{"id":220,"date":"2014-10-31T23:48:17","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T23:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/?p=220"},"modified":"2014-11-01T16:20:06","modified_gmt":"2014-11-01T16:20:06","slug":"day-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Day of the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Because I live, you also will live.” John 14:19<\/p>\n

I’m sitting here at our kitchen table on this cloudy and cool Friday evening. While those in the States are donning costumes and going trick or treating, my friends and neighbors here in Quito are getting ready for a long holiday weekend celebrating the “Dia de los Difuntos” which translates, “The Day of the Dead.” Around these parts this mostly means making the traditional “Guagua de Pan”- “Bread Babies” and “Colada Morada” – “Blood red hot fruit drink”. That is, in fact, what I’m sipping on right now. A friend dropped us off a hefty tupperware full of the potion, it is fruity and sweet with hints of cinnamon and other unknown spices.<\/p>\n

\"guaguas\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In Ecuador the day of the dead means\u00a0traditionally that families would gather together,\u00a0transport a meal (along with bread babies and colada) to the cemetery. They would eat together around the graves of their beloved deceased, commemorating and also offering the food to the spirits who they believed were still present. This seems to stem from a very strong belief in the real presence of the spirits of the dead.\u00a0As is true of most traditions, this one has evolved over the years, the strong spiritual significance has\u00a0waned, at least where we live,\u00a0and now mostly families spend the weekend together munching bread, sipping colada and and only sometimes visiting the graves of the departed in their family.<\/p>\n

The strong family ties that my Ecuadorian friends have are beautiful, I also so appreciate that they take time to remember the lives of those who have gone on before them. On the other hand, I am grateful for the hope in Christ that I and many of my friends here share. We believe in a Savior who has come to bring us life, full and free. He says though we physically die, those who place their\u00a0faith in Christ look forward to eternal life. In this holiday that is all about death, it is good to remember the very real Christ who lived, died and rose again that we might have life abundant.<\/em><\/p>\n

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

“Because I live, you also will live.” John 14:19 I’m sitting here at our kitchen table on this cloudy and cool Friday evening. While those in the States are donning costumes and going trick or treating, my friends and neighbors … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDay of the Dead - Josh and Naomi Swenson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Day of the Dead - Josh and Naomi Swenson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Because I live, you also will live.” John 14:19 I’m sitting here at our kitchen table on this cloudy and cool Friday evening. While those in the States are donning costumes and going trick or treating, my friends and neighbors … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Josh and Naomi Swenson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-31T23:48:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-01T16:20:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2014\/10\/guaguas-1024x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"joshnaomi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"joshnaomi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"joshnaomi\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/16349aa6b0bdee671bb7b55972c7b99e\"},\"headline\":\"Day of the Dead\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-31T23:48:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-01T16:20:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":362,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/116\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/guaguas-1024x1024.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/\",\"name\":\"Day of the Dead - Josh and Naomi Swenson\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/116\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/guaguas-1024x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-31T23:48:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-01T16:20:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/16349aa6b0bdee671bb7b55972c7b99e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/116\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/guaguas.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/116\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/guaguas.jpg\",\"width\":1936,\"height\":1936},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/31\\\/day-of-the-dead\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Day of the Dead\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/\",\"name\":\"Josh and Naomi Swenson\",\"description\":\"We are followers of Christ, travelers, coffee drinkers, missionaries. Privileged to be serving God together wherever He leads, and right now that is Quito, Ecuador.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/16349aa6b0bdee671bb7b55972c7b99e\",\"name\":\"joshnaomi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/94233ebdb45cd218b144a841dd9d6ddf281709894cc8227d798edcc458802b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/94233ebdb45cd218b144a841dd9d6ddf281709894cc8227d798edcc458802b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/94233ebdb45cd218b144a841dd9d6ddf281709894cc8227d798edcc458802b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"joshnaomi\"},\"description\":\"We are followers of Christ, travelers, coffee drinkers, missionaries. Privileged to be serving God together wherever He leads.\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/jnswenson\\\/author\\\/joshnaomi\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Day of the Dead - Josh and Naomi Swenson","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":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Day of the Dead - Josh and Naomi Swenson","og_description":"“Because I live, you also will live.” John 14:19 I’m sitting here at our kitchen table on this cloudy and cool Friday evening. While those in the States are donning costumes and going trick or treating, my friends and neighbors … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/","og_site_name":"Josh and Naomi Swenson","article_published_time":"2014-10-31T23:48:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-01T16:20:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2014\/10\/guaguas-1024x1024.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"joshnaomi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"joshnaomi","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/"},"author":{"name":"joshnaomi","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/#\/schema\/person\/16349aa6b0bdee671bb7b55972c7b99e"},"headline":"Day of the Dead","datePublished":"2014-10-31T23:48:17+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-01T16:20:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/"},"wordCount":362,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2014\/10\/guaguas-1024x1024.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/","name":"Day of the Dead - Josh and Naomi Swenson","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2014\/10\/guaguas-1024x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-31T23:48:17+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-01T16:20:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/#\/schema\/person\/16349aa6b0bdee671bb7b55972c7b99e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2014\/10\/guaguas.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2014\/10\/guaguas.jpg","width":1936,"height":1936},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/2014\/10\/31\/day-of-the-dead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Day of the Dead"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/","name":"Josh and Naomi Swenson","description":"We are followers of Christ, travelers, coffee drinkers, missionaries. Privileged to be serving God together wherever He leads, and right now that is Quito, Ecuador.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/#\/schema\/person\/16349aa6b0bdee671bb7b55972c7b99e","name":"joshnaomi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/94233ebdb45cd218b144a841dd9d6ddf281709894cc8227d798edcc458802b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/94233ebdb45cd218b144a841dd9d6ddf281709894cc8227d798edcc458802b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/94233ebdb45cd218b144a841dd9d6ddf281709894cc8227d798edcc458802b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"joshnaomi"},"description":"We are followers of Christ, travelers, coffee drinkers, missionaries. Privileged to be serving God together wherever He leads.","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/author\/joshnaomi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220\/revisions\/229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/jnswenson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}