day twenty two - baños.burns.baptisms

today was very likely my favorite day so far. actually yes. it was. but let me begin with last night. We had just found out that we were all allowed to go to baños to watch some of the street ministry guys get baptised. Baños is over an hour away. We were so excited that we talked and talked and didn't get to sleep until late, then we got up at 4:30 this morning to leave with Isaac and Naomi. We drove around picking up the other guys, i think there were about 13 of us or something like that. with 5 or so in the cab of the truck and the rest in the back. It was so awesome driving into the sunrise with the people in the back bundled in blankets.

Our first stop was in this town that i don't remember the name of. We got some fried sweet bread on the street and the guys skated for a while, then we gathered in a circle and prayed and a couple ladies watching from the street joined us.
then we carried on and drove up through these mountains with a deep ravine on one side going down to rio blanca and active volcanoes and other green hills surrounding us. it was surreal to say the least. We finally got to this house or church or something in the middle of nowhere, parked the truck and hiked through the bushes to the river. We prayed for the four guys getting baptised, then they got baptised in the river. the presence of God was so strong. This is the meaning of church. I have videos and photos that i will upload later because i need to go to bed, but it was one of the closest examples of the family of God i've ever witnessed and i'm more than blessed to be a part of it. We brought a guitar and sang some worship songs and swam in the river.

On the way back we stopped in town to get some food and again it's probably because hadn't really eaten anything yet that day but it was freaking amazing. We stopped at this little stand where a man and woman were cooking and we had rice, fried potatoes, sausage, eggs, avocado, and salad. and it only cost 1$. i could eat that every day. we also stopped at the side of the highway to check out some caves in the mountain. Then Blass asked us what our testimonies were and all of us in the back ended up sharing our testimonies. it was so powerful and amazing.

oh, and i got sunburned and i lost my sunglasses but i dont even care, i wouldn't have traded this experience for anything.
That's today in a nutshell. i will never forget it. i am more than blessed. God bless all of you!
Daniella