A journey to Ecuador

As most of you know, Olen and I love to travel…to see new sights and to meet new people. We have taken tours led by other people, traveled with family members, traveled with dear friends, and traveled on our own. This time we are undertaking a type of travel we have never done before. We are taking a group of travelers on a tour….a tour with a “mission”.

We have visited the Christians in Ecuador, and some of them have visited us. When the Davilas came to north Alabama last summer, several people asked us about going on a trip to visit them, and seeing the sights in Ecuador. So, we began to plan a trip that involves both seeing the beauties of this little-known country and spending time visiting with and encouraging the Christians who live there. Much to our surprise, we have fifteen who have chosen to participate in this adventure.

We have three married couples, a mother and adult daughter, two widows, a man who has been to Ecuador several times, and four lovely high school girls. The ages range from fourteen to seventy-seven. This is a wonderful, diverse group.

We are very excited about the trip, but could not have done it without the help of a travel agent in North Carolina (Collette Brown), and especially her sister, Diane Nicks, who works with Collette. Diane also works and lives in Quito, Ecuador. Olen and I were complete novices at planning group travel, and Diane and Collette have patiently guided us through the process over a period of months. We got to know these ladies because they planned a wonderful group trip to Alaska, which we enjoyed in 2004. And, to go back even further into ancient history, Diane and I were once cheerleaders together at Florida College. We would never have predicted at that time how our paths would cross again almost 50 years later.

So, if you would like to read about our adventures in Ecuador, we will be blogging our trip and posting pictures here. Our 12-day trip will begin on July 9. If you would like to read about our previous trip to Ecuador, that blog can be found at www.visitingchristiansinecuador.blogspot.com, or for more information on the Christians who live there and some background on the churches in the area, go to this website: http://www.churchofchrist-ecuador.info/

We plan to do another post and introduce you to the members of our little group before we leave. Right now it is time to locate our passports and re-confirm reservations and plans.