28
Feb

Leaving for Ecuador Today

   Posted by: Dean White   in Ecuador

Today I will be leaving to Ecuador!  Heading to Quito, which is the capital.

I don’t know much about what I will experience but I do know this:

Purpose:

To deliver shoe boxes that are filled with toys, supplies and hard candy to children who live in primitive villages that are not accessible by plane.  The shoe boxes were part of a project that churches participated in throughout the country called Operation Christmas Child. During December each year, churches and other organizations pass out shoe boxes and people fill them and bring them back to the collection centers.  About 10 million shoe boxes are collected each year and then distributed throughout the world to about 100 countries.  Operation Christmas Child is part of Samaritan’s Purse, one of the most successful relief organizations in the world.  The comment has been said many times, “You want to give to a trusted organization where your money will make a difference …then give to Samaritan’s Purse.”

Because Samaritan’s Purse has already made contacts in countries throughout the world through delivering ‘Christmas’ gifts, they are often one of the first organized in response when a natural disaster hits like the earthquake in Chile this past week or the earthquake in Haiti.  Here is a statement from the organizations website, “Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.”

What I know about Ecuador:

Ecuador is right on the equator and hence where it got its name.  The Galapagos Islands (of which I will not be going) are located in Ecuador and Quito was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic center in Latin America. The country has many diverse species making Ecuador one of the seventeen mega-diverse countries in the world. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.  About 38.3% of the people live below the poverty line.

What may happen:

Here is a story of one of the previous trips:

“Many of the children we visit are in villages where airplanes cannot land. One such place is the Amazon rain-forest in Ecuador. Last year, Samaritan’s Purse workers traveled four hours up the Rio Napo River with a motor canoe loaded with gift-filled shoe boxes for children in a primitive tribe in the rain-forest. This tribe had once been savage warriors.

The river was flooded and swift, but the Samaritan’s Purse workers docked the canoe and began their work. While the workers where delivering the shoe boxes, the fierce current slammed a big floating log into their canoe and sank it –right after they had unloaded all the shoe boxes!”

Thoughts:

Needless to say I am extremely excited about the adventure.  For some reason, I am not at all worried about the 9K+ elevation, high humidity, hard to breathe air, potential jungle fever, amazon forest, aftershocks from the Chile earthquake or the bird size mosquitoes I may encounter.  I am solely excited to see the smiles of the little children who will be overjoyed receiving their gift.  Day in and day out, they live in slums, forgotten streets, dirt villages, diseased filled garbage dumps … but for a moment they will feel like kings.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Ecuador. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

15 comments so far

Lisa (Freed) Cohen
 1 

Dean! I lived in Quito for 2 years one year ago. Let me know if you have any questions or need any recommendations. Mi Quito es su Quito!
Lisa (Freed) Cohen

February 28th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
EZone
 2 

Way to go! I was planning to go to Saddleback this Saturday, but was unable to reach you… now I know why! Have a great time. I have been to Ecuador only once- I like the coast, not Quito! Elevation issues… !
EZ

February 28th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Steve Rutenbar
 3 

Thanks for keeping this diary DEAN…great idea…I’m praying for you every day from the Rift Valley of Kenya…

March 1st, 2010 at 3:43 am
Umashankar
 4 

Hi Dean!! I will be praying for you through this trip. I know you will be blessed and in turn will bring joy to so many kids.

March 1st, 2010 at 5:27 am
Kerri
 5 

Dean,

I am praying for your trip. I know God will use you in AMAZING ways! I can’t wait until you come home. I love you.

March 1st, 2010 at 7:02 am
Kel
 6 

I’ll be thinking of you this week, my friend. I wish I could have gone on another adventure with you. Please leave the monkeys alone. Be safe! God bless!

March 1st, 2010 at 8:10 am
Dianna
 7 

I have tears in my eyes right now. Dean, once again you amaze me & everyone with your efforts to bring happiness to others. You’re awesome. Love ya to pieces buddy, & Jay & Colton & I are praying for you. I look forward to hearing about your trip and reading your updates.

March 1st, 2010 at 9:21 am
dori rhodes
 8 

Hi Bro . . Como estas mi hermanito . . . en Quito! . . .like that . . . we are definately praying for you . . and excited that you will be enjoying part of the global church – and serving children that God so loves and cares for – and you will be His hands and feet . . .we love you muchisimo – mi hermanito!
Dios te bendigo y vaya con Dios – Dori

March 1st, 2010 at 11:48 am
Wayne Purcell
 9 

Indiana Dean Jones- Looking forward to heaing your stories! Tell me all about the critters. And of course the smiles on the faces of those children! God bles you! Wayne

March 1st, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Jennifer Trevithick
 10 

You are in my prayers as you deliver hope and Jesus’ love to the children in Ecuador. I know that you will be forever changed by this experience! I can’t wait to hear about ALL that God does in and through you! You are in my prayers! Drink LOTS of water…the altitude is tough!

March 1st, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Martha Leal
 11 

Dean, I’ll be praying for you and the wonderful children whom will have the pleasure of opening up their boxes. God Bless and stay safe ~~~ Martha

March 1st, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Dana
 12 

Hi Dean!
Looking forward to your blogs while in Ecuador. If appropriate, I will share with my Sociology classes! Enjoy and have a safe trip,
Dana from Nevada City

March 1st, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Matthew Hogg
 13 

Brother, I will be praying for you as always, but with a different purpose. Sounds great there. I know you will be blessed beyond measure. I’ll post as often as I can. Love ya…

March 2nd, 2010 at 7:39 am
Roger Johnson
 14 

This is Roger (Raquel’s father). I was in Quito 20 years ago at HCJB, working on the building with my Dad and others. What a great experience for you to have with the Christmas Shoe Boxes. We will be praying for you and your safety and health. Take it from one who has experienced Quito. Love you, Roger

March 3rd, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Ted Bryan
 15 

Way to go Dean! Great blogs…sounds like an unbelievable experience…safe travel home.

March 6th, 2010 at 7:44 pm

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