Mortimer family update! Ecuador, here we come…

Mike has been serving our local church as Senior High Youth Pastor for the last 3 years. The kids love him and he makes up all kinds of wild and crazy, fun adventures. He also clearly reminds them they are loved and gives them opportunities to encounter and find a relationship with God. The kids have enriched our lives.

Mike and I both feel it’s important for high school students to serve and evangelize. We also want them to have a well rounded perspective about life outside the US, to experience God working in other cultures and understand how we are united through one Spirit. With that being said, it was on our hearts to do a mission trip of some kind. Mike considered and researched several countries but in the end a great opportunity presented itself in Ecuador where one of our own pastors served as a missionary for many years before settling in at Eagle Naz. It seemed like a great fit. So we waited. We waited to see how world events would pan out. We waited, and then the door opened.

Mike also never does anything small. The YTH CHRCH has grown and it’s not uncommon to have 150-175 students at a big event. With that being said, who would we turn down if we took only 15-20 kids (which, by the way, seems a reasonable number!)? So as Mike mulled it over he set a goal of 60. Who takes 60 high schoolers on a mission trip? Only Mike. I protested in favor of a smaller group but Mike didn’t waiver and believed we could fill all 60 seats. He doesn’t like to leave anyone out. After all, you never know which event will be the event that changes a person’s life.

Enter Mortimer season of life with 3 kids in high school next year. Yes, you heard me. Jake will be a Senior, Ben a Junior, and Josh a Freshman. All of them will be attending our local Eagle High school next year and are in Mike’s ministry. This qualifies all of them to join us on the adventure.

While in Ecuador we will be helping the disadvantaged in the area surrounding Quito, the largest city of Ecuador. We will be partnering with Hacienda el Refuegio which is a Christian-based outdoor adventure camp for students. We will do service projects for them as well as minister to the surrounding village. We also will be partnering with La Roca which is an inner city skateboard park in Quito where we will do a community BBQ, skate competition and share about God’s love. Finally, we will partner with a local church in a nearby village to do a service project.

I’m reaching out for prayers and to ask that you’d help donate to our experience so we can be faithful in making this trip happen. As a family, because we are all going, we are on the hook for $10,000 of cost to take all 3 of our kids in addition to planning, prepping and making this mission trip a success. I’m trusting God to provide but honestly have had some “moments” where my faith has lacked as I “encourage” the boys to volunteer to earn money through manual labor opportunities our local church members are providing. The boys are responsible to raise $500 of their own funds.

If you’d like to donate you can via this Go Fund me account or alternatively (to avoid the fees on this site) you can do the following:

Venmo @YTHCHRCH with memo “Mortimer Family - Ecuador”. This is the church’s Venmo account so will make its way to us.

Mail a check with memo “Mortimer Family - Ecuador” to:

Eagle Nazarene Church

1001 W State Street
Eagle, Idaho 83616

All donations are tax deductible.

I appreciate your prayers for our trip to be all God has in store. That he would keep us healthy, provide financially and prepare the way for “God moments” and encounters for us and the Ecuadorian’s lives we will cross paths with.

Who knows, maybe a glimpse of the poverty and need in other countries before college changes the trajectory of a high school student’s life as they learn and discover how to use the talents God has given them to identify a future career path.

Best to you and your families,

The Mortimer’s