{"id":9455,"date":"2025-12-05T13:05:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T17:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455"},"modified":"2026-01-31T22:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T02:43:45","slug":"mission-in-reverse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455","title":{"rendered":"Mission In Reverse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Toward the beginning of November, we welcomed a Mission Team from Ecuador consisting of 5 staff members from the project in Cayambe and the President of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador.<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Our time together here in the States was absolutely amazing and simply not long enough!\u00a0 It was such a privilege to host our Ecuadorian friends, hear their stories in person, and grow closer in our relationships with all of those who make up the Santiago Partnership in the United States.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The team landed safely on Wednesday afternoon and settled in with their New Community host families.\u00a0 Thursday was spent touring their community, followed by a dinner for fellow mission trip members.<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

North Park Theological Seminary<\/a> hosted a panel discussion on Friday, featuring our own Esther Moriera as one of the panelists.\u00a0 They were then given an architectural boat tour in downtown Chicago, saw some sights, and enjoyed a fun dinner out.\u00a0 Saturday morning took them to New Community Covenant Church<\/a>\u00a0of Chicago (Bronzeville) for a workshop on pursuing justice for the marginalized.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our most anticipated event, Fiesta del Ecuador, the Celebration Dinner for the Santiago Partnership, was a huge success!\u00a0 The team was able to showcase their talents, their hard work, and their hearts.\u00a0 Our supporters offered encouragement and celebrated the ministry on the ground in Ecuador.\u00a0 We were able to share our vision for the future and how we can all work together to see it come to fruition.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Sunday morning, we all gathered at the\u00a0Church of the <\/a>Good Shepherd\u00a0<\/a>for a meet-and-greet with the staff, followed by a multicultural worship service.\u00a0 Songs were sung in both Spanish and English, with prayers and scripture being translated in both languages as well.\u00a0 Pastor Christian Sani, President of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador, gave the message.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday evening took us to the Little Village, a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago.\u00a0 We met with a local church team from New Life Church, who showed us their nonprofit that helps families in need and discussed their various cultural church services.\u00a0 We enjoyed dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant, where the food was compared to that of Ecuador.\u00a0 Snow was once again falling as we headed back to Church of the Good Shepherd.\u00a0 Our Ecuadorian friends wavered between excitement to see it and asking us how we could live like this, since it was so incredibly cold!<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday and Tuesday were spent doing fun \u201cAmerican\u201d things with the team.\u00a0 They enjoyed quiet coffee shops, busy shopping stores, hiking at Starved Rock State Park, and more fellowship with friends and partners over meals.\u00a0 Tuesday afternoon, a \u201cFriendsgiving\u201d was planned to honor the upcoming holiday and Joel’s birthday!\u00a0 What an excellent opportunity to give thanks to one another and the work God is doing in both our countries.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saying goodbye is always bittersweet.\u00a0 This time together deepened our relationships and encouraged us to keep looking forward, yet our hearts are divided between two places.\u00a0 In Ecuador, greetings and goodbyes are heartfelt, given out like everyone is family.\u00a0 For a little while, with our friends in our midst, we experienced that kind of love right here in the U.S. And for that, we are better off.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

We are grateful for the partners who made this reverse mission trip possible. It is a tremendous opportunity to show us how ministry looks in other cultures.<\/em><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toward the beginning of November, we welcomed a Mission Team from Ecuador consisting of 5 staff members from the project in Cayambe and the President of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador. Our time together here in the States was absolutely amazing and simply not long enough!\u00a0 It was such a privilege to host our … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,42,4074,24728,10,72],"tags":[24667,186,171,4055,154,24668,115,24649,4064,24729,18825,24648,178,24651],"class_list":["post-9455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-fun","category-ministry","category-reflections","category-reverse-mission-tripe","category-travel","category-updates","tag-board-of-directors","tag-ecuador-info","tag-evangelical-covenant-church","tag-face","tag-friends","tag-home","tag-ipee","tag-ministry","tag-mission-teams","tag-reverse-mission-trip","tag-the-santiago-partnership","tag-travel","tag-trips","tag-updates"],"yoast_head":"\nMission In Reverse - Delplog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mission In Reverse - Delplog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toward the beginning of November, we welcomed a Mission Team from Ecuador consisting of 5 staff members from the project in Cayambe and the President of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador. Our time together here in the States was absolutely amazing and simply not long enough!\u00a0 It was such a privilege to host our … Continue reading »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Delplog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-05T17:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-01T02:43:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/IMG_6469.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"824\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joel & Kim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joel & Kim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joel & Kim\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3bb4fa8f67e57eaed2bce69b8835663\"},\"headline\":\"Mission In Reverse\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-05T17:05:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-01T02:43:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455\"},\"wordCount\":572,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/IMG_6469.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"501c3\",\"Ecuador Info\",\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"FACE\",\"Friends\",\"Home\",\"IPEE\",\"Ministry\",\"Mission Teams\",\"Reverse Mission Trip\",\"The Santiago Partnership\",\"Travel\",\"Trips\",\"Updates\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Family Fun\",\"Ministry\",\"Reflections\",\"Reverse Mission Tripe\",\"Travel\",\"Updates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455\",\"name\":\"Mission In Reverse - Delplog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/IMG_6469.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-05T17:05:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-01T02:43:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3bb4fa8f67e57eaed2bce69b8835663\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/IMG_6469.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/IMG_6469.jpg\",\"width\":824,\"height\":624},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?p=9455#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mission In Reverse\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/\",\"name\":\"Delplog\",\"description\":\"Serving Christ in Ecuador\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e3bb4fa8f67e57eaed2bce69b8835663\",\"name\":\"Joel & Kim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/00871877ff168086e83df0d4f52faff3688dbdeb547f418140c892edae1632c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/00871877ff168086e83df0d4f52faff3688dbdeb547f418140c892edae1632c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/00871877ff168086e83df0d4f52faff3688dbdeb547f418140c892edae1632c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joel & Kim\"},\"description\":\"We were married in May 2002 and have known for years now that we wanted to be missionaries, Kim since she was 10 years old and Joel since college. God has brought our lives together to serve Him in any aspect we can. God has given us the vision to start a home for at risk children and a medical clinic in Ecuador, South America. This blog gives you a look into our lives and dreams. We know that we are simple people and often feel like Moses making excuses why others would be better equipped for His purpose. However, we cling to the promises that God has given us and we know that if God has called us, He will also equip us. Happy reading!\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\"],\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/delp\\\/?author=12\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mission In Reverse - Delplog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mission In Reverse - Delplog","og_description":"Toward the beginning of November, we welcomed a Mission Team from Ecuador consisting of 5 staff members from the project in Cayambe and the President of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador. Our time together here in the States was absolutely amazing and simply not long enough!\u00a0 It was such a privilege to host our … Continue reading »","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455","og_site_name":"Delplog","article_published_time":"2025-12-05T17:05:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-01T02:43:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":824,"height":624,"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/IMG_6469.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joel & Kim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joel & Kim","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455"},"author":{"name":"Joel & Kim","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/#\/schema\/person\/e3bb4fa8f67e57eaed2bce69b8835663"},"headline":"Mission In Reverse","datePublished":"2025-12-05T17:05:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-01T02:43:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455"},"wordCount":572,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/IMG_6469.jpg","keywords":["501c3","Ecuador Info","Evangelical Covenant Church","FACE","Friends","Home","IPEE","Ministry","Mission Teams","Reverse Mission Trip","The Santiago Partnership","Travel","Trips","Updates"],"articleSection":["Family Fun","Ministry","Reflections","Reverse Mission Tripe","Travel","Updates"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455","name":"Mission In Reverse - Delplog","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/IMG_6469.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-05T17:05:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-01T02:43:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/#\/schema\/person\/e3bb4fa8f67e57eaed2bce69b8835663"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/IMG_6469.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/IMG_6469.jpg","width":824,"height":624},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?p=9455#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mission In Reverse"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/","name":"Delplog","description":"Serving Christ in Ecuador","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/#\/schema\/person\/e3bb4fa8f67e57eaed2bce69b8835663","name":"Joel & Kim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00871877ff168086e83df0d4f52faff3688dbdeb547f418140c892edae1632c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00871877ff168086e83df0d4f52faff3688dbdeb547f418140c892edae1632c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00871877ff168086e83df0d4f52faff3688dbdeb547f418140c892edae1632c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joel & Kim"},"description":"We were married in May 2002 and have known for years now that we wanted to be missionaries, Kim since she was 10 years old and Joel since college. God has brought our lives together to serve Him in any aspect we can. God has given us the vision to start a home for at risk children and a medical clinic in Ecuador, South America. This blog gives you a look into our lives and dreams. We know that we are simple people and often feel like Moses making excuses why others would be better equipped for His purpose. However, we cling to the promises that God has given us and we know that if God has called us, He will also equip us. Happy reading!","sameAs":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp"],"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/?author=12"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9455"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9663,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9455\/revisions\/9663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/delp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}