Orphanos Foundation

Ecuador!

posted by Richard and Ximena Roseland — December 31st, 2009

We are now writing from the beautiful city of Manta, Ecuador. First, I would just like to thank each one of you that lifted up our trip from Queretaro, Mexico to Ecuador. It was amazing how smooth everything went.

It ended up being a 24 hour trip from Queretaro to Quito. We first went on a bus for 3 hours from Queretaro to Mexico City. From there, our flight from Mexico City to Lima, Peru was an 8 hour flight. It was a little difficult having Santiago in our laps all of the time, but he was a trooper and slept most of the time. We then had a 7 hour layover in Lima, which actually went by pretty quickly and then we had a flight from Lima to Quito, Ecuador. So we left Queretaro at 2:00 PM on Sunday and we arrived in Ecuador at 2:30 PM on Monday. Again, we would like to thank you so much for your prayers. Everything went incredibly well! We were never stopped at immigration or customs. It was great to see Gustavo on the flight! He kept on taking picture after picture out of the window and was so excited about everything. Whenever we first took off, he said that he wasn't scared at all, but I could see that he was gripping the armrest just a little bit!

Once in Quito, we were able to finish up some legal paperwork that we needed to get Santiago his Ecuadorian citizenship. Thankfully, it only took 3 days to get everything done and we got his Ecuadorian passport. Then we were off to spend a few days at It's About Kids. It was great to meet Ron and Sharon Stiff and get to know more about their ministry. It was also great to get to know the kids there and Gustavo especially hit it off with a few of them. We are extremely grateful to Ron and Sharon for the hospitality, as for the first few days there, I (Richard) got food poisoning. It serves me right for eating tripas (cow intestines)! As soon as I got over the food poisoning, Ximena started having an allergic reaction to something and was out for a few days as well. But God made sure that we were in the right hands and took great care of us.

After spending the rest of the week at It's About Kids, we headed off with Ximena's family to the jungle. We first spent most of the day in the city of Banos, enjoying the mountains and hot springs that are there. Then we headed off to spend the night in Shell (which is the city that was the base for the Elliot's and the Saints). We actually stayed in a house next door to what used to be the Saint's house for those of you who might have seen the movie "End of the Spear" you will know more or less what it looks like. We were able to tour the runway and hangar of the ministry "Alas de Socorro", which is the aviation ministry that the Saints were a part of. We were also able to visit a 10-story tree house and play around a bit with a few monkeys! It was great to get to know another part of Ecuador and see the beauty of the creation that God has made.

We then traveled to the city of Manta, which is where we are now. We were able to celebrate Christmas with Ximena's family and we are looking forward to New Year's as well. Due to the fact that Ximena's family had not been able to meet Santiago yet, they have truly been enjoying their time with their first grandson. They are always carrying him around wherever they go and showing him off to their friends! It has really been a special time for them.

After the New Year, we will be heading back to Quito to spend a few more weeks getting to know It's About Kids. Please continue to pray for us and God's direction into what would be the best place for us to serve Him. We are so grateful for your continued prayers and support. We will be updating again soon! And make sure to check out the pictures in our album!

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