Back in Quito Once Again

After only a 25 hour bus ride, I am now back at the Brown's apartment in Quito, Ecuador. Leaving Peru was very difficult to say goodbye to the team and to all of our friends we made it Trujillo. It is hard to believe that my time is over in Peru and I wish there was more time in my summer to be there, but there is a time for everything. Being back in Quito has been great though just to spend time with the interns and the Brown's in the city I love here.
Tomorrow all of us are going to stay up at the new property that Inca Link just purchased here in Quito that will soon be used as a teen pregnancy center, intern housing, retreat center, corban studio and the home of many other ministries. This is a huge step of faith though going into this because it costs $300,000 for the whole place. It is great though because there is no construction needed and there are several houses on the land already. We are coming up with ideas to help raise the money for it so all the ministries can come together. Please let us know if you have any ideas for it and with the Lord's will great things will be done there.
Well I need to get to bed, but I come home Friday and look forward to seeing everyone then! Thank you for all of your support and please pray for me as I have to adjust to what life in the States will be for me.
Here are some pictures from last week with the Canada team.
http://northpark.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024370&l=bbd32&id=67600728

Canada Part 2

I am back in Trujillo and have another group from Canada. This group is incredible and has been great to connect with. We have been working hard at the work site and have been staying up late playing soccer with the locals. It has been some of the most fun we have had while having a team here. Last week I spent a few days in Lima again to drop off the last group and pick up the next. It was a little crazy because of Independence Day and trying to just get the teams to the different places in Lima, but everything worked out in the end. I had a few days that I spent in Lima with Amiee and Heather while we waited for out next team. It was great to stay downtown and just be able to enjoy Lima for a while. We went to the zoo, fountain park, circus and ate a lot of good food. As much fun as it was it is also great to be back 'home' in Trujillo and working with a new team. I leave on Saturday to go back to Ecuador and what will hopefully be a less than 28 hour bus ride. Here are some pictures from my time in Lima and I will put some up from the new group soon. Looking forward to see you all so soon and sharing about everything in person.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024178&l=f7f0c&id=67600728

Don't worry I am still taking plenty of photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023906&l=07b4f&id=67600728

Bringing Cultures Together

Well toady marks only having 3 weeks left here in South America and I'm not sure if that is enough time. The Queens group has been a huge blessing to have here this week. They have all been working hard on the work site and have done a great job with running the children's programs. They have also taken on a whole new ministry by reaching the Chinese population in Trujillo. The group is from a Chinese Alliance Church and many of them speak Cantonese and have been able to use that to reach out the Chinese minority here. Most of the Chinese population here own the 'Chifa' or Chinese restaurants in the city. The team has gone around visiting the different restaurants and building relationships with the people and witnessing to the people there. This is an awesome opportunity they have to serve here and it has been fun to be a part of it even though i just eat the Chinese food and have no idea what is being said.
On Sunday I am going back to Lima to bring this group to the airport and pick up my last group for the summer. I will be in Lima though for almost a week because of Peru's Independence Day on Monday and it has been hard to get buses down there, so we are leaving earlier than planned. Although we have to leave Trujillo earlier with the group, I think it will be very cool to be in Lima for Independence Day.
As far as life here in Peru, things have been amazing and I really think it is going to be hard to leave this place. I am very connected with a lot of the locals here and am very passionate about the ministries going on here. On August 10th I will be heading back to Quito, Ecuador and I think it will come sooner than I think after my trip to Lima and being with another group. Please pray for me and I continue to work down here and I will let you all know how the trip to Lima was when I return.

The Queens Group

After my second trip to Lima in the past week, the huge group is back home and my new group from Queens is here. They are a very fun group and I'm very excited to have them here. It is also nice to not be on a bus to or from Lima for a least a week. This week there will be four teams here total and we hope to get a lot done. We took a tour today to show the group the different sites and churches and it is great to be see all the people at the different locations and how much they love us coming by.
Friday marked only having four weeks left here in South America. It is crazy to think I will be leaving this life here so soon. It is always bitter/sweet to think about leaving because I love being here and the life I have here, but it is always great to see everyone I love back home again. It is also hard to believe I will be going into my last year of college and everything that will come along with that.
Thank you again for all of you who have supported me in so many ways. I look forward to seeing you all again in a few weeks and ask that you keep me in your prayers as I continue to work down here.

Gringos, gringos, gringos.

I can't imagine being Peruvian right now and seeing our group of 180+ gringos walking around. It has been keeping us very busy down here just trying to do everything, but still things are going well. I have been really enjoying the kids programs more and more as I get to do them with the churches. We are all very excited for the Saturday as we put on a huge outreach for the city. All the churches are putting on a sports day all day on Saturday to reach out to the communities they are from and us grinos are playing on their teams. At night Corban, Elisa's band, will be putting on a concert. We are very excited for this and look forward to bringing so many Peruvians and Gringos together for a day. Also, Corban has been asked to open for Rojo which is the biggest Christian band here in Latin America on August 7th! I need to get to bed now but again I have more pictures because I just cannot stop taking them.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023405&l=02782&id=67600728

Ohio Meets Peru

Well, believe it or not, we somehow got 180 people here to Peru! It has been keeping us very busy just to get everyone to their different work places, hotels and just meals. Overall though everything is going great and it is amazing how much work will get done in these 10 days. I am working with a group of 17 and am staying at a hotel in the downtown area here. Today we spent the whole day working at the construction site and with all the traveling and work we are pretty tired.
Before we went to the airport to get the teams we got to spend some time in Lima just hanging out with some of our friends who live there. Here are some pictures of my time there. The architecture and colors made it a fun day to have a camera.
As always please keep me and all of us down here in your prayers.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023315&l=120da&id=67600728

The Garbage Dump

I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to quickly share with you my latest trip to the garbage dump. I went with the team from Canada yesterday and handed out fruit and shoes to the people. The relationships are growing better with every visit we make to the garbage dump and it is amazing how people that are so far from each other in life can show love to each other. Jesus says what we do to the least of these, we have done to Him. How amazing it is to have the opportunity to serve the poorest of the poor and to build relationships with them. As nervous as I am for trying to get 180 people here and everything that comes with that next week, it is awesome that there will be that many people experiencing such an incredible ministry first hand. Please keep me in your prayers as I work down here and that I will keep my priorities straight and my eyes on God. And of course I have pictures of our latest visit to the dump.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023144&l=e46d4&id=67600728

So many ministries....

Things here in Peru are going great and everyone is healthy again. The KY team left on Sunday and it was great to have them here. Our team from Canada is still here and I've been able to spend a little more time with them now. I'm still busy helping out with getting things together for our next team, but I've been able to go out with the team a little more the past couple days. On Saturday we went out to the garbage dump again and washed peoples' hair for them and played some soccer with the kids. It was a very humbling experience and it's amazing the lessons learned when you serve the poor. Last night we went with Larco Church (the largest church we work with) to the main plaza of Trujillo and the youth put on some different evangelisms to the people there. We sang songs, had skits, and had a good passionate message given as well. The turn out was great and a few people from the city came forward to accept Christ and get involved with the church. It's very encouraging to see how receptive the people are here to the church. We spent today working hard at the work site and have made some good progress. Here are some pictures I have taken over the past few days. Thank you for all of your prayers, it really shows down here.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023109&l=28f9f&id=67600728

Needed Prayers

Please keep all of us down here in your prayers as we are experiencing some difficult situations. The biggest request right now is for one of our interns Katie who after experiencing some pains yesterday, had her appendix removed last night. Her mother is flying down here to be with her and everything is going well with her recovery right now. It is never easy to be sick in a foreign country and I'm sure this must have been terrible to experience.
There has also been some sickness going around with a few people on the teams and myself included. I have just recently been feeling better and hope by morning that I will be 100%. We currently have two groups here right now, the KY team and a group from Canada. Both are great groups and are really working hard down here. My sickness and work for the upcoming teams has been keeping me from spending a lot of time with them, but hopefully I'll get some more time with them soon. I've been busy lately trying to figure things out for the district coming down here from Ohio of over 180 people! It has been crazy trying to put everything together, but I know that in the end everything will work out.
Other than the troubles we've experienced recently, I feel like I have been learning more than ever being down here. I really feel the Lord's presence being down here and am very excited for all the different ministries going on down here. Please keep all of us in your prayers and hopefully I will have nothing, but good news coming up.

The Kentucky Team

We have a new group here again! It feels great to be working with another team and they are a great group at that. Today we broke ground on the land that will be the orphanage here someday. We just started the work to put in the wall around the property. It is such a blessing that we got so much land for the price we did and it will be amazing to see how it gets used.
On Saturday we went out to the larger garbage dump here in Trujillo and it was my first time to this one, too. It was mind blowing to see how people live and work in these conditions. It saddens me to think how selfish of a person I can be and I have so much. Seeing how I can connect with a person that seems so far from myself is one of the greatest feelings in the world. We brought them fruit and played soccer with some of the kids which they really enjoyed. I really cannot describe to you how impactful the whole experience was.
Tonight I went to English class with my friend Daniel at his university. It was a lot of fun to be the special guest. I visited three different classes and the one even had me teach for most of the time! Good thing I have taken all those education classes and can come up with a lesson in no time without many materials. My professors would have been proud. Well it is late now and we are working hard again tomorrow morning. Here are some pictures though of the garbage dump.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022864&l=1e430&id=67600728

Life in Peru

Well I made my first trip to Lima this week and it was a very fast one at that. I went with my group on a nine hour bus ride through the night on Wednesday night and spent the day with them going around Lima until they had their flight that night. I then got back on a bus and went through the night back to Trujillo. At this point with so much traveling I didn't even mind the two long bus rides on top of each other. I really liked Lima a lot from the architecture to the overall feel of the city and look forward to going back again.
Since I have been back in Trujillo, I have been helping get sponsors and updating things at the Day Care. Yesterday I took pictures of all the kids and got updates on them. We just finished the website for the children without a sponsor and you can access it and sponsor a child here:

www.incalinkchild.org

I have also been able to spend a lot of time with some locals here from the churches and they are just awesome people. Tonight we have a father's day service and then are playing soccer at the park with everyone (which I am still terrible at, but it is still a lot of fun).
It has been great to hear from some of you and I love to hear how things are going back home for everyone. If you don't have my email it is dankasnick111@hotmail.com and right now I am able to check it pretty often. Thank you all for your support and I will keep you updated as the days go.
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there too!

More Photos

Here are some more photos like I promised.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022630&l=898dc&id=67600728

My First Peru Group

Peru is incredible! Our first group of Peru has been awesome and I have really been able to connect with the group a lot. This week we spent a lot of time working at the day care for the children of the garbage dump. We got things started to build the second floor and got some painting done on the first floor. During all of this too, we have been able to spend a lot of time with the kids and getting to know the families of the area. Having our meals at the different churches has been great too because we have been able to connect more with the people there. Yesterday we went door to door with the locals to see if people would be interested in joining a cell group. It was shocking how receptive people are here and everyone would at least listen to use and quite a few are excited about joining a cell group. Cell groups are one of the biggest ministries here to reach the community and is what is getting people to come out to the churches.
I have been really enjoying my time in Peru so far and may even say it has been my favorite place yet. There is a lot of opportunity here and every time I walk down the street I feel it more and more. The people here are very open and loving and I am excited to meet more of them every time I step outside.
Please pray now as I leave to take the group to Lima today because there is talk of a strike happening. All our bags are packed now though in case we have to leave at noon to beat any road blocks, but our hope is to stay and work with the kids in the afternoon and take the bus through the night. Here are some pictures so far from the week and I have more to put up when I get a chance.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022594&l=26453&id=67600728

Moving into Peru

I am now moved into Peru staying at the guest house here and I feel very comfortable here already. It feels great to be settled into a place again and I'm really looking forward for my time here. Yesterday I went to visit the children at the day care where I be working at a lot this summer and it was a blast to play with these kids. The children's parents work in the garbage dump in the area and the day care allows the kids to not be in the dump all day with their parents. In the evening I went to small group at America Sur, which is one of the local C&MA churches here. Most of them were in their 20's and I had a lot of fun getting to know them. It's really cool to be making friends with the locals here and connecting with people my age.
Today I went to church in the morning at America Sur again and it is always a lot to take in a service all in Spanish, but I really enjoyed it. Being Sunday, we couldn't work anywhere here so we went to the beach for the afternoon. I spent a couple hours learning how to surf with one of the other interns and a couple of people from the group. Somehow I was able to pick it up quickly and am sore now from doing it so much. I swallowed a lot of salt water, but it was defiantly worth it and it was cheap enough where I can go some more this summer for sure. Here are some pictures from surfing and I will fill you all in on life in Peru again when I have a chance.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022554&l=a8e1f&id=67600728

Making it to Peru

After 28 hours of buses, taxis, vans and walking, I arrived in Trujillo, Peru. Crossing the boarder was interesting because we were required to walk across it and the man at first didn't believe my passport was me! I was able to convince him it was me and I was soon on another long bus ride. There were a few check points along the way where we had to show our passports and have some of our bags checked. We never had time to stop for long, so my diet consisted of only crackers and water. It was nice to sleep in this morning and have a real breakfast after the long journey. I must go now though because I'm going to the day care this afternoon to work with the children in the garbage dump. I will hopefully have pictures for you all soon.

Last Days in Ecuador...

Today is my last day here in Ecuador until August. Tonight at 10 I take a bus ride for 24+ hours to Trujillo, Peru. We will immediately have a group when we get there so it will be a quick transition. This past week in Quito we had some more intern training with the missionaries. We went through the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which was a really great program to go through. It has been nice to have time here in Quito just to relax and catch up before we have another group, but I really look forward to getting to Peru. It will be hard to say bye to the Browns and the other interns, but they will be joining us in Peru in a month. Please keep me in your prayers and hopefully I will have more photos up soon to share with all of you.

Back From the Jungle And Celebrating Kids Day

I just got in yesterday from the jungle village of Archidona where I was since Sunday. The team I was in charge of was of 8 people from NY and we worked in Walter's church out there. Being the rainforest, it rained every day we were there. The rain stopped us from being able to do our manual labor projects there, but we still had a very successful time doing VBS with the neighborhood kids. We had over 80 kids come out and had the program for over 4 hours a day. It was a great experience to interact with these kids and to spend time again with Pastor Walter. I also got to experience the jungle by eating grub worms and killing a chicken for dinner.
Today was Dia de Nino or Kids' Day, here in Ecuador. We spent the morning at a special needs center for children where we helped out with the kids there. For the special day, the kids put on plays, dances, and other shows for the whole center. It was a very fun time with the kids but at the same time took a lot of patience to work with some of the kids. Overall though it was an amazing experience that I really enjoyed.
We spent the rest of the day on top of Mt. Pichincha and going to the market with the group. The other group and the rest of the interns also came back today and it was great to catch up with them. I send my team off tomorrow and then I'm here in Quito until I leave for Peru on Thursday.
Here are some more pictures for now and I have more I'll put up soon. Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from all of you.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022337&l=c638b&id=67600728

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022344&l=70edd&id=67600728

The Amazing Race

I figured while I still have a short time with internet that I would do my best to fill everyone in. I spent last night out in the jungle with the team helping the Browns with doing a challenge race with the new interns. We had them taking buses to the jungle, eating worms, jumping off bridges, and plenty of other crazy adventures. To end our time in the jungle we stopped by the hot springs to relax before coming back to Quito.
Tonight I picked up my new group along with another group that will be down here at the same time. The team of 13 is going with Rich and the other interns out to a village in the coastal region and I will be in charge of the group of 8 going out to the jungle. We will head out to Archidona on Sunday and our plan is to be back on Thursday. Before we leave we will being going to help out in an old folks' home and also in the woman's prison. The group is really excited about everything and I think things will go great even if I have to take them out there without the missionaries.
So far I have been very lucky to have only been sick one morning really since I've been here, but that's not to say I am always in great health. Coming back here gives me a real sense of home and I feel extremely comfortable everywhere I go down here. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on this summer. Each day holds something new for me and I look forward to see how God will use me with every new day.

A few pictures I got in during the amazing race:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022144&l=e19bb&id=67600728

Photos

I hope this works. This link should take you to my pictures from Bolivia. Just copy the full address and paste it in your browser. Please let me know if you have any problems with it.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022095&l=48669&id=67600728

Checking off Bolivia

I am currently in Ecuador back with the Browns and it feels great to see them all again.  I woke up in Bolivia where I was since I left Chicago.  My time in Bolivia was amazing and my team of 16 were incredible.  I would have to say that I have never seen a team come together like the Bolivia team did.  The most discouraging part of the trip was the fact that we had to split up the team a lot for the different projects, but it made our group even closer when we were together.  I spent most of my time working on an interior wall at one of the orphanages.  Other than that we spent time with the kids and visiting different places around Bolivia like the markets, childrens' hospital, and the jungle.  It was great to see all the kids and house parents again at the orphanages and I loved being able to spend time with them.  The Timmers are now working on building their 6th orphanage and plan on having 50 in the next 8 years.

Tomorrow I head to the jungle here in Ecuador so I'm going to get some sleep now because I am already tired from all my flights today.  Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on my journey and I will do my best to keep everyone updated, but my internet time is limited.  Also I will do my best to get some pictures up so you can all see what is going on as well.

This Time Tomorrow

Well, here is my first blog for my summer. I moved out of my apartment this morning and am now sitting at home trying to decided what comes and what stays for this summer. This time tomorrow I should be boarding for my flight. For those of you that don't know, tomorrow I leave for Bolivia to lead a group of 15 students from my school for 10 days. After that my team flies home without me while I head over to Ecuador to work with the missionaries I worked with two summers ago. After being in Ecuador for about 3 weeks I am heading down to Peru where I will be for the rest of the summer until school starts again. In Ecuador and Peru I will be hosting high school age teams as they come down on short term trips. It will involve me taking them to church work sites, orphanages, garbage dumps, leading devotions, and plenty of other tasks that will come up as the summer goes.
I would say at this point I am mostly just excited for everything and I know after I get all 15 people on my team down there I will feel even better. These last few days have been crazy just with finishing up school and to make everything else more crazy, my flights have all be changing times and even destinations very frequently. I have no answers to why my flights are doing some many different things, but I am calm and am ready to just get there whether I leave early tomorrow morning or late afternoon.
I am now going to try and fit the next 3+ months of my life into a backpack while making sure my team is taken care of. Please pray for me as I head out and I will do my best to keep everyone updated through this blog, but I know there will be plenty of times without internet. Thank you again to everyone who has supported me and my travels! I appreciate all of you in my life.