The Greatest Journey - Graduation Day

I do believe this is one of the most special things I've ever had the privilege of participating in.  On Tuesday afternoon, we traveled outside the city to attend a graduation ceremony and celebration for the "Greatest Journey."  For those of you who may wonder exactly what this is, it's the 12 lesson discipleship program, printed through donations, by Samaritan's Purse, that teaches the children who choose to participate, about Jesus.  It's that simple.  And it was beautiful.  These kids were so proud.
Just look....

They had cap and gowns ready for the ceremony and we can only imagine how far they ran a power cord for the sound system.  The ceremony was in a field in a very poor neighborhood.

Anticipation

This was the first group of graduates.

This little beauty walked a long way to be there.

They were the sweetest, most grateful children and you could just feel their joy.  They knew they had accomplished something very special and we hoped to make them feel special too.

The neighborhood.

They got cake and they loved it.

Some teenagers were there as well to help with the music :)

Maribel, Ross, her dad and her brother who all help with OCC on the National Leadership Team.

Maribel's family.

When we finished here, we were able to visit the equator....fun times.

Then we had a surprise concert and celebration of our time together with the team.

The OCC National Leadership Team in Ecuador.

This is Laura, one of our interpreters, and her sweet family.

Crepes and Waffles is where we had our last meal in Ecuador and let me just say, that Nutella waffle finished the trip quite nicely.  I am working on a post to wrap up my thoughts and feelings on this awesome experience.  Look for it in a few days.  We are finishing up our vacation time in Montana.

Distribution #3

On Wednesday morning we headed out to another school.  It was a small building with narrow hallways so we moved the children across the street into a larger room.  There, the children had prepared some songs and dances for us and we engaged with great joy.  Those beautiful little faces were thrilled to have us as their guests and our hope and prayer was that we would leave them feeling full of hope and wanting to know more about Jesus.

"Miss Ecuadorian Tourism" joined us for the distribution and seemed to be moved by the experience.  I'm not sure she new what to expect and got far more than she anticipated.

Here are some (a lot) of photos to show you a little of what we experienced there...

A first grade classroom.

One of many I wanted to bring home.

This young man had a New York Yankees necklace, but said he had never had a baseball so he got one of Austin's.

Unconditional love.

My girls were like magnets.  When they sat down they were swarmed with children.

Thrilled about his new toothbrush.

The box was bigger than her.

Reading about Jesus....this is what it's about.

The children were so well behaved.

Introductions

They were singning to us.

Miss Ecuadorian Tourism

Holding those sweet little hands.

The children make crafts to sell.

Presenting a teacher with some much needed supplies.

I have one more post about the trip and I will do that in the next few days.  Today, I'm blogging from one of my favorite places in the world....Ennis, Montana.  

Alison