Experiencing the Quechua District

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We returned this Friday afternoon after experiencing the Quechua district here in Ecuador.  I (Kim) have heard so much about the Quechua district, but never have experienced it myself.  Joel has visited many Quechua churches, but always without Simeon or myself.  So, it was very much a privilege to visit 6 different Quechua ministries.  The Quechua have a rich history as descendants of the Incas.  They have gone through much persecution as the native or indigenous people of the Ecuador.  The persecution has come from Spaniards, Catholic priests, and most recently over land issues (much like the American Indians of the U.S.).

The Quechua district of the Covenant Church here in Ecuador (IPEE) is in Cayambe and South and Southeast of Cayambe.  See where the Quechua area is in Ecuador below on the map.  The Quechua district is not the representation on this map according to the church, but you can get an idea…

Map of Indigenous American Indians in Ecuador

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met with all but one of the churches on Wednesday morning in Cayambe.  We had a great discussion about vision and mission in the area.  There was a lot of excitement and a lot of people interested in ministries to children.  We ended up basically visiting all of the Quechua ministries.  It’s a very exciting time.  On Wednesday, we visited Iglesia Nazareno with a Compassion ministry of 290, Iglesia Emanuel with a Compassion Ministry of 530, and another Compassion ministry in Carrera.  On Thursday, we visited Iglesia San Antonio and Oyacachi.  On Friday we visited Escuela Francisco Aigaje in 4 Lote.

All in all, we had a great trip.  I was so excited to be able to finally visit the Quechua district and meet these beautiful people that are so welcoming and kind.  We gathered a lot of good information as well for the field study.  Enjoy the pictures below…

Meeting at Iglesia Nazareno on Wednesday Morning

 

Meeting at Iglesia Nazareno

 

Iglesia Emanuel with a Compassion Program of over 500 children

 

A little girl from the Compassion Center at Emanuel

The site of a medical clinic with Iglesia Emanuel

Iglesia Carrera

Iglesia San Antonio (basically the whole church came to the meeting)

Kids from Iglesia San Antonio

This little guy and Simeon were running around the church during the meeting at Iglesia San Antonio

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Trip to the Coast (Manta and Montecristi)

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We returned last evening from our trip to the Northern Coastal district including Manta and Montecristi.  It was VERY different there-super hot and pretty buggy, which is very different from Quito-we don’t really have any bugs here!  But, enough about the bugs and heat-that definitely wasn’t the important part of our trip.  On Wednesday after arriving on Tuesday (April 17th) we visited the only Covenant Church in Manta, La Victoria.  While we were there, we were able to see and experience the vision for this church and the community it serves.  They have a vision for opening a daycare for the kids in the community where the church is located.  This area has many single mothers who work all day and need help with their children.  Some environments where they live are full of alcohol and violence and the church hopes to be able to expose these children to Jesus and his love in the midst of their home lives.  We were very excited to see this church and meet Pastor Lauro.  See pictures below of the daycare-it is almost completely finished and already has people waiting in line to sign up.  Please pray for La Victoria and Pastor Lauro as they are waiting on government documents to be able to open!

On Thursday, we were able to have a little family time at the beach and eat some amazing seafood!

On Friday, we were planning on having a meeting with all the pastors from this district.  We still had the meeting, but Joel came down with a very bad stomach bug and couldn’t get out of bed.  At the last minute, Kim did her best to lead the meeting.  She definitely stepped out of her comfort zone with this, but a lot of information was gathered and processed and at the end of the meeting one pastor said “so when is the next one!”    (Sorry we don’t have pictures from the meeting, as you can imagine Simeon would have been taking them and those are very hit or miss!)

Joel had other meetings to attend with F.A.C.E. and the Pastor Advisory Committee.  As the camp president, he has a lot more responsibilities and political issues to maneuver.  As you can imagine with the stomach bug, he wasn’t able to attend all of these meetings-only some.

Praise the Lord he was feeling better yesterday as we made the 7-8 hour trip back to Quito.  Thank you for your prayers.  We definitely feel them and see God’s hand protecting us in many ways throughout our trips.  During this trip, Simeon was playing and we didn’t realize there was a drop where he was playing.  Luckily he didn’t want to check it out and stopped before he fell.  Also, recently at the Camp where we visit, they found a snake (an ‘X’ which is very poisonous).  We are very thankful nobody was hurt, but that the snake just slithered away.  As you know, we make many trips to the camp.  Please know that when you pray for us God hears your prayers and we feel them in our daily lives and daily experiences and WE THANK YOU!

Classroom set up at the daycare

Chairs set up for class

SO cute1 They have little toilets, little showers and sinks that are child size!

Kim and Pastor Lauro in the sleeping room with mini cots!

Joel and Simeon enjoying some beach time!

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For the Northwest Covenant 2011 Team…Picture updates of Iglesia Divino Pastor

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Joel & Kim

This past week we were in Ibarra, north of Quito.  This is the area where our home church Northwest Covenant in Mt. Prospect, IL went last summer with the youth mission team.  We were able to accompany them during this 2 week trip.  We were able to work on a new church/Compassion International Center at Iglesia Divino Pastor.  It was so great to re-visit this area and see the changes!  It’s so exciting!

So, this is a picture update of the changes over the last few months since we were all there.

Upstairs central area (looks down over the sanctuary

The 'mini' library, the 1st classroom on the left when you come up the stairs on the 2nd floor

Another view of the library

Another classroom

Mural as you come up the stairs to the 2nd floor. I believe it was painted by the youth of the church

Kitchen

Current Sanctuary area

Another view of the current sanctuary

Future new sanctuary site (and they have 2 pups now too!)

Another view from the 2nd floor of the new site for the sanctuary

Ulla, Joel and the Compassion International director

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Weekly Travel Schedule

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Joel & Kim

Just thought we would share our weekly travel schedule for the week of April 17-22…

We will be leaving for the Northern Coastal area of Ecuador, specifically the area of Manabi.  We will be having meetings for the field study Wed-Friday.  We don’t know specific meeting times and dates yet, but we know they will be these days.  Joel also will have meetings with the Advisory Counsels of the Covenant Church here in Ecuador.  We will be returning on Sunday the 22nd.

Please pray for our travel as Manabi is 6-7 hours away from Quito.  Pray for our meetings, that they go well and that we will continue encountering people who are passionate about children’s ministries.  May God go before us and lead the way!

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Congratulations Senor President!

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Joel & Kim

Just thought we would add a quick note to let you all know that on Friday (April 13) there was a meeting of the new camp committee and Joel was (reluctantly on his part) elected to be the new president of the committee.  He was actually trying to let some of the responsibility go in regards to the camp because there are a lot of other things going on right now, but the committee elected him so he can’t really say no.

Please pray for him and this added responsibility.  Ask God to give him wisdom in helping make decisions and change for the camp.

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Visit to Ibarra and the North District of Ecuador

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We returned on Wednesday late at night from a couple day visit to the North District of Ecuador.  This visit included trips to San Gabriel (close to the Colombian border), Ibarra, and 2 indigenous churches in Zuleta and Pungo Huayco.  It was a great time of visiting with pastor’s and lay leaders who are passionate about children’s ministries.  We had a meeting on Monday night with all but 2 churches in the district to talk about our future ministry with the center for at-risk children and medical clinic.  Joel went to San Gabriel on Tuesday morning and then the whole family went to visit Zuleta.  It has been wonderful getting to know these areas that are only 2-3 hours from Quito.  There is a lot of excitement about the possibilities in the North District.  One plus in thinking about this area is that there are many Compassion International Centers in these areas.  It’s a fairly poor area of Ecuador, and although there are not obvious problems of abandonment of children, there are definitely a lot of at-risk children.

Please continue to pray for us as we gather information for the field study and wisdom for those who will be making decisions about where future ministries will be.

Members of the indigenous church of Pungo Huayco. There are ladies wearing the traditional dress of the community.

Another angle during the meeting

Joel with the Compassion International director and Swedish missionary Ulla

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Happy Easter!!!

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Joel & Kim

 

He has risen!!  He has risen indeed!!!  Happy Easter from Ecuador!

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Field Study Traveling — The North District

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We’ll be leaving on Monday for the Ibarra area (up North) we’re we’ll be doing our second visit in the Field Study for the Center for At Risk Children and Medical Clinic.  We should be returning late on Thursday.  Please pray for safe travel and for God’s leading in our meetings.

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Quito’s Good Friday Procession

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We had an amazing cultural experience yesterday, Good Friday, going to Quito’s Good Friday Procession.  We didn’t have the chance to go last year and we had heard so much about it that we decided that we couldn’t pass it up this year since we were here in Quito.

To explain, Quito’s Good Friday Procession is a Catholic Church tradition of following the footsteps of Jesus on his walk to the cross.  But more than that, it is the opportunity for many Catholics to engage in the Catholic sacrament of penance where they suffer (literally) for their sins in the past year as a way of seeking forgiveness.  These ways to suffer in this procession include carrying a huge wooden cross, wearing a crown of thorns or barbwire and/or chains on their feet and also not wearing shoes on the blistering hot asphalt as they walk the 5 miles of the procession.  Some penitents took it a step further by wearing crosses made from cacti strapped to their back, wrapping barbwire around their body or lashing themselves with some kind of cord or chain.

Though we aren’t quite on the same page theologically speaking, we did very much appreciate the cultural experience and understand that many of the people were very sincere in the faith.

With the pictures below, unfortunately the clothes that the penitents (purple robes with pointed hoods) wore has a different meaning in the States.  No, these are not Ku Klux Klan members; rather they are Catholics acting out their Christian faith in a way that is very important for them.

Depiction of Jesus being lead by the Roman guards.

No not Ku Klux Klan members. Penitents walking the path of the cross of Jesus.

Penitents carrying the cross.

Penitent who wrapped himself in barbwire.

The mourners.

Simeon had the best seat in the house.

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Thank You Knollbrook Covenant Church

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Joel & Kim

Friends from Knollbrook Covenant Church in Fargo,ND

We received quite the wonderful little blessing from Knollbrook Covenant Church in Fargo, ND, their Missions Commission and the Burrows family.  The Burrows, pictured left, came down to Quito over Easter break to visit their daughter, Katie, who works at the Alliance Academy (a Christian school that is right next to us).  The Missions Commission Chairperson, Diana Knecht, had emailed us previously to see if there was anything that we needed that the Burrows could bring down.  We had thought of a couple of little things and emailed her back.  Well, much to our surprise and as churches often do, they brought down 30 lbs worth of goodies!!!  They brought us a ton of the Gerber snack foods for Simeon (which are great on all of our road trips), peanut butter (which is really expensive here), cake mixes and icings (also really hard to come by), chocolate chips (impossible to get her), and brownie mixes.  And they even brought down one of the giant books that Kim needs to read for her classes over the summer so we don’t have to buy it and have it sent down.

We just felt incredibly blessed by their love of us through these wonderful gifts.  The most special part of it for us is that we know that a church, which we’ve never had prior contact, was thinking about us and praying for us and wanting to bless us in this way.  The things are wonderful of course, but it’s the fact that people we didn’t even know were thinking about us and praying for us.  At times, we can feel a little bit distant from all of you in the States but when blessings like this occur, we feel a ton closer.  THANK YOU KNOLLBROOK COVENANT CHURCH!!!

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