Ecuador Bound....

Regular Update

2008-04-30T17:14:00.003-04:00

Hey, I just thought I'd give you a small update to how work is going here in Cuenca now that my time is running short. I am still leading the small youth group here in Totoracocha but will begin training this week with a possible leader for them! That is a huge praise...a huge answer to prayer. My hope is to gradually hand over responsibility for the next three weeks and then that she can lead the last two meetings of May by herself while I am traveling around Ecuador. Then I can hopefully come back and observe my last three weeks in June and just offer guidance and further training. So please be in prayer for this future leader and that she will be open to the Spirit's leading in her life.

Also, the house church I have been working with for the whole time I've been here had a couple of rough months where the church was really struggling. But now it seems as if the church is back on track. We have discipleship meetings every Monday, I disciple the church leaders every Thursday, and they have their church meeting Friday nights and it seems like the momentum is back behind this church and that the members are eager and ready to hear God's word and grow. It is a great blessing to see this church start to take back off so please be in prayer that the leaders be encouraged by their church and by us, the other leaders.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. It has been a crazy time here in Ecuador and I can't believe that I only have 2 months left!

Health and Baños

2008-04-22T15:45:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone. To start out I want to let you all know that I am feeling a lot better health-wise so it sounds like the Doctor hit the nail on the head and we have the problem taken care of, thanks to God's provision. I guess living here and being where healthcare isn't what you are used to it makes me realize how we really are dependent on God, regardless of the medicine.

But moving along, I just got back a week ago from a great trip to Baños, Ecuador. Once again, I can tell that God was with me on this trip! So here goes story time...

I left here a week from this past Sunday to go to Pallatanga where BJ and Andi live. To go there requires I take two buses, one to a place called El Triunfo (not the best town in Ecuador) and catch a bus from there to Pallatanga. Well, the trip started out rough when the bus I was on had engine problem on the way. We stopped and they fiddled with the engine for about 30 minutes. Then we started off again, thinking all was well. Well, not far down the road we hit a landslide, so there goes about another hour waiting. And we sat there so long waiting for the landslide to be cleared that another bus from the Alianza group of buses pulled up behind us going to the same destination, and seeing that my bus had just over 10 passengers, they saw fit to make us sacrifice our seats and go stand on the other bus and them return home. Not sure if that decision was made for the engine or for the money, but either way I ended up standing for about an hour on the other bus.

Well with time, we finally got to El Triunfo, a very hot and humid town in the coastal plain, known for being one of the rougher cities. So I did as always and got off the bus, crossed the road, and started looking for buses headed to Ambato or Riobamba since they pass through Pallatanga. The first bus to pass was Full (and that is saying something in Ecuador) and the second bus stopped and I got seat (which is also saying something in Ecuador) and we took off. The trip seemed to be going as normal, we were making good time and got to Bucay (last city before Pallatanga) in what felt like a record time. It wasn't long after that that I felt the hand of the man sitting next to me on my leg. I think he saw me notice and tried to act as if he was just scratching his leg but it was too late...I checked my pocket and my wallet was gone! My first instict was to ask the guy, "Donde está mi billetera" aka "Where is my wallet" but I figured that wouldn't be the best course of action. But the man was acting VERY suspicious after he realized that I realized something was missing! But I decided to hope that he was indeed getting off the bus after me and praise be to God he was. We crossed the bridge into Pallatanga, the sign that the camp is close, and so I got my stuff and went to the drivers cabin and told one of the ayudantes that I thought I had been robbed but didn't want to accuse the man next to me by myself. One of them went back and requested that the man change seats and began to search the seat. Thankfully he found my wallet on the floor with everything in it. They said that it must have just fallen out but I don't think that is the case...it would have had to fallen out then squeezed through the 3 inch cushion to the floor, the cushion I had trouble getting my hand through when I was searching myself, So i think the guy abandoned ship when he saw me talking to the ayudantes (helpers, aka the guys who collect fares on buses). Then I started talking with one of the guys in the front while I was waiting to get to the camp and he asked if I was evangelical (since I was going to the evangelical camp) and I said yes and he said, "Parece que Dios está cuidándole" (Looks like God is taking care of you). I said sure does (in spanish of course), thanked them for all their help then got off with a huge sigh of relief.

Well, then we took off the next morning to Baños for our monthly debriefing/speak English trip. Baños is a popular tourist town, located in the shadow of the Tungurahua Volcano, yup, the most active volcano in Ecuador. On the way in you pass through an area where the road was utterly destroyed, I think in the 2006 eruption. You can look up the mountain and see the dried lava flow going all the way up to the peak (too bad it was cloudy and I couldn't see that high). Baños is also a gateway town to the Orient, aka the Jungle areas of Ecuador. So it was a very enjoyable and relaxing trip. Activities including biking down towards the jungle on the main road passing by at least 6 or 7 waterfalls on the way. We also drove down to Shell, Ecuador and saw the Nate Saint house and the airstrip that he used when trying to reach the Waodoni people of the Amazon. Of course Shell is a lot larger of a town then it was in those days. We also rented all terrain vehicles and went up stream on a dirt road just to try to see the river and the lava flows of Tungurahau. All in all a well needed rest and relaxation trip, but the fun is not over...

My returning home story is nowhere near as interesting as being pickpocketed but still interesting in it's own right. The bus ride was taking far longer than it should from Riobamba to Cuenca since the bus driver was of course trying to get enough passengers to fill up his bus for the trip, so I was already tired and hungry (sour gummies aren't very filling). But we were maybe an hour outside of Cuenca when a couple of guys started causing a fuss in the back with the ayudante on the bus. I could tell some people were trying to get away with cheaper fares and stuff with him since he was so young (appeared to be the bus drivers son). Well this guy was screaming a lot and I couldn't understand what he was saying and then the kid tried to get him of the bus. Then he mumbled something and went back to his seat so I thought it was all over. Well then we got stopped about 30 minutes outside of Cuenca by a police officer. He got on with his large intimidating gun and yelled, "Los cuatro en el fondo, ¡Vengan!", (The four in the back, COME!). So they did, and we left...So I have no idea what they did or why they were causing the fus, but it ended up in them being arrested...which I am assuming isn't a fun experience.

But after that we got to the terminal in Cuenca, a guy approached me saying it looked like I was in need of a hotel room and I thanks but I live here. I wondered briefly trying to decide if I wanted to eat in the terminal but decided against it, caught a cab, went home, ate some crackers and went to bed...all in all a VERY eventful and enjoyable trip. So thanks again for your prayers that got me there and back safely, even if you didn't know you were praying to keep me safe from pickpockets and volcanoes!

Now I'm back in Cuenca and not able to believe how little time I have left here. With one more trip when Karla comes to visit and with a week to move back to Quito before flying home I only have 8 weeks of work left, and in that time I am still trying to figure out how to leave so that what I have begun doesn't end and that all the work I was doing for Patricio doesn't just get dumped back on him. So please be praying that God will provide the people who are ready and willing to serve in these capacities. Thanks for all the support and prayer! Below are some links to new pictures!

Pictures from Camping in Cajas about a month ago

Pictures from the Baños trip

Photos

2008-04-10T16:13:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone,
I've posted some new photos today. These are just some pics from around Cuenca, my home away from home, and from a retreat the church had on Good Friday.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010612&l=d1584&id=105600748

Thanks for all your prayers

Thanks for your blind prayer!

2008-04-09T17:37:00.003-04:00

I realize that it has been a long time since I blogged so sorry but thanks for your prayers anyway, since they are being felt in my life here. For starters, I delivered my first ever real sermon in Spanish this last Sunday. I say real because when I preached to the churches I work with it always takes more the form of a small group Bible Study since they are house churches. But this past Sunday I was asked to preach at a local church that I had been attending since we don't have meetings Sunday mornings with the house churches. The sermon went really well. I think they were able to understand gringo boy's accent and all! But I spoke about our relationship to Christ being more like a marriage than a lawyer. So many times we think of things as if God is mad at us but Jesus steps and and takes the wrath for us. And that is part of it that there is a holy wrath directed against our sinfulness (not so much that God is mad at us but that God is just) and Jesus stepped in line of that wrath to save us. But if we think of it as a marriage it isn't what ought I do to avoid punishment but what can I do so that Jesus feels loved. Morality takes on a whole new light that way. And Jesus did talk about himself as a bridegroom and Paul did call the church the bride of Christ, so it isn't a new idea, but one that may be a little neglected. But anyway....that was the message.

Also the youth meetings are heading forward. From the time they started to now it's been rough. First meeting saw 4 people, then 2, then 1, then 0, then 2, and the last was up to 6 (but with two visitors who won't probably come back since they were too young and it was just that they were in the care of two of the other kids for the day). It's going well and I'm enjoying working with them but the pressure is on to begin training a leader to take over when I leave in late June. Ideally they will be able to take over in late May so that I can be there to help if things go wrong. So please be praying that God will raise up and prepare someone for this job.

Lastly I want to ask for prayer for my health. It feels like I've been sick ever since I first got here to Ecuador for the past few weeks (maybe almost two months now) I've had a lot of stomach problems. I was going to one doctor who just always gave me a new pill so I stopped going to him and have gone to another doctor. We discovered that according my test results I have no parasites but I had blood in my stool. So we're going with the lesser treatment now hoping it works which is a pill for amoebas. Even though they didn't show up they could be there (especially since I had them earlier). When I had them the first time they may have burroughed into the intestinal wall before I took that pill and therefore weren't entirely killed and are now causing the blood and general stomach junk! So I have to take this medication for a week and see if that clears up everything. If not, we'd probably be left with looking at a colonoscopy or Lower GI or something of that sort. I've never hoped I had amoebas in my life until now!!! But just be praying that either A.) the medication works and i get better or that B.) we can find out what is really going on here.

Thanks for all your prayer and support.

Prayer Requests and Photos

2008-03-10T19:11:00.002-04:00

So the rainy season is still taking it's toll. 15 people were killed yesterday in landslide in the Manabí province. We still have about 2 months of rain left so please be praying for the safety of the Ecuadorian people and the missionaries on the field. Thanks.

In happier news though, I have two new photo albums to share.

Baptisms

Trip to the Jungle.

Medical Mission and Ecuador Overall

2008-03-09T16:10:00.002-04:00

Well I just recently got back from a week on the outskirts of the Jungle in a few towns called Yacuambi, Yanzatza, and Guaysimi. I was there for a week translating for a group of Canadian and US medical professionals. It was one of my best experiences here in a long time. These places in Ecuador are characterized as being sparsely populated, indigenous communities. The indigenous we interacted the most with were the Saraguro who are one of the many Quichua speaking groups in the country (however they all, in this area, knew Spanish as well). So for my trip, I took a bus to a town called Saraguro which is about 4 hours south of Cuenca (and yes, it is also populated by Saraguro indigenous). There I met up with one of the other translators and the Dentist, a saraguran himself, who would be working with us. We all then got into his Pickup truck and took off for the jungle. Well, on the way it was a quite eventful trip.

So on the way to this jungle area you weave through the mountains, and need I say again this is the worst rainy season in 25 years. So we were on our way and before we know it we come to a line of traffic, what's wrong? The road is blocked by a recent mud slide. So Luis (the dentist) drove up to the front of the pack and sure enough the road was blocked. So everyone is just sitting there waiting for a land mover that may or may not come, luckily one was waiting in the pack and got tired of waiting so he took it off the truck and cleared the slide. But that is not the end of the story. While he is up there cleaning, people who were standing on top of the slide start screaming and point over our heads...at what you may ask? Another landslide starting about 3 car lengths behind us! So everyone takes off running for the front of the pack, nearer to the first landslide. There were people getting in their cars and bus drivers taking off and you´ve never seen so many cars fleeing for a very small place, and no on wrecking. Thankfully, the slide was small and didn't even make it to the road. Needless to say we were all thankful when the road was cleared and we were maybe the 3rd people through. So then we arrived in Loja (a rather large city) and we stopped and got lunch at the terminal at a fast-food-like chicken place. Then we took off towards Zamora, the last city before we got really rural. So we didn't even get our of Loja before we encountered another line of traffic, but this time with a slide so big there wouldn't be passage for days. Luckily someone ahead of us knew a back way through Loja to bypass it all and he led us through. Then after that we arrived no problem, except for the fact that we got to Yacuambi at 10ish at night...in total...12 hour journey from Cuenca.

So there we finally were, home at last, cockroaches and all. So the short term team got the 'nice' hotel...I was put in the worst one with the national pastors who were with us. Needless to say I heard something walking in the wall, there was one bathroom for everyone, with cold water, and the only sink was the outdoor, concrete, laundry sink. But hey, I had a room to myself!!! (except some strange bug that stung me when I got into bed the second night!)

So the work was tiring, mentally, but good. I translated for one of the triage stations where we took vital signs and tried to figure out the main complaint of the people so the doctor didn't have too. In total for the week we saw 600 people...and we only had two triage stations...meaning I saw about 300 people in 3 and 1/2 days of work! It was sad though, you would see some people who would come in making up symptoms just to see a doctor, afraid we would deny them access. Others would come in with really serious conditions. Diabetics with numbness and swelling of their feet, high blood pressure patients (170/100) with no medicine, kids with asthma that they thought was a cold, etc. etc. The medical care for these people was so lacking, and a one week clinic won't change that. But now we just have to pray for these people, that something may be able to change in their care and their lives. Of course the gospel message was a part of this week, so now our two ECC workers in that area have a lot of follow up work to do in a region that really has no churches.

So moving on, that was more or less the week I had, tiring but fulfilling. I learned a lot of medican spanish (like it or not!!!!) The trip back was uneventful (praise God!)

But so in the news lately undoubtedly you´ve heard a lot (or at least something) about Ecuador, Colombia and a very scary week for us here. Luckily we were in the jungle and really didn't know the gravity of it all. We had our own struggly between the mayors of Yacuambi. So trying to keep this story short, the old mayor was arrested a year ago and put in jail. He left the town in the care of the vice mayor. Well old mayors prison term ended while we there and he came back wanting his job but new mayor (vice mayor) said take a hike, it's mine. The people were divided so there was a large demonstration in front of the town hall and police had to be called in to keep it peaceful. But it was quite interesting walking through town and seeing the Schwara (sp?) indigenous holding their spears and blocking the town hall entrance!

But back to national news. As you may have heard it sounds like everything may be behind us with the meeting in Santo Domingo. The accord has been signed but I personally am still slightly unsure of how strong that is, especially as long as FARC rebel groups remain in the north of Ecuador. So please continue to pray for this and that peace will continue to be known in this area of the world.

So now I´m just back to work as normal. The Youth Group for the church is underway and my goal is to hand off leadership to that in May, so please be in prayer that that can happen, that the right person be called, and that this ministry doesn't end when I leave.

Thanks for all the prayers and support.

More Prayer Requests

2008-02-23T12:05:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone,

Well it seems time to give some more prayer requests from the field. So here goes. 1.) The weather here is terrible. Thanks to a La niña year, the rainy season here in Ecuador is unreal according to word of mouth here worst in 15 years and according to CNN worst in 25 years (Read the story here). Flooding is at a new level on the coast with thousands of people displaced from their houses and of the three roads connecting Cuenca to the coast only one is open. One is covered with Landslides and large boulders. Another the bridges are either covered with water or nonexistent and on the one that's open it is one lane in places where they have cut pathways for the vehicles through the mud. The thing is is that this amount of flooding and landslides is unusually high for the end of the rainy season and we're only about 2 months into it and have 2 more to go. SO pleas be praying for this situation.

Another prayer request is a praise and a request. We're getting ready to start a cell group for adolescents here in Cuenca and that will be my main job for my last 4 months here (who can believe I'm already over halfway done!?!?!) This group will be under my supervision and I will directly lead it for the next 2 months and then hand it over and observe and help the new leader the last two months...at least that's the hope. Be praying that it all goes well and that we can begin to help the adolescents here.

Thanks for all your prayer and support. Just so You all know some of the upcoming events, tomorrow (Sunday) we're having 4 baptisms so that is a praise and the first week of March I should be going to the Jungle to help translate for a Medical Team, so be praying for my spanish!!!! Thanks to everyone!!!

More Pictures

2008-02-10T15:06:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,
Here are some more photos from time here.

Thanks everyone,
Blake

http://mhc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009874&l=1115a&id=105600748

Retreat for Carnaval

2008-02-04T15:35:00.000-05:00

So in pure Ecuadorian Evangelical form, our church left town yesterday since it was the 'first day' of Carnaval. Often times churches have special retreats to escape the insanity of the city and it just so happened that it was the same Sunday as our Grand Celebration. So we went out Via Machala (towards the coast) just past a place called Yunguilla (where there is a huge eXtreme Sports complex.) All I can say is that it was an amazing Sunday. First of all it was great getting to know some of the church members a lot better. It´s amazing when my knowledge of the language and knowledge of the people coincide enough to be able to joke around and really have a good time. It was also fun seeing the kids enjoying the innocent parts of Carnaval, running around with water guns spraying each other and occassionaly hitting the unsuspecting adult! We all piled into three cars and one truck (thirty people) and the whole being a gringo thing paid off! It was women, children and gringo in the cars, everyone else in the back of the truck. SO I rode in a car with a family I´d met before but really didn´t know all that well. So it was nice to get to see them in their environment and how they interacted and all.

When time came for the Celebration we had a special prayer time where we broke off into different groups. It was a good time to get to know some of the members that don´t come as faithfully or who live farther away so as to prevent their participation in a lot of stuff. After that we met together and had a game to learn everyones names. It was where you had to same the name of everyone in front of you. If you think that is hard in english...try it in spanish! Then we just had a time of sharing, if God had done anything in someones life through the week they were invited to share. Then it was my turn. First I taught them a new song, one I had translated by request of patricio. He told me that a lot of the Christian music here is really shallow in it´s meanings and theology and I had shared one song before and so he asked me to translate a few songs and teach them to the church. So yesterday I taught Third Day´s Give. After that it was message time. It went so well. Since it was a 30 person group and we always try to go for interactive teaching it looked more like a Bible study, just with me asking questions prodding people along to the point I was trying to make. The message was on Matt. 23-23.24. I was talking about how God´s view of the Christian life is one that is balanced between acts of self righteousness (giving the tenth) and acts of Justice and mercy to those around us. I wasn´t sure how that message would work, especially among a people who, while wealthier than many Ecuadorians, sometimes just barely make ends meet. But I knew that it was a message from the Bible, a message of how the church should be different from the rest of society. So I shared, and they were so responsive. I think I was partially just thrilled that my Spanish didn´t get in the way and that now I know that, even with miles and miles of grammatical errors, God can still speak through me.

After the message we went on to play some games, and that was a good time to let down the guard and get to know a lot of the people better as we bobbed for limes, and tried to blow a plastic cup down a string (which i may say, I was the only person who didn´t need to stand on something to get to the cup! Go gringo height!!!)

So, now for a couple prayer requests. I forgot to mention that the AIEE (Association of Evangelical Churches of Ecuador) had their annual meeting and as prooves true for many church organizations, arguing was a large portion of the meeting from what I hear. It seems that in Ecuador, and much of latin america (and in a lot of the human race for that matter), power struggles often get in the way of ministry and of being church. So please be in prayer that the AIEE can come together, forget differences, and work together for Christ of the better of Ecuador and the spreading of Christ´s love and salvation.

Also, be praying for new missionaries on the feild. We have two new missionary families here in Cuenca, studying spanish. It was such a blessing the other day to have lunch with them all. And the best part was hearing all the accents. There were people from various parts of the US, national born Ecuadorians, a man from Scotland, and a family from New Zealand. It makes me wonder if we´ll get to keep our accents in God's kingdom, if so, that may have just been a small glimpse of what it may sound like.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. None of this would be possible without your help!

One more prayer request

2008-02-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

So as some of you know, there is an assembly right now in Ecuador to rewrite the constitution. Well, it has come out that there is a part of the new constitution that is on the table that, at this present time, says that it will create a sort of Department of Religion. And if the current wording stays in the constitution, this departments job will be to "control" the churches of Ecuador. There is a special committee put together to look over and edit this, but if the committee has been chosen by the assembly, who knows if they will change it. The committee is made up representatively of the religious groups but for some reason excluded the AIEE (the Association of Evangelical Churches of Ecuador). There are other evangelical groups such as the Methodist but there aren´t many Methodist churches in Ecuador. So no one knows why the AIEE was left off the list. But anyway, the AIEE has made a formal request to this committee asking that the wording be changed so this group is not in place in order to "control" churches.

So the prayer is that this will happen, that it will not be a department to control churches but instead one that will help churches. So please be in prayer. if this passes it would have the ability to greatly change the face of religion and mission work in Ecuador. Thanks.

House Churches and Carnaval

2008-02-01T17:23:00.001-05:00

Well, it's that time of year here in Ecuador. Almost all of Latin America is gearing up for a celebration called Carnaval. This celebration is the same as Mardis Gras in New Orleans. It's supposedly the last day of reverly before Ash Wednesday. Except in true Latin American fashion they are milking it for all it's worth. It starts out innocent enough with kids fighting each other with water guns and water balloons. Then it goes to water balloons being hurled at passing cars and buses. Then it excalates more to anyone who ventures out of they're house coming back in as if they'd spent the day in the pool. Then in some places, normally not the cities, the people get really mean by throwing balloons filled with urine and paint. Then the nights are charactarized by parties lasting to the wee hours of the morning. And the most of it is still to come. We still haven't got to the everyman for himself stage yet...but that comes for the next 4 days.

So all of that is going on while the work at the church continues. Patricio and I are trying to keep praying about where to start our new group so that is still a large prayer request. We are now thinking of finding a place where there are a lot of kids and starting the church that way. Reaching out to the kids will be great for the kids of course but will also gain trust with the parents which in Cuenca is sometimes hard to come by. The other churches are still going along. We had an encouraging grand celebration this past Sunday. It was just two of the house churches meeting together but we had about 20 people show up which is amazing. So that is a huge praise and thanksgiving. This Sunday the church will be taking a retreat out of the city (to escape Carnaval for a day) and to have our grand celebration with all three churches. Pray that that goes well, especially seeing that I'll be giving my first sermon in Spanish. Eeeek. And also be praying for the new group start and for the people of Ecuador these next few days, that they will be kept safe and out of real harm during these celebrations.

Thanks for all of your prayer and support!!!!! God Bless.

Sorry for the Delay

2008-01-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated my blog. So much has happened since that last update but I just haven't had a lot of time to sit down and think through it and then to write something here about it. So I'll try to catch you all up as to what is going on here in Cuenca, Ecuador.

First of all, I had a great trip home for Christmas. That week really flew by and it was hard to leave again but it was good getting to see everyone (and for those of you I didn't get to see...sorry). It was nice to be in a culture that I understand and a language that I can speak without thinking too much. But now I'm back and it's going as strong as ever here.

The Sunday after I got back there was a Renovacion de Votos (a Marriage Vow Renewal Ceremony) at a local church here in Cuenca called Dios es Amor Verdadero (God is True Love). In classic fashion I forgot to take my camera but it was a beautiful service. The idea of Marriage here in Ecuador is, sadly, very corrupted. Most men have a wife and at least one mistress. It's common for teenagers to be pregnant very young and it is normally older men marrying younger women. Marriages oftentimes don't last and if they do last it is often not because of love, but because of not being in bad relations with the Catholic Church. So needless to say, in this country especially, it was a beautiful service to watch 5 middle-aged to elderly couples renew their vows to one another. It was also beautiful to see the church, filled with some younger married couples, join together and celebrate this event. It may be a small sign that the kingdom of God is beginning to break through in certain ways in this country, in this world. Out of a city of almost 500,000, five couples may not sound like a lot, but it is a beginning.

Other than that work has been going as usual. The church leaders have received a little more freedom as they try to start their own house churches. So that is a large prayer request. Also that Patricio and I are starting to pray about where God would like for the next church plant to be. We are praying that God will give us the eyes to see where his harvest is ready, where his Spirit is at work, so that we can take part in that work and hopefully start the work of planting a new church, all the while encouraging and helping these other plants as they try to go forward in their work.

That's really all that has been going on lately. We've had leader retreats, and church planting workshops, but the real work is in trying to encourage and motivate these new churches to take root and be the body of Christ here in Cuenca. Another prayer request I will put out there is a volcano here in Ecuador is possibly on the verge of a major eruption. Yesterday volcano Tungurahua was registering 4.7 major explosions every hour and had a hightened siesmic activity report. Today it is more tranquil, but as far as I know there is still a voluntary evacuation in effect for the areas around the volcano. I, here, am well within saftey. But there are some towns right near the volcano that would be utterly devastated and from what I've heard they are very superstitious people to where they may not heed warnings because they have given an offering to the virgen and she will save them. So be praying for those people, that they will heed the warnings if necessary, but ultimatly pray that they will be spared this disaster.

Thanks for all your support and prayer. Sorry that it has been such a long time since I last posted.

Hiking in Cajas National Park

2007-12-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

Well today was one more adventure to say the least. Today was my day off for the week so Tom Stiles, another missionary in the area, took me to Cajas National Park about 30 minutes from Cuenca. This is a park at the top of the mountain pass inbetween here and Guayaquil on the coast and it is a mountain pass that is filled with lakes, over 200 to be exact and filled with a lot of marshy land etc.

Well we started that way at 7:30 this morning and were hiking by 8:30. We looked at the map and decided the lake we wanted to hike to, asked the ranger where the entrance was, and headed that way. We got to the trail head and there wasn't any markings. So we just took the little foot bridge across the water and started off. Well, we lost the trail immediately. Thanks to the maps we knew where the lake was but this is Andean mountainous terrain that can't easily be traversed. So we looked and looked for the trail. And we started going for what looked to be the easiast pass through the moutnains. Well, we came to a cliff and didn't really know where to go. We could see the river that emptied out of the lake below...and when I say below I mean Very Very Far Below. So we decided, go up higher...we can probably cut through the pass that way....wrong. So after several failed attemps we decided we must go down and started looking for the most convenient pathway. Needless to say the most convenient pathways required holding on to trees and other plants while sliding down rocks to the next foot hold. So I don't want to mislead you into thinking that we were on the side of this big rock face with no end...but it was steep, there weren't many foot holds, and the plants are what made it possible to go down that way. It was the first time in my life that I put my foot somewhere...a rock dislodged...and I listened to see how far it dropped before stopping, and it went for a little while. Well we finally made it to the bottom after being hemmed in by at least two cliff walls, and started following the rivers to the lake, problem one being this is the marshy land, problem two being they don't sell size 45 rubber boots here, so all I had were my tennis shoes.

So we followed the rivers and when we saw a convenient time to climb up out of the marsh we took it. And after about an hour we made it to the first lake. It was SO beautiful. Then, Tom's GPS finally started working. Now his isn't the kind that could give us directions or anything but it can give our position, our bearing, and our altitude. That's when I found out we were hiking between 12,000 and 13,000 feet! So take two Mt. Mitchells and that is about where we were! So we started hiking around the lake and we finally caught on to a trail, and followed it to lake two. We wondered around for a while and found a place to stop and eat some lunch. Then Tom, decided to fish some and I decided to take some pictures. So after that we realized the fog from the coast was starting to fill in our pass out so we decided to hit the road. Although, this road required that we climb at least halfway up one of the mountains. And to climb up one of the mountains we had to wade through a small river, slop through a lot of marsh land...uphill... and climb a relatively steep slope. Well......drum roll please......we finally made it to the trail (the incan way) that we had missed the first time. And I hike that took us about one and a half to two hours took maybe 30 minutes once we had the trail. Although this trail wasn't easy hiking either. There were a lot of very steep drops that you get to look over while hiking.

Well, it was a great experience. I've always loved being in God's creation and this was one of the climaxes. Even if I am tired, sore, and have a pair of pants and shoes that look like they have went through some horrible torturas experience, I had a wonderful time. Even though I had to pray several, "God help me do this" prayers, even though I had to hold onto a tree and jump 3 feet to the next foothold, it was wonderful. And I would do it all again (especially now that I know where the trail is!!!)

Well, I want to thank you all for your prayers. In other news, I am starting to take over more and more responsibility here. As for now I am in charge of discipleship with a couple of the church leaders. It is exciting but also daunting....possibly as much as when I had to jump three feet to the foothold after hearing the rock roll down the moutain side.

Well, if you would like, here are the pictures from Cajas National Park. And don't worry mom, I'm still in good hands.

Just some photos

2007-12-09T16:43:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from my first couple of weeks here in Cuenca!

First Times in Cuenca.

Work, Encebollado, Sickness, and Random Observations

2007-12-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am again. It's been about 1 week and a half that I have been here at work in Cuenca. Things have been going fairly well so far. Just so you have an idea of what my average day looks like I'll try to explain it to you. Almost every day begins at 6:30 at a couples house for prayer. We have a list of things we pray for each day which span from those who have fallen away from the church to the country's leaders and everything inbetween. Generally after that I go back to my house until around 10ish when I go with the pastor on visits or discipleship studies or meetings with other pastors. Then most nights I hav a meeting at about 7:30 with either house churches or church leaders. So that seems to be my average day around here as of now.

I have been paired specifically with two Ecuadorian leaders in this church named Jorge and Anita. They are starting a new house church this Friday night. So please be praying for this church. But last Saturday I had a rollercoaster day with these two. They invited me to some of their friends house for an almuerzo (lunch) and they were going to serve something called Encebollado. If you want a translation the best I can give you is Onioned. It was a fish soup with yuca and about one red onion per bowl. So we went to the house and they prepared it. Now the goal was to eat an early lunch (which is about 12 or 1 here) and then watch the Jesus Film with this family. Well lunch didn't happen til about 2:00 or 2:30. Which meant that we could no longer watch the Jesus film because Jorge had a soccer game at three. So we all piled into the back of this truck and took off for the soccer game. We watched the game, then headed back to watch the movie. We get there, the movie goes wonderfully, then I'm thinking we are about done. Then they say, "let's re-heat the encebollado and eat it for dinner." So let me stop here to say the first time I really enjoyed this soup. However, when the idea came to eat it again all I wanted to do was vomit. But needless to say we ate it again and I almost finished my bowl. Then, we went back to Anita and Jorge's house to watch the Jesus film with his sisters and brother. So needless to say what was to be a lunch and movie, turned into about 10 hours of trying to understand and speak spanish....not very easy if I may say so myself. But then came Sunday.....

Church came at 8 and was a good service. Then I went home and waited for lunch time to roll around. I decided I'd go to the Mall and eat in the food court (I thought I deserved it after the encebollado) and look at guitars and really just get out. So I caught a bus, and headed out. So the bus to the mall drops you off a few blocks away so I was walking and started not feeling to well. I thought it was just because it was late and I hadn't eaten or drank anything since before church so I just went on to the food court. I lost my apetite but finally just bought a hamburger and some fries and a water. I ate it and all was ok, looked around for a while but overall still I wasn't feeling good. I went back home and relaxed until that night's couples meeting (oh yeah...there's a meeting for married couples led by two single guys...i find that entertaining). When there I mentioned that I wasn't feeling all that great and Patricion said to sleep in and let him know how I felt later on the next day, and that we'd have the leader meeting in my apartment that Monday night. Well...this was only the tip of the iceburg. In order to spare the details...it was the sickest I've been since I've been here and today is the first day I've been able to keep myself going all day. I'm still not 100% well but I will now be avoiding Encebollado as much as I can. Ugh.

So now for some random observations. There's actually only two for today. First is that it's kind of interesting to walk through the mall and see an indiginous man playing a traditional Ecuadorian flute, the catch being that he's playing the song Hey Jude.

Second is that, only in this church that I'm working at (in the lingirie store) can you see the kids playing in the background......hitting each other with bras.

So that's about all I have for now. Thanks for all your support in prayers. Please be in prayer for the new house church starting this Friday and for the other new house church that should be starting up here soon as well. Also please be in prayer for my health. I assume this won't be the only time I eat in a local's house so I know that sickness could be a problem again. Also, be in prayer for my travels as I come home in two weeks for Christmas. And lastly, please be praying for this country's government. There is a lot of unrest and division with the ways of the President. There is an Assembly going right now to rewrite the constitution and one hope of the president is that they will abolish Congress and give him complete authority. If this happens I believe there will be a lot of unrest in the country. So just please be praying for the leaders. That they will make the decisions that are the best for the people and not for any political ideology. Well thanks a lot!!!! God Bless.

Week One!

2007-11-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

Well, more or less one week down. I know it's only Thursday but this is my day off so it feels like the weekend. Things are off to a great start. On Sunday I went to a party at one of the Church members houses. It started at 10 and didn't end until about 5 or so that evening. It was a fun time. It was this churches 'fiesta de multiplicacion', or multiplication party. The idea is that this is the point when, what has now been one church will now multiply into three now that leaders are ready to lead. The party was fun. We had pollo asado (rotissere chicken) over a fire that was started with charcoal and floor wax! We then had a program time where we had videos of pictures from the past time in the church and had games and all. It was a great time to start to learn the people of the church. After Tom and Susan Stiles (other missionaries in the area) dropped me off at my house, I went for a little walk in the rain. Just trying to learn the area and to look for a place to check my email. I was a little bummed since the next day was my birthday and all but it was good just to walk.

Well the next day (Monday) I met with Patricio (the local pastor of the house churches) and we sort of went over the vision of the church plants and ways that I would be working. I talked about how I loved to work with young people and would love to see how that could fit into the vision and he was very open to that. We then went for a walk to find the Campus Crusade offices here to pick up some copies of the Jesus Video. We got there....and they were closed. So we wandered around for a while and then eventually headed back to our area and I went home. I spend the rest of the day in the apartment more or less until that night when we had a meeting with the new leaders of the various new house churches. Patricio did some teaching on bible studies and leadership qualities then we went around and shared our visions. Then the one couple, whom Patricio said I would be working with the closest, said that their dream was to see a church of jóvenes (youth) and they shared their dreams about this. I was SO happy. After hearing that Patricio asked me to share some of what I had talked about that morning so I did. So now it looks like I will continue to work closely with these two both doing youth ministry here but also training this couple in what youth ministry is and how to do it. So that is really exciting.

Other than that this week I've mostly just shadowed Patricio around. We've done visits in the lingerie store where we had church and discipleship at the 12 de abril produce market. We've had one house church meeting and the past two days we've had 6:30 AM prayer meetings! Talk about early....I actually overslept this morning and only made it on time thanks to a cabbie! Things are really off to a good start. I have upcoming meetings with various people, including a pregnant 16 year old and mayber her boyfriend. Please be in prayer for that. It is so common to have that happen here, but I just hope and pray that that won't be the excuse and that it will be a time of awakening. Also pray that these people here will truly understand what it means to follow Christ. To accept his salvation, this gift of grace, and then to live our life in that light and that truth. Thanks so much for your prayers!

New City, New Apartment, and Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, there really has been a lot that has happened since I last blogged. For starters I have finally arrived at my ministry site here in Cuenca, Ecuador. I arrived here on Saturday then the fun began. On Sunday I attended the store front church with the pastor I will be working with. The missionaries and I went at 8 in the morning to a lingerie store in downtown Cuenca. Yes....a lingerie store and had a worship service with the people there. It was interesting to be singing praise songs with a display of boxers in the background. But it was also a good lesson in the fact that God can show up anywhere that we are gathered together in his name.

Then after that service, in the afternoon, Patricio and I went apartment shopping. We wandered the streets of Cuenca looking for signs that said for rent in the windows. ... The target cost?.....150 a month. Needless to say I searched then...all day Monday and finally got a place on Tuesday, the day before my stuff arrived. Out of all of this, the best story was a woman landlord I called and set up a meeting with at 9:00 AM. Tom and I go to look at the place and she isn't there. We call...no answer. This goes on all morning. I finally call later on after lunch and she tells me, "yeah...i waited for you and you never came...what happened? I had to go" So we don't really know what happened. there. But then I had it narrowed down to two apartments and when I went to make my decision i realized that one apartment was well charred due to a car fire below. It wasn't destroyed but well charred. SO I took that as a sign and went with the other apartment. it is by no means a life of luxury but it is sufficient and will do.

Next day was move in day. And needless to say mostly all went well...until that night. I take the bus back and lo and behold....the bedroom key doesn't work! I was locked out of my own bedroom! So needless to say, after several attempts of gently breaking into my own apartment I finally lost patience and took a large table leg and beat the door handle into submission until it gave up and I entered my bedroom. Other than that all has went fairly well. The apt. is close to being complete and with new doorknobs and soon I will post some pictures of my new abode here in Cuenca.

In other news I had thanksgiving here with probably about 10 other missionaries. Needless to say, it is one of the few groups where you can sit around afterwards playing card games and telling Christian jokes that everyone gets and everyone laughs at. Well i know that I have probably forgotten 10 million things but this week has been a whirlwind. But please be praying for me as I meet with the Pastor tomorrow to start to work out what this next month will look like before I travel home for Christmas. Also, please continually keep Cuenca in your prayers. Thanks!

Brief Updates and a Little News

2007-11-16T07:59:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! I don't know if you all heard about it or if it has made news in the US, but there was a 6.7 earthquake last night at about 10:12. First reports are that there were no injuries and no major damage but it is still pretty early. I didn't feel anything here in Quito but it apparently shook Guayaquil pretty good (and don't worry, Bekah is OK)! So please be praying for anything that may come from this. This is the third earthquake to hit Eastern South America in months. First was Peru, then Chili, and now Ecuador. Here is the AP report.
And here is the USGS report.

Secondly, I'll be moving to Cuenca tomorrow, so please be praying about that as I fly down there tomorrow. Also, that means my address has changed, it is now:

Blake Hart
OMS International
Casilla 01-05-1847
Cuenca, Ecuador
South America

Thank you all for your prayers and support. They are well needed down here.

Finally...some more photos

2007-11-14T20:42:00.000-05:00

Around the Country

Rainy Season and Rucu Pichincha

Only 2 More Weeks

2007-11-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

Well I had a really good trip this past weekend. This past weekend BJ and Andi Williamson were moving to their new home at Camp Pallatanga and I went with them to help them move in and paint the house. On Friday, Andi and I drove into Guayaquil to get some groceries for their house and also to pick up Bekah to bring her to Pallatanga (although she didn't know I was coming with Andi to pick her up). After this we returned to the camp and began to work. We worked all day more or less on Saturday and got almost all of their house painted. Then, we were going to finish up on Sunday morning and catch a bus to Guayaquil that evening but then we were reminded that this weekend was a holiday weekend so all the buses would be full. Therefore we had to leave early to try to catch a bus. There were actually two holidays this past week. They were Dia de los Muertos and La independencia del Cuenca (Day of the Dead and Cuenca's Independence day). The problem was the first one. Many indigenous people travel to their hometowns for Dia de los muertos and for this reason they all travel back on Sunday. We were actually refused trips by three buses because they were full....which is saying something in Ecuador if a bus is full! Finally Bekah and I caught a bus to Guayaquil that had space...which meant we were standing up on rough mountainous roads heading out of the Andes mountains. We stood for probably about two and a half to three hours before seats opened up for us. Then eventually two seats opened up side by side so we could sit together for the last 30 minutes or so of the trip. Needless to say we got to Guayaquil's crazy, confusing bus terminal at about 3:30ish. We then commenced to follow the masses hoping they would lead to the main building of the terminal so that we could buy my ticket to Quito. Needless to say, in Guayaquil, this consists of crossing a very, very large road, walking through a market type area, then eventually arriving at a room of probably 100 booths offering bus tickets. Luckily mine was right at the entrance so we bought my 8 dollar ticket and headed to the pickup point where Pastor Curtis was going to pick us up.

I then spent a lot of the evening just being with Bekah, talking about our wedding, planning some, checking email, fixing dinner (although my help was minimal) then going for a walk. It was a well needed day! Then they took me to Terminal Terristre at about 9:30ish and i wondered around trying to find the exit gate i needed. They apparently forgot that with about 30-50 buses leaving at once that they should print that on the ticket. I finally asked a guard and he told me where to go. Although I think he just told me something to get rid of me, needless to say it was right. Then I got to the gate...forgetting that even though I have a ticket I have to pay 10 cents to get to the bus...but it has to be a dime...nothing else. And for all the change I had I had no dimes so I finally got out two nickels and went to the gate to ask the guy if I could get through or where I could get change. He discretely pointed to his buddy who, after a brief conversation, opened the side gate and motioned for me to discretely put the 10 cents in his hand...so needless to say that is probably 10 cents that didn't make it to the terminal. But oh well, so things go sometimes.

Well I finally found my bus, got patted down and had my bags searched and then was allowed on the bus. I promptly dozed off once the bus went and was awakened by a police officer walking down the aisle. Everyone was getting off the bus and I assumed it was a police search, which it was. I got off the bus, showed a cop my copies of my passport and censo, was patted down again and had my bag searched again, then he more or less just walked away without saying anything to me. I bought some water from one of the kids selling it there at the police check and then got back on board. And headed home. Needless to say the rest was flawless, from getting to the Imbabura (bus line) office and catching a cab, to going to school and fighting the sleep off until now.

I know only have 2 weeks left here in Quito. Then I will be heading to Cuenca to settle in and to shadow the pastor around for a while. I'm really looking forward to it all. Your prayers are appreciated as I finish school and as I make the move to living alone in Cuenca. I hope that all is well in the states!!!

Inspiration in Unusual Places

2007-10-24T00:31:00.000-04:00

So this will probably be a short one but I just wanted to share some unusual inspiration moments I had recently. The first was while I was riding the bus the other day and listening to U2. I was listening to City of Blinding Lights off of their latest album (at least unless a new one has come out since I moved here). So rumor has it that this song was written after Sept. 11, after U2 did a concert in NYC. Don't know if it's true but an interesting bit of info, but anyway, I was listening to this song while riding the bus and one line just stuck out to me. The line is this "Oh you look so beautiful tonight/in the city of blinding lights." So here I am on a bus in the middle of a city of 1.5 million people (rough guess), and this phrase just jumped out at me. Other parts of the song say, "don't look before you laugh/look ugly in a photograph/flash bulbs and purple irises the camera can't see/I've seen you walk unafraid/I've seen you in the clothes you make can you/see the beauty inside of me/what happened to the beauty I had inside of me." So I don't know, this may not strike you the way it did to me but there are so many things that photos of places like this can't tell. Like personality or like the people behind the faces. And I started to think, What would this world look like if we all actually acted like this? What would happen if we saw the beauty that is written into each person we share a bus with, see on the highway, sit across from in the doctor's office? Or even harder in the ones who harm us, cut in front of us, talk down to us? What would happen if we looked for God's image in everyone we saw? I think the world would be a little different.

Another song that jumped out of me I heard just a little while later off the same album called Crumbs from Your Table. In this song Bono sings, "You're as pretty as a picture/It was all there to see/Then your face caught up with your psychology/With a mouth full of teeth/You ate all your friends/And you broke every heart thinking/Every heart mends/ ANd you speak/with signs and wonders/But I need something other/I would believe if I was able/But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table." When I heard this it just came clear to me that so often we search for the right words or the right things to say but sometimes it's the right actions. The last two lines where he says he would believe if he was able but he's waiting on the crumbs just really got to me. How do we make them able to believe? It's kind of like in every context we need to find what the crumbs are they are waiting for. If we show them that love then just maybe they will begin to see the love that we have for Christ and that He has for us!

For the third thing, this one comes from the most unusual place of all, the movie Hitch. I just finished watching it and one line just, unprovoked, jumped out and grapped me. Towards the end Albert says to Hitch, "I get you, you sell this stuff (love) but you don't believe in it yourself." Hitch says, "Love is my life," then Albert responds, "NO, ...it's your job!" When I heard this I was struck dumb it felt like. How easy it is to entertain the questions above or the questions of faith, or the Christian life in such a detatched way. It is so easy to make Christianity our job instead of our life. But Jesus doesn't ask for that, he wants us in a relationship with him...a living, vital and moving relationship. When that is the case it is an adventure to figure out all these things because we are living intimately with our Lover. In the movie, Hitch thought he had love figured out when in the end everything he thought he knew was wrong when he fell in love. I think this is the same with us in Christianity. We can think we know it all, but that all goes away when we fall in love with Christ. Then all these questions are still there but they are more an exchange between us and Christ, we follow him, and he leads, and we learn on the route. We don't have to know it all beforehand, it doesn't have to be our job...but it does have to be our lives!

Well this was longer than I had intended but I hope it has been a blessing. Thanks to you all for your prayers...I have an exam tomorrow so pray for that if you get this before 10:00am. If after just pray that the next phase of learning goes well. I'm about to start what is called the subjunctive tense..which I learned in college but I'm sure this will be much more intense. There are some missionaries here who still don't understand this tense...so I need the prayer!!!!

Medical Mission and more

2007-10-21T23:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, So first sorry that it has taken me so long to blog. It is so easy to get into a routine and things like this easily get pushed off the radar screen so I apologize. But a lot has been going on lately that I really want everyone to know about.

First of all, this past week we hosted a medical team in South Quito. I use the term we loosely because I still had class and could only attend one day but it was amazing. Just so that you know, Quito is basically divided into three sections. You have North Quito which is the rich section of town. Then you have Central Quito which is commercial and the Spanish Colonial Old Town, then you have south, which is the poor district. You can tell this just by driving the roads. They are considerably worse and you have to be extremely careful due to all of the manhole covers missing. Apparently the people steal them, melt them down, and then sell them as scrap metal. Not to mention the housing in most areas looks so miserable.

But then when I got there I was really unsure what would happen. I knew that most of the OMS Missionary jobs would be to translate for the American doctors, and while I feel confident I could do it, I was still afraid. And at first that was where I was put, in triage as a translator. But I was quickly removed. Not because of my abilities seeing as I hadn't seen a patient yet but to be put with the eye doctor who was inundated with work. Everyone wanted to see him. So I went to help and was completely relieved to see that he was from Puntilla (an area near Guayaquil) and therefore was fluent in Spanish. So mostly I just got to take his notes for him, play with the occasional kid, and choke back a few tears.

It's hard to explain but so many of the people came through the eye exam area and you wondered why they received clearance. They were having to be very specific with those who got to see him because there were so many. Some would go through and have 20/25 vision and receive some eye-drops and a prescription for glasses, and oftentimes you could tell these people weren't rich but they could afford what they had gotten. But then you'd see the older, poorer people come through and hear the words from the eye doctor, "tiene cataratas" (She has cataracts). For an eye doctor in a mobil clinic that's like saying she has cancer. Basically it is to say that they are going blind and there is nothing we can do about it. He would always tell them that their only option was an operation and they would almost always reply with "pero somos campesinos pobres." Basically that they are just poor farmers. He would explain that there were some clinics that would do it for free but that they would have to call certain numbers to find them. So they would normally go out with long faces, or try to fake smiles and thank yous. One man couldn't even see the doctors hand at less than a meter from his face. How do they live? And what can we do to help them? And all this is not to mention the countless kids who came in with eye problems from the dust, or parasites from the water. It's hard to bear at times. And I was there for just one day.

So that is about all I have. That was a hard fare to stomach but then to know that some good came out of it. Some people of south Quito got to see the love of Christ in a more tangeable way. But it has also opened a lot of questions for me. I know that the gospel was shared to the people there and a lot of people responded. But I've heard from years past that the people often just say yes in order to secure their treatment or their visit with a doctor. So I ask myself where is the transformation that Jesus spoke of? Is this the best method? These are just questions that are sort of floating around in my head right now. How are we to live our lives and our testimonies in such a way that others see Christ's love and want to join us on our walk with him, and not just say yes because they are afraid that we will turn them away?

So I guess for some prayer requests, pray for all those who did make a decision or ask for pastor visits. Whether they meant it or not one of the Every Community for Christ pastors should be visiting them in the next couple of weeks so pray that God's love will be seen and that transformation will take place. Also pray for me as I struggle with some of these questions and try my hardest to seek God's face on these. Pray that God's wisdom will come over us all as we seek his will and his method. Also pray for me as I prepare to leave for my ministry sight in Cuenca. I have just about a month before that happens so please pray that the ministry God has for me will open up and that all of the details like apartments and such fall into place. Thank you all for your prayers. They are well appreciated.

Welcome the rainy season

2007-10-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

Well, that time of year is here. It is now rainy season in Quito. I am sitting in an internet cafe listening to the rain outside, the same rain that comes every evening without fault. It's always here without missing a beat. Sometimes it's a raging thunderstorm, other times a heavy shower, or like now just a nice shower to listen too. So, there is the introduction the the rainy season.

This past Sunday night I took off to visit Cuenca, Ecuador, my future ministry site. I met Patricio, the pastor there whom I will be working with. He seemed like a really great guy who is now working with I think a couple house churches that just had their first Gran Celebración (great celebration) where the two house churches meet together. It looks like I will be doing a lot of work with him in leading Bible studies, trying to start house churches and then trying to bring them together to a gran celebración. So we got to talk for a while about all of this then we went apartment hunting.

So this is how apartment hunting works in Ecuador. You wander around the streets of the neighborhood that you want to live in looking for windows without curtains. Normally those are the ones that are for rent and if you are lucky there will be a sign in the window saying arriendo este departamento (basically means for rent). Luckily that is what we found. We got to look around and I absolutly love the city of Cuenca. It's population is just under 500,000 people. After living in Quito with all the noise and polution that accompanies millions of people, 500,000 is like heaven. It is so quiet and clean. But there is a lot of work to do. The estimate is that less than 1% are Christians here. Of course there are a lot of Catholics there, but my understanding is that Cuenca is a purveyor of the extremely supersticious catholicism.

But anyway we looked and looked for apartments but since my move in is over a month away we really couldn't secure anything. But it was a promising day. We found one really nice one on the third floor with a marvelous view, two bedrooms, office, 1 bath, and living/dining/kitchen for $160 a month. About the average. But we'll have to see what is available when i move in Mid-late November.

Well I think that was about all. I guess I should tell you that my trip consisted of riding a bus Sunday night for 9 hours, being in Cuenca for Monday, and returning Monday night on the same bus. It was insane, hard, and painful at times (the night buses rarely stop...so that was 9 hours in the same seat.) Then when we got to Quito the rainy season rhythm was broken and we had to walk in the morning rain to try to catch a bus. Needless to say BJ and I were soaking wet and freezing by the time we caught the bus and were still looking at an hour bus ride. But in all all was well.

Well the rain has picked up to a heavy shower and the thunder is moving in. I guess that means I should start my hike of about 10 or so block to catch the bus to head back to Calderón. But luckily this time I have my umbrella. Thank you all for your prayers...they are needed.

Finally the pictures have arrived.

2007-10-02T19:36:00.000-04:00

So I finally bit the bullet and went to an internet cafe and loaded almost all of my pictures. So here are the links to them.

First Days in Ecuador

Mitad del Mundo and some Mountains

Colonial Quito and El Panecillo

Quinto Aniversario de la Iglesia Biblica Familiar

So there are more but the computer started getting really, really, really slow....so. I guess another time.

Month-end Review

2007-09-29T22:36:00.000-04:00

Well, one month in Ecuador is almost over. It is so hard to believe that this is really true. That I only have 9 months left to go. But I wanted to get on here and say some of the things that I've been thinking over the past month.

I've been thinking a lot about family and relationships this month. I mean, it has been a rollercoaster to say the least, from saying a hard goodbye to my family and to my recent engagement, family has been a pretty big point. It is so easy to take what we have for granted. I never will forget, on the way to the Panecillo, seeing a dad get mad at his son and throw a knife at him. I wanted to just punch the man in the face and take his child away from him. I wanted to make sure that this man could have no further influence on his kids. And it's after seeing things like this that you really begin to see how blessed you really are. It's after seeing so many kids who don't know their father, or so many wives who have husbands who sleep around frequently that you realize how special, even how rare maybe, that your family is.

So I think I've spoken a lot about beliefs and stuff here, talking about the supersticious faith, or the paying of the saints for blessing, or of the Virgin being seen as the victor, or of the representation of Christ as only being dead or a small child. But this is more at the heart of it all. Don't get me wrong, all of the theology and beliefs are important. But how can those beliefs ever be seen as valid or true if there isn't love in this world being shown in some way. Through family, friends, the church. So my thought for month one is that we should never take things for granted. I know we say that all too much. But I never could have imagined how much I would look forward to those weeklyish calls home, or the weekly call to Bekah (or the occasional visit). I never knew how happy I could be to find out that I get to take Christmas off, or how much I would miss mashed potatoes or ranch dressing.

God, help us to never forget how blessed we are. Help us also to use that blessing as a starting point to show your love to everyone.

Wonderful Visit to Guayaquil

2007-09-26T18:06:00.000-04:00

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, I got to take off for a couple days and head south to the coastal, port city of Guayaquil. We left on Sunday morning and had a VERY eventful trip to the south. So for those of you who envision paved, closed access roads like the Interstate system....think again. The roads are maintained by private companies who make money off toll boothes along the way. Therefore, some of the roads are TERRIBLE because no business can make a profit off of it. Also, the road do not always bypass the cities as the interstates do. Instead, you get lost for hours in a city trying to find your way around. So in all we got lost in Latacunga, Ambato, and Guayaquil at least once during this trip, as well as one long mistake where we missed a turn and starte going to Cuenca on accident. One huge problem is lack of road signs. You come to a traffic circle that says right to Ambato...which then leads to another circle with no such instructions. 33% chance of being right isn't really the best odds.

But anyway, we finally made it to Guayaquil on Monday morning, (we spent the night as planned at and OMS Camp in a small village called Pallatanga.) This is the day I was really looking forward to because it was the day I was going to get to see Bekah. Well, we had to follow a taxi to our said destination for BJ's meeting and once we got there we bartered with him for a price to take me to Malecón (a large park like area on the river in Guayaquil) where I was going to meet Bekah. On the way I was talking with the taxi driver and was so happy, I could understand a lot of what he was saying and communicate fairly well with him. I was thinking to myself, "man, if this is the coastal spanish everyone is afraid of then I am doing pretty good!" Well my hopes were shattered when I asked the the guy if he lived in Guayaquil all his life. "No, soy de Riobomba" (No I am from Riobomba) That would be a town in the sierra...where I am. So, he spoke slowly like everyone from there. So I wasn't as well off as I thought. Anyway he was apparently a Christian because when I mentioned I was a missionary he said, "oh, un hermanito", or oh a brother. But the form hermanito in this sense doesn't necessarily mean little brother but just a more affectionate term for brother. So that was pretty cool. But he asked me how long I would be there, where I would be living, and what I would be doing. So it was really cool to get to talk to them. I love when that happens, I wish I could just make myself do it more often.

After this he delivered me to the Malecón where I waited for a few minutes on Bekah. It was great to see her and to just get to walk around the area and look at stuff together. It was SO hot though. Together we went through 5 bottles of water during this day and then chugged more when we got to the Hickey's house. At the Malecón there is a beautiful garden filled with native plants and all. We wondered around it for a while and long story short, we left the garden engaged. (Sorry, not many detail from me). So then we went and had some lunch at a food court type thing and headed up the Santa Anna hill. Which was quite steep. It rivalled anything I've climed so far in Quito (even though that will probably change when I head to Pichincha). We then went to the crafts market and wandered around there for a while.

After all of this we went back to the garden and just sat there for a while then Pastor Curtis came and picked us up and took us back to their house for dinner. While we were waitng for dinner we took a walk around the area, it was so nice. Then we had dinner. It was amazing. I had missed mashed potatoes and salad with ranch dressing SO much you can't even start to imagine. After this we spent some more time together and then I had to go. They took me into the city to try to get a cab to Casa Alianza where I would be staying the night. We found a guy but it was a pirate cab so Curtis told us not to so we went over to a hotel and one of their cabbies took me. He knew the community but not the place so I had to tell him I had no idea where he was going. It was during this trip that I realized that I did not understand coastal spanish. :-( Oh well. Maybe next time. Eventually he found it and we had agreed on 7 dollars but all I had was a ten. When I handed it to him he just said Gracias (thanks) and looked away. I figured he did have to ask for directions 3 or 4 times on the street so I guess he deserved it (or at least that was my excuse for not argueing over it, I know I got took but oh well. I didn't want to argue).

Long story short, we left, got lost in Guayaquil once, then made it back safe and sound but a little late on Tuesday. So that's may story. I went, I'm now engaged!!!!!!!!!, and now I'm back to the routine.

Quinto Aniversario y el Panecillo

2007-09-17T15:46:00.001-04:00

Well this Sunday was a wonderful one. I had to get up earlier this week because we were going to church this morning. (If you don't remember I usually go to church on Saturday, so an early Sunday is not common). But we got up and went to the Iglesia Familiar Biblica (The Biblical Family Church). The reason we were going here is because it was it's 5th anniversary. And this is the parent church to A Lot of other churches in the Quito area, including the one I go to on Saturdays. It was a packed service. It started out with some very upbeat praise and worship music. I really enjoyed it. Here they had a full praise band which was really fun to praise with. After that we had the message where the pastor went through the letter to the church at Philedelphia in Revelation. He pointed out the key things that God was blessing the church for, namely, Obedience to the word, not denying the name of Christ, and being steady and consistent in their walk with the Lord.

After this the church service went into a time of celebration. It started with some members (one of which is the pastor of the church I attend) offering some special music. After that the children came out. They all had their faces painted and were following the orders of the leader in front. I can't really remember all that they did because there was so much noise I had trouble hearing and I was real busy trying to get some pictures of it. After this some of the older kids, who had face painting only in black and white (who I told BJ looked kind of like the group KISS) did a mimed skit. It began with one in the front with his hands out to the side as if on a cross. Then various of the kids came by and changed his arm positions, putting different clothes on him or giving him some magazine to read. The in the end a girl walks by with the Bible, she corrects the figure by putting his arms and feet as if on a cross, then she bowed at his feet. So, the skit was about how easy it is to make Jesus in our image instead of being made into his. It was really powerful.

After this we had some testimonies, which due to the restleness of the crowd (since all kids were included at this point) I couldn't make it out. Crowd noise and foreign language make for a hard time. But after this we had one last skit to music this time. The praise band played, narrated, and sang a song during a skit about Daniel and the Lion's Den. It was really good but hard to see. You could tell this was the highlight because everyone got out of their seats and went to the front to watch, leaving anyone who didn't without a view. So I tried to snap pictures of it through the cracks but none are that great. But it was also a real powerful skit about how if we are faithful, God will give us the victory in one way or the other. After all of this we retreated across the road to a restaurant the church had reserved for Almuerzo. We went, had a wonderful Almuerzo with some other gringos at the church and then left.

After this all happened, we went to El Panecillo. What's that you ask? Well it is a HUGE statue of the Virgin Mary that over looks the city of Quito. We took a bus and a taxi to get up there and once up there it was an amazing view of the city. You can even, for one dollar, climb up into the statue and view from there. Too bad it was an extremely cloudy day because the view of the city was good but you really couldn't see the mountains, which would have been amazing. But while I was looking at the statue and talking with others about it, it is odd the form of Catholicism I am encountering here. Before I left, Jim McCoy gave me an article to read and in it it said this:
"When Christianity came into Latin America, many of the indigenous groups simply changed the names of their gods: they gave them Christian saints' names. But they really continued worshipping their original gods.... [In the first evangelisation] Christ was either a helpless baby, toward whom we feel affection and compassion, or a corpse, a dead body with no power or ethical demands.*"

I'm starting to see this SO much here. The panecillo statue has the Virgin as being the conqueror. She is standing on the moon, holding the serpent down while holding him by a chain, and all of this is on top of the world. And all of this is to be as a protector for the city. When I entered the presidential palace or the many cathedrals, Jesus is always portrayed as a dead corpse. While I understand that the death of Christ is really important to our faith and that in John's Gospel the crucifixion is the glorification of Jesus, the story does not end there. It goes on to a Sunday morning where Jesus was resurrected. Not just resucitated to die again. But resurrected to a life that never ends. He was and is God and he is a live and with us today. That is what the Catholic church here seems to miss a lot. That God is here...you don't just go and pay a saint to protect you. You don't just go confess your sins and then go and do it again. You don't just put a virgin statue in a box to bless the place. God is alive. He is risen and he is with us every day. I would hear people talk against the Catholics because of the crucifix and I guess for me I never understood it. I realized that the death of Christ awas a very important part of the story so I was confused. Because a lot of Catholics I read about or whose work I read I deeply respected and they lived in a way that Christ was alive and real to them in a relational form. But now I'm seeing the down side. If Christ is dead, if he is still on a cross, why bother. But if he is resurrected and alive he is our hope and salvation. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) So this is just a little bit that I am learning and experiencing.

*From Christianity Today, August 8, 2007 edition. Interview with Ruth Padilla DeBorst

Another week

2007-09-15T22:48:00.000-04:00

Well, so another week seems to come to an end. This week has been full of surpirses and many new sights. As for language school, things seem to be going as normal. I go, see how much I don't know, and work on learning more. The special stuff for this week was that I got to go to the Historic Center of Quito. It was amazing. The center of Quito is entirely Spanish Colonial. First stop was the presidential palace. I got to take a tour and it was very interesting. Of course the tour was in Spanish so I had to follow the best I could. A lot of the tour consisted of a display of presents given to Correa (the current president) upon his inaugaration. But there was also a HUGE 3 wall/2 story mural in memory of the sacrifice of the indiginous people when the Spanish Conquest occured.
The second place we went was La Iglesia de la Compañía (The church of the company). It was a beautiful barroque style church. While I don't agree with a lot of the Catholic ideals there such as shrines to the saints and to the Virgin Mary it was a marvelously beautiful church. It has been recently restored after being plagued by both an earthquake and a fire. But one thing that stood out to me from visiting this church was the emphasis put on actions, on doing things right, in the Catholic Church. While I believe we should strive to live upright and that our lives should be an outpouring of God's love, it was more obvious in some of the paintings that in this strain of Catholicism it is a lot more about doing the right things, about performing certain actions to get to heaven. That for many of them, it is not about having a right relationship with God, but about doing A, B, and C so that you can make it.
After going here we went to a museum about the History of Quito and the independance of Ecuador. It was very interesting but since this was my 3rd tour in Spanish I don't remember much. I was getting pretty tired by this point.
Last, before taking the Trolle back to home, we went into two more of the Catholic cathedrals, St. Francis and Santo Domingo. Both were less spectacular than the first, but they were both amazing (and more like real churches) than the first. I say more like real churches because it was obvious that the Iglesia de la Compañía was more for the tourists. I think they had mass but you times like this you have to pay admission to get in to see it. Of the other two, I think it was St. Francis that was being restored but when we went in the back door they were in the middle of a mass service. Santo Domingo was a beautiful sanctuary and there was a man playing the organ and people praying throughout the sanctuary. But there were so many cathedrals there. It was later explained that it was sort of like denominations except catholic. The three I saw were for the Jesuits (Compañía), the Franciscans, and the Dominicans. And that was only 3 out of the many, many cathedrals there. From standing in front of St. Francis you can see at least 4 or 5 cathedrals, then add to that probably 4 or 5 you can't see. And this is just in central Quito.
But in other news, today I went to church as always. It was a great service. I really enjoy going to church here. It is a small church plant that meets in a school but it is really great. Today I was struck in the middle of worship that I was singing songs in a different language. That I was using words uncommon to me, but common to God. And that all over the world songs of praise are going up to a God who understands every single one of them. And for me I was amazed to be understanding in two languages. Here's part of one of the songs:

No basta sólo con cantar Not enough only with singing
No basta sólo con decir Not enough only with telling
No es suficiente sólo It isn't sufficient only
Con querer hacer With wanting to do it.
Es necesario morir It's necessary to die.
No basta sólo con soñar Not enough only with sounding
No basta sólo con pedir Not enough only with asking
No es suficiente sólo It isn't sufficient only
Con querer tener With wanting to have it.
Es necesario morir It's necessary to die.

Dame tu vida, Give me your life,
Esa clase de vide que sabes dar This class of live that you know to give
Dame tu vida Give me your life,
Yo quiero vivir sólo para ti I want to live, only for You
Dame tu vida Give me your life
Resucítame en ti Resurrect me in You
Yo queiro vivir sólo para Ti I want to live, only for You

This was just one of the songs. It was great to sing through several songs with these people and to realize that something beautiful was happening. Something "pentecostal". Not as in the denomination, but in the beauty of language barriers being broken down. At Pentecost people were hearing in their own language, a reversal of the tower of babel. And while that reversal will not completly happen until the Kingdom of God is fully realized it is beautiful to see it start. The pastor was talking about the importance of our lives being lived as worship. He spoke on Isaiah 29:13-14 where the people were worshiping with their lips but their hearts were far from God. He then talked on the idea of worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth (from John). He said that the in Spirit part can be seen as our personal relationship with God. The closer we are to God, the more one we are with him, the more we are worshiping in spirit. Then in truth we worship by living our entire life for him. He then led to Romans 12:1 to show that our worship, is sacrificing our bodies to Christ. It was a great service, a challenging service. I'm glad that the language barrier is being broken down, so that I can worship and learn from my times at the church. Well I think that is all for now.

Off to a normal week....i guess

2007-09-11T21:22:00.000-04:00

So starts my first 'average' week in Quito, Ecuador. On Sunday we did some sight seeing. We do church on Saturday, which is good for the touristy side of me because there are a lot less people at some places on Sundays. This week we went to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) which is supposedly....well....the middle of the world. It's weird how much the climate here can change so quickly due to altitude. In Quito it was a mild day, but after the short 30 minute drive to Mitad Del Mundo it was SO hot. We ate at an almuerzo place there in the park. The prices here are so cheap I feel bad for paying them sometimes. We had a potato soup with avacado for starters, then we had a plate with a good sized pork chop, rice, a broccoli carrot and choclo (sort of a big corn) mix and potatoes in some cream sauce. Then for desert we got the richest chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted. All of this with a small coke was 3 USD. It's unreal. It's like when we went to the market the first day I was here and bought 2 backpack fulls of fresh fruit and veggies for less than 20USD. It's rediculous. But anyway...

Mitad del Mundo was great. It was interesting to know that I was walking in and out of the northern and southern hemispheres over and over again. It is here that if you put water in a basin and let it out, it goes straight down the hole...and doesn't spin either direction. Ok,....I'm a dork but I think that's pretty cool.

Other than that, this Monday was the day I was going to register with migration. We got what we thought was all the paperwork needed and after my language school we went off to the Department of Migration. What I was hoping to do there was to register with the country and to receive my censo (the Ecuadorian equivalent to a Green Card) and my salida (which is permission to leave the country.) Well we got there and there was no line, so we thought, hey this will be great. But....we forgot (we being everyone who works with OMS in Quito area) that before I can receive my Censo I have to have some other person stamp my passport. So apparently there is a contest to see how many times my passport can be stamped by one country for the same trip. So far they're winning by leaps and bounds. I'm not sure why my Visa stamp and the Immigration stamp in the airport don't work, but for some reason there must be a third stamp from the extranjeria to show that I really in fact do have permission to be here. So after this mild dissappointment we went across the street (and by across the streat I mean run like mad for our lives) to El Jardin, one of the local malls. We ate in the food court which was fabulous. McDonalds never tasted so good. Partially because this was, I think 2 or 3 in the afternoon so I was starved, and I just really wanted a hamburger. Then I had a coffee drink from a coffee shop in the food court which was AMAZING. So if you don't know, Ecuadorians grow coffee...they don't drink it. If they do it's instant, which I can bear...but it is not enjoyed.

Anyway, I have to deliver some papers to OMS's lawyer tomorrow so that He can in turn try to get said 3rd stamp into my passport. So hopefully this will work without any snags and I will have a censo and salida soon. Please be in prayer that this all goes smoothly. Everyone I've talked to, including Ecuadorians, says that paperwork is a bad part of their government. It never seems to go as planned. So please be in prayer.

Thanks A Bunch.

Typical Saturday....just the first one though

2007-09-08T22:13:00.000-04:00

So today was what will become a typical Saturday. I got up later than normal...but not too late because the wonderfully strong Ecuadorian sun come beaming directly through my window and into the large mirror in the room. So no matter which direction I face...the sun is in my eyes. But anyway, I got up, had breakfast with the family here, then got ready and headed off to the MetroBus. I got to Calderon at about 11:30 and went to Chifa for lunch. I think I'll be ok if I never eat Chinese food from a Chifa again. It was ok except I take a drink out of my straw...and then I'm told, "I generally don't use mine...they are bad for reusing them here...see there's some dirt in mine." Great...thanks for the warning. The food was ok...once you put enough soy sauce and watered down ketchup on it.

Later on I went to a 'house' church. House church in mentality but it meets in one of the local schools instead of a house. It was a good service. At first I was given an incomplete song book so I just had to sit there and listen and wonder what they were saying. After that he told us to stand up for the next song so I was able to sneak over and get a complete song book. The songs were all new to me, unlike Honduras where there were one or two songs translated from English. But the message was good, and I actually did understand quite a bit of it...I was proud. He talked about the importance of the house in the early church. He talked about how the people came together in the temple but that they met in the houses for the breaking of bread and fellowship. Then he pointed out that it was by this community that people began to see and come to know Christ. They said that a vision of their church is to have a church "en cada comunidad". (In every community) So they went through and listed every community they could think of in Calderon and then he had everyone close their eyes and imagine everyone in all of those areas without hope. It was really good. I think it is from this group of people worshiping at a school that they hope to raise up leaders to make this vision a reality.

Well, after church, I got back on the bus and headed back to Quito. I talked with the Pastor of the church on the bus some (in Spanish I may say....of course not perfect....but in spanish) and it looks like I may be able to play guitar with him some for worship. I just need to get a guitar and find i time that the two of us can meet somewhere.

Thanks for all the prayers!

It's Friday

2007-09-07T14:52:00.000-04:00

Well, after a few trips to language school I'm starting to see how pecuiliar the people of Quito can be. Of course they are people just like us but there are a few interesting things I've noticed. On both bus rides from my language school in downtown Quito, I've learned that, while there are your normal beggars, most of those who beg do something for the money. It's interesting stuff, but on the last two bus rides back to the house we've had live musical entertainment. The first day was two guys with guitars singing and playing...while standing...on a moving bus. Very good. Today it was a boy and what appeared to be his older brother rapping. One would beat box while the other would rap. Then...after they're done, they walk around the bus asking for money.

I've also learned that the bus is a place of commerce. Everyday someone comes on the bus selling chocolate or produce or papers. But the last thing that has intrigued me is some of the campaign tactics. So that you're up to speed, they are in the middle of a huge election to elect an assembly to rewrite their constitution. And the other day, I was in Marcia's car and was approached by some mimes handing out fliers. and if you didn't take it they would mime crying and consoling each other. Also, their tv ads for politics do nothing but try to sell to cheap slogans. Probably much like ours. But one thing I've noticed is that, as much as I've said I don't like the bipartisan system (because everyone can't align with 2 parties) I'm seeing more and more how wise that system is. For these elections they have more than 300 parties, each running at least 3 candidates if not many many more. There is no way that a person can know who to vote for, unless a mime hands you a flier. There are so many parties that they just go by numbers. "Vote 64" or "vote 35" are the kinds of signs you see around And the people are required by law to vote, if not they lose a lot of their rights as citizens. So people just turn in a balot, generally "accidentaly" voting for too many people, voiding their balot but retaining their rights.

So be in prayer for these elections. Ecuador is a country of instability and from talking to just a couple people you can tell that these elections are just adding to that sense of insecurity. It's also a country of vast wealth....and extreme poverty. So please, be in prayer.

Primer día de escuela

2007-09-05T18:13:00.000-04:00

Well here we are. I had my first day of language school and I have moved in with my host family. But before I go there I must say that I have finally seen some of the Andean Giant Mountains. I'm of course surrounded by mountains that are probably 10 or 11,000 feet tall but the clouds have been blocking the BIG ones. So yesterday, on the way home from the city, on the bus, the clouds broke and I got to see Cayambe, Antisana, and Cotopaxi. I've gotten a peak at Pichincha, the closest, but still not a good look. Sadly, since I was on the bus home I don't have any photos of them.... :-(

Anywho, this morning I got up early and went to northern downtown Quito to a cafe called the Mango Tree, where the language school is. And it is the first time I got to see gringos like myself (other than BJ, Andi, and Eli). But anywho, I took a test and was placed into Intermediate spanish. I have a personal tutor and homework already. But already I can listen and speak better. It's still a challenge but I can do it. And this blog is almost my only English escape. So much now will have to be in Spanish.

But after school, I came back and moved in with my host family in N. Quito. Their house is amazing and it has hot water so I don't have to use the widowmaker showerheads that I'm sure will be in my apartment in Cuenca when I get there. But I got moved in and had almuerzo with the family at 2:30ish. Then....drum roll please....I helped with the dishes. (Mom, please don't pass out). But anyway, tomorrow I get to learn the bus route thats gets me to there from here and I can learn more and more spanish. But oh well... that's about all I have right now.

A San Gabriel

2007-09-04T00:20:00.001-04:00

Well today was another long day. We arose this morning at 4:30 so that we could leave for the town of San Gabriel by 5. We were on the road by then for our three hour trek to the north. We got on our way smoothly enough. We were riding along, and thanks to a generous cup of coffee I was awake enough to be snapping endless pictures out of the car window. Then the bad sign number one happened when BJ and Andi's son threw up in his car seat and partially on my leg. It wasn't too big of a deal but it was just the beginning of a long, tiring, and for him an unhappy day.

I personally enjoyed myself except for the fact that it is now 11:15ish and we just got back home from a trip that should have lasted until 2. See, the trip was for BJ and Andi to get their driver's licenses and this was their second trip to do so. The first time they were told (after driving 3 hours) that they had to have the embassy stamp a piece of paper saying that their licenses were in fact USA licenses. So we got to San Gabriel this morning and the fun began. They had to do this and that and jump through this hoop and sit and stay in order to please the Ecuadorians. Part of me understands that it's just their law, I mean if they came to the states wanting a license they would have to do the same thing here, but it was unreal. We were one of the first people in the office today and next to last to leave. They told us to leave at one point and come back at 3pm (this was probably 10ish) because the town doctor who does the eye exams was at the first day of school checking the kids out. So they suggested we go see "el bosque."

So we went but on the way we were thinking....oohhhh....wow....a forest. Never seen one of those before. But we got there and it was amazing. We didn't hike the entire trail because I was panting heavily from my first hike in the Andes (oh yeah...and it was freezing for a side note) and the ground was incredibly muddy. But the forest was thick. At parts it looked like jungle and the trees were unique. There was a sign saying the only other one like it was in Argentina. Whenever I get a chance to put pictures up I will.

But after that we decided to get the oil changed in the car since we weren't able to the night before (oh yeah...big side note..but after I blogged yesterday it turns out that Bekah and I got to see each other. We met at Terminal Terrestre, the main Quito bus stations. It's one of those places where everyone knows where it is but you aren't supposed to be there after dark.....so we met there after dark. But we each had our escorts of course. That's a fun story too of BJ and myself flagging down the night bus from Otavalo having to stand part way, sitting next to someones lunch...after they ate it...and then having to walk the last block to the bus station. But it was worth it) But back to the oil change. On the way our Ecuadorian Guide Francisco who was from this area decided to stop in on some old aquantances. So we stopped and prayed with them. Had a Bible study and some bread and coffee (the sweetest, as in sugar not amazingness, I've ever had). So we left there for the service place. And while the guy was changing the oil and we decided to go the unmarked restaurant that was attached to the service place. We go in and I had my first ever Almuerzo Tipico (Typical Lunch). They're not always the same but they always include soup and main course. Today was a beef potato soup, and mine had the large bone of a cow floating in it. It was ok. Then main course was beef on rice with some bean mixture that i can't remember the name of. It was mushy and even though it was brown all I could taste was cilantro. To drink was some very sweet, hot, oat mealy, thing that was ok but not a favorite. So my first almuerzo tipico was ok but nothing I'd scramble to get again. So lunch for four was 7.80 USD and the oil change (including a filter, we provided the oil) was 3 USD. That guy worked for almost an hour on the car and threw in a free car wash. He deserved so much more.

So after this we went back the the license place and waited...waited...waited...waited...waited...waited...waited...waited...waited...waited...waited....waited...waited.
You know it's bad when Ecuadorian with us is fed up with waiting. But long story short, they got their licenses, praise God. Then we headed back. We stopped in Otavalo for our dinner at a KFC which the fact that the serve chicken is the only commonality with the US version. Their meals come with either fries or rice and aforementioned brown mushy goop. And the chicken had a distinct Ecuadorian flavor. But I think the hardest thing I'll have to get used to is the fact that meals here are served with only one really small glass of drink. And I'm used to chugging 3-4 glasses of sweet tea per meal...now I'm having to sip a small cup of sweet, oat mealy type stuff (or Pepsi at the KFC). But the rest of the trip went well. We were stopped at a police check point and they asked who we were. They were told that we were American Evangelical Christian Missionaires and so we were asked to pull over and show paperwork. So we showed our Passports and all was well. I don't know if that's standard for foreigners or not. But I do know what it's like to the the one person in a group who doesn't know what's going on. Everyone in the car was fluent in Spanish except me. So I mostly just sat and picked up what I could. I talked with Francisco a couple of times but he had to help me understand what he was saying. But oh well....I'm tired. I've been up and going for a while and I'm tired. Thanks for all of your prayers.

In Quito

2007-09-02T17:51:00.000-04:00

Well I'm finally here. I arrived in Quito and got through customs and immigration late last night early this morning caught a cab with BJ and spent the night at the OMS Guest House in N. Quito. After a partial night's sleep thanks to the party across the way and the altitude, I got up at about 7:30 and showered and had breakfast. After that I started my day and it hasn't stopped until just now. So far today I have ridden 4 buses, 1 taxi, and walked at least 2 miles if not more.

I caught the metrobus...the nicest one that runs off clear stops....to the main station where I caught the bus to Calderon (the town/suburb of Quito where I am for the next few days). After about an hourish on the buses we got off at Aki, a local grocery store, to buy some stuff for lunch. IT was the busiest place I've ever seen, just a wash of people buying food. And then we headed on into calderon proper..which meant we got right into the middle of Sunday Market. Everyone from Quito seems to flock to Calderon every sunday for the market to get fresh produce and meat. First of all we came to the house where I'm staying until i move in with my host family but shortly after we were navigating the mass market. I've never seen pig heads, pig hooves, chickens, chocolate, coffee, fruits (of every sort), vegetables, clothes, shoes, knives, farm equipment, DVDs, CDs, cut flowers all being sold in one place with such gusto. But anyway...we bought all the produce necessary and I bought four pieces of chocolate from the guy who saw gringo as the easy target. But It was only a dollar so it was worth it.

We then came back and dropped off the produce (and chocolate) realized we forgot eggs. Andi then went out and got some eggs for lunch. (For those who don't know which is probably a few of you, I'm living with BJ and Andi right now) So she returned and we took off for the grocery store. We had to walk probably a mile to the Pan-American HWY and flag down a bus. We then took the bus to one super market where Andi got off to do some shopping and BJ and I continued to the SuperMaxi, a slightly more expensive store with more selection so some things just have to be bought there.....like bacon and cherios and peanut butter. WEll we then took a bus back to the other store and went in. SInce we had bags you have to check them at the front and they give you a number. THis goes for any bags actually, possibly even purses. WEll long story short, we finished groceries and then headed to the taxi to take us back to the house. ON the way back the cab driver said it was obvious i had just arrived because I was still too white. Um yea....hopefully that won't change. The other option is bright red which is rather uncomfortable. Well after that BJ and I scarfed down some lunch and walked at least a mile if not a lot more to a house church. On the way we get a call that someone is sick and they had to take them to the hospital so there would only be BJ, myself, and his trainee who was taking pointers to lead next time so we just went, helped out around the place a bit, then headed back.....walking of course. And now I'm here. Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving the house at 5:00AM to go north 3 hours to some village that I can't remember so that BJ and Andi can get their Ecuadorian Driver's licenses. Thank you all for all of your prayers. They have been felt and have been transformative.

Straight from Jackson

2007-08-28T20:20:00.000-04:00

Well...I'm here

I woke up at 2:15 this morning in Black Mountain (which is 1:15 where I am now) and headed off to Charlotte Airport. After a relatively easy check-in and not so easy goodbye to my family I jumped through all the TSA hoops and boarded my flight to Houston. 2 1/2 hours, one cup of coffee, a "breakfast muffin", and a cup of water later I arrived in Houston to wait for probably close to 3 hours for my next slightly delayed flight to Jackson. I arrived in Jackson around 12:30 where I was met by Patrick and Rachel Whipple (the eXtreme Walk directors) who then took me out for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant (which was quite amazing.)

Then we started training (note at this point I've been up for 12 hours only dosing off in the car and airplane). They wanted me to do some prayer excercises where they gave me some templates with verses and questions to follow through and seek God's guidance. Praise God they didn't come back and find me asleep on the desk! It was actually a quite meaningful process. Very helpful in seeing where I've fallen short of God's desires and where I've sinned against God and against others. I was really convicted of a lot of hatred that I had towards others. Not where I am always mad at someone, but just where they grate on my nerves and so I really couldn't say that I desired the best for them.

But anyway, I had two such excercises today. Both were good about focusing me out of the hectic preparations and into what is to come. To plug me into God's power that will be so necessary on this trip. But anyway, now Patrick and Rachel are in class (we're on the campus of Wesleyen Seminary) and I'm blogging and researching Ecuadorian history. (Note that at this point I've been awake for 16 and 1/2 hours.) I think their class runs to maybe 8 or 9:30. Then it's a 40 mile drive back to their house. So......pray that I find some rest and that the next couple of marathon days of training don't kill me before I even get to Ecuador.

Also, be in prayer that my placement finally comes down the pipeline. It appears that it is either now going to be Cuenca or San Carlos. Also I really want to have at least a week off for Christmas so please pray that that leave gets approved.

Dios te bendiga!

Flexibility

2007-08-09T17:39:00.000-04:00

Well, as always, flexibility is the key to mission work. I received a phone call from Ecuador today on the way home from work and found out that I will no longer be placed in South Quito with Patricio Guerrero. Instead I will be placed in an entirely different place called San Carlos which is about 1-2 hours outside of Guayaquil on the coast. I believe, if I found the right one that I'll be just about halfway between Guayaquil and Machala. However, I can't be sure because there are several San Carloses which seems to be the case for the small villages named after Saints.
Anyway, I will still be spending 3 months in Quito for language school at what I believe is called the Latin American Academy of Spanish. I will also be receiving a house placement through that school with a family for the entire time I'm in school. I was told it was that or a concrete building with no floors so I opted for the family. And I do know that my language school starts about 3 days after my arrival and so I'll be staying in the OMS guest house (and I have no idea what that is or where it is).
So while all this means that I won't be doing what I thought I would be, it also means that I'll be getting to move around and see different parts of the country which is nice. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. More to come once I find out more (I should be talking to BJ again next week after he visits San Carlos).

Dios te bendiga

Voy a Ecuador

2007-07-30T23:23:00.001-04:00

I have dates!!!! It looks like my funding is far enough along to secure my dates for departure. I should be flying to Jackson, Mississippi on August 28 where my training will be held and then I'll be leaving for Quito, Ecuador on September 1. Since I am going through it alone they decided to give me the older 4 day model of training instead of the 3 week model they are using now. I have also been told that I will spend my first month living with an Ecuadorian family from the church that I'll eventually work with. This way I'll be thrown head first into the culture of those I'll be working with. After that first month I'll have an apartment in the area. But all of this will be in South Quito and my language school will be in North Quito which means I'll have a daily bus ride of about 30 to 45 minutes each way. Which is just one more way of being thrown head first into the culture. Throughout my language school I will be attending services with the house churches that my Every Community for Christ (ECC) team is working with and I may attend planning and prayer meetings with the team but I won't actually be working on the plant until my language study is over.

It was real encouraging this past weekend in Cincinnati to hear how much emphasis was put on equipping the locals to do the ministry of the church. The church shouldn't be dependent on anyone who has to come in from somewhere else, but it should be that we bring people into the family of God, and then prepare them to continue that work once we leave. Then they do the same with others. Then so on and so forth. That to me fits the idea of the church, of Christian ministry. Everyone, upon accepting Christ becomes a minister who then shares the love of Christ with everyone they encounter.

Well all of this is to say though that I'm still not fully funded. I'm still about $3,600 from being fully funded and about $1,400 from the 80% safe zone. So I have just at a month to continue fund-raising. But I'm not worried, I know that God will provide. Well that's all I got for now. Thanks for all of your support and continuing prayers!

Straight from Cincinnati

2007-07-28T21:18:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm nearing the end of my stay in the wonderful town of Cincinnati, OH. I've met plenty of wonderful people here. I've met several missionary families who work full-time in Ecuador and have also met Patrick Whipple, the man I've been talking to on the phone this whole time. It looks as if everything is falling in place and that departure may be more immediate than I had thought. I now have all the paperwork necessary for my Visa to Ecuador and will be sending it to Washington, D.C. any day now! It also seems that funding is starting to come in very well. I now have about 65% funding so be praying that the funding keeps coming in and that I well be ready when the green light is given for departure. I'm looking forward to it so much and can hardly wait. The closer it comes the more I become excited. So be in prayer for my patience and be in prayer for Pastor Patricio Guerrero, the man I'll be working with once my ministry starts.

Just Another Update

2007-07-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems that I have now received my placement for ministry. It looks as if I'll work in South Quito after I finish up my language school (which is also in Quito but I'm unsure what part). I'll be working with Pastor Patricio Guerrero. I am told that he is working with several home churches and has a small youth ministry of about 5-7 youth at this time.

This is in a way an answer to prayers because I will be able to maintain better contact by being in the city. I'm also really encouraged about the possibility of a more eminent departure since they are already lining up placements and such. So please be in prayer for south Quito and for Pastor Guerrero (and for my inability to roll the R sound and being placed with a man who has a double R in his name.) Also, continue to pray that all preparations will continue to come together as I continue getting vaccinations, my visa, and raising funds. Thank you so much for your prayers.

In Christ,

Blake

Location Update

2007-07-10T09:38:00.000-04:00

Well it seems that I now know where my first few months will be spent in Ecuador. For the first 3 months I'll be in Quito, the capital city, studying language and culture. After that I don't know, the field director is now trying to decide between two placements for me but he didn't say where they were.

As for the funds I'm probably still about $4,000 to $4,500 away from being able to leave. My options for leaving are August, September, or January. Of course I want to leave as early as possible but I'm willing to wait if that is what God wants me to do. I'm working right now on getting my Visa application together and on buying everything necessary for me to leave.

Thank you all for your support through prayers and money.

En el amor de Cristo,

Blake

Funding update

2007-06-20T21:46:00.000-04:00

Hola!

I just wanted to post a blog here for the few of you who may be reading this to let you know how things are going. I know that many of you who have this web address have already helped me with funds so this isn't a plea for more money but just for your prayers. I need to raise $5,010 more by the end of July to leave in August. I'm really eager to hit the field but also looking for God's guidance and for His will as to when I hit the field so please just be in prayer that God's will be done and that my funds arrive on His schedule.

Hasta Luego,

Blake

Thanks!!!

2007-06-03T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hola Amigos,

Thanks for your support of my eXtreme Walk mission in Ecuador. This blog is where you can come to get updates as to how I'm doing, how the work in Ecuador is coming along, and to get specific prayer requests and needs for the field. I don't know how often I'll be able to get Internet access but as often as I can I will be updating this page so that you can know how I'm doing. Once again, thanks for your help in making this trip a reality through your support with prayer and money.

En el amor de Cristo (In the love of Christ),

Blake