Bienvenidos al Mitad del Mundo! (Welcome to the middle of the world!) What an incredible opportunity we all had today to visit the equator. After taking dozens of photos indicating our fascination with the fact that we could be in winter and summer at the same time. We completed our tourism escapade and took off for another fabulous day with the Ecuadorian ninos!

I had it all worked out when I was ten. I was going to be a missionary and serve God! In the mind of a ten year old, that was it. I never thought about where I would go or what I would do once I got there; I was just sure about the missionary part. As I got older and went on a few international mission trips, I realized that there is a little more that goes into getting to the mission field.

I’ve known for several years that the Lord was calling me into full-time international missions. But, that doesn’t mean that I’m automatically prepared! I remember sitting in team devotions day one of my first Global Encounters trip and suddenly thinking “what in the world am I doing?!” Here I was with 23 strangers to spend three weeks in a strange country far away from all my family and friends. Was I crazy?!

Amy Cook is packing suitcases today to start a new type of trip for her. After many short-term international mission trips, tomorrow she is heading out of the country for the entire summer. First stop: Chiapas...