INCALINK Web Site

We have another year intern! Thanks to the help of our friends over at youth world, we were able to get a year visa for Cheryl Walsh, our very brave year intern. Despite many discouraging setbacks with visas etc. Cheryl plugged away and we have the pleasure of having her here with us in Quito. Cheryl is from Lisa’s home church in Hamilton, Ontario, Paramount Drive Alliance Church. She had served for many years in the children’s department and felt God calling her into full time missions. Having already met many of the requirements at the National Office, she wanted to get out here and have some first hand experience. She came in October with a team from Canada, and while she was here, we were able to meet and interview her, encouraging her to come back as a year intern! In an amazing display of support Cheryl met and went over the financial requirements to come for a year, and has been helping us since May of 2007. No sooner had she gotten here, that she was out in the jungle leading a team. She did a great job, but after returning was exhausted and discouraged. She didn’t think she could live a whole year at that kind of pace. God spoke to her, and reassured her of her calling, and since then she has been a constant encouragement to those around her! Her attention to detail and mothering skills (she worked as a nanny for many years) has been a wonderful addition to our new intern team. She is like the den mother, and we are so glad she is here. Can’t wait for the rest of the year Cheryl! I promise things will slow down in September. Cheryl will be traveling with us to Peru, where she will help lead 6 teams, one of them being from her home church.

Bethany Love was our last intern to arrive this summer, and now that she is here, we feel complete. The day after her arrival, we dropped all the interns off at a hostel in the middle of a rainforest called Mindo. We found out later that this missionary kid from the Philippines is quite the adventurous woman! Zip lines and white water rafting were all part of her life, after only a few days of being in Ecuador. She tore up her sandals and did not once complain to the others. The other interns all give testimony to her easygoing, positive attitude in every situation. She even came with us today to immigrations and sat patiently while my kids climbed all over her. She will also be going with us to Peru, and we look forward to getting to know her better. She comes from Ambrose College in Calgary, Canada. She has just finished her first year there. She says that being in Ecuador makes her think of the Philippines and miss her time there. She is ready to get to work though, and will be helping to lead a team that arrives from PA this Saturday.

Jaribel Torres came to us via Nyack, New York. She arrived with her team, and after a lot of hard work in the jungle, her team left and she stayed on to help us for another month. Her very good Spanish has been so useful to all the other interns, and has allowed us to let the interns travel to the jungle again on their own, and also to go to the rainforest for a team building time together. Jaribel is a quiet, soft-spoken woman with Puerto Rican heritage. She is the first Christian in her family, and has quite a testimony of God pursuing her! She is right now leading a team 6 hours away, and is up to just about any challenge. She will return to study at Nyack, NY. Her heart is to serve as a missionary.

Jason Dimnick is a graduate of what was formerly known as Alliance University College, and is now known as Ambrose in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Jason came to us highly recommended and now that we have met him we know why! A willing, go get ‘um guy, he survived our first day initiation with flying colors. Jason has a great sense of humor, and has been so helpful to us already. Easy going and ready for anything, concerned for others is how his team mates have all described him. I have yet to see him without a smile on his face. As I write this he is with his first team 6 hours away. He has been running the money for the team, and has helped us in our first crisis of “lost luggage” at the airport. I say first crisis of the year anyways! Jason will be coming with us to Peru, and we are looking forward to depending on his leadership skills and good attitude!

Jennifer Lansbourough was our first ever-Canadian intern, from London, Ontario. She had already served on a short-term team in Nicaragua, and even though she had a rough time there, she could not forget the children and wanted to serve again in Latin America. She arrived in January of 2007 and before she could get her feet on the ground she was helping us lead a group from Florida. It was a busy time for us, as we had several large events in a row, but she was a trooper and even helped take care of our kids for a weekend while we had a youth conference. She did very well with her Spanish and tried several different ministry areas until she found her niche working with the children at the Cristo Vive church. Along side of Kevin and Becca Dietering, she served between 20 and 30 kids a good lunch and then helped with the Bible hour and helping them with their homework. She lived independently and went around Quito serving in several areas. She even taught English at a secular school in the city. It was a great opportunity for her. Thanks Jen for your work and see you when you bring a group from your church next year!

Joseph Fisher arrived in Ecuador in March of 2006 as a member of a short term missions team from Boone, NC. After spending his spring break serving with us, he asked if he could come back as an intern. He gave us the impression that he was shy, so we told him to fill out the applications, assuming he would drop it when the enthusiasm of the trip wore off.
We were wrong! He filled everything out, listing one of his main talents as being “tall, so I can reach things that are high on a shelf”. He came and served with us all summer of 2006 and we loved his always ready to serve attitude. He was very observant, and whenever anyone needed anything, he was ready to help. He went out to Bramadora several times and led groups, organizing the construction tasks and interpreting what the workers wanted the teams to do. Joseph is a born leader.
Thankfully, he came back again this summer (2007) and has helped us organize the other interns and lead three teams already. His experience has allowed us to totally trust in him, and turn over much of the Inca Link responsibilities. As a business major his gifts in the whole economic realm is a special help to us. Joseph was quoted in an article we wrote for alife. Here it is: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
As an intern, I was able to directly see God use Inca Link to affect local communities and individuals, the youth groups and missions’ teams and the interns themselves.
Before I became an intern, I had had the opportunity to be a part of a short-term team during spring break with Inca Link. My experience that week greatly influenced how I thought about God, how I viewed foreign countries and people, how I viewed Christianity and missions and how I personally related to God and His plan. When I returned as an intern in the summer, I was able to see these same changes take place in the individuals who came. And this kind of change isn’t temporary—it has a lasting effect on youths’ lives as they return home. It did on me.
It gave others and me a heart for missions—not necessarily a heart to become a full-time missionary, but a heart that is open to the idea of missions and God’s personal call and a heart that supports missions in whatever manner He has intended. It’s the kind of heart that comes from being drawn closer to God and His desires. When a young person witnesses the Lord’s work in missions, even for one week, it has an influence that doesn’t fade. Youth are open and searching, and Inca Link allows them to find God by showing them His community from a different perspective than they get at home.
Any change in a teenager’s heart is true and lasting and will shape the outcome of his or her entire life. This is only one aspect of Inca Link’s effects. It has no limits!

Keith Neigenfind is a Senior at Simpson College in Redding, California. He is an accredited worker for the Christian and Missionary Alliance and is preparing to go with the Alliance as a missionary. His grandparents were missionaries for years in Indonesia, and his dad went to MK school in Dalat, Malaysia. He is a thinker, with a wicked sense of humor! He has already traveled to many places, including time in Africa. He is fearless willing to do just about anything. His ideas of practical jokes have come in very handy! He will be helping to lead a team to Reten (middle of no where), and is anxious to get to where there is no plumbing, phones, internet, etc. He is “real” missionary material, and we are pretty sure he will end up in one of those no access countries! Thanks Keith for coming!

Mike Young aka Miguel Joven has the distinguished honor of being our oldest intern. Although in his 50’s and pretty shy, Mike wanted to serve God oversees, and so he finally bit the bullet and filled out our application and came to help us at Inca Link. He was worried at first because of his shyness and his lack of Spanish, but this jack of all trades was just what we needed. After going with us in January to a project site 6 hours away, he stayed on to help the pastor there. He helped rewire and build many different things for the church and encouraged everyone with his adventurous attitude. He traveled around to the surround churches in VERY remote areas and was able to give testimony of God’s faithfulness in his life. His Spanish improved by leaps and bounds and he became part of the town. They were very sad to see Mike go. Mike thanks for sacrificing so much to help us out. You are welcome back anytime!

Lisa Merritt was our first official intern. She came in the November of 2005 to come and find out if God wanted her to pursue missions. After being here a full year God made it clear that she should continue in the missions path with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. She has now led Short Term Missions Experiences in El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru and Taiwan. Lisa Merritt This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it After spending 10 months in Ecuador, my view of missions has totally changed. I never imagined what a variety of things missions included, but now feel like I have a better grasp of what all it can include--which is anything that is on God's agenda!! Looking back at the summer as a whole, I am able to see God as a God of the world, rather than of the U.S. Inca Link has not only positively impacted my view of missions and God's beautiful character, but so many of the youth and adults that came down to Ecuador through Inca Link. It's so exciting to see how God has already worked in so many lives, and I can't wait to see what He's going to be doing this summer and thereafter.

Being an intern for Inca Link has changed my life. It opened my eyes to what God is doing all over the world. As an intern, I was given the privilege of seeing God work not only in my life and the lives of the locals but, also, in the lives of the short term teams. I am amazed at how God is working through Inca Link to truly impact the lives of countless people. This impact that God is manifesting through Inca Link is not a temporary impact, but one that changes lives forever. The rewards of my experience as an intern far outweighed anything I could have imagined. I am truly thankful for such an unbelievable experience.

Hopefully, I will see you next summer!

Dios Te Bendiga!
John

You really can smell it before you see it. I have read that statement several times in articles about garbage dumps and, honestly, I thought that those words were written for the shock-value they exude...but it's true. There, bumping
along in a gutted BMW van or "bus" packed with people, I got my first
taste of what these impoverished people of the garbage dump live, work,
and play in: Pigs, trash, human and animal feces, and dead animals being
eaten by countless buzzards circling overhead just gives you a hint of
the squaller. The homes are made of dirt packed into bricks and have
cardboard or tweed roofs. They have only dirt floors. The people, the beautiful people are so open, so kind, yet you can see the weight of poverty in their eyes. Everyone is starved for love and attention. Both the old and the young long to be seen--actually acknowledged by someone. The first time I went was the worst for me emotionally. I never knew what dirty--filthy really looked like
or smelled like. Babies without diapers relieve themselves on the plastic chairs. The moms carry a rag used for many things, including wiping the baby. You can imagine how that smells after a week or so of human excrete and mildew.
Never in my life has the scripture about our good works being like "filthy rags" to God been so real to me. To understand what it feels like to be utterly repulsed by something is truly unforgettable. Almost like the feeling you get when you
are forced under water for too long; how your body pulses with
desperation to get air. In that moment, God spoke to me more clearly than he has ever spoken to me before. "Shea, I am THAT repulsed by your 'good works' done apart from me."This thought has really put some things into perspective for me because I tend to be an idealistic person, always struggling  with being more in love with the "mission" than the person of Jesus Christ. All of my
idealistic ideas like "help the poor, because it's 'good'" fall short when I
get caught up in the mission instead of getting caught up in Jesus. Responding to the Robin Hood/Che Guevara tentanies that I have doesn't really amount to much unless I share my life, and what is actually ¨"living" me. I know--from what I´ve seen, no amount of food, shelter, clothing, or money that you give a person can ever really be enough--after all, it wasn´t enough for me. The only thing that has even started to fill the holes that I have drilled into my heart is beginning to make Jesus Christ  my reason, my mission, my pulse, and my amigo fiel.