Plan Q

The TEAM!!!

Ever have one of those days when the plan you have wasn't what God had planned for you? Well day four of Happy Feet Mission was sure that. We arrived at this one village that was close to the road and it was not like the other villages. Many of the kids already had nice shoes and were in session at a the village school. So we decided that we should go somewhere else. We went back on the road and up some dirt roads, turned around a bunch of times, and then found a couple of walkers that told us where the nearest village was. So we went there. When we got there we all knew it was exactly where God wanted us for the day.

Many of the moms and dads were in the city working or out in the fields so we mainly saw children and teachers that were at the school. We were able to share Christ with the children and the teachers and again over 100 of them received Christ. The children were wonderful and we washed their feet and gave new shoes to over 200 children this day. To see our team work together this day was amazing. We all took shifts washing, cleaning, giving shoes, emptying water every day, but this day there were so many kids it demanded changing and shifting a lot more than the other three days in the village. The team rocked!!!

The day ended with the 2nd in command at the military base throwing us a party with live Ecuadorian music. We danced around with some of the military men and women for about 2 hours. Highlights included limbo and a little break dancing. Let's just say there were a lot of laughs after a long week. We appreciated the kind words and hospitality of the Ecuadorian Military.

Washing feet to get ready for some new shoes.

The boys playing soccer.

Back to Civilization

So sorry about no posts the past couple of days. We had no internet at many times.  We are all home and safe and had an exciting day of worship today and fellowship with our families and friends. 

We will be posting more over the next few days.  

Wednesday, Oct 1

This day was very interesting. When we got to the village where we were going, there was a pastor and his family that had been there since 1968 (see picture). He had invited many people from all over the countryside and many had walked several miles to get shoes and hear the Gospel. There were 100's saved this day as well.

One of the stories of the day was a little girl that was 10 that was caring and taking care of a little baby.  We were all overwhelmed by her attention and care of her little sibling. 

At the end of the day the people of the village cooked some different dishes for us and many tried them and some did not. Chicken Foot Soup was everyone's favorite.  The soup was stirred with possibly the world's largest wooden spoon (see picture below). 

 Pastor of the village his son and one of our translators Kotti. 

Perhaps the World's largest wooden spoon.

Rob washing the hands of a young girl about to get her new shoes. 

A Modern Day Miracle

On the way up the mountain today 2 men had passed out drunk and had stopped their car in the middle of the road headed down the mountain. Our team picked up the car and moved it over and put the guys in the back seat so hopefully they would come back to their senses at some point. These roads up the mountain are basically one lane with only some places to pull over to let other vehicles by. So somehow (GOD) these men were stopped and did not hit us or run us off the road. Praise be to the Lord Our God for stopping these men before they caused harm to our team or someone else. A modern day miracle!

The Day of Adventure

Wow! What a day! We started the day headed higher into the mountains than we went yesterday. Today we were going to 13,400 ft. an hour past the village we went into yesterday. It rained here last night so that made things a little more difficult. As we were headed up we were told in one of the cities that we could not make it up the mountain in the bus. So plan B! We rented a small bus and 2 small trucks and we all climbed in to those. What a ride.

When we arrived at the village we were greeted just like yesterday. We set up and began washing feet and sharing the gospel with the adults and children. At the village there were around 100 adults and 50 children who gave their life to Christ.

Then the trip down. We actually went down the backside of the mountain and even rented another truck at the top of the mountain because we did not think it was safe to go down in the small bus. So we all rode down the mountain standing in the back of small trucks. About a 2 hour trip . It was incredible. The beauty of the mountains, rivers, waterfalls etc. it was awesome!

Also on the way down we met up with a truck that was headed up where we stopped to use the bathroom (trees). We were able to give the children in the truck shoes and also share Christ with them. Almost all of them gave their life to Christ as well.

Please be praying for us tomorrow, especailly tomorrow night. We have permission from the Colonel to share Christ with the 2000 soldiers who are here on the base. That will take place tomorrow night at 7PM. Who would have ever thought this would happen? Our God is good.

We are continuing to pray for all of you back home too.

This is where we stopped on the way down the mountain.
Fire pit in the village where they warmed the water to wash the children´s feet.

One of the trucks that went up and down the mountain.

First Day in the Village

Read below about this. The commander is not in the picture here he is off to the left.
Todd Frederick washing feet.
The Children lining up to get their feet washed and new shoes.

We have had a great first couple of days with most of Saturday and Sunday being travel. Then this morning we had 2 hours up the mountains. Yes we mean up the mountains. We could see right off the cliff a long way down and even had to back up a few times just to make some turns in some places. Needless to say that is a very major prayer request to pray for us as we travel each day.

As we reached 12400 feet we were finally at the village. The children came running and clapping for us and cheering as we arrived. We set up then to wash their feet in one room and share the Gospel to the parents in another room. When the day was over around 300 men, women, and children had prayed to receive Christ. We also picked up a pastor and his wife about half way up the mountain that are going to start a church there and beging discipling the people of this village.

Some of you know that we are staying at a military base in Ecuador. They sent 6 men with us today as well into the mountains. By the end of the day they too all bowed their knee and gave their life to Christ as well. WOW!!! What a day.

Please continue to pray as the Lord leads you to pray for us. We are all very excited and humbled to be on this trip. We are thankful to all of you who have supported us financially to be here and most of all supporting us in prayer.

We Love each of you and to all of our families know that we are praying for you daily.

Short Phone Call

Wayne called to update you that everyone on the trip is doing well - no illness or anything. They are headed to the mountains tomorrow and hope to have internet access tomorrow night at the base to upload pictures and give you a more detailed update on the trip. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Brief Update

The only word I have received so far is that the team has arrived safely to Ecuador. I don't know anything else but when I talked to Wayne after they arrived in Miami, he didn't think they would have the access to internet service tonight but ideally will have it and will post updates and pictures themselves. I just wanted to post a quick update of what I knew which isn't that much to this point. Pray for the team and the families that have stayed here as the Holy Spirit leads. If you have an update or encouragement, post in comments. Thanks for your prayers --- Amy Bartley

One Day Before

There are 28 people making final preparations today for the trip to Ecuador. Please pray for them today as they prepare. Pray for them that they would have a good day preparing to be gone from their jobs for a week and also for a precious time tonight with their families. Pray for a smooth travel day tomorrow. Our first flight leaves out of DFW around 9:50AM.

Keep checking back for updates.

New Missions Blog

Welcome to our new blog! We are going to use this as a tool to communicate with you about missions at FBCP. We will start this blog off with our trip to Ecuador September 27th through October 4th. The team will attempt to update this with prayer needs, praises and other information while they are in Ecuador so we can be actively involved with the team as they serve. This team is going to Ecuador with Happy Feet Ministries (see link on sidebar) to deliver shoes to village children and share the gospel with the people there. Please pray now for the team as they prepare physically and spiritually to leave on Saturday morning.

Check back to read updates and leave your comments for the team to read.