In God’s Time

Two new faces – mothers at Guadalupe Mission with babies born since we left in September

Bro. Chuck on the equator

Time doesn’t mean that much to Ecuadorians.  They live in a culture that doesn’t get in a hurry (except when they are behind the wheel) and where manana only means “not today.”  That’s why I (Lynn) hope my friends in Ecuador understand that when I left there in September, I told them I planned to return for a visit in December, but actually made it in May.  They probably just think that I was being very Ecuadorian.  In reality, I spent the past 8 months waiting for “God’s time” to return to Ecuador.  After waiting on the Lord much of our time as missionaries in Ecuador, apparently God thinks I still need some lessons in patience.  Of course, He is never wrong!

Earlier this year, just as I was beginning to think that perhaps I’d never get to return to Ecuador, God began to open the door of opportunity. For those of you who are familiar with our ministry, you know that we returned to the States in late September after almost 3 years as missionaries in Ecuador. We returned with the intention of maintaining our ministry there by leading short-term teams to go back and provide pastor training and discipleship in Ecuadorian churches.  Bro. Chuck Castles, pastor of Clear Creek Baptist Church in Lawton, Tennessee, and I began to talk about the possibility of a group from the church going to Ecuador on a short-term missions trip this summer.  I had grown up in Clear Creek Baptist Church and had come to know the Lord there, years before Bro. Chuck became their pastor.

After meeting with the church in March, we set a date for a short-term trip in July and began to make plans.  Soon afterward, I was invited to attend a meeting of my fellow missionaries of Global Outreach Ecuador May 11th – 13th in Patate, Ecuador.  I began to realize that this was God’s time for me to return to Ecuador.  Not only could I attend the meeting, but by staying for a week I could visit my friends and the ministry we support in Guadalupe and also make arrangements for the Clear Creek group’s July trip.   Not wanting to go by myself (Cathy had work obligations), I invited Bro. Chuck Castles to go along.

The excitement built as the time drew near to return to Ecuador.  My ministry partner, Sixto Salcedo had kept me informed on the progress of the ministry at Guadalupe via Skype and email, but at last I’d get to go back and visit this precious group that I loved, missed, and constantly prayed for.  We were also excited about  being able to carry homeschool books and some food items not available in Ecuador to some missionary friends who had arrived in Ecuador only a couple of months ago.  I was blessed by two of the members of our weekly Hispanic Bible study in Savannah when they gave me money prior to my leaving to be spent on the mission in Guadalupe.  What a blessing to see Mexican Christians wanting to reach and help their Hispanic brothers and sisters in Ecuador!

Bro. Chuck and I arrived in Quito late in the night of Thursday, May 10th, and were greeted by the entire Salcedo family at the airport.  We spent the night at the HCJB Guesthouse, but the next day we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and a time of catching up in the Salcedo home.  It was good to see that Sixto’s wife, Elisa, is doing better following some difficulties in the early days of her pregnancy, with a baby due around September 25th.  Wishing to spend as much time with my ministry partner as possible, I invited him to accompany us for the weekend to the Global Outreach Ecuador meeting.  We drove down that afternoon to Steve Thompson’s Camp Chacauco near Patate, where I got to see some missionaries I hadn’t seen in quite some time and to meet others that I’d never had the priviledge of meeting in person.  We had a good weekend of meetings there in the shadow of Tungurahua Volcano, which reminded us of its state of activity with an occasional rumble.

Following a great worship service in Steve’s home on Sunday morning, we departed  the camp and the 3 of us went to the nearby town of Banos.  On Monday we drove down to Shell, the “gateway to the jungle” and visited the Nate Saint house.  Nate was the pilot who was martyred in 1956, along with 4 other missionaries, by a group of Waorani tribesmen. There is a lot of Ecuadorian missions history to be found in Shell.
After returning to Quito on Tuesday, we finally got to visit the mission in Guadalupe on Wednesday. During the afternoon we observed the work that had been done on the classrooms since I last saw them in September and began to make plans to do more work with the Clear Creek group in July. In addition, they plan to conduct four days of VBS with the mission children. It was so good to get to see the folks at the mission again. Two babies had been born to mission members since we’d left, so there were at least a couple of new faces in the group. In the midst of celebrating my “homecoming” I was a bit saddened by ther faces of the children when they learned that Cathy wasn’t able to make the trip. Oh, how they love and miss Hermana Cathy! I had the priviledge of preaching to the adults at the mission that evening, something I’ve really missed.
By Thursday, we were able to make arrangements for the lodging and transportation for the Clear Creek group’s July trip. During the day, Bro. Chuck and I visted the Middle of the World monument, located on the equator just north of Quito. That afternoon we packed up before going to the Salcedo home for dinner prior to flying out at 11:30 p.m.
What a great trip! The Lord is faithful in that in His time he allowed me to return to Ecuador. I praise Him that He is fulfilling His plan for us to be able to maintain a ministry in Ecuador while living in the States. Now I am really excited about the trip in July. Please pray for the Clear Creek group as they make preparations for their construction and VBS ministry July 12th-19th at Guadalupe Mission.
If there are other groups who would like to participate in short-term missions with us in Ecuador, please contact us so we can begin making plans!

Continuing Ministry in Ecuador

Some of the children at Guadalupe mission in front of the partially completed new classroom addition.

The children at Guadalupe enjoyed some fun activities during the community-wide Christmas outreach program.

The students at Chol with their new school uniforms.

Here we are in a new year already and I realize that it has been some 5 months since our last blog.   A lot has happened in that time as we have been readjusting to life in the U.S. since mid-September.  At this point, we are continuing to pray about and seek ministry opportunities here in Tennessee.  However, in November God allowed us to begin a weekly Bible study with a group of Hispanics in nearby Savannah.  We are grateful to Bro. Jason Martindale and Northside Baptist Church, who have helped make this possible, and for Nardo at El Rodeo Restaurant, who allows us to meet in a back room each Monday night.  We are praying about starting Bible studies with Hispanics in other nearby towns.

I (Lynn) have accepted a part-time secular job, but would welcome more ministry opportunities.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to do pulpit supply from time to time.  Cathy has been able to pick up a few hours of work occasionally.  Eli did a great job of transitioning to public school, as he began attending Adamsville High School last August as a junior.  Olivia continued her homeschool education until last week, when she joined Eli at AHS as a sophomore.  We enjoyed the fall colors, high school football, deer hunting, spending the holidays with our families, and the general small town America life since we’ve been back.

Although we have lost most of our support through Global Outreach since we’ve been back, we want to remind you that our ministry in Ecuador continues.  The weeks before leaving Ecuador were spent not only selling furniture, but planning projects and making arrangements to perpetuate our work there.  We continue to provide resources for Guadalupe mission, which was the center of our ministry in Ecuador.  The short-term group from FBC Wellston, OK helped us do a lot of construction there in July, as we were adding 2 classrooms and a restroom.  Since we left, the folks that attend the mission have completed a good deal more work on the facilities. Through our Ecuadorian ministry partners, the Salcedos, we were able to help provide a Christmas community outreach program at Guadalupe on December 17th.  The Salcedos also manufactured (in the small family-run factory in their home) and delivered school uniforms for all of the school students in the isolated village of Chol near Alausi.  The uniforms are required by law, but most of the folks in the remote rural areas cannot afford them.  These were presented along with candy for the children, at a community-wide Christmas program in Chol.

Of course, we still have plans to return to Ecuador, leading short-term teams to train pastors, minister to local churches and communities through medical and evangelistic programs.  If you are interested in taking part in one of these short-term trips, please contact us at 731-439-4573 or e-mail us at pratherl@globaloutreach.org.

July, Part 2 – The FBC Wellston, OK Team

I met Darrell Sullivan some 15 years ago when we were both students at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.   After pastoring churches in Mississippi, New York, and New Mexico, he has returned to his native Oklahoma to pastor FBC Wellston, some 75 miles north of where he grew up.  Darrell had been to Ecuador a few years ago as part of a short-term mission trip and was wanting to return with a group from his church.  Late last year he found out that I was serving as a missionary in Ecuador, so he called me to discuss the possibilities.  We did some preliminary planning and then visited FBC Wellston back in April during our furlough to give a presentation and to meet those planning to come to Ecuador in July. 

After we returned to Ecuador from our furlough, I stayed busy during May and June trying to plan and schedule the trip for FBC Wellston.  I had emphasized to them during our visit and in written information the need to be flexible.  It turned out that applied to me as much, if not more.  Situations and circumstances constantly changed as I attempted to finalize our schedule, but I truly believe the Lord’s hand was in it all, engineering the changes.

Darrell and his team of 10 arrived in Quito late Sunday night, July 17th.  Besides Darrell, the team consisted of his children Eli and Rebekah Sullivan, his youth pastor Jim Slaton, Joe Conaway, Jessica Gaitan, Kylie Space, Janice Wilson, Chad Hinkle, and Shawn Sullivan.  We put the team on a chartered bus and Darrell rode to the Hosteria Nevada in Pifo with me.  On the way I explained to him about our change in ministry direction (moving to the States, while continuing to work in Ecuador training pastors) and found affirmation in his interest in being involved in this as we plan to use teams to help.  We got the team settled in at the hosteria around 1:30 a.m.

On Monday we had the team over to our house for breakfast at 8 a.m., which would become the routine later in the week.  A lady at the hosteria had originally agreed to do all of the cooking for the team while they were here, but backed out at the last minute.  So, Cathy and Elisa (my ministry partner’s wife) decided to take on this chore for themselves, cooking breakfast and dinner for about a week.  We boarded the bus after 9 a.m. and headed down the PanAm south to Ambato and then arrived at Baños before mid-afternoon.  This Baños/Shell trip came about after the plan to conduct 3 days of VBS at a church fell through.  After grabbing some sandwiches, we drove out to see some of the beauty of God’s creation.  We rode the tarabita (suspended cable car) out over Agoyan Falls and then took another tarabita down to a suspension bridge and over to the base of La Manta de la Novia (Bridal Veil Falls).    As we drove back to Baños with darkness approaching, the clouds began to disappear, revealing a spectacular view of Tungurahua, the nearby active volcano.  And what a magnificent sight, with its snow-covered peak glistening in the fading sunlight, spewing a column of steam all the while!

After a good night’s rest and a wonderful breakfast (during which we celebrated Glenn Salcedo’s 11th birthday) at Hotel Sangay in Baños, we headed out for another waterfall.  We exited the bus and hiked for half an hour or so to Pailon del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron), whose incredible volume of water creates a mist that soaks everyone who comes near.  It is really neat to be able to go around behind the waterfall.  One is reminded here not only of the beauty of God’s creation, but the power of the Creator.  The hike out created quite an appetite, so the bus took us a few mile down the road toward Shell to a trout restaurant.  After we had placed our order, the owner harvested the fish from the trout ponds between the restaurant and the river, dressed them, then placed them on a grill so we could watch them cook.  What a delicious meal!  From there we drove back toward Baños to the Agoyan Falls tarabita, where 8 of the group rode the tarabita to the other side, then zip-lined (canopied) back across, suspended several hundred feet above the falls and river.

After spending the night again in Baños, we made our way to Shell on Wednesday morning, where we were privileged to be able to spend some time at Casa de Fe, an orphanage which is home to some 55 Ecuadorian children.  It was such a blessing to see the children being well-cared for in a great Christian environment.  I was also impressed that the children are learning English, which will greatly increase their potential for finding good jobs later in life.  Our group made a donation to help meet the operating expenses of Casa de Fe.  This is a great organization that needs as much financial support as it can get.

Before leaving Shell, we stopped to visit the Nate Saint House.  This was very meaningful, since most of the group was familiar with the history of the 5 missionaries that were martyred in the Ecuadorian jungle back in the 50′s, with Nate Saint having been the pilot who flew the missionaries as they made contact with the tribe that killed them.

After a short stop for shopping in Puyo, we headed across the jungle through Tena and back up into the mountains, catching good views of the volcanoes Reventador and Antisana, along with several waterfalls.  We got back to Pifo around 8 p.m.

Thursday kicked off our 3 days of VBS at Guadalupe mission.  We also were able to order some construction materials on Thursday for our project of completing 2 classrooms and a restroom for the children at the mission.  Indecision among the group at the mission had led to a delay in getting this project started.  We had a great VBS Thursday afternoon; I was quite impressed with the preparation and presentation of the team.  It is always good to see our visitors loving on the kids.

On Friday we were able to take delivery of the blocks during the morning and do round 2 of VBS that afternoon.  Our nights were spent huddled around the firepit in our yard.  The team certainly enjoyed the cooler temps, considering they had experienced several days of above 100 degrees before leaving Oklahoma.

On Saturday morning the men of the team started out with some hard physical labor.   A dump truck unloaded 10 cubic meters of sand in the middle of the road in front of the mission.  Our task was to get it out of the road and up the hill to a location beside the mission building as quickly as possible.  With shovels, wheelbarrows, and buckets, we had it moved in less than 2 hours.  Most of the men mixed mortar or laid blocks the rest of the day, while the others did the final session of VBS.  We had a great group of kids all 3 days and what a blessing to see this gifted team from Oklahoma working together!  Most of the men were tired and sunburned and chose to get in the bed earlier on this night.

On Sunday morning, we attended La Conexion, a Baptist church planted in Cumbaya by our friends, the Davolls, whom we met in language school in Costa Rica a few years ago.  When we arrived at the church and introduced Darrell to Jeff Davoll, it was one of those “it’s a small world” moments.  It turned out that Darrell and Jeff knew each other from several years ago when they had both been pastors and had taught at the same school in upper New York.   Following the church service and lunch at McDonald’s, some of us hiked on an abandoned railroad (converted to a biking/hiking trail), while others rested.

Monday was another work day at Guadalupe, as the men of the team spent the day working and obtaining more materials for the project there.  We got off to a good start, getting the building to a point where, hopefully, the men of the mission can complete it by working  a few Saturdays.

Tuesday was the last day in Ecuador for the team.  We journied out to La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) monument, located on the equator north of Quito. This was the opportunity for the team to do some souvenir shopping and to eat some cuy (guinea pig, a delicacy in Ecuador).  We returned to our house for pizza, followed by a time of sharing and prayer, before the team left for the airport around  8:30. 

What a wonderful 9 days spent with an incredible team!  They were everything we had hoped for and much more.  Not only did they help us to further our work here, they were a tremendous encouragement to us.  It was amazing to see God not only work through them, but in their individual lives while they were here.  We can only pray that God will send them back, or at least other teams like them!

The brave souls who zip-lined over Agoyan Falls

Volcano Antisana

Volcano Tungurahua

Jim Slaton and Eli Sullivan trying to avoid getting soaked by the spray of Devil’s Cauldron Falls

Working with the kids at Casa de Fe

The team in front of the Nate Saint House

The kids enjoyed games at VBS at Guadalupe

Some of the VBS kids at Guadalupe

The sand pile

Darrell, Shawn, & Chad laying blocks

Balloon animals were a big hit at VBS

On the equator!

Joe with some tasty guinea pig

July, Part 1 – Journey to 14 with the Gooches

Driving through a plantain plantation

A caucho tree yields the raw material for making rubber

Some of the group at Armadillo Jump Falls

Typical coastal plains house

Cocao pod, the raw material of chocolate production

The breadfruit tastes better than it looks!

Maribel and Amable, our coastal plains guides

Now that I’m in Tennessee and it is really too hot (or humid) to even be outside, I have the opportunity to catch up on my blogging by sharing about the busy month of July.  Our friends, the Gooches (Jeff, Belinda, and Zac), actually arrived June 29th to spend eleven days with us.  Not only are they close friends, they are former fellow church members and also fellow Global Outreach missionaries to Ecuador, although they have not yet made the move to Ecuador.  However, this was not our first time to work together in Ecuador; our families had participated in a short-term mission trip together in 2007.

On July 4th, as most Americans were celebrating Independence Day, we were traveling to the costal plain of Ecuador, along with the Gooches, fellow Global Outreach missionaries Alan and Fabiola Gordon, Pastor Horatio (brother of Fabiola, an Ecuadorian pastor for over 50 years) and his wife, my ministry partner Sixto Salcedo and his wife Elisa,  and some of Pastor Horatio’s church members.  In just a few hours we descended from the Andes Mountains surrounding Quito at about 9,500 feet to an elevation of less than 400 feet.  We traveled through expansive plantations of papaya, plantains, and African palms before arriving at a remote church near the small town of Catorce (literally “fourteen”).  We met that afternoon with some pastors and lay leaders from a group of nine independent churches in the area to hear them express the needs of their churches, which were overwhelmingly the need for basic biblical training at all levels.

We spent the night in a hotel in Catorce, which is said to be named after the number of the lot of land on which the town developed.  Otherwise, one might think there were fourteen cars, as compared to the hundreds of motorcycles (with only one rider in the entire town wearing a helmet) that created much dust, noise, and chaos in the streets.  The next day we were guided by Amable (name means “kind”, and he was) and his half-sister Maribel, as we visited some of the local churches.  The church that stands out in my mind was Damasco, or Damascus, a tiny little church located next to two or three houses in a remote area.  I found it interesting that according to the signs in place on the walls of the church building, the men sat on one side and the women on the other.  I don’t know if the seating arrangement had anything to do with it, but we were told that the congregation consisted of a handful of women, with no men other than the pastor.  It was hard to imagine that we were still in Ecuador; it didn’t look like the same country we were acustomed to, living in the mountains.  Most houses in the costal plain are built on stilts, not because of flood waters, but for air circulation and to keep the insects (and other critters) out.  I was amazed at the abundance of resources in the area.  We were told that this was one of the most resource-rich areas of the country, but that it just costs a lot to get everything to market.  On the road leading to the Damasco church, we passed acres of papaya and rubber (caucho) trees.  We spent an hour or so at the church as a member who lived next door allowed us to sample papaya, sugar cane, cocao, and other fruits picked from the trees and prepared as we watched.

We also visited the beautiful Cascada Salto del Armadillo (Armadillo Jump Waterfall), where we saw a “Jesus Lizard” run across the surface of the water from its sunny perch on a rock to the river shore without sinking.  Nearby we saw almond trees and sampled a nasty-looking breadfruit that tasted like a cross between pineapple and peach.  It was incredible to see such huge fruits hanging on the trees.  The same is true of the mate (not the Brazilian drink), a heavy gourd-like product that can be made into a bowl after drying for about a month.

  After a couple of hours of traveling on dusty roads, we crossed a lake on a ferry.  The road had been flooded out when a dam was built to create a reservoir.  This entire area has an interesting history and unique status.  The locals explained to us that they live within an area called La Manga del Cura (The Priest’s Sleeve) which is not officially within any of the provinces of Ecuador, a virtual no-man’s land.  We made it home around 8 p.m. after traveling along the dangerous, mudslide-prone route from Santo Domingo to Quito.

Besides our trip to the costal plain, we also enjoyed a journey to Banos and Shell, where we saw the beauty of God’s creation in the mountains and waterfalls.  We enjoyed a tour of the Nate Saint house in Shell, a place rich in the missions history of Ecuador. 

We also spent several days working at the mission in Guadalupe.  It was a great opportunity for the Gooches to get to know the folks there and to fellowship with them.  We also enjoyed the several days we were able to spend time with our friends, the Gooches.

A New Phase of Ministry

For the benefit of those who might not have received the July edition of our newsletter, The Prather Pages, I want to explain why Eli and I are currently in the States and give you the details of a new phase of ministry that we are beginning.  First of all, I want to make it clear that our ministry in Ecuador is not ending.  To the contrary, we believe that it is about to expand exponentially.  Let me explain what God is doing.

For months we had prayed that God would show us a way to continue our ministry in Ecuador, while giving Eli and Olivia the opportunity to be better prepared for college.  We discussed sending them back to the States to live with relatives while attending public school, but simply did not want the family to be separated for months at a time, or for them to be a burden on anyone.  We had come to realize that after the years of homeschooling, it would probably be better for them to experience the public school classroom to be sure they were adequately challenged and disciplined enough to study in preparation for college.  However, as we returned to Ecuador in May following our last furlough, we just didn’t see a way to do it. 

God had already given us a burden for training Ecuadorian pastors and we were trying to find a way to establish this work.  God suddenly began to answer our prayers by opening doors of opportunity.  It began when a missionary friend contacted us about working with him and an Ecuadorian pastor in this very area.  The pastor knew many other pastors all over the country literally begging for Biblical training.  We already had a plan, based on a successful model,  to use teams from the U.S. to come and teach pastors, and now we had the contacts we needed.  God had showed us a way to continue our ministry in Ecuador without actually living there.  We believe that this ministry will be much more effective and efficient than our current one.  If we can touch the lives of several pastors by teaching and training them, they will in turn touch hundreds and thousands of others as they disciple their congregations.  We came to realize long ago that discipleship is the greatest need among the churches of Ecuador.

After discussing our plan with the folks in the office at Global Outreach, we found out that it was possible, but would require some changes.  First of all, our status with Global Outreach will change from career missionaries to missions project coordinators.  This means that we will lose our salary and insurance, thus, we will have to find jobs when we return to the States.  However, we will still be able to raise support to continue our ministry in Ecuador.  We hope that everyone, especially our supporters, understands this important point.  We are not abandoning our work in Ecuador, although we will be living in West Tennessee.  We plan to return to Ecuador at least once every month or two to put on pastor training conferences or to work with individual pastors and churches, all with the assistance of short-term teams from the U.S.  We still need the financial and prayerful support of Christians who love the Lord and love missions to be able to carry out this work the Lord has called us to do.

We began to put this plan into practice as Eli and I arrived in the U.S. last Friday.  He will begin classes at Adamsville High School on Thursday.  I will stay with him until August 16th to be sure he is settled in before I return to Ecuador.  He will live with his grandmother until we can sell the furniture and close things out in Ecuador.  We hope our family will be reunited in the States by the end of September, if not earlier.  Olivia has chosen to continue homeschooling until January, since it is not as critical for her to immediately receive the credits toward high school graduation. 

Again, I want to emphasize that we are not abandoning our ministry in Ecuador, but are, in fact, expanding it.  We plan to continue our current work at Guadalupe mission as we return to Ecuador frequently, plus concentrate on training Ecuadorian pastors and working to meet the needs of their individual churches.  Short-term teams will be a vital part of this new phase of ministry.  We have also been praying that God would provide opportunities to begin a Hispanic ministry here in the States.  We have already seen some interest among local pastors as God begins to reveal His plan to us.  If you are interested in being a part of any of this, please contact us.  If you have any questions about these changes in our ministry, please don’t hestitate to contact us. 

We are excited about the opportunities the Lord is giving us to serve Him!  God is good!

“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!” they say.

I had not experienced the Mid-South summer weather since 2007, a few months before we left for a year of language school in Costa Rica.  After Costa Rica, the past two summers were spent in the coolness and low humidity of the Ecuadorian Andes Mountains.   I have really come to appreciate the “natural air-conditioning” which normally consists of highs in the 70′s and lows in the 50′s.  Perfect temperatures, if not a little cool at times.  In fact, we had huddled close around the fire pit in our yard each night for the past two weeks or so with the short-term team from FBC Wellston, OK.    As I soaked up the heat of the fire, I couldn’t escape that feeling of dread, knowing that in a few days, as I returned to the States, the air temperature would probably feel about the same as that fire!  I wondered if I would be able to take it.

Last Friday at 6 a.m. local time, Eli and I stepped off the plane in Atlanta and there it was, just as oppressive as I had remembered it - that dreaded humidity.   I really believe the sun is more intense there on the equator in Ecuador, but things just don’t heat up like they do here.  I believe I could take the heat, but as they say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!”  I’ve been relieved to rediscover that it is not unbearable all day long, everyday, so far.  I am thankful that there are times when it clouds up and cools off and at times there is a good breeze.  However, I catch myself planning around the heat, and haven’t been brave enough to get on my bike yet.  No wonder I’m looking forward to returning to Ecuador on the 16th!

Yes, I’m in the States for a few days.  I don’t know how many of our blog readers receive our newsletter, so in a subsequent post I will offer an explanation and the details of the changes as we are entering a new phase of ministry.   Also, since we have not posted anything since May, I will try to catch you up on what we’ve been doing recently in Ecuador.

The Violin

Olivia and the "answered prayer" violin

Katie Beth and Annie McWilliams practicing violin for the symphony

Several years ago, Olivia began to take lessons to learn to play the piano.  While we were in language school in Costa Rica, she took a few guitar lessons and a generous family friend later gave her a nice guitar.  Her music and singing have always been a source of delight in my life.  I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her say a few months ago that she wanted to learn to play the violin.  I´ve always loved to hear the violin.  We looked at violins here in Ecuador, but decided to seek advice and perhaps purchase one while we were in the States on furlough.  Secretly, Cathy began to pray that God would provide one.

When we returned to the States in late February, we were delighted to find out that Callie Dudley, a wonderful violinist, lived half a mile down the road from us.  We were so grateful that she agreed to give Olivia lessons once a week.  After just a few lessons, I was enjoying hearing Olivia playing Amazing Grace, one of my favorites, on a borrowed violin.  In the meantime, Cathy continued to pray.

In mid-April we spent a couple of days near Glenwood, AR with our friends, the McWilliams family.  Gary, Lynna, and their four daughters may be one of the most musically talented families I know.  Gary can play any type of stringed instrument, and in fact, makes his own unusual instruments.  His oldest two teenage daughters play violin in the symphony orchestra in a nearby town.  Everyone in the family plays musical instruments.  When we told Gary about Olivia´s aspirations to play the violin,  he immediately produced an old basic violin, without strings, bridge, or anything.  It was the violin on which Gary had learned to play and he gave it to Olivia so she could learn on it, too.  The only problem was, we weren´t sure we would have time to have the missing parts replaced before we returned to Ecuador.

Once we returned from our trip, someone told us to take it to Maxine´s House of Music in Savannah.  We left the violin there, and in a couple of days they called to say it was ready.  When we went to pick it up, Olivia picked out a case, bow, tuner, and portable music stand.  When we got ready to pay for the parts, labor, and the accessories, Jeff Hart told us that everything was already paid for!  We couldn´t believe our ears!  We stood there and cried tears of joy as we realized that we were experiencing answered prayer.

Initially, we thought Jeff or someone else at Maxine´s might be the source of this blessing.  However, I had the opportunity to talk to Jeff again when we did our presentation at Northside Baptist Church just a few days before we left.  He told me that we were blessed by someone not connected to the store, but he could not reveal their identity.  Cathy and I have discussed this and feel confident we know who the person is.  If you, that person, are reading this, you know, and God knows,who you are.  We want you to know how much you blessed us, and how much we appreciate you.  We want you and Gary McWilliams to know that God used the two of you to answer a secret prayer.  There´s just something about the secret, unspoken things that remain between an individual and God.  We are grateful for not only what you did, but the way you did it.  It gives God all of the glory!  That´s something we all should practice more.   Thanks, however, for being a channel of blessing!

Speaking of Jeff Hart, I have to add that his obedience to the Lord was a blessing to us, too.  After hearing in our very last presentation that we could use a small sound system in our work in Ecuador, he promptly met our need.  After the service, he called me aside and privately gave me his own personal system to take back with us.  What a blessing to us and the mission at Guadalupe!

I mention these people because they are connected to the violin story, but there are countless others that blessed us by giving sacrificially during our furlough.  You and God know who you are and we are grateful to each of you.  May God richly bless you in return!  As they say here in Ecuador, “May God repay you!”    My prayer is that I am blessing others more than I am being blessed, but there´s no way that could be possible.

Furlough 2011

Well, in yesterday´s post, the first in several months, I wrote about reverse culture shock.  Maybe that was the first thing I thought of regarding our furlough and I just had to clear my mind.  Today I want to spend some time on the specifics of what we actually did during the 10 weeks or so that we were in the States.

We returned to our stateside “home base” in the Gilchrist community near Adamsville, TN on February 24th.  The strategic location allows us to be near the majority of our family members and is also central to most of the churches we would visit.  We hit the ground running, with presentations almost every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night for the duration of our furlough.  We had the privilege of visiting 24 churches, 6 of them for the first time.  It is always an honor to be able to return to supporting churches to give a report on our ministry.  We also participated in a local missions fair and had the opportunity (especially Cathy and Olivia) to share about our ministry with several small groups.  Our travels took us over 3,300 miles to churches in 4 states, the most distant being First Baptist Church in Wellston, OK.  We were blessed to get to meet their short-term team that will be coming to Ecuador to work with us in July.

As always, it was so good to get to see old friends and to make new ones.  We were blessed by the hospitality, encouragement, prayers, and support of so many people.  We are so grateful to each church and individual who blessed us in so many different ways.  Thanks for being channels of blessing, but we have to give God the glory and praise for always being faithful.  We thank Him for His provision, His protection, and all that He has done. 

As I think back on our furlough, I´d like to list just a few of the many events that stand out in my mind.  It was a busy, but wonderful time of visiting and having fun. 

After obtaining his driver´s permit last year, Eli passed the test and received his Tennessee driver´s license in March, shortly after his 16th birthday.  Congrats to Eli!  Although he was able to spend a lot of time hanging out with family and friends, Eli was obviously preoccupied with a special female friend, Hannah.  Besides her meeting him upon arrival at the airport, they were able to spend some time together, including a Redbird´s ballgame in Memphis in April.

Olivia enjoyed hanging out with family and friends, practicing her photography, and learning to play the violin.  The story of the violin is just a “God thing” and will be the subject of another post.

Although fall is my favorite time of year, spring runs a close second.  It was amazing to witness the transformation of the bare trees of winter in late February to the blooms of spring in March and April, and then to the fully leafed trees in April and May, something we could never witness in Ecuador.  God is an awesome Creator and His creation is marvelous!

In the past, we had made road trips to Arkansas to do presentations and visit friends.  This year, we extended our road trip through Arkansas to Oklahoma in mid-April.  It was a long trip, as we left on a Saturday and returned late the next Thursday, but we certainly enjoyed it.  We were able to spend most of the weekend with a pastor friend in Malvern, AR and do a presentation in his church on Sunday.  We spent Sunday night with some old friends near Glenwood, AR and relaxed with them kayaking and fishing on a river the next day.  We stayed in a cabin in rural Arkansas for a couple of days without internet, television, or phone service, and lived to tell about it!  There were times I thought the kids might not make it, but it sure was a nice change of pace during a busy furlough.  On Wednesday we drove to Wellston, OK, where we did a presentation at FBC that night.  We were excited to get to meet their short-term team that will be coming to work with us for a few days in July.  We are looking forward to seeing them again in Ecuador!

As for me, it was good to get back on my bicycle again after riding my stationary exercise bike for the past year in Ecuador.  I enjoyed several rides to Shiloh Park and around the backroads of our area.  Although there were times I doubted if I´d be able to pull it off this time, my cycling climaxed with a 100 mile ride the Friday before we returned to Ecuador.  I am grateful to my two “preacher buddies” who invited me again to turkey hunt with them in Wayne County on opening day.  We didn´t kill anything, but it was a great time of fellowship and just enjoying being in the woods.  I also enjoyed getting to do a little fishing and target shooting with my uncle.

In late April, we had the privilege of getting to have lunch and spend a few hours in Corinth, MS with our fellow Global Outreach missionaries, the Folks.  Jacob, Courtnay, and their children were also on furlough, as they serve in Costa Rica, where they were our next-door neighbors for a few months while we were in language school at the same time there.   This was the first time we had seen them since we left Costa Rica in December of 2008.  God is really using them in Costa Rica, as Jacob amazingly has 12 Bible studies meeting on a weekly basis!

So many good memories!  It´s back to work for us, but we won´t soon forget the good times of our 2011 furlough.  Thanks, everyone!

Thoughts on Reverse Culture Shock

The ultimate in reverse culture shock?

A beautiful sight, never to be taken for granted!

Wow!  I can’t believe it’s been over 3 months since our last blog.  It was January 31st and Bro. David had just left following a wonderful 5-day visit.   So much has happened since then.  The next few weeks were extremely busy as we made preparations for our furlough, all the while continuing with our ministry here.  We returned to the States on February 24th for 10 weeks of scheduled furlough.  We came back to Ecuador about a week ago and have been busy trying to get caught up.  I want to stop long enough to think back on our furlough and share with you some of the highlights.  However, I realize this could be very long, so I want to limit this post to some thoughts about our reverse culture shock.  I will address other furlough activities in subsequent posts.

As usual, it was good to be back in the States.  However, we did experience  quite a bit of reverse culture shock.  It was a few days before I stopped trying to think in Spanish or try to figure out how I was going to say something in Spanish.  It was really strange to hear everyone speaking in English, except perhaps a few Spanish speakers at Wal-Mart.  Speaking of Wal-Mart, that place was perhaps one of the greatest reverse culture shocks of all.  It simply overwhelmed us to go to Wal-Mart.  I couldn’t stop thinking about how most of the indigenous of Ecuador could never image that there was as much stuff in the entire world as contained in a single Wal-Mart Super Center.  Anyone remember the Veggie Tales video about Stuff Mart?

It took a few days to get used to the bare trees of winter.  Of course, we are accustomed to seeing everything green year-round, having a perpetual spring in Ecuador.  It was awesome to see the trees blooming and then fully leafed out during the time we were there.  We enjoyed the cold temperatures much more than the warm ones that were usually accompanied by high humidity.  No doubt, we are spoiled by the perfect temperatures at our elevation of the Andes Mountains.

We never got used to the high gas prices.  Gas prices had just jumped to $3.35 or so when we arrived, and as you know, they continued to rise to about $3.75 by the time we left.  Of course, gas costs $1.48 a gallon for regular and about $2 for super in Ecuador, and the price never changes.

Now, before you think I’m complaining about the U.S., let me say that there are more things that we enjoy about coming back than not.  After driving in Ecuador for more than 2 years, I really enjoyed driving in the States.  Driving in Ecuador, especially in the capital city of Quito, is extremely dangerous and is the one thing that adds more stress to my life on the mission field than anything else.  While in the States, I did not miss the constant blowing of horns and flashing of lights, or the total disregard for any and all traffic laws that is so common in Ecuador.  Also absent in the States, at least in our largely rural homebase,  is the concept of public transportation.  Both the city streets and rural roads of Ecuador are full of buses, whose drivers contribute more than their share to the atmosphere of danger on the road.  Using thousands of buses to provide affordable public transportation works in Ecuador; it is a way of life in a culture where the majority of people will never be able to afford a car. 

I couldn’t get used to the fact that apparently there is not as great a need for security in the U.S., another good thing.  It amazed me to see people get out of their unattended cars at the convenience stores and leave the motor running.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw bicycles and other stuff lying out in yards, their owners apparently not worried about thieves.  In Ecuador, protecting one’s property from theft is always on one’s mind.  A few days before we left Ecuador on furlough, someone stole a transformer from a pole on our street in the middle of the night, leaving us without power for over 30 hours.  We were actually surprised to return to Ecuador and find that our furniture was still in the house!

Our first presentation was at Clear Creek Baptist Church on Sunday morning, February 27th.  I wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming emotions that I would experience as we attended our first English-speaking church service in almost a year.  I fought back tears as we sang the old familiar hymns in English for the first time in months.  How wonderful they sounded!  Other things I appreciated in churches was the display of both the American and Christian flags, and a cross without a dead Jesus on it.  Speaking of the American flag, one of the most memorable things I had the privilege of doing during furlough was helping Cathy’s uncle put up his flagpole with a brand new American flag on it.  The only time we see an American flag in Ecuador is when we pass by the American Embassy in Quito and we no longer take the beauty and symbolism of our flag for granted!

Reverse culture shock has a way of making one appreciate the best things of life, things we often take for granted, regardless of where they are found.  It has a way of reminding me that different is not always wrong, sometimes it is just different, and at other times, it is actually better.

Five Days of Fellowship With Bro. David

Bro. David standing on the equator

A servant´s heart…..

A heart for the children…..

Bro. David and I, preaching and translating at Linaje Escogido

Bro. David with Cotopaxi in the background

Some of the group at the mission on Saturday

Last April we did a presentation at West Shiloh Baptist Church in Stantonville, TN.  It was a special day for us because it was our first visit to that church, only 5 miles from our furlough home in the Gilchrist community.  It was also special for me because it was an opportunity to become reacquainted with the pastor, Bro. David Simmons.  We had been part of  a mission team to the eastern Europe country of Moldova in 1998 while we were both attending Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.  In fact, that trip had been the first mission trip for both of us.  I had not seen Bro. David since I graduated in May of 1999, as he had later pastored churches in Oregon and Iowa, before returning to Tennessee some four years ago.

A few months ago, Bro. David contacted me about bringing a team from his church to work with us here in Ecuador.  He had served on five short-term missions teams to Peru in the past (as well as several other trips to eastern Europe), but this would be his first time in Ecuador.  We began our initial planning with him and five others committed to coming, but the team began to fall apart.  There were health conditions, new jobs, etc., that prevented all but Bro. David from making the trip.  I told him to come on down and he could stay in our house with us.  He offered to bring materials to do a VBS Bible study for the kids in the barrio of Guadalupe where we work with the mission.  Everything began to fall into place.

We picked Bro. David up at the Quito airport late last Tuesday, January 25th, for a five-day stay.  We were delighted to see the variety of materials he brought for us to work with.  These included over 150 activity books, 200 packs of crayons, an assortment of tracts, pencils, balloons, some music DVD´s for the kids, and more.  We were definitely excited about what the Lord had in store, as we had afternoon sessions of VBS scheduled for Both Saturday and Sunday at Guadalupe.

We were out and about most of the day Wednesday as we introduced Bro. David to some friends and began to show him around the area.  That evening we went to the mission for our weekly Bible study, giving him an opportunity to meet the folks we´d be working with during the weekend.  It is always such a blessing to witness the fellowship that Christians can share, even when there is a language barrier.

On Thursday we visited Middle of the World Monument, located on (or very near) the equator north of Quito.  This provided a few hours of souvenir shopping and a taste of traditional Ecuadorian food.

On Friday morning, Bro. David and I visited in the home of my ministry partner, Sixto Salcedo, in Quito.  We had planned to do some sight-seeing out in the mountains that afternoon, but heavy clouds and rain obscured the view.  So, Bro. David and I went to Pifo that afternoon and looked at a hostel that will serve as housing for some teams we have coming later this year.  In fact, Bro. David is determined to bring a team later this year, perhaps in September. 

Much to my dismay, there was still rain in the area on Saturday.  We arrived at the mission at Guadalupe after noon to find that they were prepared for the rain.  They had put up a couple of large tarps like we´d used there on Christmas day.  We experienced light rain throughout the afternoon and figured this kept many of the neighborhood kids away.  We ended up with about 50 kids and 20 adults.  Some were adults from the mission who had agreed to be teachers or helpers; others came to help from Linaje Escogido Church.  We had a good afternoon, teaching two Bible lessons and a song, serving bread and cola in between, and giving out balloons and tracts at the end.

We got up to a beautiful, mostly clear day on Sunday, and got an early start.  We arrived at Linaje Escogido Church after the one hour drive and enjoyed an incredible view of Cotopaxi Volcano to the south.  Bro. David preached a great message from Colosians 2:13-15 and I translated, which was probably not so great.  After church, we drove a few miles northward on the PanAm until we could see Cayambe Volcano, another stunning sight.  Then we made our way back toward Guadalupe, stopping in Checa for a great lunch of typical Ecuadorian food.

With the beautiful weather, we expected to have many more children present for the afternoon session of VBS, but it wasn´t to be.  Turns out our numbers were almost identical to those of Saturday, about 50 kids and 20 or so adults.  We had forgotten that futbol (soccer) is the god of Ecuador and Latin America.  We were missing about a dozen kids from Saturday, but that many more took their place on Sunday.  Many of the missing kids, as well as adults from the mission, were out playing soccer.  The afternoon was a blessing in spite of this, as we repeated the activities of Saturday with two additional Bible lessons.  I was blessed to see how the kids took to Bro. David, with two of them in his lap at any given time.  They also had somewhat of a competition, bringing him flowers from the yard and the surrounding area.  It was a long Sunday, as most of them are for us, as we arrived back at the house around 6:30 p.m. or so.

I took Bro. David to the airport this morning for his flight back to the States, and back to reality for him.  It is hard to believe that the five days are already gone.  However, was five days filled with opportunities to serve the Lord together, great fellowship, hours of good conversation, and many good meals.  We are extremely grateful to Bro. David for co-laboring with us, sowing seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,  and for bringing the materials to work with.  We are blessed to see how Bro. David touched so many lives in a short period of time.  We hope to see him and a team back here in September.