The music fades. Jesus is alive. The barrier of sin has been broken. Eternal life has come.

You hold your ending position in the drama until the last note is played. Youve waited six months for this moment. In a few minuets the music will stop and it will be time for you to go out into the crowd and share the gospel with people. You look out at the crowd the drama has drawn, so many people! You start to feel the butterflies in your stomach and breathe a quick prayer. This is no time to be scared. Youre there for a purpose; you have come to give these people the one thing that can change their lives forever - Jesus.  

When the last note ends, you stand up and get out the card Brio gave you in Miami. On it, out lines Gods plan of salvation in both Spanish and English. You take a deep breath and walk up to someone.

¡Hola! Me llamo Tara. (Hi! My name is Tara.)

¿Le gusto el drama? ¡Sí! (Did you like that drama? Yes!)

¿Endendiste el drama? ¡Sí! (Did you understand the drama? Yes!)

You continue reading the card to them, finishing with:

¿Quieres dar tú vida a Cristo? ¡Sí! (Do you want to give your life to Christ? Yes!)

Un momento, por favor. (One minute please.)

You say, as you look around the busy park that is now serving as both a stage and an alter. You spot one of your translators and raise your hand. The translator sees you and comes over to pray with the Ecuadorian youve been talking to. You close your eyes and listen as this person prays to accept Jesus as their savor. When you open your eyes, you see the tears in theirs and you know that they understood what has just happened. Jesus has come into their life, they are forgiven, and they will never be the same.

In less then half an hour, God has used you to change this persons life forever.

Such a scene was repeated through out the city of Quito as we had the joy of seeing almost 2,000 Ecuadorians come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and savior!

~Y~Y~Y~Y~Y~Y~Y~

How the trip plays out: Following our three-day training in Ft. Lauderdale, FL our group flew to Quito, Ecuador on July 4^th, 2002. Each day we would get up, put on our costumes, have breakfast, and go out side to have our morning devotions with our team of 40 people (32 girls, 2 guys, 6 leaders). Then we would head to our bus and then to our first drama site. We would do the drama in parks, schools, retirement homes, and street corners. The bus would drop us off at our first site, we would do the drama, and then spend about an hour afterward talking with and praying with people. We would also give out tracts, Spanish Bibles, toys, and candy. Then we would eat lunch on the bus (PB&J) around 12:00 then go to the next drama site. We usually did the drama two to four times a day. To help us communicate to the people of Quito, Brio arranged for each team to have several translators from local churches that would go out with us every day.

Not only did we just do drama ministry, we also did work projects to help out the community and demonstrate a servants heart. One day my team went to a Compassion (A Christian company in Colorado Springs, CO that runs a sponsorship program for very poor kids, ages 5 to 18, in various third world countries.) site to paint classrooms for them and to play with the kids who go there. Most of these kids come from homes with many kids, very little money, and parents who dont have enough (or any) time to play with their kids because they are always working. I brought my face paints, coloring pages and crayons with me. I had the BEST time doing face paint and coloring with the kids. They were so sweet, respectful and appreciative! I could really see the difference Compassion is making in their lives by the way they acted. They also taught me the Vamos game. (Vamos means, Lets go!)  Which I really think is a lets try and wipe out the gringa (Gringa means, Tourist.) whos not use to running around in the high altitude. game.

Another day we went to the dump in Quito. About 80 of the poorest families work there along with their children sorting the junk for the recycling companies. It was unbelievable! The smell alone was enough to give anyone an instant headache. This was also not your typical USA dump. In Ecuador they can bring anything to the dump. While I was there I stepped over light bulbs, paper, boxes, TVs, VCRs, clothes, everything! Before we went we collected money to buy food to give the people who work there. We were able to get about 100lb of rice and beans, 100 oranges and bananas and 50 loaves of bread. We also had a ton of hygiene stuff that we all collected before the trip to give out. The people there were so happy to get this stuff that they would almost attack us to try to get as much as they could for their whole family. It was sad to see human beings acting like animals just to get a piece of bread or a toothbrush, things I take for granted everyday.

In addition to ministering to the locals, there was also alot of personal growth for us teens, through our morning devotionals and evening services. Every morning after breakfast we would get together with our team and go through the Bible study that was in the devotional book that Brio had made just for this trip. Then every night after dinner we would have a church-like service called, FUAGNEM which stands for, Fired up and going nuts every minute. At FUAGNEM we would have praise and worship and hear a great message by Susie Shellenberger (The editor of Brio magazine).

Finally, at the top of this page you saw the words Never The Same. That was the theme for this years missions trip. As I told you in February when I sent out my letters asking for support, my prayer was that after all was said and done and we went home, Quito would be never the same because its people would have been forever touched by the love of God.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old is gone, the new has come!

(1 Corinthians 5:17)

I can almost hear the sound of this song playing softly over the mountains of Quito, reflecting the change that has taken place. Yes, the trip is over but this is not the end, for those who are now in Christ, they are just beginning the greatest adventure of their life.

I will never be the same again. I can never return, Ive closed the door. I will walk the path, Ill run the race. And I will never be the same again.

Fall like fire, soak like rain. Flow like mighty waters again and again. Sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff. And let the flame burn to glorify Your name.

There are higher heights, there are deeper seas. Whatever You need to do, Lord do in me. The glory of God fills my life. And I will never be the same again.

No, I will never be the same again.