a work project of building a new ramp. While half the team drilled and sliced up wood, the other half painted some of the walls. We stopped for lunch at 1 and then continued working on the ramp. Then we left to shower and take a break. We took a walk to a nearby açaí bowl place, as well as went to the grocery store. Then we went back to La Roca and had some ice breakers with the La Roca boys and had a Devo from Cole. We made crafts and played soccer, and didn’t get back to home base till 2 am! Overall it was a great day, and lots of people opened up and shared some heartfelt messages about God in our debrief. Day 2 was awesome, can’t wait for tomorrow!

-Ryan

Hello friends and family!

Today was our first full day in country! We arrived safely late last night and got to our site.

Today we got up and at breakfast at 9! We had eggs, cereal, toast, fruit and more! Very delicious!

After breakfast we had our safety orientation! We learned all about how to best stay safe, and some general rules for the trip!

We then loaded up on the bus, and headed to La Basilica! It was so beautiful! We learned about the history behind it, and then got to go up to the top! We got to look into the church, see some beautiful stained glass, and then we adventured higher! We climbed up some very steep steps that were well worth it for the incredible view of the city around us! 

From there, we headed to see the capitol building and the Independence statue! It was neat to learn more details about the country! 

From there, we walked to lunch! Lunch was a few different courses! We had a juice, some sort of yummy orange-mango-passion fruit blend! We also had some plantain chips! Then we had soup, either a carrot and broccoli soup or a plantain soup with tuna! After that, we all had rice and some sort of meat! We ended the meal with some refreshing watermelon! Everyone enjoyed their meals, and then we headed back to our home site. 

Once we got back here, we learned how to make cheese empenadas! This was such a fun experience learning from our hosts mom! Everyone got to make some, some looking better than others, but all tasting delicious! We got to enjoy these, and then headed to orientation!

During orientation, we got to learn more about the organization and its roots. It was so cool to see all the ways that God has grown this organization/ministry here in country! 

We then got to hear from the manager of an organization who helps women who are being sex trafficked! This ministry helps them become more established in businesses, and we got to experience that! We were able to look and shop the jewelery that these women have made! All of the pieces were stunning!

We then had some fun team time, some playing soccer, others playing uno. We then headed inside for some more yummy dinner, and ended the day in a debrief! Today was an overall great first day, allowing us to see the culture here, and we are so excited to start ministry tomorrow!

-Amelia

After a couple flights and a layover that was longer than either of the flights, the team has made it to their destination in South America safely! Pray for continued health as they navigate high altitude, and energy to recover quickly after a long travel day. We look forward to updating you soon!

Our seventh Global Outreach team of the summer has officially departed and is on their way to South America (with a lengthy layover in Texas first). The team is sleepy but excited to get to the country tonight and get a good night’s rest! Please pray for good rest tonight and for renewed energy for their first day in country. We will update again when they arrive in South America!