Carnival, Gozo. Más Gozo que Carnival.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Didn't sleep well last night either, thanks to coffee, chocolate, and sleeping till 1pm yesterday. Oh well, we've been moving so much today that it hasn't made much of a difference. Rafa and I headed to Murciélago around 10:30 to see who was left of the Carnival crowd. There turned out to be a ton, and it was good that we got there when we did, cuz it filled up, and they stopped allowing trucks into the area. We set up, and had the help of Clever, Máximo, and some other random folks I didn't know. We had 5 meetings in that place! And they were huge meetings, one in particular where we easily had 100. I only played a song or two, and a crowd was there, and I gave up the mic. (Side note, I've started playing Optimistic by Radiohead a lot as a crowd draw...Rafa told me today before one of the meetings, "Play 1 or 2 songs, and make sure they're really happy songs." I assume that was his way of saying "Don't play Radiohead.") One dude named Irving came up to me after one of the first meetings, and told me he heard me playing "Here I Am To Worship". He leads worship in a city close to here, and he had 2 girls named Allison and Kimberly who were believers from Guayaquil with him. He came back later in the day and he played and sang "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" in Spanish, and me in English. Super cool. I love all the random people I'm meeting at our campaigns. I got super burned today, because I applied 2 hours worth of sunscreen, not 6. Just face and arms got burned.

Tonight made me not want to leave Manta. Clever invited us over (it was more Vivi and Eliza than him, but he seems to be the spokesperson) and we ate a delicious meal of tuna, rice, grilled fish, plátanos, and mangoes. Shrek was on, and then Click followed it, so we just chilled, watched some of the movies, and chatted. I played with Samuel (Chinito) who is Clever's 5 year old son. Cutest kid. We were over there for a long time. I was a little tired at that point after 5 meetings and 4 basketball games and 3 hours of sleep, so my Spanish was in and out. Everyone was super emotional and focused on us leaving for Quito soon...poor Chinito has taken quite the liking to me, and as it was explained to him how soon we're leaving, he started crying! He gave me his harmonica and a jack as a 'recuerdo' to remember him by...it was the sweetest thing, and I kind of don't think I get the depth of it, cuz they were probably things that meant a lot to him for all I know. As he started crying, Yvonne followed, and Vivi, and eventually Eliza and Vanessa as well. We all hugged and kissed and said bye. I don't know if I've ever been around a group of believers that was this affectionate and in such a short time of being with them. I want to come back already, and I haven't left yet...I get to see them again this weekend as we have a campaign in Cuba on Saturday night and then church on Sunday. Rafa and I left and were in a sort of shock at the sort of emotions that were shed. It is a beautiful thing to love and be loved within the body of Christ, where the bonds go so much deeper than the time you've known someone.

Monday, February 23, 2009

We didn't really sleep well last night, even though I slept until after 1pm. The party was still going at like 5am. And then the power went off at like 6, so I had no fan. Anyway.

Today was the alleged day of rest, but I stayed pretty busy. We went to Murciélago and tried to do some meetings...it was nuts. We set up by one of the exits from the beach, and had 2 meetings, with moderate turnouts. We couldn't get the truck down there because of it being blocked off, so we didn't take amplification. Rafa was about tired of screaming over subs by the end of it.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

We just got home from a very long but fulfilling day. Went to Alfa y Omega this morning, had a great service, and the take away for me was, "What are you looking for?" Pastor Muentes spoke from Isaiah 55..."Seek the Lord while He may found." Am I seeking the Lord? If not, what? I think I'll find what I'm looking for, whatever it may be.

Eliza and Viviana invited us for lunch today, twas great. Rafa and I hung out there for a bit afterwards chatting with the girls and the family, and then we played some soccer out on the field. It was a smaller group this time...still a lot of fun...more so for me, cuz I actually had shoes that were worth a flip to play in this time, and I scored some goals too, didn't kick too much air this time. Good stuff.

We went back to change at the girls' place, and lo and behold, they had more food for us. I love this church. They have not stopped supporting us, feeding us, encouraging us, praying with and for us, and just loving us. I don't want to leave Manta because of them.

As Rafa and I tried to head home, they had the Ruta del Sol blocked off so that there could be 2 inbound lanes to Manta (for Carnival evidently), and none going out. Hence, we had no way to get home. It was asinine. We had to go all the way back to Rafa's place on the other side of the city to shower and get ready for the meetings tonight.

On the way to the park, we picked up a whole truckload of Alfa y Omega-ites to bring them to the park. It was awesome...they really made tonight happen by coming close to the sketchboard as Rafa was doing the numbers, because I didn't have my guitar since we couldn't get to the house. We ended up doing 3 meetings there, and they were all pretty well attended. One particular couple stuck around for 2 of the meetings and had a long talk with both Rafa and Vivi.

My new addiction: Jamileth. That restaurant is so good, and the batidos, my goodness, I could drink my weight in those things. And everything that comes off that grill goes very well in my stomach. We had Jamileth for the 2nd night in a row. And it's open late...like after midnight. Perfect for those late night campaigns.