We made it!!

Day 1

I can’t believe we are here! Day 1 successfully completed. It’s 2:40 am here in Ecuador, 3:40 back home, way past my bedtime and every bit worth it. I’m laying in bed under my mosquito net. All of my windows are open to the sound of the ocean with a nice cool breeze. Seeing as though it’s winter here and 70 right now, it makes for perfect sleeping weather! I’m in awe right now. The day could not have gone more smoothly. Starting at 5:30 am, and ending as soon as I get done writing this. Because as we all know, I’m not a night person. But hey! It’s early morning, so I’m ready to go. Handling a group of 9 through an airport was a little anxious to think about, but could not have gone better. We had 2 sisters who had never flown and watching their faces and hearing them was absolutely priceless! They could hear me laughing throughout the plane. It’s so surreal being here. I don’t think it’s quite set in yet. The ride to Carlos and Janette’s was pretty incredible. Picture this: a stick shift Greyhound bus, blue neon lights with curtains inside, Spanish music on the radio, and a group full of excited Americans! It was a sight to see. Our first stop: the gas station to get the famous cookies everyone has always talked about and fun Spanish drinks. I must say, I was pretty impressed. They had me at the word “cookie.” The bags of cookies rang in at a whopping .20 and the fun drinks ran less than a dollar. Good thing I don’t live here, I would be in trouble as much as I love cookies! The bus was silent within 10 minutes with everyone knocked out. It’s been a long day of travels both physically and emorionally. I was in and out of sleep and as we rode 3 hours through the different towns in the dark from Guayaquil to Curia. I grasped a little bit of what we would be encountering this week. The houses and the people, completely different from where we come from. I automatically felt blessed and undeserving all at the same time. As we were getting closer to our location, the ocean appeared. It was Absolutely beautiful from what I could see at night. There were little fishing boats everywhere lining the shoreline. From what I can gather it’s a quiet little fishing town. I’m excited to see more in the daylight. Tomorrow we will do devotions at 8:30 and breakfast at 9. Then off to a soccer tournament in town. I Can’t wait to see what God has in store for day 2!

(pictures coming soon)

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The McLeod's

Welcome to our blog! We’re glad you stopped by and we hope you come back and visit. We want you to be a part of our journey! We are John and Chelsea McLeod. Best friends who are embracing the most precious gift of marriage and life. On the way to be full time missionaries and currently living a life mentoring those broken by addiction from both sides of the pain- loved ones and those struggling with addiction. Here you will find our recorded histories of life, love, struggles, and the journeys that encompass our wanderlust spirits all with an unfailing love for God and His ever so perfect redemption and grace over our lives. Here lies a safe place where our minds wander off into the deepest places with documentation to never be erased. We don’t want our memories to fall between the cracks somewhere, so we write. We don’t want to forget how far God has brought us, so we make records that will prayerfully live on for generations and give others hope who have lost theirs. We met in the most divine of appointments thousands of miles apart that only God could orchestrate. Had our first date watching a fiery sunset go down over the Georgia coast, and ultimately fell in love over kindred spirits that beat for where and what God passionately filled our hearts with. Hindsight, and years later, we can see that God had big plans all along that we couldn’t see. Through our broken pasts, He was preparing us for each other and a future of redemption and testimony. {{{{Everyone has a story and this is ours:}}}}} He’s a Georgia boy, she’s a Carolina girl. ----Hi, I’m Chelsea!---- I’m a native Carolina girl who loves to explore anywhere I’ve never been. An old soul and an extroverted-introvert with a deep heart that overflows with passion and a hunger for God to use me to change this world for the better. Mysterious and meek to the eye, and particularly passionate for the very things that set my heart on fire, especially the things and people that my heart beats for. I get filled up in the untouched outdoors where I can always see and feel His splendor. I am a Master cosmetologist by trade with a BA in Social Work and Counseling. These which intermix daily. I absolutely love the career that God has placed me in and daily, it allows me to love on people all around me. If I can make one person smile a day, my heart holds a fullness that keeps me coming back for more. I believe in forgiveness and miracles because I’ve witnessed them both. I don’t want my life to be about what I accomplished but what God accomplished through me. To me, I’ve learned that in life there is good and bad, right and wrong, excuses and no excuses. But alongside of these very things is engulfed with a ton of grace, growth, and redemption. I don’t ever want to pay the cost of not following my heart, by spending the rest of my life wishing I had. ----Hi, I’m John!---- I’m a born and bred Georgia boy where my blood runs strong with salt water. I was born and raised on the coast where everything I did was engulfed with water and the outdoors. I’m a bold soul with a gentle spirit who loves to help others in any way that I can to believe in themselves and God’s plan over their lives. By trade I hold the title of professional hunter and fisher with a 100 ton captain’s license. What started in Georgia took me out to Alaska where I found my career there, then south Florida and the open blue water. I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot of God’s beauty and I will be forever grateful for that. Today I’ve taken on the title of “Fisher of men.” After enduring a wearisome season of addiction, God called me to use my pain to help others in addiction ministry and it has become one of the greatest joys of my life. It’s what I live for in showing people they can overcome something that most think they can’t. Offering hope where there is none. Testifying that something they always thought they would be, is only a season that God is ready and wants to use. Where Chelsea serves alongside me pouring into the loved ones. It’s where my passion is, it’s where we love to help others find freedom the same way we did. Today, Chelsea and I are grateful for our struggles because we know that what the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. Here we will write and share. Not to glorify us, but to glorify Him and what He is doing in our lives. The magnificent ways that He is moving and the unfathomable circumstances that He has and will bless us with. All glory goes to Him. We hope you enjoy!!

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