Oops! Change of plans...
I am so excited about my trip and finally meeting Dany, but as always seems to happen with me, my plans are growing and changing!!!
In searching the internet for info about the area in which I'll be visiting, I've learned (through the South American Explorer's Club) of the plight of women and children in the El Inca Prison just north of the capital city of Quito. This situation has touched my heart in a way that I believe God has inspired. Here's the poop...
There are currently about 150 infants, toddlers and young children jailed in this prison with their mothers, and the living conditions are very sad (and scarey). The children especially have many needs, and I decided to add to my personal adventure a side trip (i.e. a "mission trip") to the prison, to bring donations on one of my days in Ecuador. The SAE members there in Quito have invited me to come with them during their weekly visit to play with the children, so I would be going there with confidence (safety in numbers, and all that).
Now my church is becoming interested, and my pastor suggests that if I travel at a little later date, the trip could be presented to the council at their next meeting in September and likely get approval for greater publicity as a mission trip -- which would mean authorized collections of needed items for the inmates (children and their mothers), and maybe even help with my travel costs! At first I was not too willing to consider postponing my trip, in my eagerness to see Dany. But since I've been praying for a way to afford the round-trip ticket all along, and have not been able to do so yet, I'm thinking maybe this is why! God does truly work in mysterious ways. It reminds me of our many years of heartache over not conceiving, and then turning it over to God and suddenly finding ourselves in the adoption process and finding "our" two children waiting for us in Russia! Now I feel the same familiar feeling, that I must put aside my selfish desire to see Dany as soon as possible, and instead be patient and let myself be an instrument of God. So I'll put off the trip until the 2nd half of October, tentatively October 17-27.
Well, once the decision was made, the idea has been snowballing! Pastor John is very encouraging and asked me to write a blurb about my plans for our church bulletin this Sunday, which I've done. My contact at Compassion Int'l had already given me an approved visitation date of September 16 to spend with Dany and his family, so I got in touch with her again to ask her to reschedule a new date for me.
Meanwhile, I've begun collecting clothes for the children at the prison! Katya and I went to the St. Vincent de Paul store the other day to drop off a box of clothes, and found out they were having a $2 per bag sale! So I headed for the little children's clothes and grabbed everything that looked to be in great shape. The good folks at Vinnie's then gave it all to us for $5 after I explained what the cause was!
Katya and I organized and folded all the clothes, tallied up the numbers, and took a picture. There are 141 items, consisting of long pants, shorts, tops, and onesies! If we'd bought them at the tagged prices, they would have cost $140.50!
I'm starting to wonder how I'll bring everything with me to Ecuador, if this is just the start of it all...
In searching the internet for info about the area in which I'll be visiting, I've learned (through the South American Explorer's Club) of the plight of women and children in the El Inca Prison just north of the capital city of Quito. This situation has touched my heart in a way that I believe God has inspired. Here's the poop...
There are currently about 150 infants, toddlers and young children jailed in this prison with their mothers, and the living conditions are very sad (and scarey). The children especially have many needs, and I decided to add to my personal adventure a side trip (i.e. a "mission trip") to the prison, to bring donations on one of my days in Ecuador. The SAE members there in Quito have invited me to come with them during their weekly visit to play with the children, so I would be going there with confidence (safety in numbers, and all that).
Now my church is becoming interested, and my pastor suggests that if I travel at a little later date, the trip could be presented to the council at their next meeting in September and likely get approval for greater publicity as a mission trip -- which would mean authorized collections of needed items for the inmates (children and their mothers), and maybe even help with my travel costs! At first I was not too willing to consider postponing my trip, in my eagerness to see Dany. But since I've been praying for a way to afford the round-trip ticket all along, and have not been able to do so yet, I'm thinking maybe this is why! God does truly work in mysterious ways. It reminds me of our many years of heartache over not conceiving, and then turning it over to God and suddenly finding ourselves in the adoption process and finding "our" two children waiting for us in Russia! Now I feel the same familiar feeling, that I must put aside my selfish desire to see Dany as soon as possible, and instead be patient and let myself be an instrument of God. So I'll put off the trip until the 2nd half of October, tentatively October 17-27.
Well, once the decision was made, the idea has been snowballing! Pastor John is very encouraging and asked me to write a blurb about my plans for our church bulletin this Sunday, which I've done. My contact at Compassion Int'l had already given me an approved visitation date of September 16 to spend with Dany and his family, so I got in touch with her again to ask her to reschedule a new date for me.
Meanwhile, I've begun collecting clothes for the children at the prison! Katya and I went to the St. Vincent de Paul store the other day to drop off a box of clothes, and found out they were having a $2 per bag sale! So I headed for the little children's clothes and grabbed everything that looked to be in great shape. The good folks at Vinnie's then gave it all to us for $5 after I explained what the cause was!
Katya and I organized and folded all the clothes, tallied up the numbers, and took a picture. There are 141 items, consisting of long pants, shorts, tops, and onesies! If we'd bought them at the tagged prices, they would have cost $140.50!
I'm starting to wonder how I'll bring everything with me to Ecuador, if this is just the start of it all...
posted by darylann | 2:37 PM
|
0 comments
