I'm back with my people.

Last Sunday, June 17th at the 10:30 am Mass, when the group was blessed, long time parishioner, Pam Tavernier said to me, "you must be so excited, you get to go back to your people!" In the moment, all I could do was smile and agree. Upon arrival, those same feelings of "home" came flooding back - the same feelings I have every time I come to Ecuador. The first trip, I experienced a flood of emotions - from gratitude, to joy, to amazement, to excitement, to anticipation, all with tears - as we rode on the bus from the airport in Quito to the Working Boys' Center. The feeling has changed slightly, because now there are relationships formed and the flood of emotions is deeper because it is mixed with an overwhelming joy at seeing friends, those who host us and treat us as guests, nay, long lost family members when we are here. That flood of emotions and tears came back full force tonight when I saw Germania and Nathan waiting at arrivals for us in Guayaquil.

Germania works with Sr. Annie at Damien House. She will eventually take over leadership of the Foundation when Annie retires. Nathan was a Rostro de Cristo volunteer and has been here for 3 years, he is currently discerning whether to stay here or return to the U.S. They will be our guides while we are here.

When we arrived to our gate in Miami in our Ecuador Pilgrimage T-shirts, an older gentleman and his wife said, "ah, Ecuador" and proceeded to ask us what we were going to be doing in Ecuador. He said that he and his wife are from Cuenca and he urged us to visit there. Come to find out, they sat in the row with me. Their names are Jose and Zoela. So sweet and they shared so much of their lives with me. Jose spoke English about as much as I spoke Spanish which enabled us to have a conversation. They have 5 daughters, 2 sons, all of whom live in the U.S. They lived in the U.S. for a number of years, in New York, then Minneapolis. They were returning home from a vacation to visit their children and 10 grandchildren. Jose told me, "we don't have anything" when I asked about where they lived, but went on to tell me about the vegetables they grow (potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, celery and carrots) and the animals they have (a cat, a dog, 3 cows, many chickens, guinea pig and rabbits) and how the food produced in Ecuador (like the U.S.) has many chemicals, which he doesn't agree with, hence grows his own food.

I also met Jake who is a young father of a 2 year old boy. He asked Brendan E., who was sitting in front of him, why we were wearing the t-shirts. Brendan explained to him that we were going on a mission trip. I filled in some details - and Jake expressed his passion for helping people. He later shared that he served as a logistics specialist in the US Army. He is coming home to Guayaquil to visit his father who he hadn't seen in 7 years.

During the plane rides, I read about 1/2 of Fr. Gregory Boyle's new book, "Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship." What an inspiring book! Full of stories of his ministry at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, he shares stories of "homeboys" and their search for wholeness in lives that are more broken than most of us can imagine. There are so many great nuggets of wisdom in this book. I couldn't help but think about what we are about to experience over these next several days in light of his stories. Parents, I recommend reading this book to be inspired.

These are just some of the stories that make me love this place. People who are open, willing to share, and interested in what we are up to and why we are traveling here. They share there faith, their lives and their trials with us. So for these reasons, I'm back with my people.

Sorry - I didn't get photos today, but I will tomorrow!