Post from Collin

picked up for church at 9:40 and went to churh.  Much of ecuador was already awake setting up sidewalk shops or playing soccer in the parks.  The soccer fields and small playgrounds are really the only open space around.  buildings are right up against the street.  parking on the sidewalk or practically on the road is perfectly okay.  Everything is on a hill.  When you look down from higher elevation you don't even see the roads because of how packed the buildings are together.

we got a chance to check out the school before church. Playground would be marked unsafe to use a hundred times over In america.  There is a fence that surrounds the playground area, beyond the fence it drops 20 feet down onto the road

church service was done all in Spanish except for the sermon that was interpreted for us by our interpreter Monica. They played lots of songs and prayed a lot.  I speak no Spanish whatsoeveve but was able to recognize "open the eyes of my heart" which is a favorite.  a instruments were the same as you would find in a contemporary service.  A teenage boy displayed the songs on a projector.  The message was on the omnipotence of God and how we cannot escape his presence.

collin,