''The day where sneaker¨rubber hits the road!

After a full day of washing kids feet, seeing them laugh when we massage their little feet with cream and then powder them up, it´s almost anticlimactic when you tell them that´s it, al fin, in Spanish. However, when they reach up their arms and give you a hug, and sometimes a kiss, there is an exhiliaration beyond compare. And then you turn around and the next child is sitting there smiling at you, clutching those new sneakers, waiting for their feet to be washed and powdered up too!

I asked a few others how they felt after the first day in the field. Karen Krug related how encouraging it was to see through the spiritual clinics that she participated in that many of the children had heard the Gospel before and that the children were actively engaged in the stories. She feels that our mission may have opened their hearts even more.

Matt Heyns says that he felt hurt for the number of children on the street who watched us leave as we filed into the bus. The lines of children wanting sneakers kept growing, but at some point we had to get onto the bus.

Susan Baker made a great point when she told me that you don´t have to speak the same language to make a connection.

Patty Giannattasio did manage to find a common denominator. Patty says that kids have smelly feet all over the world!

Personally, I find great humility in washing the kids´ feet. It´s not unlike the position Christ took when he washed the disciples´feet. Humility is certainly a good foundation for making human connections. The ultimate connection is a relationship with Jesus Christ. If we can help model this connection, like Susan Baker pointed out, where you don´t have to speak the same language, I believe we will have succeeded in our mission to Ecuador. Fred Neff 7-06-09.