Dunamis

 

Charleston Baptist 2026 Ecuador Mission Team

It was truly a privilege for me to be able to go to Ecuador with my church to serve with the Dunamis ministry.  This ministry began to help rescue girls from sex trafficking and abusive situations.  From the first time I went to Ecuador in 2018 (not to Dunamis), I have known this is a problem for women and girls in this country.  Poverty and hunger often lead to selling themselves or their girls for money.  But in the end, it is sin that puts them there and steals their innocence and joy. 

That is why I have gone to Dunamis two times now; to help these girls know God’s love and the true love of others who don’t want something from them.  And it has been a blessing to me both times, 

This time, we had a pretty regimented schedule of what we needed to do.  The men painted a house and fixed breakfast for the girls.  It is important for them to see men who want to serve them and not hurt them. 

We girls spent time directly with the Dunamis girls in various places.  We went with them to horseback riding and horse care (we got to help brush and braid the manes of the horses after we rode them); to help harvest and process golden berries (a super food that is being used as a money maker for the foundation); and to their sewing class (they were working on sewing a shirt and I am much better with sewing quilts!).  The girls also are responsible for milking the cows twice a day.  These sessions are to help the girls learn skills that they may one day use as a job.  We also participated in Gracie Jui Jitsu as a way for them to learn self-defense; and we watched their children so they could go to these classes.  It was super sweet to be able to hang out with the 5 children of girls that are at Dunamis.  But also, super sad that they had children so young.  The girls are sweet parents, but they are so little themselves and still need to grow up. 

 

The inside of a golden berry greenhouse that is build on a very steep hill!  In 2023, we started this greenhouse by cementing poles in the side of the mountain.  So glad to see it finished and functioning. 

Golden berries after havesting

Golden berries after they are peeled.  The outer parts are used to feed livestock.  Nothing is wasted.

Dried golden berries.  They want to start making granola bars with these.

A shirt that I did not help with

I got to ride a horse!

We got to milk a cow

and watch them feed a calf from a bottle.

The children were precious!

This year we were given more leniency with our phones so we could use them for Google translate.  And we could take some pictures if we made sure no faces were in them.  This is for safety of the girls.  The address of where we stayed is also not given to us.  They want the girls to be very well protected behind the wall that has guards 24/7.  So, while I have some pictures, I still don’t have many.  But I can tell you that the smiles of the girls were precious.  One girl, the mom of a little girl, was not smiling at us at the beginning of the week.  She had a very blank face.  But by the end, she was smiling at us and trying to talk to me, even if she was not a demonstrative as others.  The girls gave us smiles after we helped them make a bracelet or a scrapbook, but especially after we pampered them by massaging their feet and hands and painting their nails.  The children were with them that day and also liked having their feet rubbed!  But even when pampered, they still have to take care of their responsibility.  My girl left me and had to go straight to milk the cows with wet nails.

Spa day

This girl wanted lotion rubbed on all exposed parts of her body!  She was slippery when done, but smelled really good!

The girls liked red and mixing things up

At night, we took turns giving a devotion.  The last night, we had gift bags for the girls, but they also surprised us with a drama/skit and they gave us gifts of cards and keychains.  It was an emotional night as we won’t see at least 4 of the girls again as they will age out of the system.  But we were very touched by the love the girls showed us.

The gifts the girls made us

Some people have commmented to me that there is need in America, so why go overseas to serve.  My answer is yes, we need to serve both places.  But in addition to that, the founder of Dunamis, Boris, was telling us that the churches in Ecuador don't give much support to them.  That that is not taught in the churches there.  And that they are able to do their work because of support from churches in America.  This further made me know we were supposed to be there,  The trip was kind of last minute in finalizing.  I did not start trying to raise money for this trip until end of May.  But God provided and  more than ever.  Between the fundraisers at church and the support the church gave us and my cookie fundraising, I raised all of my money.  God knows our extra money is going to Clemson and He provided a way for me to still serve in Ecuador.  Gloria a Dios

SC Adventure 9

 

Our 9th SC adventure scratch off card led us to Hilton Head Island to go jet skiing.  Well, we were actually going there for Dave to go to a pharmacy conference, so we planned a fun day before he had to go to classes.  We went on a jet ski tour with Lowcountry Watersports.  After being led in a row out of the no wake zone, we had time to play around in an open area.  I managed to hold onto Dave and not fall in, but did not take a try at driving.  It was fun, but you definitely got water in your face!

We then were able to stay for 2 more full days of hanging by the pool, bike riding, running, reading, shopping and eating good food.  Well, Dave got some of the good food and a little pool time, but I was able to live it up!

Dinner on the water at Hudson's.  One of our favorite restaurants!

Dinner at Top Dawg Tavern at Shelter Cove

My favorites thing is to bike around the island eating lunch and shopping, especially at the soap store Nourish.  My favorite restaurants are The French Bakery and The Sea Shack.  The Sea Shack does not have a great atmosphere, but awesome shrimp!  

The French Bakery

A cool quote at the Top Dawg

Compass Rose Park

This park tells about the history of HHI

This statue is based on a photo of a man walking beside an alligator!

Wildlife in HHI.  

But my favorite memory of this trip is laying on the beach at night, looking up at the stars that we could see through the clouds, and watching the lightening in the distance.  A little getaway that is more fun for me, but still has fun times for Dave too!

Goodbye Texas!

 

We had spent 5.5 days in Texas and only saw the Dallas Fort Worth area!  Other places in the state that we would like to see are 2 to 10 hours from this area.  Such a big state!

On our last day, we slept in and went out for breakfast at a place called Breakfast Brothers.  They are more known for chicken and waffles and catfish and waffles, but the boys got plain waffles, eggs and bacon; and I got French toast and bacon.  They drizzled caramel over the French toast.  Super yummy!

Camden and I also got donuts nearby for an airport snack.  The donut shop name was so close to Shirley that we could not resist them!

We then went back to Cavender's boot shop and Camden bought his cowboy hat.  He had to wear it on the plane.

Our last stop of the trip was to see the Mustangs of Las Colinas Sculpture.  It was a really cool sculpture of mustangs.  I had remembered seeing it on Walker Texas Ranger and was excited to see it in person.

 

We had had a big trip to Texas and now it was time to head home to our smaller state of South Carolina.  But we had a Texas size pile of laundry to do when we got home!

The Cowboys and the Rangers

 

Monday was our last full Texas day!  This was the day we went to Frisco to tour the Dallas Cowboy training facility-The Star in Frisco.  It was a very interesting tour led by a very dedicated Cowboy fan.  We also saw a player in the weight room.  No one we recognized, but still a Cowboy.  

Outdoor training field

The far goal post in narrower than normal to help the kicker with accuracy

The indoor practice field.  Local high schools take turns using the field for Friday night games, and some schools have graduation here.

The Cowboys first Superbowl trophy won in 1972

All five Cowboy Superbowl trophies

The team meeting room 

It includes a basketball net

Camden at the media table

Across the street from the Star was a boot store that sold the same boots that the Cowboy cheerleaders wear.  They were almost $1000!  

After our tour, we went to eat at Sidecar Social.  It was a cool restaurant with games like basketball, darts and skeeball.  There was also a karaoke area.  The food was good too!  

We also drove by Dud Perfect headquarters.  You can't go in, but we saw the outside.

We had a little pool time, before the storm hit.

Fortunately, the storm ended before we headed to the Rangers game.  We did take our raincoats in case of rain, however, the stadium is enclosed so we felt a little silly.  They have some interesting traditions.  They sing along with then National Anthem and yell the word "Star" when it comes up in the song.  They also sing God Bless America before they sing the 7th inning stretch song.  And they have one more song they sing later that we didn't recognize.  The popular thing that guys are doing now with taking their shirts off was joined by the horse mascot.  At first I thought the mascot only had a horse head and furry arms with the rest of him just wearing a baseball uniform.  But when he tore his shirt off, we found out he also has a furry chest!

 

The horse mascot coming out on the field

We split a brisket meal for dinner and a boot full of popcorn

Since Dave drives a Tundra, he had to take a picture of the Rangers Tundra 

Unfortunately, the Rangers lost to the Houston Astros.  But it was an historic game, according to Nathan, because the Astros had a no hitter.  And it was the first night of pitching for one of the Astros pitchers.  What a way to begin a career!  They stormed the field after the game.

It was a fun night to watch the Texas Rangers, and Camden has collected one more ice cream helmet bowl for his collection!