Me and Wisman
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More to Come :) ....
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Chapter 3: Set Forth Thyself Unto Thy Full Extent
"We cold and careless are, and scarcely think, Upon the glorious spring whereat we drink, Did He not love us we could be content: We wretches are indifferent. Tis death, my soul, to be indifferent; Set forth thyself unto thy whole extent, And all the glory of His passion prize, Who for thee lives, who for thee dies" - Traherne
Me with Wilmer from Echandia
Me with Dr. Steven Pletcher and Dr. Harry Jang
Me with Dr. (Surgeon) Chris Alkire
Me with Dr. Chinenye Iwuji. I had a great time getting to know Chinenye and translating for her during the two week Banos project. Chinenye is Nigerian but lives in England.
Me with my friend and roomate Scott Mitchell
Banos at Sunset
Dr. Wes working on a community center that he is building for church services and outreach. He currently has church services with 70 people in his living room.
The pharmacy team during the second week (Geovanny, Nancy, Linnae, and Derek)
Me with a little friend from Rio Blanco.
Me with my friend Junior from Banos
He was so cute and loved seeing picture of himself
The East side of Banos as seen from one of the hills overlooking it
Some students in Illuche
Dr. Chinenye seeing a patient with Colleen Downs interpreting while I helped another Doctor
The dental team doing an extraction in Rio Negro
A volleyball court in part of Rio Negro. Rio Negro is an absolutely beautiful part of Ecuador.
Me and Geovanny infront of the El Pilon del Diablo waterfall
The Banos Ecuador Team 2009I finally have the energy and a bit of time to write an update on the last couple of weeks. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to put anything up. I think I left off about the time that I lost my pictures of the monkeys...
During the second week of the Banos project we had about half as many volunteers because a few of the families of volunteers and other helpers only had time to stay for one week. The projects went well, though, and we were in Illuche on Monday, Rio Blanco on Tuesday, Jueve Chico on Wednesday, and half a day in Banos again on Thursday before heading back to Quito. On Monday after we worked in Illuche I hiked the mountains overlooking Banos with a few Ecuadorian, American, and Canadian friends. On Tuesday after the clinic I visited an orphanage run by an American man named Dr. Wes King. Dr. Wes worked for years as a doctor in the Marshal Islands and Zambia, but started an orphanage for boys in Banos, Ecuador about 10 years ago. I didn't get alot of time to talk with Dr. Wes becuase I had to get back to the rest of the group, but I have an invitation to return and spend a few days at the orphanage to get to know him and the boys better. I am becoming more and more convinced that, God willing, one day I will start an orphanage.
Skipping ahead a bit...
On another note, my roomate for the two weeks in Banos was 16 year old Scott Mitchel. In addition to being taller than me, Scott also speaks Spanish just as well, speaks some Russian and Chinese, is more socialable than me, does crew and plays hockey, and thinks he wants to be a Nuerosurgeon one day! Needless to say, he was an inspiring young man and I enjoyed getting to know him during the Banos project.
Another volunteer (Tyler Jefferson), was a Physician's Assistant from California whose wife is expecting a child in about a week. After reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" him and his wife have been considering how they might fit into the mission field.
After heading back to Quito on Thursday we got a little bit of sleep at the home in La Luz and came back to get the volunteers on Friday morning to take them to the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world), Teleferico (cable car), market, dinner, and to watch a traditional dance in the colonial part of Quito. We got back to the house around 9 and Daysi and I packed our packpacks to leave at 11 with Nelson and about 10 other young men and women to Echandia, Ecuador...
From Quito there is no direct bus to Echandia, so when ended up having to take 3 different buses in the middle of the night in order to make it there. At first we switched buses in Ventanas, then Santo Domingo, then we arrived at part of Echandia and had to finish the trek to the church we were going to on foot. While switching the buses earlier in the night I found myself stumbling through towns half asleep across bridges, by homeless men going to the bathroom, past discotecas. We arrived in Echandia (a very poor town due West of Banos, but on the other side of the Andes and at the beginning of the costal region) at about 7 in the morning and had a devotion and ate a breakfast of rice and meat before starting painting the sanctuary of the Iglesia Evangelica: Jesus La Luz Del Mundo church. We painted till around noon, then took a break for lunch (about the same as breakfast, but with some soup), and to play soccer, and bathe in the river (which I was strongly warned against--so I just walked in a bit and poured some water on my head.
That night we had a meeting at the church with about 4 other invited churches. The small room was packed, but there probably where no more than 50 or 60 people there. Claudio (a Chilean member of our group) shared a number of practical ways to share the gospel and used different visual aids that he had designed. That night a few of us (Nelson, Josue, Simon, Me, and Daysi) were invited to spend the night at the farm of the grandmother of a friend of Daysi's named Andreita (who I met a month or so ago). We headed in a truck with Adreita's father out of town for about a mile or two until we came to the farm in the middle of forest and near a river. From the outside the farm looked like most of the houses in the area, but on the inside it was beautiful and several rooms for us to sleep in. I spent the night in a two bed room with Nelson. This was great not only because it was very comfortable and nice, but I also got a chance to spend some time talking to Nelson. Since I have been here and have been improving in my Spanish and spending a large part of my time with women, it has been great to form a friendship with godly man like Nelson--with whom I am continually able to talk about more and more spiritual and man related things.
On Sunday morning we ate breakfast, had a devotion, and headed to the main park/square in Echandia to share the gospel and hand out some tracts. The park was packed with people and we had no problem getting started with a gospel presentation to about 20 people. Claudio presented the messager using a board he designed with a picture of a soccer player, a couple spots for soccer balls and a goal. In short, it symbols represented us in life, the only way to be saved from our sin(score the goal) is to recognize that we are sinners, hear what Christ has done for us, believe, and put our trust in his death and resurrection and receive his payment rather than our works as a way to earn salvation. The people where etremely receptive and many responded to the message. During this time I also walked around the square with Wisman handing out tracks to everyone that we could.
Wisman: sixteen years old (though he looks about 13 or 14), black, shy, very skinny, from La Bota (one of the poorest parts of Quito), lives with his mother and 4 or 5 younger siblings (his father died a few years back) in a semi-slum part of La Bota, first time on a trip with Nelson or the group, new friend of mine, and recently put his faith in Christ. During the weekend I made an effort to try to talk to Wisman as much as I could in my Spanish and to encourage him. Nelson and I are very excited that he came on the trip and have since been back to La Bota to talk to him more about his life, the gospel, and to give him a Bible (no one in his home owned a Bible). Only God knows Wisman's future, but Nelson and I are praying that he will grow into a leader in his community and help start a church there.
At church in Echandia on Sunday Nelson preached, I sang two songs (De Tal Manera and Halleluja--with some new words I wrote to it), the church sang in both Spanish and Quichua. After the service I spent some time greeting and saying goodbye to the members of the church--all very kind and very short (although I wouldn't consider myself very tall, I towered over the heads of most of the people in the church), and we prepared to head back to Quito. The experience in Echandia was definately an inspiring and moving one. To spend time with the church in this very poor community and see their joy and generosity was both moving and convicting. We saw almost a dozen people give put their faith in the Lord and seeing the love and the bravery of the people I was with in sharing the gospel was another inspiration to me.
As there was no bus from Echandia directly to Quito, about 11 of us rode in a truck about 3 hours to Santo Domingo de Los Colorados. I rode in the back the whole time and had couple aches and pains but enjoyed conversing with the other men in the back. We were also given 2 huge bags of plantains and 2 bags of manderines as a gift from the church in Echandia to carry back to Quito.
This week has been a mix of rest and productivity. On Wednesday we (me, Dr. Susana, and Geovanny) went to Latacunga to prepare for the project that we are beginning there next Sunday. We have only 8 participants coming for this trip, so we are going to have a bit more work to do. We will also be helped by a pastor named Felix and a few people from his church.
On Thursday, I went to La Bota in the morning with Nelson to hang out with Wisman. We ended up walking around with him for a while and got to share the gospel again with him and his cousin Oscar. The both were receptive and we left Wisman with a Bible and encouragement to begin reading John and Ephesians when he gets the chance. We talked and walked around for a couple hours invited children to La Hora Feliz this Saturday. We are also planning to play soccer on Saturday with as many teenagers as we can get in La Bota. We are hoping this will be a way to form more friendships and a bridge to sharing the gospel. After our time in La Bota, I spent lunch with Nelson, his wife Ester, and 3 year old son Ariel. After eating spaggetti alfredo, we went by bus to pick up a bucket full of Morocho (a creamy corn drink), cheese, and empanada dough and brought to a small cafeteria that Nelson and 3 other church members have purchased to try to raise money for different ministries and missionaries. I make empanadas for about an hour then heading back to the Andrangos house to get ready to go to the airport pick up three volunteers that came in early to do a Gallapogos Islands tour.
After the two week medical project in Latacunga coming up at the end of next week, I will be heading with Nelson and another group of young men and women (many the same as before) on a five day trip to Santo Domingo, and the Coast to do some more painting/work in a couple more churches and share the gospel as well. After that there is going to be a week long vacation bible school in La Bota. After that we have the medical project in Ambato with 16 volunteers.
At some point I'm going to have to renew my visa. After the projects are done, I'm hoping to spend a week in Tena (in the jungle) with a pastor friend of the Andrango's doing trips into the jungle by canoe. I am also hoping to visit Columbia and take a couple week trip through Peru by bus to Chile and back again seeing as much as I can during the trip and visiting friends of my friends here.
Wow, so sorry for the huge post! I hope that everyone is doing great and I will try to write again (with less words) soon ;)
With love in Christ,
Owen
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The First Week in Baños
Hello All,
Hope that everyone is doing great. The first week in Baños went really well. On Monday and Tuesday we worked in Baños, Wednesday we went to Pondoa (a town literally at the foot of the Volcano Tungurahua--for part of the day we coold see the peak and the smoke coming out of it), on Thursday we went to Rio Verde, and Friday to Rio Negro. The volunteers have been great and I have already picked up with friends I made over the last two years and new ones that I have met during this time. My main job for the past week has been to help lead the volunteers when we have group activities (worship, a couple of devotions, trips) and translating for Dr. Chinenye Iwuji (Nigerian but working as a doctor in England). It has been a great experience and I have enjoyed working with everyone. I actually feel we are having too much fun and that I should be sacrificing a bit more. I will look for opportunities this week...
Yesterday I went with 15 other volunteers to the Jungle near Puyo. We went with guides from an agency in Baños. One in particular, named Angel, went with us last year also and is not only a great guide, but incredibly funny. In the morning we went to a monkey rescue home in the Jungle. There they had about 40 monkeys of 5 different species (spider monkeys, white something monkeys and 3 other types that I have to write down the names for). It was absolutely amazing being able to play with the monkeys. I held several and had others crawl all over me (they were pretty good size). One spider monkey dragged me around the yard holding me with his hand and tail (which they have very good control of) and tried to take me into the home. I took a really cool video while he was doing this. I also took other photos of all the monkeys and the other animals there...
But I lost all these photos this morning! I accidently reformatted my card and erased all of the pictures I took yesterday (monkeys, jungle, waterfalls, canoeing, hiking, rivers). Needles to say I am a bit bummed out, but I will survive and I will definitely have the opportunity to go back later. I talked to Angel about possible taking a week long treck into the jungle in September or October.
Today I went horseback riding with a few volunteers. We headed up into a revine at the foot of Tungarahua and could hear it rumbling almost the whole time. Tonight we are going to church at the Baptist church in town and I was asked to play a few songs for the service--I´m thinking: Holy Hands, You Said, Nothing But the Blood, and/or It Is Well With My Soul.
Well, I´ve got to go, but I hope that everyone back home is doing great and Happy Father´s Day to all the fathers! With love,
Owen
Hope that everyone is doing great. The first week in Baños went really well. On Monday and Tuesday we worked in Baños, Wednesday we went to Pondoa (a town literally at the foot of the Volcano Tungurahua--for part of the day we coold see the peak and the smoke coming out of it), on Thursday we went to Rio Verde, and Friday to Rio Negro. The volunteers have been great and I have already picked up with friends I made over the last two years and new ones that I have met during this time. My main job for the past week has been to help lead the volunteers when we have group activities (worship, a couple of devotions, trips) and translating for Dr. Chinenye Iwuji (Nigerian but working as a doctor in England). It has been a great experience and I have enjoyed working with everyone. I actually feel we are having too much fun and that I should be sacrificing a bit more. I will look for opportunities this week...
Yesterday I went with 15 other volunteers to the Jungle near Puyo. We went with guides from an agency in Baños. One in particular, named Angel, went with us last year also and is not only a great guide, but incredibly funny. In the morning we went to a monkey rescue home in the Jungle. There they had about 40 monkeys of 5 different species (spider monkeys, white something monkeys and 3 other types that I have to write down the names for). It was absolutely amazing being able to play with the monkeys. I held several and had others crawl all over me (they were pretty good size). One spider monkey dragged me around the yard holding me with his hand and tail (which they have very good control of) and tried to take me into the home. I took a really cool video while he was doing this. I also took other photos of all the monkeys and the other animals there...
But I lost all these photos this morning! I accidently reformatted my card and erased all of the pictures I took yesterday (monkeys, jungle, waterfalls, canoeing, hiking, rivers). Needles to say I am a bit bummed out, but I will survive and I will definitely have the opportunity to go back later. I talked to Angel about possible taking a week long treck into the jungle in September or October.
Today I went horseback riding with a few volunteers. We headed up into a revine at the foot of Tungarahua and could hear it rumbling almost the whole time. Tonight we are going to church at the Baptist church in town and I was asked to play a few songs for the service--I´m thinking: Holy Hands, You Said, Nothing But the Blood, and/or It Is Well With My Soul.
Well, I´ve got to go, but I hope that everyone back home is doing great and Happy Father´s Day to all the fathers! With love,
Owen
Friday, June 12, 2009
A Little Bit of In Between
Hello All, hope you're doing great! I don't have much time to write, so I wanted to just give a little overview of the last week and what coming up soon:
The outreach in La Bota went great last week. We had 115 kids come. We played a few games, painted faces, sang some songs (I played one called "Estas Aqui" and the children sang along), had a gospel message, and gave sandwiches and drink to all the kids ( we ran out part way through and had to go down the hill to by more bread and ham). We even had a clown--they are alot more popular here than in the States. Honestly, they have always given me the creeps, but he did a good job of leading the kids in games and singing so I guess it was ok ;). On Saturday afternoon I hung out with Daysi and her friend Andre (she is 20 years old and studying to be a Obstetrician) and in the night I practiced the song "De Tal Manera" with David, Daysi, Margarita, and Alexandra--all freinds from church. We then played it at church on Sunday morning-one time with all of us and the other with just me (plus five year old Matias who absolutely loves singing and ran up to sing with me) playing and singing along with the congregation. I should mention a little about Matias...
As I may have described before, Matias is the 5 year old son of Monolo Andrango (Susana's son) and Maria Dolores Andrango who live in an apartment built onto the home in which I am staying. Everytime I see Matias he ask "Puedes tocar tu guitarra?" meaning: "Can you play your guitar." He usually lets me play a couple songs then louds me with compliments and asks if he can play and sing to. He plays (all though he knows no chords or notes) left handed, so he turns the guitar upside down and backwards and strums with all his might. While is guitar playing ability is still yet to come (I'm confident he will be far better than me someday), he has a unique ability to belt out songs relatively on key, remember words for a ton of different songs, and is not shy about singing in front of others. Remember he is five years old--I could hardly read and was as timid as a mouse when I was that old.
On Sunday afternoon we went to Pintag to watch the Ecuador-Peru soccer game at a restaurant owned by friends of Patti and Alex. Pintag is about half an hour from Sanguaquil (I'm probably spelling it wrong) where Patti, Alex, Melanie, Gabrel, and Samuelito live. Pintag is also where we went for the bullfight. Ecuador won 2-1 (I think that was the score). Spent the night on Sunday in Sanguaquil and on Monday came back to Quito and helped run some errands around the city. I also started driving a little on Monday which as you can image is both terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
Tuesday did some more errands and bought general admission tickets for the Ecuador vs Argentina game on Wednesday night. Also we went to the school of Anahi (one of Susana's grandaughter's and daughter to Sonya and Govanni) to celebrate her 8th birthday. We had presents for each of the 12 kids in her class, food, cake, games and singing (I was asked to sing so I played James Taylor's "Handy Man," the song "Hallelujah" from the Shrek soundtrack--which I wrote some new words to and had the kids along with the hallelujah part, and "Happy Birthday" of course) Wednesday morning we drove to Sanguaquil and made tacos with Patti (I made the guacamoli) and then headed to the stadium to meet up with Daysi's friend Juan Pablo to watch the game.
Juan Pablo was a little getting there because of traffic, so we ended up not getting seats, but had a great view from the top of the stands where we stood for the entire game. We came to the game loaded with sunblock, in t-shirts, with sunglasses, and hoping not to get burned. As soon as we found our standing spot squished in between other unfortunate fans, we looked up to see the North sky extremely black (it was 2 oclock). While the sun was still on us for the next few minutes, we slowly watched the rain come towards us over the city. Needless to say, it ended up raining from about 2:30 until after the 4 oclock game was over. At several points we were able to hide under the end of a gigantic flag (about or more than 400 feet long) that was spread across our section of the stands as people jump and danced and cheered underneath it. In the three weeks I have been here, this was the first time it had rained for any extended period of time and instead of getting sunburned we shivered through the game and ran home to take lukewarm showers. But, Ecuador won 2-0 against Argentina which made the game very exciting. This was really import for Ecuador if they want to make it to the world cup next year in South Africa. The next qualifing game is in October against Columbia. Most likely Argentina will still make it, but Ecuador is veying for a spot in the top 4 in South America.
On Thursday I helped Nelson move dirt and rocks on the little piece of land in La Bota for more than 3 hours. It started raining about 5 minutes after we started and never stopped. At one point it was hailing and raining so hard that we hid under the over hang of the roof of a neighboring home. In the midst of the hail (probably a little bitter than M&Ms) I little boy-probably about 5 years old--with his sister on his back (probably about 2 years old) came trudging up the steep hill from the main street and passed us under the edge of the roof. Its hard to put this site into words, but the emotion and endurance displayed in the character of this little boy something I'll never forget.
After laboring for several hours with a little bit of help from a few African-Ecuadorian children that threw some rocks with us, we had leveled three large piles of dirt and rock (it seemed like millions of rocks) into one smaller and more flat surface (kind of like a stage). Our shoes and gloves where as black as the dirt and we had also dug a canal to make a small river (which we affectionately called Rio Bota) to channel the water off the property and into the street which falls at about a 60 degree angle below horizontal.
Today we finished up sorting through the stockpiles of medicine and supplies for the upcoming project by taking out the expired medices and putting the rest into different bins or bags labeled: Surgery, Gastric, Respiratory, Gynocology, Pharmacy, Health Education, Dental, Eye Glasses, etc. In the afternoon we went to Nelsons apartment and helped sort through donated shoes, clothes, stuffed animals, bags, and toys for the sale they we are going to do in La Bota tomorrow. We are going to sell everything for a very small amount and the proceeds will go towards the future plans to build a builing for classes, a cafeteria, church services, etc on the property that they own in La Bota. This is going to cost them a lot more money than they have so they are raising support and work on developing a restourant to sell (I forget exactly what it is called) a milk and corn drink and empinadas.
I also sent a Father's Day postcard to my Dad, today so I hope that gets to him on time ;)
Tomorrow most of the 62 participants will be arriving for the Banos project. We will be between the airport and the Hostal Carolina from 6 until 2 or 3 in the morning. Sunday morning, after the Ecuadorian's vote--they are obligated to unless they would like to pay 45 dollars--and the participants eat breakfast, we will start the 3 hour trip through the Andes to Banos. I was asked to look out for a 16 year old boy that is coming without his parents (he apparently speaks Spanish and wants to be a Neurosergeon) and to work with Doctor Harr Jang (the American director for the trip) as a helper and translator if needed. I will probably end up doing a bunch of other things that I don't know about yet.
In other news, (yes I broke my promise not to write so much--sorry;) ) I have been reading Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and have just gotten to the point where they reach Rivendel. It is a such a fun read and reminds me of when I was younger and my mother (whom I love very much) read it outloud do me by the fire in our home.
I've got some pictures, but I haven't had time to put them up yet...after the project hopefully. Today I could see about five sets(some with up to three peaks) of snow capped peaks from the roof.
Got to go to bed now, we've got to get up early to got to La Bota, then back home, then to Sanguaquil (an hour away) to celebrate Father's Day (a week early because Susana, Daysi, Me, and Govanni will be on the project on Father's Day), and go to the airport, sleep a couple hours, then get the volunteers ready to head to Banos. Fun!
Hope you're all doing great!
The outreach in La Bota went great last week. We had 115 kids come. We played a few games, painted faces, sang some songs (I played one called "Estas Aqui" and the children sang along), had a gospel message, and gave sandwiches and drink to all the kids ( we ran out part way through and had to go down the hill to by more bread and ham). We even had a clown--they are alot more popular here than in the States. Honestly, they have always given me the creeps, but he did a good job of leading the kids in games and singing so I guess it was ok ;). On Saturday afternoon I hung out with Daysi and her friend Andre (she is 20 years old and studying to be a Obstetrician) and in the night I practiced the song "De Tal Manera" with David, Daysi, Margarita, and Alexandra--all freinds from church. We then played it at church on Sunday morning-one time with all of us and the other with just me (plus five year old Matias who absolutely loves singing and ran up to sing with me) playing and singing along with the congregation. I should mention a little about Matias...
As I may have described before, Matias is the 5 year old son of Monolo Andrango (Susana's son) and Maria Dolores Andrango who live in an apartment built onto the home in which I am staying. Everytime I see Matias he ask "Puedes tocar tu guitarra?" meaning: "Can you play your guitar." He usually lets me play a couple songs then louds me with compliments and asks if he can play and sing to. He plays (all though he knows no chords or notes) left handed, so he turns the guitar upside down and backwards and strums with all his might. While is guitar playing ability is still yet to come (I'm confident he will be far better than me someday), he has a unique ability to belt out songs relatively on key, remember words for a ton of different songs, and is not shy about singing in front of others. Remember he is five years old--I could hardly read and was as timid as a mouse when I was that old.
On Sunday afternoon we went to Pintag to watch the Ecuador-Peru soccer game at a restaurant owned by friends of Patti and Alex. Pintag is about half an hour from Sanguaquil (I'm probably spelling it wrong) where Patti, Alex, Melanie, Gabrel, and Samuelito live. Pintag is also where we went for the bullfight. Ecuador won 2-1 (I think that was the score). Spent the night on Sunday in Sanguaquil and on Monday came back to Quito and helped run some errands around the city. I also started driving a little on Monday which as you can image is both terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
Tuesday did some more errands and bought general admission tickets for the Ecuador vs Argentina game on Wednesday night. Also we went to the school of Anahi (one of Susana's grandaughter's and daughter to Sonya and Govanni) to celebrate her 8th birthday. We had presents for each of the 12 kids in her class, food, cake, games and singing (I was asked to sing so I played James Taylor's "Handy Man," the song "Hallelujah" from the Shrek soundtrack--which I wrote some new words to and had the kids along with the hallelujah part, and "Happy Birthday" of course) Wednesday morning we drove to Sanguaquil and made tacos with Patti (I made the guacamoli) and then headed to the stadium to meet up with Daysi's friend Juan Pablo to watch the game.
Juan Pablo was a little getting there because of traffic, so we ended up not getting seats, but had a great view from the top of the stands where we stood for the entire game. We came to the game loaded with sunblock, in t-shirts, with sunglasses, and hoping not to get burned. As soon as we found our standing spot squished in between other unfortunate fans, we looked up to see the North sky extremely black (it was 2 oclock). While the sun was still on us for the next few minutes, we slowly watched the rain come towards us over the city. Needless to say, it ended up raining from about 2:30 until after the 4 oclock game was over. At several points we were able to hide under the end of a gigantic flag (about or more than 400 feet long) that was spread across our section of the stands as people jump and danced and cheered underneath it. In the three weeks I have been here, this was the first time it had rained for any extended period of time and instead of getting sunburned we shivered through the game and ran home to take lukewarm showers. But, Ecuador won 2-0 against Argentina which made the game very exciting. This was really import for Ecuador if they want to make it to the world cup next year in South Africa. The next qualifing game is in October against Columbia. Most likely Argentina will still make it, but Ecuador is veying for a spot in the top 4 in South America.
On Thursday I helped Nelson move dirt and rocks on the little piece of land in La Bota for more than 3 hours. It started raining about 5 minutes after we started and never stopped. At one point it was hailing and raining so hard that we hid under the over hang of the roof of a neighboring home. In the midst of the hail (probably a little bitter than M&Ms) I little boy-probably about 5 years old--with his sister on his back (probably about 2 years old) came trudging up the steep hill from the main street and passed us under the edge of the roof. Its hard to put this site into words, but the emotion and endurance displayed in the character of this little boy something I'll never forget.
After laboring for several hours with a little bit of help from a few African-Ecuadorian children that threw some rocks with us, we had leveled three large piles of dirt and rock (it seemed like millions of rocks) into one smaller and more flat surface (kind of like a stage). Our shoes and gloves where as black as the dirt and we had also dug a canal to make a small river (which we affectionately called Rio Bota) to channel the water off the property and into the street which falls at about a 60 degree angle below horizontal.
Today we finished up sorting through the stockpiles of medicine and supplies for the upcoming project by taking out the expired medices and putting the rest into different bins or bags labeled: Surgery, Gastric, Respiratory, Gynocology, Pharmacy, Health Education, Dental, Eye Glasses, etc. In the afternoon we went to Nelsons apartment and helped sort through donated shoes, clothes, stuffed animals, bags, and toys for the sale they we are going to do in La Bota tomorrow. We are going to sell everything for a very small amount and the proceeds will go towards the future plans to build a builing for classes, a cafeteria, church services, etc on the property that they own in La Bota. This is going to cost them a lot more money than they have so they are raising support and work on developing a restourant to sell (I forget exactly what it is called) a milk and corn drink and empinadas.
I also sent a Father's Day postcard to my Dad, today so I hope that gets to him on time ;)
Tomorrow most of the 62 participants will be arriving for the Banos project. We will be between the airport and the Hostal Carolina from 6 until 2 or 3 in the morning. Sunday morning, after the Ecuadorian's vote--they are obligated to unless they would like to pay 45 dollars--and the participants eat breakfast, we will start the 3 hour trip through the Andes to Banos. I was asked to look out for a 16 year old boy that is coming without his parents (he apparently speaks Spanish and wants to be a Neurosergeon) and to work with Doctor Harr Jang (the American director for the trip) as a helper and translator if needed. I will probably end up doing a bunch of other things that I don't know about yet.
In other news, (yes I broke my promise not to write so much--sorry;) ) I have been reading Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and have just gotten to the point where they reach Rivendel. It is a such a fun read and reminds me of when I was younger and my mother (whom I love very much) read it outloud do me by the fire in our home.
I've got some pictures, but I haven't had time to put them up yet...after the project hopefully. Today I could see about five sets(some with up to three peaks) of snow capped peaks from the roof.
Got to go to bed now, we've got to get up early to got to La Bota, then back home, then to Sanguaquil (an hour away) to celebrate Father's Day (a week early because Susana, Daysi, Me, and Govanni will be on the project on Father's Day), and go to the airport, sleep a couple hours, then get the volunteers ready to head to Banos. Fun!
Hope you're all doing great!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Chapter 2: An Answer to Prayer
Whether it is a result of a lack of faith or a frequent feeling of unworthiness, I have often tended to shy away from proclaiming to others about "Answers to Prayer" in my life. However, I continually realize the countless numbers of blessings God has poured into my life through no deserving nature of mine both in answer to my prayers and those of others and his great love for me, one of his expendible and in many ways insignificant little believers. I have also become more and more convinced that if we put our delight in the Lord and his work(Psalm 37:4 - "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart"), our prayers and desires will become aligned with the direction and purpouse he has for our lives.
That being said, I feel it necessary to share with you an answer to prayer that the Lord gave in my life today. I will share it as it took place in my journal. I will warn that my thoughts are a bit scrambled and reflect some things I have been reflecting over recently. Here it goes:
Friday June 5, 2009 Quito, Ecuador
Romans 1:5-6
"Through whom we have recieved grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ."
I have been here in Ecuador for exactly two weeks. During this time I have met countless missionaries and Christians from Ecuador and around the world. I have been convicted and intimidated by their lives and attitudes of obedience to Christ. I have also had my share of thoughts such as "Am I really cut out for this?" or "Do I have enough faith to be in the mission field for the Lord?"
My bent is towards helping and serving. I love people who are different--from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. I feel called to live among a foreign people, to help them with their health, and to show the love of Christ with them. My primary goal is not to change cultures, but to impact and turn hearts towards Christ that others may have the same hope that I have. This in-turn my change aspects of cultures.
I struggle in thinking that I'm to concerned with people's physical well-being and not enough with their spiritual well-being. Ultimately, a persons decision about whether they believe in Christ or not is of far greater eternal importance than whether their stomach hurts or they don't have enough food to adequately feed their children. But still I feel such a burden for the physical and health needs of people that I pray that my passion's are inline with the Lord's will for my life. I pray that the Lord will give me the faith, courage, and convictions to do his work with the gifts and passions that he has placed in me.
A couple of hours later, I was finishing reading the book called Jungle Pilot (about Nate Saint--a missionary who spent 7 years of his life with his family ministering to Natives and missionaries in the Jungle (also called Oriente or Selva) regions of Ecuador. This passage (a quote from a letter by Nate Saint around 1953) stuck out to me as if God was adressing my fears and questions about his direction in my life:
pg. 259 Jungle Pilot
"...It is unnecessary to tell you of our personal interest in the success of the medical project. We believe that even the most enthousiastic people underestimate the far reaching implications of this work for the gospel here in the Oriente. Already we have seen the tall walls of prejudice fall. We are perhaps in a better position to appreciate these gains since we have been here in the gateway during the transition period, feeling the 'before' and 'after' status qou, so to speak. MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) will de everything in its power to make air transportation the bridge needed for reaching the Indians through the Medical Ministry of Christ."
Through this passage, I believe the Lord was answering my prayer in a way about the intersection of my passions and his will in my life. As James 2:26 says "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." As I finished reading the book and came again to the part where Nate and his four Mission partners were murdered I began to think...
The point is not that these men died. All men die. In our (American) society we put so much emphasis on safety-insurance, security, laws and regulations to keep us safe and comfortable, even the places where we choose to live (safe and comfortable neighborhoods, etc), retirement savings, etc--when we should be concerned with the eternal weight of the decision to put our faith and lives in the hands of our loving Heavenly Father and his risen Son. We often talk about our citizenship or being American--when our true citizenship is in Heaven and our identity is in Christ. We should no longer consider how we can use our income and resources to accomplish our goals but rather the Lord's. We should be willing to die physical for the Lord and we should die figuratively to the things of this world. As Nate, Jim, Peter, Roger, and Ed were WILLING to die for the Lord--you and I should be willing ourselves. Yes these men had familiesthat they loved, possessions, and many gifts and talents, but (Mark 10: 29-31) they considered it of far greater worth to be expendible for the Lord.
Well, I hope your not too tired of reading ;) I promise my next posts won't be this long.
Today I recieved an email from my new friend Angel Omaca Yety. Angel is a Waorani--the same tribe that killed the 5 missionaries in 1955. Angel and his father are leaving now to move deep into the jungle to a place near a group of Natives called the Taromenani. Taromenani are related and speak a similar dialect as the Waorani. The have resisted contact on nearly every occassion--killing without asking any questions. Angel father believes he might have a relative among them and they are going to try to make contact and build a bridge into sharing with them the love of Christ and the good news of his payment for their sins and the sins of the wold. Please pray for Angel and his father.
Well, I've got to head out to a prayer meeting and then in the morning we are doing a kids fun/ministry day in La Bota. Please pray for that as well.
Love to all of you my dear family and friends. We'll be in touch soon ;)
That being said, I feel it necessary to share with you an answer to prayer that the Lord gave in my life today. I will share it as it took place in my journal. I will warn that my thoughts are a bit scrambled and reflect some things I have been reflecting over recently. Here it goes:
Friday June 5, 2009 Quito, Ecuador
Romans 1:5-6
"Through whom we have recieved grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ."
I have been here in Ecuador for exactly two weeks. During this time I have met countless missionaries and Christians from Ecuador and around the world. I have been convicted and intimidated by their lives and attitudes of obedience to Christ. I have also had my share of thoughts such as "Am I really cut out for this?" or "Do I have enough faith to be in the mission field for the Lord?"
My bent is towards helping and serving. I love people who are different--from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. I feel called to live among a foreign people, to help them with their health, and to show the love of Christ with them. My primary goal is not to change cultures, but to impact and turn hearts towards Christ that others may have the same hope that I have. This in-turn my change aspects of cultures.
I struggle in thinking that I'm to concerned with people's physical well-being and not enough with their spiritual well-being. Ultimately, a persons decision about whether they believe in Christ or not is of far greater eternal importance than whether their stomach hurts or they don't have enough food to adequately feed their children. But still I feel such a burden for the physical and health needs of people that I pray that my passion's are inline with the Lord's will for my life. I pray that the Lord will give me the faith, courage, and convictions to do his work with the gifts and passions that he has placed in me.
A couple of hours later, I was finishing reading the book called Jungle Pilot (about Nate Saint--a missionary who spent 7 years of his life with his family ministering to Natives and missionaries in the Jungle (also called Oriente or Selva) regions of Ecuador. This passage (a quote from a letter by Nate Saint around 1953) stuck out to me as if God was adressing my fears and questions about his direction in my life:
pg. 259 Jungle Pilot
"...It is unnecessary to tell you of our personal interest in the success of the medical project. We believe that even the most enthousiastic people underestimate the far reaching implications of this work for the gospel here in the Oriente. Already we have seen the tall walls of prejudice fall. We are perhaps in a better position to appreciate these gains since we have been here in the gateway during the transition period, feeling the 'before' and 'after' status qou, so to speak. MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) will de everything in its power to make air transportation the bridge needed for reaching the Indians through the Medical Ministry of Christ."
Through this passage, I believe the Lord was answering my prayer in a way about the intersection of my passions and his will in my life. As James 2:26 says "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." As I finished reading the book and came again to the part where Nate and his four Mission partners were murdered I began to think...
The point is not that these men died. All men die. In our (American) society we put so much emphasis on safety-insurance, security, laws and regulations to keep us safe and comfortable, even the places where we choose to live (safe and comfortable neighborhoods, etc), retirement savings, etc--when we should be concerned with the eternal weight of the decision to put our faith and lives in the hands of our loving Heavenly Father and his risen Son. We often talk about our citizenship or being American--when our true citizenship is in Heaven and our identity is in Christ. We should no longer consider how we can use our income and resources to accomplish our goals but rather the Lord's. We should be willing to die physical for the Lord and we should die figuratively to the things of this world. As Nate, Jim, Peter, Roger, and Ed were WILLING to die for the Lord--you and I should be willing ourselves. Yes these men had familiesthat they loved, possessions, and many gifts and talents, but (Mark 10: 29-31) they considered it of far greater worth to be expendible for the Lord.
Well, I hope your not too tired of reading ;) I promise my next posts won't be this long.
Today I recieved an email from my new friend Angel Omaca Yety. Angel is a Waorani--the same tribe that killed the 5 missionaries in 1955. Angel and his father are leaving now to move deep into the jungle to a place near a group of Natives called the Taromenani. Taromenani are related and speak a similar dialect as the Waorani. The have resisted contact on nearly every occassion--killing without asking any questions. Angel father believes he might have a relative among them and they are going to try to make contact and build a bridge into sharing with them the love of Christ and the good news of his payment for their sins and the sins of the wold. Please pray for Angel and his father.
Well, I've got to head out to a prayer meeting and then in the morning we are doing a kids fun/ministry day in La Bota. Please pray for that as well.
Love to all of you my dear family and friends. We'll be in touch soon ;)
Monday, June 1, 2009
A Few Pictures of Cotopaxi
Here are a few pictures of the Valcano Cotopaxi that I took from the roof of the Andrangos house today. I made a mistake in an earlier post saying that you could see Chimbarozo from their roof. Chimbarazo is actual farther to the west.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
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.
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