Friday, November 28, 2025
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Ecuador Thanksgiving
In a vision I, Daniel, saw during the night
the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea.
Friends carry their gratitude from coast to coast and pole to pole, in India, Sweden and this week Ecuador. Pictures we’ve seen from Miles and Aki show how much the students (and everyone, young and old, are “students”) work and play, eat and sleep, and above all, pray. Their energy takes them to nearby villages and back again, with stories to share about the day.
Know that the Kingdom of God is near.
This generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.
Our Austin Sunday School teachers spent ten years in Kenya. Chris and Melissa, along with Jack and Aly, have made several mission trips to Kenya. Aki spent two weeks in the Congo a year ago. And now, this week in Ecuador, Miles is joining the Sandel-Tomita traveling team:
Miles has been growing spiritually, becoming more socially adept, and has new perspectives on the world. Tonight in our group devotional discussion time, we talked about the Holy Spirit: who he is and some of the roles he plays. Miles says he learned a lot and was engaged in the discussion the entire time. He’s also been very active in the group activities, volunteering for roles in helping present the gospel message to Ecuadorian kids. Finally over the course of the last few days, he has realized that there are Ecuadorians who love Jesus. They might look different, speak a different language, practice the faith a little differently, but their love and obedience to the King is no different.
Here are more notes from the team:
On Sunday we were all excited to go to the nearby church in the town of Calcali. During first hour, our team split up into different teams and led activities for adults and kids. We all got to practice whatever Spanish we knew! During second hour (“big church”), our mini worship team had the chance to play a few songs for the congregation in Spanish and English. We actually learned one of the Spanish songs on the spot to play with the man who normally leads worship.
Sunday afternoon began with soccer and frisbee, then games centering on individual families. After the family games, kids and parents split up. With the kids we shared the gospel through five-bead bracelets: black (our sin), red (Jesus’s blood), white (our salvation through His blood), green (active growth), and yellow (the new Jerusalem we will eventually be in with Christ).
Here in Ecuador, adults might not be able to read the Bible themselves, and sometimes think they should not. Our lesson was on the significance of the Bible and how it should be accessible to all. Everyone was given their own Bible and shown how to find specific verses or passages and how some books were prophecy, others history. After the workshop, everyone came together for a carnival, and we played musical chairs and various ball games.
Each day includes food, work, play and devotions. On Tuesday:
After eating a pancake and sausage breakfast, we gathered our gloves and safety glasses, prayed and began our projects. I learned to use a chainsaw for the first time and cheered on the other youth as they did the same! We loaded up the entire truckbed with freshly cut logs and laughed and sang as we rode back to the carpenter’s shop. Another team dug out a space to build a sidewalk and rock pathway outside the new cabin. A team of kids pulled weeds from the garden, piled them on a big tractor trailer, and then rode on the back to the dump site.
After everyone cleaned up, we headed to the rockclimbing wall. Some of us chose to see how fast they could climb, some people took their time, and others tried to use only rocks with the same color.
Instead of eating dinner in the dining hall, we trekked up to the fireside chapel to enjoy our Ecuadorian-style hotdogs, topped with onions, crushed chips, and a trifecta of condiments. We also had an opportunity to try baked guinea pig (6 month old “Francisco”) for the first time. We watched a 9 year old fearlessly gnawing at his little head. After filling our bellies, we listened to an engaging life story of one staff member and sang ‘Good and Gracious King’ and ‘Holy Spirit.”
And then we slept.
The team returns from Ecuador to Austin today.
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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