Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Yesterday was a full day from 4am to 2:30am. We got up early and shipped Daniel off without too much trouble. He had a pretty raging fever Saturday night, but we slipped him some drugs and prayed and it calmed down. En route to Dallas, Daniel and co. got delayed in Houston, only to run into Becki or her way down to Ecuador. So they got to spend some time together in the Houston airport, which was quite fortuitous in a my-plane-got-delayed kind of way.

Daniel is now in Harris HEB hospital in the DFW area and is being scheduled for another abscess drainage surgery (a fairly minor procedure). His medical records were translated from Spanish by an ER doc there who does medical missions, which helps with the transition in care. I´m receiving updates from Daniel´s mom by email and I´ll try to keep this blog current with how he´s doing.

I slept the sleep of the dead for a few hours after going to the airport, then went to Jon & Cecilia´s church down the road from the hotel. (they were the ones picking us up and helping us in Quito). It was good to be among believers and sing familiar songs to God even if the words were different. I got to see a little bit of Quito before getting on the bus to Guayaquil.

Becki had a big welcoming crew at the airport including me, Leonardo, Roberto (cousin of Roberto in Alaska) and some friends. Her flight was delayed so we didn´t get back to Roberto´s until 2:30 or so and immediately crashed.

We are now praying for God´s direction for the next steps to take which probably will be going back north. My plan is to get Becki situated somewhere she can work while she is down here, then do a few touristy things myself and head home.

God continues to open lots of doors and teach me many things. A few highlights:

• the basillica in Quito: the rich Catholics sit on one side of the preist and the poor Catholics sit on the other side. The rich sit closer to the altar, thus closer to God. Wow. How did this ever come to happen?
• the bus ride to Guayaquil: I found that being alone is not sufficient for spending time with God. Mental preparation and clarity are important.
• staying with Roberto´s uncle & aunt: very hospitable and an awesome breakfast conversation about what it truly means to follow Christ, regardless of denomination.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things will be added to you.