Please Pray For Rain

Since we moved to Alausi in late June we have seen rainfall (usually light and of short duration at that) no more than ten times, probably totaling less than two inches.  Through the past few months the landscape has gradually turned from green to brown.  We didn´t realize just how much it had changed until we looked at photos taken when we first visited in May and immediately after we moved. 

Apparently, it is a lot drier than normal.  The rivers are so low that it is affecting power production at the hydroelectric plants. About two weeks ago the government of Ecuador implemented rationing of electricity.  Through some rotating schedule which no one is able to figure out, people throughout Ecuador will be without power for a few hours almost every day.  Not everyone is without power at the same time.  From TV news reports and from our friends in Quito, Macas, and Shell, we know that the times and places vary according to the schedule.  Here in Alausi we have no electricity for four hours most days.  Sometimes it is from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., sometimes from 3 until 7 p.m., or recently from 7 until 11 p.m. 

We have heard that this will continue until there is sufficient rain to raise the river levels.  The locals tell us that normally there is rain in late November, followed by a few dry weeks before the rainy season sets in.  Please join us in praying that the November rainfall is adequate to raise the river levels for normal power production.

Popcorn Balls and Baby Breads

We had never really celebrated Halloween back in the States, so we weren´t disappointed to find that it wasn´t celebrated in Ecuador.    We never cared for the connection of Halloween with the celebration of things evil.  However, there were always things that we enjoyed about the holiday, mainly the food.  You can have your bagful of candy, because when I think of Halloween and its sweet treats, I always think of my grandmother´s popcorn balls. 

 After an absence of several years, popcorn balls made an unexpected return into our lives recently as we traveled to Cuenca.  Anytime you encounter construction delays in Ecuador, you will find people taking advantage of the situation by selling food and drinks to the unfortunate travelers who are at a standstill  stuck in the traffic.  Much to our surprise and delight, at one of these unexpected stops someone was selling popcorn balls, seemingly made with molasses, the key ingredient other than popcorn.  As we feasted upon these treats, we recalled that a fellow missionary had told us about finding molasses in a health food store.

A few weeks later, while in Quito, we were successful in finding black strap molasses, made from sugar cane.  I suspect they may be a little different from what we are used to in the States, but they are very similar.  On Halloween and the following day we enjoyed homemade popcorn balls.  This was a real treat to remind us that it really is autumn in the States, since we live in a place where there is little change in seasons and we are told that it is actually spring.  We had to laugh on Sunday night when we offered popcorn balls to our Bible study group.  One of the Ecuadorian children refused his, saying that molasses is for cows.  Apparently he had only seen it used as a feed supplement for cattle (as is common in the U.S.).

Even though Halloween isn´t celebrated in Ecuador, it is a time of celebration.  November 2nd is known in Latin America as The Day of the Dead.  It is a huge holiday, with the local school children in Alausi getting out of class Friday through Tuesday for a 5-day weekend vacation.  The manner in which it is celebrated seems to vary from country to country, even town to town, but The Day of the Dead seems to be a combination of indigenous and Catholic beliefs and rituals.  It is apparently a time for families to gather together to remember their loved ones who have gone on before them.  It reminded us of the U.S. custom of “decoration day,” but with a twist.  The Day of the Dead ritual includes not only leaving flowers at the tombs, but also food and drink, among other items.  The food and drink normally consist of guagua de pan (from Quechua “baby of bread”, hence, bread made in the shape of a baby) and colada morada (named from its purple color, a drink made from ground black corn, blackberries, blueberries, cinnamon, and pieces of pineapple).  In addition to leaving this at the tomb, it is traditionally consumed by the living as a celebration of The Day of the Dead. 

We had the privilege of sampling guagua de pan and colada morada ourselves.  Last Thursday we were invited to attend an open house at Instituo de Manuel Galacio, a local high school.  Our high school-aged Bible study students attend this school.  We went into the classrooms of Benoni and Cleofe Maldonado, along with some of the parents.  All of the students,  parents, and guests (us) were served hot colada morada and guagua pan.  Cathy and I thought it was delicious, but our children thought the drink would have been better  served cold. 

There are varying explanations for the elements involved in the celebration of The Day of the Dead.  Most of the local people just consider it to be an Ecuadorian tradition, a time to enjoy some refreshing food and drink (only available for this event) and a time to honor and remember departed loved ones.

The cemetery was the center of activity in Alausi on November 2nd, as everyone gathered there to celebrate The Day of the Dead.  The local Catholic priest held mass in the cemetery that morning, while people came and went all during the day, leaving their offerings of flowers and food upon the tombs.  If one arrived at the cemetery empty handed, no need to worry; there were booths set up just outside the cemetery entrance selling whatever one needed to honor his departed loved one.

A local version of guagua de pan

There was lots of activity at the cemetery entrance

You Are From Canada, Eh?

 

Jonathan and Andrew on our rooftop in Alausi

A few weeks ago, Franklin and Evelyn Turner, our fellow Global Outreach missionaries in Costa Rica, contacted us about two young men who were spending a couple of weeks doing some work for them.  Jonathan Eby and Andrew Hartung would be passing through Ecuador in a few days and wanted to know if we had any work they could do.  We replied that we had no work at the time, but would gladly put them up and feed them for a day or two.

Jonathan and Andrew pulled into Alausi late last Friday in their road-tested Isuzu Rodeo.    The young men, in their early twenties, left their native Toronto, Canada area on September 1st for the trip of a lifetime.  They drove along the PanAmerican Highway through the United States, Mexico,  and Central America (spending 2 weeks with the Turners), shipping their vehicle from Panama to Colombia, where they continued on their way through South America.  Their goal is to visit some friends in Bolivia, reach a destination in Argentina, sell the vehicle, and fly back home in time for Christmas.

We enjoyed getting to know this adventurous pair and to hear about their travels as they spent the night with us.  It is really refreshing to meet such nice, godly young men.  Jonathan told us about spending a few weeks in Bolivia working with missionaries while in high school.  Later he served with a missionary couple for a year in South Africa under difficult conditions in a remote setting.  Andrew has also traveled extensively, spending time in New Zealand and Australia.  These guys are seeking the Lord´s will for serving Him as missionaries.  One spoke of his heart´s desire to live among an indigenous people, wearing their clothing, eating their food, speaking their native tongue, in order to reach them for the Lord.  There was also discussion of possible mission work in Europe in this day of post-Christianity there.

I was amazed to learn that neither of them speaks Spanish, seemingly a prerequisite for a trip through Latin America.  They have picked up a few key words that are useful, but also related stories of times when their ignorance seemed to result in pity by the authorities.  God has clearly protected them and provided for them along the way. 

They prefer to camp at night if they can find a safe place, but have spent a few nights in $6 hotels.  These guys love roughing it.  They couldn´t believe we actually had hot water.  After taking a shower, Andrew commented that it was the first hot shower he´d had in 53 days, since they left Canada!  They have been pleasantly surprised with the lack of problems they´ve encountered, especially considering all of the horror stories they had heard.   They are cautious, of course, but the key to enjoying the journey seems to be their ability to take everything in stride, knowing that God is in control.

Jonathan and Andrew pulled out of Alausi before noon on Saturday,  with plans to cross over into Peru either Sunday or today.    I had to tell them how much I envy them.  Their journey is something I would have loved to have done back when I was their age.  At my age, living and serving the Lord in Ecuador is plenty of adventure for me.   Please keep Jonathan and Andrew in your prayers as they continue along the PanAm Highway, trying to make it back to Canada by Christmas.

Grandmother Braves Trip Solo

My (Lynn´s) mom, Nancy Morris, better know as Grandmother around our house, recently paid us a visit here in Alausi.   I was quite proud of her for having the courage to make the trip from Tennessee alone since my stepfather didn´t want to come.  We met her at the airport in Quito just before midnight on Wednesday, October 14th.  It was a bit like Christmas when she began unpacking her suitcases back at Angelica´s Guesthouse a little later.  Eli & Olivia had spent the night with the Davoll family (our missionary friends from language school) out in Cumbaya, so they would have to wait until the next night to get their ¨goodies,¨ which included Mountain Dew, Skittles, sunflower seeds, a ¨Gone With The Wind¨ book, ¨Lucy¨ and ¨Andy Griffith¨ DVDs,  video games,  a North American football, and several other items not available in Ecuador.   For our readers local to the Adamsville, Tennessee area, you might appreciate that, much to our delight, she brought a pint of blue cheese salad dressing from Hagey´s Catfish Restaurant.   It´s funny the things you crave when you can´t get them!

The next day after the children returned, we ate lunch in the home of our national missionary friends, Sixto and Elisa Salcedo.  We were honored to be served the typical Ecuadorian delicacy of beef tongue.  It was a first for all of us gringos, but it was absolutely delicious.  Afterward, we journey out to Linaje Escogido Church where we had served during our five months of living in Quito earlier this year.  My mom had heard so much about these wonderful people that she couldn´t wait to meet them.  She was not to be disappointed by their warm hospitality.  A group of twenty or so met us at the church for a short worship service,  which included singing songs of praise and  sharing testimonies of God´s faithfulness.  Of course, we ate afterward.   Late in the afternoon we traveled to Checa, along with the group from Linaje Escogido, for a very unique worship service.  My mom, who speaks no Spanish,  was frustrated by her inability to communicate with the people, but had no problem sensing their Christian love for her.  There were probably 50 or 60 people gathered at the home of Jose´ the strawberry farmer.  Since my post of March 29, 2009 about him, he and his family had lost their lease on the farm land and moved back to Checa, but continue to attend church at Linaje Escogido.  Try getting that many people together in someone´s house to worship on a Thursday night in the States.  This is what worship is all about!  In addition to the many songs of praise we sang, I was honored to be asked to preach, and really enjoyed it, although it was on very short notice.   We returned to Quito very late that night and the children finally got to enjoy their ¨goodies.¨

On Friday we made the five hour journey down the PanAm Highway south to Alausi.  Clouds hid most of the snow-capped volcanoes, but we did get glimpses of a few of them along the way.  Although my mom had visited us in Costa Rica last year, this was a whole new world for her.  No doubt, it was in many ways like traveling back 100 years in time.  It was good to finally be back home in Alausi.  In addition to the new sights, we made sure she got a taste of more of the typical food, including the delicious juices of tree tomato and mora berry and a lot of new fruits.

On Saturday morning we spent some time showing her the town of Alausi (that really doesn´t take much time) and then we went for a 3 or 4 hour drive out into the very remote mountainous region near Letrapungo.  In addition to the breath-taking views, she enjoyed ¨getting off the beaten path¨and really seeing how the indigenous of this area live.

Sunday is market day in Alausi, so we naturally spent several hours shopping during the morning.  Market day is quite a visual treat, with all of the bright clothing of the indigenous, the fruits, vegetables, and animals brought to market, etc.  Before we returned to our apartment, I purchased a grilled cuy (guinea pig) for lunch.  I knew she didn´t really care for it, but I told my mom it would be a shame to come to Ecuador and not try it.  She tasted it, but that was about all.  That night she attended the weekly Bible study in our apartment.  The teaching is in Spanish, so I translated enough for her to know what was being discussed.  I know she enjoyed the opportunity to meet the regular participants.

On Monday morning we took in some more incredible mountain vistas as we drove to Huigra and back.  As an avid flower gardener, she enjoyed seeing a variety of plant life, some familiar, and some new to her.  We spent the rest of the day preparing for Tuesday´s project with the four schools over the mountain.

We left Alausi at 6:30 Tuesday morning, along with our friend, Tocayo, and journeyed over the mountain to Gulag, where we met Rafael, our contact for work in the area.  My mom enjoyed helping distribute juice and bread to the students of the schools of the villages of Gulag, San Jorge, Chol, and Shilishul.  We have taken this on as a monthly project to help build  relationships with the people of the area.  Afterward, we enjoyed a great lunch in the home of Rafael and Magdelena, and then took a walk to look at the property we are trying to purchase for the construction of our home and Christian camp.  It was a wonderful day spent in the area in which God has called us to minister to the indigenous.

Our time in Alausi was far too short as we had to return to Quito on Wednesday.  We made it back to Angelica´s by mid-afternoon and then enjoyed a little shopping and relaxing.  After the rare treat of Pizza Hut delivered pizza for supper, we went to bed early so we could get up at 4 a.m. on Thursday.

The next morning, we accompanied my mom to the airport just before 5 a.m. for her 6:30 flight back home.  The week had gone by much too quickly and we were saddened to see her leave.  It had been good to have our first visitor from the States after almost nine months in Ecuador.  Hopefully, she will get to come back after we purchase the land and build the camp.  In the meantime, she has her photos, her memories, and perhaps a different perspective of the world she lives in,  all rewards of having the courage to make the trip here by herself.  I´m proud of her!

Group of ladies at Checa

Some of the men at Checa

Market day in Alausi brings some strange sights

I love the bright colors of the clothing

Students at the San Jorge school working on an embroidering project

Nancy and Cathy distribute juice and bread to students at Shilishul

The School Supplies Project

For several weeks we had made plans with Rafael and Tocayo for the second week of school in Ecuador.   Classes resumed in most of the schools last Monday, September 7th.  During the second week the teachers give the students the list of school supplies they need to purchase for the year.  The problem is that many of the parents just don´t have the money to buy the supplies, especially in the remote villages over the mountain where we plan to minister.  These people are farmers who don´t work other jobs, but just try to feed their families and get by.  These circumstances are what made it possible for us to carry out our first project in those villages yesterday.  Rafael is well known in the villages and had no trouble arranging for us to visit the schools in the villages of Gulag, San Jorge, Chol, and Shilishul.  What an invaluable contact we have in Rafael!

We left Alausi, along with Tocayo, at six yesterday morning for the hour and a half or so drive to Gulag (see previous blog about attending church there recently).  Rafael was waiting for us there, along with the three teachers.  The students continued to filter in, all walking to school from the surrounding area.  While we waited for their parents to arrive a little later, we enjoyed the school´s hospitality in the form of a cup of hot milk, no doubt just a few minutes from the source.  The 47 students lined up outside and performed a few minutes of exercise as we watched.  When the parents arrived, they received an envelope for each child they had in school.  Each envelope contained a copy of the 100th Psalm with ¨We give thanks to God for this help¨at the bottom of the page, along with a $20 bill.  We were told that this would cover a little over half of the cost of the school supplies.   This beautiful and humble group of people were so grateful for the help.

From Gulag we traveled to San Jorge, a village that we had never visited before.  It is high up on the mountian above where we plan to build our house and camp.  The view from there was incredible.  Many of the people of San Jorge had actually worked for Rafael several years ago when his hacienda was in its prime.  They had purchased property from Rafael´s grandmother and founded the community of San Jorge.  We repeated the process and passed out 30 envelopes to the parents at this school. 

From San Jorge we went back down the mountain to the school at Chol, which we had visited on our initial trip to the area back in May.  The 3 teachers and students there remembered us and were probably the most friendly of all we visited.  The students here were probably the most friendly we met.  Here we passed out an additional 30 envelopes to the parents.

From there we went to the other side of Rafael´s house to Shilishul.  The situation was different in this village.  For some strange reason, they are on a different schedule.  Although they are clearly in the sierra, they operate on the same schedule as the schools in the costal region of Ecuador.  Because of this, they are in the middle of their school year, with classes ending in January and beginning again sometime in April.  Therefore, we treated those  80 students to juice and a sweet roll, with the commitment to help them with their school supplies in April.   

What a blessing to be able to help truly needy people!  The poverty in this rural area is incredible.  As missionaries, we want to help meet both the physical and spiritual needs of the people, just as Jesus did.  We feel that it is very important that the people have the opportunity to receive a good education and that they have access to health care.  For example, it occurred to me that of the hundreds of people we saw yesterday, not a single one (except Rafael and Tocayo) wore glasses.  What is the probability of all of these people having perfect vision, especially this close to the equator, where the intense sunlight damages the eyes?  A short-term team to do eye exams and provide donated glasses is a priority for us, along with other medical teams.  However, we also believe that hell is full of people who were well educated and otherwise healthy, but died without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  No doubt, the spiritual needs are much more important.  We make no bones about our goal of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with this corner of a lost and dying world.  We are thrilled to be able to help them with school supplies, but we readily admit that it is also the first step to building a relationship with the people and getting our foot in the door so that we may share the gospel with them.  We are told that we only need permission from the director of each individual school to be able to enter and share the gospel with every student in the school.  It takes time to build relationships and trust among the people here.  We will continue to visit the schools and carry out projects with them, but hopefully in the future many of our projects will be evangelistic.  We hope to have teams from the States come to help with VBS-type projects in these schools.  Also, from our relationships with the adults, we plan to begin Bible studies that result in church plants.

Please pray that we are soon able to acquire the property and build a house and camp in the strategic location amongst these four villages so that we may focus on the work that the Lord has called us to do here.

Some of the students at Gulag beginning their school day with exercise

Some of the parents and students at Gulag

Group of students at San Jorge

Some of the parents and students at San Jorge

Us with the students at Chol

The students at Chol pose with a llama

Some of the parents and students at Chol

Sharing refreshments with the students at Shilishul

Visitors from Shell

One of the blessings of language school was getting to meet so many other missionaries that would also be serving in Central and South America.  We still keep up with several of them through their blogs, Facebook, e-mail, etc.  However, through a common bond, we grew closer to those whom, like us, were coming to Ecuador.  Since we’ve been here, we’ve visited, or been visited by at least three of those families.

This past weekend we hosted Steve and Diane Wilson, who have been serving with HCJB in Shell since April.  The Wilsons arrived in Alausi by bus on Friday afternoon and were very appreciative of the cooler temperatures and lower humidity that the additional 4,000 feet or so in altitude afforded.  We enjoyed “catching up” on Friday, having seen them only once since we left Costa Rica in December.

On Saturday, after a great breakfast, we drove several miles south on the Pan American Highway, taking in the awesome beauty of God’s creation.  We returned to Alausi to ride the train in the afternoon.  Although we have lived in Alausi for two and a half months, we had never ridden the train.  The train ride to The Devil’s Nose is what Alausi is best known for and tourists come here from all over to experience it.  The train leaves the Alausi station for an hour and a half trip that includes incredible views of the mountains and a river valley.  The tracks go around the side of a mountain that resembles a nose from a distance, hence the name.  This is said to be one of the greatest railroad construction feats in the world.  The train actually starts up the mountain, switches tracks, backs down this other track to the river valley, then continues.  It was extremely windy on Saturday and the wind was causing small landslides in several areas.  The train actually had to stop at one point to allow railroad workers to use shovels to clear the tracks so we could continue.  There have been some recent changes that I feel take away from the adventure of the train ride.  In the past (or at least from pictures I’ve seen) the train was a steam locomotive pulling railroad cars.  Now the train is a Thomas bus modified to ride on the rails.  Also, in the past passengers enjoyed a spectacular view from the top of the rail cars.  Now passengers must stay inside the “bus on rails.”  It is a worthwhile trip, but probably not as good as it used to be.  We did enjoy it.

Sunday is market day in Alausi.  In fact, we are told that none of the churches have Sunday morning services, with all meeting on Sunday nights.  Because of this, we have our weekly Bible study on Sunday nights, too.  Each Sunday afternoon we have gone to the market and bought our fruit and vegetables, but we had never been out on Sunday morning and experienced the entire market.  We decided to do this with the Wilsons.  After becoming dead and deserted after noon on Saturday, Alausi comes to life early on Sunday.  The town is filled with the colorfully clothed indigenous who arrive in town by truck or bus.  They come not only to sell their wares, but to buy or trade for whatever they need for the week to come.  We saw just about everything imaginable for sale, including animals and animal skins, clothing, grains, fruits, vegetables, tools, and much more.  It is quite an experience.  It  struck me that the market at Alausi is very different from other markets we’d been to (in Quito and Otavalo, for example) in that was the Alausi market seemed more genuine.  There weren’t pricey souvenirs and crafts to sell to the gringo tourists.  Just about everything we saw was made (or grown) by and for the indigenous for everyday use. 

We spent 2 or 3 hours at the market, buying a few items.  Before going back to the apartment, we went by where we’d earlier seen a lady roasting  six cuyes (guinea pigs) on a rotissere over a grill.  We bought 2 of them to eat for lunch.  We had all eaten cuy before, but these were the best we’d had.  The lady apparently had a secret recipe or secret sauce for basting her cuy.  They were delicious!

After a relaxing afternoon, the Wilsons participated in our weekly Sunday night Bible study.  I really appreciated their input into our hour and a half or so of discussion also attended by Tocayo and his family.  We are praying that we can get more people involved in the study since school is starting back here.  Except for the one faithful family, attendance has been sporadic this summer with lots of people traveling out of town.  It was very quiet Sunday night, with the local children going to bed early in preparation for the first day of school on Monday.  For the past two months we had grown accustomed to their playing in the street in front of our apartment until after midnight almost nightly.

On Monday morning we watched from our second floor window as the local children passed by in their new uniforms with their new backpacks, most of them excited (but a few crying) about the first day of school.  We have learned that there are six schools in this little town and most of them begin classes at 7 a.m.  We said our goodbyes to the Wilsons around 8 a.m. as I took them to the local station to catch the bus to Riobamba and then on to Shell.   We praise the Lord for good friends and memorable experiences as we serve Him here in Alausi.

Steve and Diane at the train station

The bus/train pulling into the station

Workers clearing the landslide from the tracks

Lynn and Cathy with “The Devil’s Nose” in the background

Some animal skins and live animals arrive by bus

Central portion of Sunday market in Alausi

Busy sidestreet at the Alausi market

Two of these guinea pigs became our Sunday lunch

$50K? No Way!

We returned to Rafael’s on Tuesday, September 1st to look over the land and discuss the details.  Cathy, Rafael, Tocayo, and I walked over a good part of the estimated 50 acres of mountainside property.  I was pleasantly surprised at how it lay, with some areas less steep than I had imagined and more open space, too.  Cathy and I struggled to breathe as we climbed back up to the road, which is the highest part and would be the northern boundary if we were able to buy it.  The tract includes building spots, an area for trails leading to a beautiful waterfall at one corner, and an incredible view everywhere you look.  It includes open spaces as well as some forested areas with beautiful orchids in the trees. 

We finally got down to business and talked about the price.  I was shocked to hear that the family had decided to offer the property for $50,000!  I had expected much less.  I have to admit that the property is the perfect place to carry out the vision the Lord has given us for the past 3 or 4 months there.  We have plans to build a house and multi-purpose building on the site.  We realize that we must live among the indigenous to be able to minister to them.  Of course, our main objective is to evangelize the area by starting Bible studies and planting churches in the surrounding villages.  Through Rafael’s contacts and influence, we would have access to the villages for various projects and to the local schools for VBS type projects.  The multi-purpose building would house short-term missions teams doing medical and evangelism work, as well as agricultural and other projects to help the people of the surrounding communities.  It would also serve as a central meeting and pastor training center.  Other planned uses include a retreat location for national pastors, churches, and youth groups.  There is a tremendous potential for our proposed Christian camp there. 

I left there a little disappointed, but still trusting that the Lord will work it all out.  I don’t think He has given us such a clear vision for the Christian camp without being able to provide all that we need to carry it out.   Some people have told me that it is a good deal.  One neighbor said it was too much until he learned it had water, electricity, and good access.  That makes all the difference around here.  The only problem is, we don’t have near that much money in our construction account (which originally was for construction, not the purchase of property, when we thought the land was being donated).

  As I continued to pray for wisdom and guidance, Tocayo came by our apartment the next afternoon with a message.  He said Rafael and the family had discussed it and had decided to ask me what I would be willing to give for the property.  The negotiations continue!  The ball is in my court now, but in this culture, there is never a reason to hurry.  I am still praying for wisdom, trusting that the Lord will provide an amount that they will accept, or that He will change their hearts so that they might accept the amount that I have.  I keep reminding myself of the advice given by a friend and faithful supporter of our ministry:  “Don’t get discouraged.  Satan will try, but will not be able to stop this if it is God’s will.  If God has other plans, He will make them clear to you.”  Lord, I’m waiting and listening.

In the meantime, we are still asking that you allow the Lord to furnish funds through you for the land purchase and building construction.  If you would like to make a donation, you can send a check to Global Outreach with a note that it is for our construction account.  You can get more information about Global Outreach and how to give by clicking on “Global Outreach International.”

 

 

 

Looking it over with Rafael

Partial view from the building site near the access road

View of upper portion of property, with building sites adjacent to the road

The lower protion of the property, to the left of the valley

Attending Church at Gulag/ Continued Negotiations

After two weeks of silence, I finally heard from Rafael.  He came by the house, along with his son and son-in-law, to invite us to attend church with his family at the Quichua church over the mountain.  I wanted badly to ask him if he had come to a decision regarding selling me the piece of property for our house and Christian camp.  However, I decided he would bring it up when the time was right, perhaps on Sunday. 

The next Sunday (August 30th) we followed Rafael’s son, Tocayo, and his family to the small village of Gulag, a few miles this side of Rafael’s house.  We arrived just before the 11 a.m. worship and preaching service began.  I was surprised to see that the small building was packed (probably 75 or more), mostly with women and children, however.  We learned that most of the men were in Alausi each Sunday, buying and selling goods at the market.  The church has a Friday evening service that the men all attend.  Almost everyone in the village is an evangelical, with very few Catholics.

Rafael had told us that the services were normally in Quichua, but that they had them in Spanish when he visited.  We learned later that most of the people speak Spanish and Quichua, but that many of the elderly people understand Spanish, but cannot speak it.  In fact, the children still study Quichua in the local school.  We were grateful that the service was in Spanish, with only a bit of Quichua mixed in for the benefit of the elderly.

We sang songs of praise for over an hour before a short message and more singing, with this portion of the service ending before 1 p.m.  We really enjoyed worshiping with these friendly people.  At this point they told us they had prepared a meal for us in another building.  The rest of the people stayed for Sunday School until 2 p.m..  Lunch was boiled corn on the cob, boiled beans, cheese, and chicken soup, all prepared in pots over an open fire.  We were humbled by the hospitality of these kind and friendly people. 

It is obvious that we need to learn Quichua.  When we left, Cathy and I were discussing how much we enjoyed the service and how we would like to attend each week.  However, we realized they would either inconvenience the congregation by having the service in Spanish for us, or they would have it in Quichua and we wouldn’t be able to understand it.  Neither is a good option.  We just need to learn Quichua.

We left the church and traveled some 20 minutes on to Rafael’s house to eat again.  It turned out that Rafael’s wife, Magdelena, and some of her daughters had lunch prepared for us and didn’t know we would be eating at the church.  This is an all-too-common situation in Latin America.  You dare not refuse to eat when it is offered, or risk offending.  Sometimes you feel a little like Andy Griffith in the episode where he is served spaghetti by several different people on the same night due to some mixed up plans.  However, before we ate, Rafael asked me to walk with him and his son to what we had thought would be our building site.  When we arrived, he confirmed with me the limits of the portion of land I had asked him to consider selling to me almost 3 weeks before.  He said he had decided to sell it to me and wanted me to come back on Tuesday to walk over it and talk about it.  Finally, some progress in the process of Latin American negotiations!

The school and church are the center of the village of Gulag

Small building of the church “Jesus Christ Is The Door to Heaven”

The adult ladies choir

A great duet

The young ladies choir

Lunch was prepared in the church kitchen

Us and some of Rafael’s family having lunch at the church

Waiting

If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you know about “waiting on the Lord.”  Everything happens in His time because His timing is perfect.  Sometimes things happen quicker than we expect, but most of the time we find ourselves praying for wisdom and direction, practicing our patience.  They say patience is a virtue, after all.

Well, that’s where we are right now, waiting on the Lord.  We had spent the last few months following Him as He had opened doors of opportunity and had given us a vision for church planting and a Christian camp over the mountain from Alausi.  We began to plan construction of buildings and received a substantial donation early last week that would allow us to get started.  Then two days later, God said, “Wait.” 

Last Wednesday I went over the mountain to visit Rafael at the site of our future camp.  I wanted to talk about going ahead and getting a deed to the property so we could get started on construction.  If you remember, he had surprisingly offered to give us land to build a house and camp on if we would live there and minister in the area.  On a subsequent visit he talked about a written agreement instead, where we could use the land as long as we wanted, with it remaining in his name.  Of course, there is no way we can invest money in buildings on property that doesn’t belong to Global Outreach.  So I began to have concerns, asking his son if the family was okay with the land donation and if they were sure there wouldn’t be a problem if they ever tried to sell the tract of land with our site being somewhere in the middle.  He said there wasn’t a problem.  However, last Wednesday, Rafael told me he had someone wanting to buy the entire tract and that they wouldn’t want it with our portion taken out.  My heart sank as I realized he wasn’t going to give us the land and my vision of the camp there was shattered.  He went on to offer me first chance at the entire tract (over 4,200 acres) for $180,000.  Once he realized this was out of the question, he offered to sell me the lower half, which includes our site, for $95,000, which is also out of the question.  Before we left, I felt led to ask if he would be willing to sell the corner of the property which includes our site, so that it wouldn’t be taken out of the middle of the tract.  He said he would think about it and try to determine the amount of land and a price. 

So, here we are, waiting on the Lord.  We are waiting to hear if Rafael offers the land at a price we can afford, or if he is even willing to sell it.  If he will sell it at a fair price, it would be perfect for the vision God has given us.  If not, we are praying and trusting that God will clearly reveal His will to us.  Perhaps there is a better place for a camp out there somewhere with land at a reasonable price.  Perhaps God has something completely different in mind.  Pray that we have the patience to wait on the Lord.

View of the proposed building site

View of a portion of the proposed property (boundary is the hidden valley) and beyond

The unimproved road leading to the remote (possible) campsite

Gone Fishing

Yesterday’s outing to Laguna Ozogoche served many purposes.  Not only was it an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with our Bible study group, but it helped to satisfy our desire to see more of God’s handiwork in the incredible countryside of  Ecuador.  It was also a fishing trip that put food on the table.

We left Alausi after mid-morning along with Tocayo and Jesusa and their four children, and Antonio, their friend.  This group makes up the biggest part of our weekly Bible study in our apartment.  We always welcome an invitation to join them in activities outside of those weekly meetings.  Personal relationships are the key to carrying out ministry, whether you are pastoring a church in the States or trying to plant churches south of the equator.  As we followed Tocayo, the pavement ended long before we reached our destination at more than 12,ooo feet in elevation.  Our four wheel drive paid off as Tocayo got stuck and we were able to pull him out just before we had to park and begin walking.  Ozogoche is actually a series of seventeen mountain lakes, according to Tocayo.  I read somewhere that there may actually be over forty of them.  The lakes are located in Sangay National Park, a huge area set aside by the government as a nature preserve, while apparently allowing people to live on it. I also read on-line that every year around September hundreds of plovers (a type of shore bird) migrate to the area and dive into the lakes, killing themselves.  The locals have a fiesta as a memorial to this event.  We could see two lakes from where we parked and began our walk of a mile or so to one of them.  The wind was fierce, causing the water to whitecap.  The temperature was probably in the low 40’s and dropping as the mist of the low clouds got heavier.  The wind chill was probably around freezing and we definitely understood why the indigenous always wear so many clothes, even when they visit Alausi.

Tocayo rigged up short poles with fishing line, small nuts for weights, and hooks with earthworms (lombrices in Spanish-I learned a new word).  We fished in a deep, but crystal clear spillway that ran from one lake to the other.  Even though with my polarized sunglasses I could see trout in the deep holes, I couldn’t get them to bite.  None of our group caught a fish.  However, a local accompanied us and fished where the spillway flowed from the lake, catching six small trout.  We built a fire for warmth and enjoyed a picnic lunch.  Soon afterward, the mist turned to light rain, with the temperature steadily falling.  We made our way back to the vehicles and loaded up.  We left with some eight or ten more passengers in the two vehicles than we came with.  It is very common for the indigenous to ask for a ride, even if they don’t know you.  It always makes for an interesting trip.

When we got back to Alausi, Tocayo gave us the fish, saying he didn’t want them because he had a tank full of large trout on his farm.  Apparently, he raises them, along with a variety of animals, to sell and to feed his family.  I dressed the fish and Cathy fried them up.  Of course, the kids weren’t too thrilled that I had left the heads on, but the fish were tasty.  About the time we got them cooked, Tocayo and Jesusa came to our door with a bucket.  He said he was afraid the six small trout weren’t enough for a meal for my family, so he wanted us to have more.  He had brought us two really nice and beautiful trout, probably 15 or 16 inches long each, from his tank.   What a blessing from our friends!  I dressed these fish and we will try them baked (with the heads on) for supper tonight. 

What a great day spent with our new-found friends enjoying God’s marvelous creation!

Panorama of the lake where we fished, one of at least 17 lakes at Ozogoche

(l to r in rear) Cesar, Tocayo, and (l to r in front) Benoni, Jesusa, and Lucecita starting a fire for warmth

The local man who caught all of the fish

The catch – 6 small trout

After the rope broke 3 times, we were finally able to pull (and push) Tocayo’s vehicle out of the mud

Some of the guest passengers on the return trip