Our friend from Pineview, Whitney visited us for her spring break from Auburn. It was a short trip, but we tried to pack in as much of Ecuador as we could in a few days.

One special highlight of the trip was our visit to Shell which is the town where Nate Saint was based in the 50’s. (Remember he is one of the 5 missionaries who were killed by the Indian tribe here resulting in the village being drastically impacted for Christ after the martyred men’s family members went to live with the tribe.) We went into Nate’s house and visited the airstrip which is still a thriving aviation ministry.

We also got to meet another missionary family who we’ve communicated with online. They are working with an orphanage in Shell that currently has 45 children. It was heartbreaking to hear the stories of how these children end up there for various reasons. The common custom among tribes here is that if a child is born with a defect of some sort, they must kill her/him or leave the baby in the jungle for the animals. Many of these children have been rescued from that plight by this orphanage. Others are there as a result of abuse or simply not being desired by their families. It was SO encouraging to see the love of these people for these children.