Archive for the ‘Volunteers’ Category

God never changes in this ever changing world…

Posted on: February 3rd, 2012 by

From Melissa Medlin’s blog:

So we’ve been back in school for about a month. It seems that, after vacations or breaks, a new season of life begins. After getting back from Christmas, things went pretty much back to normal. A little had changed but it wasn’t like the usual sense of change that I had experienced before. Then, this past week, one of my roommates moved back to the States. She left around lunch time on Monday and that night there was already a difference in our house. We don’t know the next time we’ll see her. The hardest thing about living here in Shell, in a mission community, is saying goodbye. There is a huge number of missionaries/volunteers doing different projects here in Shell and it is always changing. People come for a few weeks, a few months or a few years. Every year that I have been here has been completely different from the last. You never know who’s going to be here or for how long. So it’s nice to take comfort in the fact that our God never changes. He will always be here for us. He is the one thing that remains constant in my life and with everything always changing around me, even here at the orphanage, kids coming and going, it’s refreshing to know that I have Him and that I can count on Him to never leave or change.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8

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Posted on: February 2nd, 2012 by

From Melissa Medlin’s blog:

2012

            I washoping to bring in the NEW YEAR withthe kids at Casa de Fe.  There was goingto be a bonfire, the burning of the old man (almost like a scare crow) and manymore festivities. However, as always, I had problems with my flights. I wasalready a little stressed out from a busy, emotional, Christmas break so when Igot to Dallas and my flight was delayed 3 ½ hours, I was trying to stay calmand prepare myself for the fact that I would miss my last flight into Quitofrom Miami. Finally, when all the mechanical issues with 2 different planeswere fixed, we were on our way from Dallas to Miami. We got to Miami just as myplane to Quito was backing away from the gate. I had JUST missed it. I had tostand in a long line of other people who had missed flights to reschedule. Iwas so upset knowing that flights only leave at a certain time each day andknowing that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to get from Quito to Shell in enough timeto bring in the New Year with the kids. Luckily the airline paid for my dinner,breakfast and lunch along with my hotel room. I would be spending the night andmost of the next day in Miami. It was actually relaxing and the room I had wasnice and included a balcony! I got some much needed alone time with God andwondered if that was His reason for allowing me to get so delayed. He’s jealousfor our time like that Jso it was hard to be upset for too long. Also, He had a rather comedic day instore for me following the restful time at the hotel…….

            Iwoke up New Year’s Eve day at the hotel in Miami, rested and excited to spendbreakfast and a cup of coffee on the balcony with God. When it came time tocheck out of my hotel room, I asked the guy at the front desk when the nextshuttle would be leaving for the airport and he responded “probably in about 10minutes”. I said thank you and started walking towards the door where I saw ashuttle parked and people waiting with their luggage, I assumed that was theshuttle that would be leaving for the airport in 10 minutes. After a fewminutes the driver came out and started helping people get their things intothe back of the shuttle. I only had my small carry-on bag so I pointed to itand then to the door at the front of the shuttle and he shook his head yes andI took my seat on the bus with my bag. As we started driving through downtownMiami, I was becoming a little confused because I knew that was not the waythat we had taken from the airport to the hotel the night before, but Ireassured myself that he maybe had to make multiple stops along the way. As wepulled into the cruise port, I kept reassuring myself that after he dropped thepeople off for their cruises that he was headed to the airport. WRONG. When allthe people finally got off the bus I explained to him that I thought we weregoing to the airport. He pretty much told me he could not break the rules andthat he was not allowed to take anyone off of the cruise port property of or hewould be fined a large amount of money. I didn’t know what to do. He told me totake a taxi but I didn’t see any taxi’s and I didn’t have extra money to spendon a taxi taking me to the airport when I should have already made it toEcuador! I started crying and I picked up my bag to get off of the shuttle and tryto find a taxi wherever one might be found. The driver began to feel bad forme, so he told me to go to the back of the shuttle and duck down until we gotpast security. I was really confused and not so sure what I should do but Idefinitely didn’t want to have to find and pay for a taxi so I did what hesaid. When we passed through security he told me it was ok to sit up and kepttelling me not to cry because he would take me to the airport. When he droppedme off at the airport he said, “this is my gift to you, please do not cryanymore” so I thanked him and wished him a happy new year and got off of theshuttle. Then I couldn’t help but laugh the rest of the day at what hadhappened! I couldn’t believe that something like that happened in the States! (granted,it is Miami). I thought things like that only happened in Ecuador! Either way,I was thankful to end up where I needed to be and that I could laugh about it. Itsort of made the whole trip better and seemed more funny than horrible.

I didn’t end up getting to spend that night with thekids but I did get a good laugh. I also got to spend the night in Quito with afriend and although we didn’t do much, it was very nice to go onto the roof topat mid-night and watch the millions of fireworks around the city (the neighborwas even lighting fireworks off of their balcony?!?!). It will definitely be atime that I will not forget when looking back on all the things I have done tocelebrate the coming year!

I am looking forward to the new season God has for meand all of the blessings of this year. I can’t wait to learn and see and growin unexpected ways! God is so good and His plans are bigger than we can expect!I can’t wait to be a part of whatever He is doing here this NEW YEAR!
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Remembering

Posted on: January 29th, 2012 by

From Megan Ann Shepherd’s blog:

Recently I was looking through my pictures from last year and thinking how things have changed. Looking at the kids who have returned home to their families and the new children that have we have with us.

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Christmas Time is Near!

Posted on: December 2nd, 2011 by

From Melissa Medlin’s blog:

 Just a week and a half away…I can’t believe our Christmas program isalready coming up. I wanted to try my best to get these kids prepared for thebest Christmas program ever! :-) When I was younger, the Christmas program wasalways the highlight of the Christmas service at church. I love the feeling youget remembering and celebrating Christ’s birth.

We have been working on our Christmas program for almost 2months; learning our lines, songs and dances, sewing costumes, paintingbackdrops. It has definitely has been a busy and overwhelming. At times I havewished that it would just be over so I could get a little rest between all thesewing, fabric dying, hot glueing, painting and homework. However, today whenwe were finishing up the last backdrop, a huge relief came over me. Along withthat, rehearsal for the play went perfect yesterday! Where there were badattitudes of “this is ALL we EVER do”, they were replaced with goodattitudes of “this is almost here, let’s work hard and get things done”.

I have had the privilege, lately, to stay extra late to workwith 5 of the older girls on a ribbon dance. We finally finished thechoreography yesterday! As they were rehearsing, they looked like they weretrying to remember each step and it wasn’t flowing together very well. Itlooked more like work than dancing. So I stopped the girls and we talked alittle bit about the music, “Star of Wonder”, by Sufjan Stevens. Iasked them what the song was about and Thalia answered “It’s a Christmassong about the Christmas star that the Reyes Magos (Wisemen) followed”.Then we talked a little about what Christmas was, what we were celebrating withour Christmas program, how the different people went to adore Christ the nightthat He was born and how dancing is a form of worship. I told them to put inall of that emotion and dance for the Lord. The last time we practiced ourdance….it looked AMAZING! I am sooo in awe of how much talent these girlshave! They are good at EVERYTHING! :-) But maybe I am biased….

Today after we finished up the last backdrop, Mami Inesasked me for some help cutting Edison’s hair. They had messed up a little bitand they weren’t sure how to fix it. I went down to try to teach them how toblend in the lines. I thought of the very first time I came to Casa de Fe inMarch of 2008. Ines was there helping me cut hair the very first time. Justthinking back on all the time I’ve spent with these kids and these people inShell gave me this overwhelming, blessed feeling, That same feeling you getwhen you think of your family and all the memories over the years. The ups andthe downs. I can’t say enough how thankful I am for this family. Even theteenage attitudes. :-)   I never knew thatso much love could come from one small organ that fits inside your body.

God exceeds my expectations everyday. He fills me with somuch love so that I know how much I am loved by Him. No matter if I give Him abad teenaged attitude, His love for me never changes. His love is bigger thanthis great love that I have inside of me. That’s so incomprehensible! But I amso grateful for all of it…and for everything He has done for me…and for myfamily…here and in the States.

:-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I forgot to mention that on Thanksgiving Day we were ina parade! I will post some pictures below! We got to dress up in traditionalQuechua clothing and do a dance from a town called Otavalo. That was anotherthing that we practiced A LOT. Everything turned out great! While the olderkids and teachers did the dance in the parade, the younger kids got to choosewhat they want to be when they grow up…and they rode in a float dressed astheir chosen profession. We had a doctor, nurse, vet, firefighter, baker,ballerina, military, pilot…ect. Everything turned out so cute!

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Año Escolar 2011-2012

Posted on: September 17th, 2011 by

From Melissa Medlin’s blog:

Today is the fifth day of school! Everything has been going really great. This week we are working on the kids assessments and seeing what they remember from last year and who needs tutoring. I am so excited for my classes this year! I have the second and third grade classes four times a week; two art classes and two music classes. Then I have the fifth, six and seventh grade classes three times a week; one art class, one music class and one home economics class. I let the older girls pick the units that they wanted to learn in their home economics class. They were so excited to choose what they were going to learn!
This year I am only teaching three classes each day. This is because along with teaching I will be doing a number of other things. I am in charge of all the art/school supplies and handing it out to the teachers as they need it as well as keeping it organized when we get new donations in. I will also be helping with the groups who come through and sort of leading them with projects that they can be working on while they are here and after all the assessments are finished with the kids; I will be helping with tutoring and filling in any extra holes in my schedule with helping with therapy. It sounds really busy but I will actually just be working your regular 40ish hour week.
This school year, like the others, has changed and grown so much again. We now have more Ecuadorian teachers in the school than American teachers and the kids are getting more subjects in Spanish. The school’s Director of Education is a lady who is a Pastor at a church here in Shell. She is also teaching Bible for the kids so that they can hear God’s word in their own language, something that is very important. I can relate to this because I am now attending a church in Spanish and it is just not the same as hearing it in English.
WOW!
I have almost been here for three weeks! That is so hard to believe. On one hand it seems like I have been here longer, almost as if I wasn’t even home for the last year, and on the other hand I am not sure where exactly the last three weeks have gone. It’s so great to be back here in Shell where all the time, everywhere I look I am reminded of God’s creativity! I love walking to school and seeing the mountains and on a clear day the volcanos! I love sitting at my desk upstairs on the third floor and all there is in front of me is a big screen wall where I can just see the jungle outside. I love sleeping in my room when the rain is falling. I love a lot of things about being here but most of all I love being able to be a part of these kids’ lives again. Being a part of their every day and seeing them grow and seeing how they’ve grown over the last four years. It’s a really big blessing to have been a part of this for as long as I have; seeing the kids in three different buildings, now finally on the property. I am excited to see what God brings here to the orphanage in the future, how much it changes and grows and seeing the kids fall in love with Jesus. I am very fortunate to be here and see the love that He has for this place!
I will try to get some pictures up very soon! There are so many new things from the last time that I was here and the kids have grown so much! I cannot wait to share this whole year.
OH HEY!
I got a new email address! Feel free to write me! I love emails!
Melissa@lacasadefe.org
Also find out how you can support me at:
www.cornerstoneinternational.org/staff-short-term
You can find my name under the short term missionaries! (All donations are tax deductible.)
And you can read more about La Casa de Fe at:
www.lacasadefe.org
On the website for Casa de Fe you can read the blogs of others who are working here as well!

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Changes

Posted on: September 14th, 2011 by

From Megan Ann Shepherd’s blog:

Recently I have been reflecting on my year down here. On each of my students and the distance that we have come from September. I remember thinking that first week in school that I was not cut out for this job. The kids were all on different levels and on different levels in different subjects. Another challenge was creating a classroom management a daunting task with the amount of behavior issues and lack of structure at the beginning of the year.

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Off we go into the wild blue yonder…

Posted on: September 14th, 2011 by

From Megan Ann Shepherd’s blog:

I love what I do and I am so blessed to teach the children that I do.

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The Departure

Posted on: September 14th, 2011 by

From Megan Ann Shepherd’s blog:

I don’t think I can truly express just how loved I felt in the time leading up to my departure for Ecuador. In the last couple of weeks I was able to spend time with family and friends, spend time in fellowship with others at Shift and then the day I left Vero Beach I had family and friends at the house to fellowship one last time before I left. I was blessed by the encouragement and the old and new friends that came. God continues to blow me away with the generosity He gives me and inspires others to give.

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First days in Ecuador

Posted on: September 14th, 2011 by

From Megan Ann Shepherd’s blog:

My first day in Quito I hung out at the OMS guest house, rested and had quiet time with God. In the afternoon I went to the Kywi hardware store, the guys here like to think of it as an Ecuadorian Lowe’s. Patti Sue, Tandy, Darryl, and I picked up a bunch of things needed for the orphanage, sinks, light bulbs and the such. We headed back to the Guest house. In the evening I went to a friend of Ali’s house for dinner and watch a movie. It was a late night but fun.

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Getting Settled

Posted on: September 14th, 2011 by

From Megan Ann Shepherd’s blog:

Saturday was a work day out at the property which was exciting because I hadn’t seen the property since late February. When I woke up that morning it was a cool crisp morning. When I opened my curtains that face the main road I saw a clear snow capped Sangay. It was a breath taking sight and I was in awe of the beauty of it. When I got to the property I saw that Altar was also just as visible. It was a beautiful day. We started out with a tour of the Multi Use Building down and upstairs. Alison, Dallas and I picked out our classrooms, which was very exciting.

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