Going to Baños

19 youth, 10 leader, 4 days, 13 hours of traveling... 1 incredible trip.

We went to Baños (it means baths not toilet!!!) for the second annual Santay Youth Retreat.  This little town full of waterfalls nestled in the andes mountains approximately 6.5 hours from Guayaquil was officially the furthest that these 19 youth had ever traveled in their lives.  Thats a little hard for this Texas girl to understand considering that with 6 hours of travel you haven´t even gotten halfway across my state. 
This weekend retreat had the theme of Freedom.  They heard maybe for the first time about what it means to be free in Christ.  We also got to see some awesome waterfalls, a huge volcano and natural hot water springs.  I absolutly love nature and seeing the raw beauty that God created.

On Saturday night we went up to a lookout point, it was dark so I am still not sure of the point but it was fun!  We made a fire and cooked hot dogs while trying to stay warm, keep in mind that the coldest that Santay gets is the low 70´s and it was in the 40´s that night.  At least 10 of the youth came up to me super excited at different points saying ¨Tabita, tabita, LOOK¨  Then they exhaled very deeply, ¨Look!  SMOKE!!!!!¨  It was the first time that they had ever seen their breath visibly. 

The good news is that we arrived back to Guayaquil and Santay Island with all 19, I kept counting in the bus everytime we had a bathroom break.  Scary realizing that you are in charge of the well-being of so many, not just physically but also spiritually, a bit sobering.  I loved the time that we spent together but left the weekend with a stronger burden for these young people to truely encounter the Living God.  Though we had several good sessions, there was not much outward response from the youth.  However, we did see some pretty neat things happening with one of the girls.  She had struggled with gastritis for years, during the weekend several of the leaders prayed for her and for healing.  The next week when we went back to the island, Mafer was so excited to share with us that she was healed, she was no longer taking the medicines and had no pain at all!!  Little by little they are seeing the hand of God at work in their lives!  Keep praying for the youth of Santay!