Trip to Manta (May 9-13) - Starting the Soup Kitchen (comedor)

We left Monday morning (May 9) with a packed car.  We took 96 Bibles, 2000 plastic carry-out containers, 2 tarps, several airplane pillows that had been left at the Guesthouse, and our own things.  We went with the plan of starting the soup kitchen on Wednesday, May 11.  We knew a group from Vineyard Church of Pallatanga (other OMS missionaries) would be coming on Tuesday night and we would be setting things up together.

We arrived in Manta Monday afternoon and went to the hostel to check-in.  The power was out and they told us they were working on it.  We knew the pastor and his family were spending time with the pastor's wife's family in another town and that they were planning to be back in Manta around 5:00.  After we checked in it was after 5:00 so we tried to get ahold of the pastor but couldn't.  We found out later he didn't have any minutes left on his phone.  We decided to drive over to the church and see if they were there...they weren't.  So we went back to the hostel.  Since the power was out at the hostel we didn't wait in our room, instead we sat on the patio where we could feel some breeze.  After a few more attempts trying to reach the pastor we decided to go to the church again, and if they weren't there we would go get something to eat. This time they were there.  We spent some time with them and told them what we wanted to do on Tuesday before the Vineyard Church group arrived.  We also said that none of us had ever set up a soup kitchen before, so we didn't have all the details planned out yet.

The Vineyard Church group was planning on sleeping at the church, so we needed to buy mattresses for them.  The Vineyard Church group had 13 people in it: an OMS missionary family (5), Ecuadorians that work with them (4), and short-term OMS missionaries (4).  The missionary family runs the OMS camp in Pallatanga, Ecuador - they were the perfect people to help start the soup kitchen since they have a lot of experience cooking for a large number of people.

On Tuesday Hannah and I went with the pastor to buy the mattresses - we bought 15 and they were less than $12 each.

After we got back to the church, we set up one of the tarps.

Some of the kids from the youth group came over to the church in the afternoon to do cleaning: the girls cleaned the church floor and the boys cleaned up the patio outside the church.

They filled buckets with water from the baptistry and dumped them on the floor

The Vineyard Church group had told us what food/ingredients to buy for the first meal so we went with the pastor and his wife to do that after we cleaned up the church.

By this time it was dark and time for supper.  The pastor invited us eat "corviche" which we had never had before.  There is a restaurant half a block from the church that serves corviches and the pastor and his family like to eat there.

Corviche - sort of like a corn dog with fish cooked into the breading.  In the middle is "aji" - a popular salsa in Ecuador.  

Very good strawberry smoothie!

The Vineyard Church group was still on their way so we accepted the pastor's invitation to a birthday party of one of the church members.  We didn't spend too much time there but it was good to be a part of.  Turns out it wasn't a big party - only the pastor's family, another couple from church and their baby, and us went.

After we sang, the birthday boy (man) bent down and took a bite out of the cake.  Then his wife got some frosting on her finger and put a little on his face.  Each person in his family shared some nice words about him.  Then others, including the pastor, spoke as well.  It was nice and encouraging.

As we were driving back to church, we got a message from the Vineyard Church group that they had arrived and were waiting for us at the church.  We talked some with them, they got their mattresses ready, and by the time we got back to the hostel and ready for bed it was after midnight.

On Wednesday morning we had to buy a few more things before getting started with the meal preparation. This is what the "kitchen" set-up looks like:

Food prep area: chopping, peeling, cleaning, etc.

Cooking area

A few photos of the meal preparation:

On Wednesday, we prepared the meal in the afternoon and delivered it in the evening.  We made "arroz con pollo" (rice with chicken).  It's a lot of chopped up vegetables and shredded chicken mixed together with rice.  A reddish colored oil called "achiote" is added to turn the rice yellow.  It is a very popular meal in Ecuador and in many Latin American countries.

We put the the arroz con pollo in the plastic carry-out containers and we were ready to deliver close to 7:00 pm.
 

We stacked the containers in big cardboard boxes and put them in our vehicle.  We delivered 114 meals! The pastor and several others from the church went with us.  We took our vehicle and another vehicle.

One of the areas where we delivered - these people lived under these tarps because they lost their homes

On Thursday morning we were able to buy all our food and ingredients for the meal preparation.  We had the meal ready to deliver by about 1:00 pm.  We prepared "estofado de pollo" - not sure how to translate that... but it is a piece of chicken cooked in a special sauce along with vegetables and put on top of white rice.  With this meal we were able to deliver to 120 people.

Wherever the meals are delivered, the Gospel is shared and an invitation is given to come to a church service.  The pastor shares and so do many of the kids from the youth group.  It's really great to see.

All the people that received a meal were so appreciative.  They were very polite and so happy to see us.   We are so glad that we are able to be a part of helping them.

The church continues to receive donations for the victims, which is great.  At least weekly, they divide up the provisions in bags to be delivered.  We were privileged to be a part of one of the deliveries last time we were in Manta.

The plan for the soup kitchen is to continue serving for a few weeks.  We hope to have an OMS Ecuador missionary leading a group at the Manta church each week.  At this point, we are planning on serving a lunch meal 3 days out of the week.

Hannah and I may be returning in a couple weeks to help.  Please pray as we and all of the OMS Ecuador missionaries work with this church to serve the many needs of the earthquake victims in Manta.

Trip to Manta to visit OMS Church

Hannah and I were able to join some other OMS missionaries on a recent trip (May 2-4) to Manta, Ecuador.  We left from Quito and they left from Loja and we all met at the OMS church in Manta.  There were 7 of us in all. With a couple stops along the way, it was about an 8 hour trip for us.





Our purpose for the trip was to meet with the pastor and his family and find out how we can help.  We also wanted to visit some families of the church who had been most affected by the earthquake.

We arrived on Monday afternoon.  It was great to see several people from the youth group dividing up provisions/donations and putting them in bags to be handed out.

After checking in to our hostel we had dinner at the pastor's house, which is connected to the church building.  We had some time to talk with the pastor and his family.  They seem to be doing great and they really seem to have a good plan for helping their church members and others in the community.

Pastor Julio and his family

On Tuesday morning, we spent some more time with the pastor.  He showed us the report from the inspector who had inspected the church for earthquake damage.  There are several things on the report that need attention, but fortunately nothing is too serious that it is preventing any of the normal activities/services of the church.  The pastor and his family are also able to stay in their home.  OMS is considering which of the recommendations we will be able to help with, and when we will be able to.

Crack on the stage/platform at the front of the church

The pastor shared with us some of the things they have been doing.  He said that there are 33 families from the church that are receiving help from the church donations.  He said that number will decrease as the families are able to begin to provide for themselves again.  The church families are his first priority - the donations go to them first, and if there are extra they go to others in the community.

He also said that he has asked each family from the church to adopt 2 other families that they know are in need.  When the church receives extra donations, the church families are to deliver the provisions to their adopted families, and when possible share the gospel and invite them to the church.

After this, we went with the pastor to visit a couple of the families who had a lot of damage to their homes. We wanted to pray with them and encourage them.

Later in the afternoon, our OMS group joined several others from the church (many from the youth group) and went to a very affected area of Manta.  It was really sad to see the people and the damage from the earthquake.

 

We had loaded up our vehicles with the bags of provisions.  We passed them out and the pastor and his wife shared the gospel to different groups of people.  It was great to be a part of this, but really unfortunate to see people in this terrible situation.

The older gentleman (Miguel) in the middle of the picture in the green shirt "lives" with his family under the tarps.  You can see the mattresses where they sleep.  His house is part of the damaged structure on the left side of the picture.  He was very nice and polite but very sad as well - their whole community is just in so much need of help.

The situation there is so terrible.  It's really hard to think we can complain about anything in our lives.  These people have lost everything, and they have to live outside in the miserable heat and humidity of the Ecuadorian coast.   They are desperate for help - not only to take care of their physical needs, but just as importantly to be able to share their experience and feel like people care for them.

As darkness set in, we made our way back to the church.  We talked a little more with the pastor and felt like we had accomplished our purpose for the trip.  We left Wednesday morning and returned to Quito.

After spending some time in this community of Manta, we just want to be able to bring loads and loads of supplies to hand out.  The need is so much greater than the supply right now.  Pray that these people can get their lives back quickly and that many can see God's goodness and love through this.