Begun in Faith

     A couple weekends ago, we had the opportunity to visit Ibarra, Ecuador. The Extreme Team in Ibarra is a little over halfway through their two year assignment. We got to observe and help them with their normal and extra activities to learn what our jobs will be like in the future. There were extra activities this particular weekend because it was the first anniversary of their church, The Open Door Church of the Nazarene. Before we got there, the team had already held several evangelistic events throughout the week. We helped with a special children's event and a youth event. We sang many silly songs about Jesus. I think this one involved an elephant.      In the morning, we hiked a ways from the church to a neighborhood with a preschool the missionaries had rented for the children's event. It was a small building with a kitchen, a classroom, and a bathroom. The outside space had a playground and a large cement area. We split up into teams to prepare the game mate

Last Friday, I started to climb a mountain with seven other people. Four of us made it to the top. As you can probably imagine, I was not the most physically fit of the bunch, but I climbed every last foot of that mountain. How? I had practiced and prepared, yes, but I had another, more powerful asset; Brian Johnson. One of my best claims to fame is that Brian Johnson is technically my godfather. What I mean is, since I was sixteen, Brian and Dena have agreed to care for my brothers and me if my parents died. This has always been a morbidly exciting prospect for my brothers and me because Brian and Dena are awesome. If you asked any of us who we want to be when we grow up, the answer would be more or less Brian Johnson. To be fair, we were very lucky to grow up with many amazing role models in our church family in Lewiston. However, on the list of who the Thomas children think is cool, Brian has always been the top. I found out recently that Brian and I committed our liv