L to R: Nancy, Isaac, me, Pastor Ivan and Braulio. I live with Pastor Ivan, his wife Nancy and their son; Braulio, who we gave the English name Bradley, has done ministry with us each day.
Many of you want to know what life is like here in the jungle, so here's the rundown, or at least the start, to help you get a picture of my life in Ecuador:
1. Ministry
In my previous blog I had written that we would be constructing a women’s dormitory and putting on a VBS for the children in Huaticocha. Now that we’ve been here a week, I can give you a better description, though it may change throughout the month.
Mornings are spent at the work site about a mile walk from our home. There we are in the beginning stages of construction to build a new church, a missionary training center with dormitories and guest home for visiting pastors. Upon arrival, we thought there were be previous structures that we would be adding on to…not so much the case. We are pretty much in the jungle with distinctly marked paths and cleared areas where each of these buildings will go…eventually. Most of our task is moving dirt and gravel, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow, to different locations so we can begin construction.
Ready for work: got my standard rubber boots and my machete.
After a week of this, I’m much more appreciative of the paths that have been cleared and the holes that have been dug because I know that many hours of work that has gone into them. Even as my muscles fatigue, I’m sold on the vision of it all- to train and build up the natives of the area and send them back to their small villages to share the Gospel. Most Ecuadorians from these small villages go to Quito (capital city) for seminary or more training but never go back to their hometowns because they can find better jobs in the city. The work we’re doing will provide another opportunity and continue the ministry in these villages.
Afternoons are spent doing visitas or home visits to the people of Huaticocha or neighboring villages. Pastor Ivan has typically set up these visits or we just stop in and are always welcomed. So far, we’ve visited, shared our stories and prayed for a sick woman, a gal who just had a baby (10 days old), a family in the most remote place in the jungle, an elderly couple who could possibly be the shortest people I’ve ever stood next to and many others. Imagine if you lived in a rural village where everyone has similar features and then 6 gringos walk into your home… yeah. I would say most people are excited to get to know us and hear our stories, since this is a very relational culture. We’ve gotten a few strange looks though…first of many I’m sure.
Evenings are spent attending and sharing at cultos which is the Spanish word for worship service. My favorite one so far has been at Nuevo Esperanza. No joke, I hiked up a mountain in my skirt and rubber boats (everyone wears them here) to give the message in Spanish. For my Wisconsin readers, think hiking up a bluff at Devil’s Lake but with out the nice quartzite steps. Replace them instead with mud, mud and more mud. Yeah…I was drenched in sweat and covered in mud by the time we reached the top but nobody seemed to care. They thought the gringos were strange for changing out of our boots into sandals for the service.
We will do some children’s services and work with the youth at some point in the month but that’s the basic layout of my day. I would gauge I’m fairly exhausted…kinda of like when you’re in high school and have 2-a-day practices for sports but I’m loving being here and feel satisfied by the full days.
2. Housing
We live with Pastor Ivan, his wife Nancy and their 4-year-old son Isaac. They own a large home for this village and use every square inch or their space. I sleep in side bedroom with the other gals in a bunk bed with bug nets. I attempted to revert to my childhood and sleep on the top bunk because that was to cool thing to do; however, I looked like a large bug caught in the net as I attempted to get up and down, in and out and keep all the bugs out. Needless to say, I’ve moved to the bottom bunk.
The guys stay in another room that is placed behind the storefront. Nancy makes the best pan de chocolate or chocolate bread and sells it in their small family store. The kitchen, dining area and church are all located in the basement. There are two bathrooms- one for numero uno, one for numero dos. The number 2 bathroom is about 30 feet from the house, so if you’ve got to go in the morning you better hope it’s not raining…and you have to duck under the clotheslines. Everyone in Ecuador is about 5 feet tall, so I’ve got to watch my head. Brother, I’m starting to understand what you feel like!
My home in Huaticocha, Ecuador. This picture is taken from the backyard (by toilet #2).
I’ll continue the next installment of the run down when Internet is available- it’s hard to come by here and when you do, it’s oober slow. So, leave me a comment and let me know what else you want to hear about from the jungle. Hope this helps you get a picture of what my life is like here and how other people live. As always, thanks for your prayers and support! Love you all!
