to Ecuador
to Ecuador
Departing from Oakland Baptist parking lot, a few friends brave the early morning 6am send off time. Quito is a huge city in the Andes mountains at 9,500 feet above sea level, surrounded by volcanoes. The house is large by Quito standards, in a middle class Ecuadorian neighorhood in the city and is plain but very nice. We have the upstairs all to ourselves, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a small den. Here is Jemina and Tony, part of our host family. Here are photos of our room, Andrea & Rachel's room, Melissa's room, a view or two out of the girls room window, our hallway upstairs, the view out of our window, and the small courtyard for the house. We can see one volcano from our house.We can also see the Basillica, the main Catholic church of Ecuador from our house, as we are very near the old city. Here are the steps leading to the old city at the end of our street. Here are some general scenes of the mountains from the northern part of Quito | 1 | 2 and an Ecuadorian meal at a restaurant, where we had our welcome/orientation meal with other "Global Outreach" missionaries. The school is a brisk 20 - 25 minute walk downhill in the morning through city traffic and UPHILL in the evening. Here I am with 2 other students: one from Kentucky and one from Austria.
We also have students from Egypt, and England. There are new students coming and going all the time from all over the world.
We went into the old city, some parts are 300 years old. On the walk there we went over some incredible hills, where we could see the huge statue of the Virgin Mary on a hill in the distance called "the Panacia", and the Basilica - the main catholic church of Ecuador. This is the old town square, where a number of churches and old buildings are. The Oldest is San Franscisco church, 500 years old. Inside is covered with gold, paintings, statues, and artwork of all kinds. Outside are beggars and an endless stream of visitors. Here is a nice shot Diego took there. We went into the old city again, this time to visit a Quichua evengelical church where one of Sara's teams would be working soon. We met with one of the pastors, the architect, Sara Risser, and a number of others involved in the restoration of the building next door, where they hope to build a daycare center for the congregation. Here is a model of the proposed building. Together we prayed over the need for the government to allow them to finish this portion of the project for their church. This past Friday, the city issued an order for them to halt work. Here are some scenes of the inside of the area under construction, where the roof caved in last year. The Quichua evengelical church is called Alianza Cristiana y Misionera "El Tejar". It is plain but a beautiful place for the indigenous people of the city to meet and praise the Lord in an evangelical church. a Sunday School area Here are 2 local pastors. left: Pedro is assoc. pastor of this church and is starting a bilingual church on the north of Quito for the Spanish speaking and Quichua. Rafael is a pastor for a bilingual church in "the valley" nearby. His wife is Dioselina. One day a curious procession came by our house, complete with music... honoring Mary. Diego says it is very common. Here is a closeup of the idol they carry and worship. It reminds me of the people of Israel of the Old Testament. Last Saturday, we saw a similar procession, but the statue tumbled off and broke into a million pieces. That's the problem with idols. They can't even take care of themselves. My favorite picture of the week. The Quichua people are extremely poor, and looked down on by the general population. I could not help but here these words of Jesus when I saw this old lady on the church steps. Matthew 11:28 - "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest..."We are settling into a routine... of Language school and learning the culture. Our ministry is the people around us, as it was at home. We continue to have evening
family devotions together with Diego's family. Diego has gone to church more Sunday's in a row than he has in many years.
The relationship with my teacher
is progressing and I continue to interject something spiritual with a bible reference each day. I truly admire and like him, as well as Diego.
We have finally gotten "aclimatized" to the altitude, and no one has been sick from the stomache bug in a while.
As I shared in our eNewsletter, Homesickness, isolation, and a much tougher environment are all taking their toll on us. The strength of God's purpose for us, and your prayers carry us through.
Please continue to pray!
On the home front: The house has a signed contract, and closing is set for the end of August. PRAISE GOD!
No news on the car.
JULY Photos
It turns out that we can see 3 volcanos from our house, depending on the clarity of the day. Antisana, Cayumbe, and Cotapaxi. (It may be hard to see in the distance, but it is the pure white thing among the clouds.
Here are some shots of the English Fellowship Church, near HCJB. We attend it every other week, alternating with different Ecuadorian churches.
a few shots of the streets and people in the neighborhood to get a flavor of our surroundings. Here is a shot of Melissa and I walking home from school, and our new house-helper that Andrea has befriended named Leanora. Some of these shots are from outside Quito in smaller village settings, with a lot of indigenous people and the countryside.
Some of our interesting modes of transportation have been the colorful buses where the children can ride up front, and the back of a pickup truck designed for hauling food to market.
It turns out that we can see 3 volcanoes from our house, depending on the clarity of the day. Antisana, Cayumbe, and Cotapaxi. (It may be hard to see in the distance, but it is the pure white thing among the clouds.
Last Sunday we went to Diego's home church in the Old City. It is Pentacostal Ecuadorian style, plain but nice. Praise music for a solid hour and preaching for another!
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