El Corrido del Torro, Missions conference, etc

Just a few pictures from a bullfight (un Corrido del Torro) we went to near Sanguaquil

Me with Angel (a Waorani), his sister, and Daysi
Me with two more Waorani friends. It was difficult to pronounce their names, so I will try to figure them out and write them later. The man in the picture (and his wife) are Christians and going to be trying to reach a different sect of Waorani that have had almost no contact with outsiders (they kill everyone who tries to contact them because they believe that everyone is cannibals except for them). It is extremely dangerous, but they are preparing to make the trek deep into the jungle near the border of Ecuador and Peru. They were extremely kind to me and on the second day of the conference gave me a crown made of a weeved plant material and parrot feathers.

Me with Linda and Lloyd Rogers. They have served as missionaries in the Jungle regions of Ecuador since the early 1960s. Lloyd (Don) Daniel Rogers lent me a book called "Jungle Pilot" about Nate Saint-it was given to him in 1959.

Just a picture from the top of the Andrangos house facing the center of the city.

Chapter 1: Arrival

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

Well, I don't have a ton of time to write, but I will try to summerize a little of what has been going on for me here. I arrived in Ecuador last Friday. That night we went to a prayer meeting in the Andrangos local church in La Luz--the neighborhood they live in. At the meeting I met some new people and also was reunited with a few men that I had met in my 2 previous trips. Among them: Christian (from Nigeria, but has lived in Ecuador for 11 years) and Nelson (a relative of the Andrangos who I was able to room with for a week last year when we did our medical project in Esmeraldas).

On Saturday morning I helped with a childrens outreach (called "La Hora Feliz") in a poor part of Quito called La Bota. We had almost 70 kids (ages 3 to 11) come to a small piece of land in the middle of rows of houses on streets lined with garbage. The kids were absolutely wonderful and I had several that followed me around holding my leg, hand, or sitting on my lap while we sang songs. There were about 7 people helping with the outreach (5 young men and two young women). Diego (the brother of a missionary named Jaimie that I met last year in Esmaraldes) helped lead the time with singing and games. After this they broke the kids up into groups based on ages and worked with a leader on coloring pictures that represented them and what mattered most to them. The leaders used this as a way to lead into sharing the gospel. Before leaving we fed the kids and invited them back for a another outreach on June 6th.

We (me and Daysi) spent Saturday evening and night in Sanguaquil (a city about 40 minutes from Quito) with Susana's daughter Patti, son in law Alex, and their kids: Gabriel, Melenie, and Samuel. Over the last two years I have spent a lot time with this Patti's family and we have become very good friends. In particular, Samuel (age 5), runs to see me when I arrive and has developed a fondness for me that even their family cannot explain. When I am in Sanguaquil I am constantly playing with him and giving him piggy back rides. It makes for a fun yet tiring stay. On Sunday we went to church with Patti's family at Los Chillos church. Los Chillos is very involved in missions and a woman from the church spoke before the sermon about her calling to missions. I also met a couple from England who were passing through and an American (I think) named Timoteo that runs some local orphanages. Timoteo invited me to help with some of his programs if I have some free time after the Banos project.

Monday we rested in Quito and Tuesday went back and hung out in Sanguaquil with Patti's family and a pastor from their church.

On Wendnesday morning we headed North of the city to the Centro Cristiano. The Centro Cristiano is a biblical institute and home for a number of missionaries (mostly native, but a few foreign). I helped paint benches and railings for most of the day as they were beginning their preparations for a missions conference this weekend at which they are expecting upwards of 400 missionaries from around Ecuador. I worked with some students and a few teachers including Milton (teacher) who I have become friends with over the past few days. Partway through the morning Milton informed me that I was to be meeting with "Don Daniel" at 2 oclock for him to get to know me and give me some advice. I did not realize it at the time, but I have since learned that Don Daniel (Lloyd Daniel Rogers) is perhaps the most well know missionary living in Ecuador. Him and his wife have been missionaries here since the early 1960s and oversee the Mission Aviation Fellowship and Project Ecuador in which they have 5 planes, more than 48 missionaries, a bible institute, and have helped start dozens of elementary and highschool's in the jungle regions of Ecuador. They (and their group) are currently the only missionaries that travel into the jungle to the places where there are no roads and you can only get their by plane or several days journey. After telling me many stories and giving me advice about my future, Don Daniel invited me to accompany him this morning at 6am on his way to the coast to get extra mattresses for the missionaries that will be coming tomorrow. On my way out he also loaned me a copy of the book "Jungle Pilot" about Nate Saint that was given to him in 1959. When I left his office and went back out to help paint everyone asked me "Que te dijo? Que te dijo!?" ("What did he say to you?").

So, at 4:45 this morning I got and Susana drove me to the Centro Cristiano to accompany Don Daniel and another friend to the coast South of Esmeraldes where he has a four story cement building on the shore were they bring children from the Oriente (Jungle) for camps. To say the least, I was a bit nervous to be traveling with this man who had decades of experience in mission work in the Jungle and coastal regions of Ecuador. It was about a 4 hour drive down from Quito. First we passed from the mountains through the cloud forest, then to the coastal regions covered with forests of palm trees and finally to the Pacific coast. I sat in the back seet of their 4 door truck and mostly listened to Don Daniel and his friend talk in Spanish about life, gas prices, fishing, and missions. Occasionally I would interject something into the conversation or asked Daniel a question or he would describe something to me. I learned a lot about the history and current state of missions in Ecuador, what methods have been succesful, all the provisions God has provided for them over the years, and what hurdles have faced in seeking to share the gospel in some of the most remote regions of the world among the diverse cultures that are found there.

Well, there is so much more I could say about the time I spent with Don Daniel, Milton, and the dozens of other Ecuadorian missionaries that I have met and worked with in the past week. I cannot say enough thanks so Dr. Susana or her daughter Daysi. They have been driving me around everywhere and have introduced been introducing me to everyone they know. I have recieved a number of invitations to help in different parts of the country. Tomorrow I will be helping Daysi do a lesson for the children of the missionaries that are coming for the conference. There will be close to 100 kids and I am supposed to learn how to play and sing 2 songs in Spanish tomorrow morning. On Saturday and Sunday we will attend the conference.
Already my Spanish has been improving, but I am more and more aware of how much I still need to learn. The people here have been far to kind to me and I cannot think how I will ever be able to repay them. Next Tuesday we are traveling to Banos to prepare for the upcoming medical project. I have only been here a week...

I will write more again soon...

A few more interesting pictures before I go

The entrance to cave we hiked through in the jungle near Tena, Ecuador

Me and my little monkey friend "cucharito."

An electric fish that our guide caught when we were fishing in the jungle in the Limoncocha (lemon lagoona). This thing was at least 5 feet long!

This picture was taken near Otavalo, Ecuador. Otavalo is a couple hours North of Quito. It is home to a great number of artisins and a huge market.

Banos, Ecuador

Me helping translate for Dr. Mike (from California)

Last year while we were doing the medical clinics around Banos, the volcano Tungurahua (above), was spewing ashes on the villages we were in.

Some more pictures from last year in Ecuador

Daysi, Dr. Susana, and Nelson

A mother and daughter waiting to see Dr. Susana in Esmeraldas, Ecuador

The Baños Project Team for 2008. This year there are 58 scheduled volunteers (not including myself or the Ecuadorian staff) coming for the Baños project from June 14-28.

Patients waiting to see the doctors in Baños

Me (on the right) helping doctor Bryan Franks remove a bunion from an elderly woman's foot.

A few pictures from last year in Ecuador

On our way to spending a night in the jungle

Me in front of the cabin we stayed at in the jungle near Limon Cocha

A few of the cutest kids in the world

Me helping give my friend Frank a fluoride treatment. I've seen Frank the last two years I've been in Ecuador and I'm hoping to get to talk to him more this year. He lives in El Triunfo, a small village in the Andes.

Some kids in El Triunfo

Daysi sharing health information with a few kids in El Triunfo, Ecuador

Me overlooking a place called Quilotoa ( formerly a volcanoe, it is now a crater lake)

Melanie, Gabriel, and Samuel

Samuel

Title and Prologue

Well, its one week before I head to Ecuador and I can hardly believe it. This will be the third time I have been to "the middle of the world" in the last two years and I will be there for longer than I have ever been away from my family and friends. My emotions are a mix of joy and excitement for the adventures that are ahead of me, and sadness to be leaving my dear family and friends here. I will miss all of you, but you can trust that I am in good hands--those of my beloved Ecuadorian friends and those of the Lord.
As I prepare to leave and you prepare to come with me through this blog, I feel is it is necessary to introduce some of the characters that I know will be playing a part in my time in Ecuador and to set the context for those places and people that will no doubt appear throughout the next 6 months. First a little background on how Ecuador came into my life:
It was about two and a half years ago that I first felt God tugging at my heart to go to South America. At that time I was a sophomore in Nutrition at Penn State and I was increasingly feeling the desire to pursue a "career" in serving those who had fewer resources and opportunities than I had in order to help them improve their health and well-being. I knew virtually nothing about South America when I decided to search for a service project I could be apart of there. Having received a suggestion from my brother, Trevor, I decided to check out the website for an international medical missions organization called Medical Ministry International. As I searched through their project calendar, I kept noticing a project in Baños, Ecuador that seemed to fit perfectly into my schedule. To be honest, I didn't even know where Ecuador was (I didn't catch the hint in the name towards the equator until later). After prayer and a lot of thought, I decided to apply for this project. I applied without having any prior medical experience, never having taken a class in Spanish, and not knowing anyone I would be going with. Needless to say, I had no idea what I was going to do in Ecuador or what I could possibly offer to the people of Ecuador or the group I was going with.
I will spare many of the details of my first two and a half weeks in Ecuador, but I think it goes without saying that I fell in love with the country. During the medical project I was able to help in the pharmacy we set up, taking patients from the waiting room to doctors (and vice versa), and a number of other things that didn't necessitate a knowledge of Spanish. Although I loved every second of my time in Ecuador (from the crazy bus rides to waterfalls, bungee jumping, valcanos, etc...), the thing I enjoyed the most was the Ecuadorian people I met and the interactions I had with them. I found that although we couldn't say very much to each other, through our body language and facial expressions we could learn a great deal about each other. At the end of the project I was invited to stay several extra days (I had bought my plane tickets to return to the United States 3 days after the other volunteers) at the home of Dr. Susana Andrango Logacho. Although those three extra days didn't seem to significant when I was planning my first trip to Ecuador, they are directly responsible for me being able to return to Ecuador last year and again this year.
The Andrango family and I created a bond during those three days that allowed us to keep in touch throughout the following year. At Christmas time (2007) I helped pay for Dr. Susana's daughter Daysi to come visit my family for a couple of weeks. She had been staying in Oklahoma for several months and her trip to State College was a in route to returning to Ecuador. Last summer, the Andrango family invited me back for 5 weeks to help with the annual Baños project and a one week medical project in Esmeraldas (a region on the Northwest coast of Ecuador). Throughout the 5 weeks I was in Ecuador last year, I continued to improve in my Spanish and was asked to help in more ways with the medical projects. In Esmeraldas I measured patient blood pressures and weights and helped in the pharmacy and in Baños I translated for an American doctor, helped with surgery, led worship, gave a few hundred flouride treatments, and performed several patient examinations. During my time in Ecuador last year I also got to spend more time with the Andrango's wonderful family. Here are some of the family names I remember in relation to Dr. Susana:
Dr. Manuel Andrango (Husband to Dr. Susana)
Patti (daughter)
Alex (husband of Patti)
Gabriel, Melanie, Samuel (children of Patti and Alex). Samuel is especially cute and funny.
Monolo (Son)
Maria Delores (wife of Monolo)
Mattias, Juan Daniel (children of Monolo and Maria Delores)
Sonya (Daughter)
Giovanni (husband to Sonya) --they have three children also, but I didn't see them as much and can't remember their names (I think Anilli, Joel, etc)
Daysi (daughter and close friend to me)
Nelson (son in law of Susana's brother David Logacho. Originally from Argentina. He Has helped on many projects in the past and I'm sure I will be spending a lot of time with him this year. He is very kind and rather hilarious).
I will update more names as I remember them...

Well, I have given a very brief overview of what has happened over the past two years. This year I will be living with the Andrangos in Quito and helping them on medical projects throughout their country. During the medical projects we will provide medical and surgical care to any one in need (usually in the poorest regions of the country) and also share a gospel presentation with them. We also have recieved an invitation to go to Chile to help with some childrens camps. When we are not busy preparing and working on medical projects and other out reaches, we are planning on visiting a number of places throughout the country. My favorite place to go is the jungle (last year we spent almost a week in the Jungle). Approximates 1/3 of Ecuador (Eastern) is jungle. The Andes mountain range goes through the center of the country from North to South. Quito is in the northcentral portion of the country and is at approximately 10,000 feet above sea level. The Western third of the country includes the lower coastal regions. Ecuador is also home to more than a dozen volcanoes. From the roof of the Andrango's home in Quito you can see Chimborazo which reaches 20,702 feet and is the closest place on earth to the sun (because its on the equator).
Well, I leave Friday morning (May 22nd) from Dulles. I won't be able to write all the time but I will be able to add posts occasionally for the next six months. God bless each and everyone of you!