Back in Ecuador!

Downtown Cuenca is ready for Christmas - lights and music everywhere!

Hello from Cuenca, Ecuador! Hope you all enjoy the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. We would have liked to write an update already, but we have been quite busy and without a lot of internet access.

We arrived safely in Quito around midnight on November 26th. All of our luggage arrived, even though we were told it might not. While we were waiting at the luggage carousel, Hannah’s name was called to go over to the luggage service counter. They told her that her 2 pieces of luggage (2 plastic tubs) may or may not have arrived with our flight. Since they weren’t sure, they told her to continue to wait at the carousel and see if they showed up. We waited at the carousel until all of the pieces of luggage came down - our 2 tubs were not there. So we went back to the luggage service counter, ready to find out what to do in order to get our missing luggage. As we approached the counter, we noticed a conveyor belt next to the service counter with other pieces of luggage, and our 2 tubs were there! One of the tubs was missing the metal latches that secure the top.  The latches either came off as they were moved around by the luggage handlers or someone purposefully removed them.  Probably because of that - since the lid wasn't able to be secured - they put the tubs on that other belt instead of the regular carousel.  No matter the reason, we are so thankful we didn’t have to go through the process of tracking down missing luggage.

We stayed 2 nights in Quito at the guesthouse where we lived and worked for 18 months. In Quito, we were able to get our bank account activated again and get new cell phone numbers. It was nice to be at the guesthouse again, and it also confirmed to us that we have no regrets about leaving that ministry. We just know we don’t belong there anymore.

After 2 nights in Quito, we boarded a plane to Cuenca. It’s a short flight, about 40 minutes. We were picked up in Cuenca by Darryl and Kelly Chambers - our Ecuador Field Leaders. We stayed at their house for a couple of weeks while we got to know Cuenca a little bit and to look for a place for us to rent. They have a great place to stay, except for one thing: they don’t have internet yet. They moved to Cuenca in September and have still not been able to get service at their house. They keep getting told that it should be soon.

We are starting to become familiar with Cuenca. The downtown area is pretty neat - there is a park that is sort of the center of it all, with narrow roads all around it that are full of shops, businesses, restaurants, and coffee shops. There are a couple of rivers that flow across the city from east to west; along the rivers there is a lot of green area, trees, walking paths, and some playground equipment. Walking or driving, it’s really beautiful to travel the rivers.

One night Darryl and Kelly took us to eat at a place that is sort of like the food truck concept, except the food is prepared and served out of trailer type things that don’t move from place to place, they just stay at that site each night. It’s sort of like an outdoor food court.. While we were there, we saw Santa Claus and some elementary kids sang some Christmas songs, in Spanish of course. It was fun.

We've enjoyed regular get-togethers with our OMS team in Cuenca.  Every Tuesday we have time together for fellowship, prayer, and planning.  We rotate who hosts the meeting - the host plans the menu and we all contribute some part of the meal.

OMS Office

Our office is on the first floor.

Since part of out ministry involves working at the office, Hannah and I had to hit the ground running. As soon as we got to Cuenca, I had to close out the month of November and start the month of December. And Hannah has been learning some of the things that she will be responsible for in the office. I’m so glad I had 2 months of treasurer experience before returning to Ecuador; that has made it a much easier transition.

The office is nice. It is actually an apartment rented as an office. Hannah and I share an office, our Ecuadorian accountant has an office, and the Field Leader has his office. It can get quite noise with the cars, buses, and trucks that drive by.

Apartment

After our first week in Cuenca, we were ready to start looking for a house or apartment to rent. We looked at more than 10 options before deciding on one. We looked at places that were fully furnished, partially furnished, and not furnished at all. Most places that we looked at, even apartments, required us to go through a realtor. That was interesting to us since in the States you normally work with one realtor who shows you many different places. We met with several different realtors during the week, each one showing us one or two options.

We ended up choosing an apartment that is partially furnished and is only a couple of blocks from the office, less than a 5 minute walk. That is ideal for us since we will be spending a good amount of time at the office. We signed the lease on Tuesday and met the landlord; she is very nice and will really be a good landlord for us.  A great big thanks to Darryl and Kelly for helping us deep clean the apartment.

Also, we liked the realtors that showed us that apartment. They are sisters and are interested in spending time with Hannah and inviting her to coffee. One of them has a daughter named Ana, which is Hannah’s name in Spanish - Ana had an instant admiration and interest in Hannah, and even hugged her after they showed us the apartment.

A.C.I.S. Meeting
Saturday, December 9, I went with our Field Leader to Saraguro to attend the business meetings of ACIS. ACIS is one of the national church associations that OMS partners with in Ecuador. Saraguro is about a 2 hour drive from Cuenca. Since OMS partners with ACIS, it is very important that we have representation at their meetings. Our being there is a great encouragement to them and it strengthens our partnership.

Another member of our OMS team, Josh Fletcher, was going to drive us to the meetings in the vehicle he is borrowing. However, after he picked Darryl and me up and we started on our way, Josh became concerned with how the vehicle was handling. He pulled over and we could smell something very strong - it was the clutch. We decided it was not a good idea to go in his vehicle, so he drove us back to Darryl’s house.

He stayed in Cuenca to try and arrange for a mechanic to look at his vehicle, and Darryl and I hopped in Darryl’s car and went to Saraguro.

Business meetings run by Ecuadorians are a little bit different than what we are used to: timeliness is not generally a consideration and organization/preparation is not a top priority. Darryl and I arrived a little after 10:00; we had planned to arrive sooner but we were delayed because of the vehicle issue. The meetings supposedly were to start at 9:00. When we walked in, they were finishing up their opening prayer.

Prayer was followed by a “brief” 45 minute devotional, followed by a time of singing. The actual meeting and ministry reports didn’t begin until after noon. Since this meeting was going to be followed by the election of a new leadership team, we knew we were in for a long afternoon.

Something that is common, and expected in this culture, is sharing what you bring. So if you have something with you, like chips, crackers, or candy, and you open it, it is appropriate and expected that you will share with those around you. This was on display during this meeting. One of the men at the “head table” opened a bag of candy. He then stood up and offered a piece to the rest of the people at the head table, including the person who was in the middle of giving a report. He then walked around to each person in the meeting to offer them a piece of candy. He did this at 3 different times during the afternoon. Also, it is very rude not to accept something when it is offered to you. Fortunately, I like candy, so this was no big deal.

An important part of this meeting was the election of the new leadership team, which carries a 2 year term. After all of the reports and some discussion on some critical issues, the new leadership team was elected. Please pray for them as they lead the association.

A short video of our first month in Cuenca:

Please continue to pray for us as we get settled in Cuenca, work in the OMS Office, and pursue other ministry opportunities.

Finally, here is a link to a thank-you video from OMS Headquarters, enjoy: http://bit.ly/2AAIH0n

Peace in the present, excitement for the future

This is our first blog post since we left Ecuador. The past 6 months have been very important for us. We absolutely needed this time to pray and process many things. We have experienced a lot of stress and uncertainty the past year. This time away from Ecuador has given us peace, clarity, and excitement for the future. We are so grateful to OMS and to our many supporters that we have had this opportunity to seek the Lord, to renew, to reflect, to re-evaluate, and re-focus.

One of the things God has taught us over the past few months is that we truly do want to be missionaries in Ecuador. We have been reminded that it wasn’t for no reason that we felt called to apply to OMS back in 2012. Our missionary journey began 5 years ago and we look forward to returning to Ecuador soon. Over the next few weeks we will be meeting with our Field Leader and OMS Headquarters to set a return date.

We did return to Indiana with a desire to pursue adoption. But as we went through the adoption process, we began to feel less peace and more uncertainty about continuing, and we began to feel more peace and more certainty about new ministry opportunities with OMS in Ecuador. We have decided that at this time we do not want to continue to pursue adoption. Since making that decision, we have experienced a great sense of relief and peace.

We believe the last few months have given us the healing we needed from the failed fertility treatments, and now we can move forward. We wouldn’t have gotten to this point if we hadn’t returned to pursue adoption and to pray and seek the Lord about all of these things.

We are so grateful we chose to pursue adoption with Bethany Christian Services. Our case worker really helped us think through many things and evaluate the direction we wanted to go. All of our experience with them was excellent and we would highly recommend working with them.

We have had a lot of uncertainty and confusion over the past few months, so we are very thankful we now have a fairly clear picture of what we will be doing going forward.

Here is a brief description of the ministries that we will be involved in:

Treasurer: This is an urgent need for OMS Ecuador. The previous treasurer completed her term in Ecuador and soon will be transitioning to be the Controller at OMS Headquarters in Greenwood. Currently, someone is filling in state-side on a temporary basis but this is not an ideal situation. Steve will be the Treasurer and Hannah will be the Office Manager. This is not a full-time ministry and will allow us time to be involved in other things. Over the next few months we will receive training for this position. We will be able to take it over from Indiana and continue when we return to Ecuador.

This is an important position for OMS Ecuador. Funds given for OMS ministry need to be properly controlled and spent. The OMS missionaries and our national partners need someone to administer the funds that are given to help build the Kingdom in Ecuador.

Billion.Global: The OMS president is leading us in a “billion” vision. The vision is to give at least 1 billion people, over the 10 year period of 2016-2026, at least one opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel. Many individuals and organizations have joined the coalition, and together, by God’s grace, we can accomplish the goal.

Hannah and I will be involved in this in some way.  Potentially we will be the coordinators or point-persons to help facilitate the Billion.Global vision in Ecuador.  If so, we would be in regular communication with our OMS missionaries and coalition partners to accurately account for all who will have their "one opportunity".  We would also encourage our OMS partner churches and coalition partners to "press on toward the prize" (Philippians 3:14).

My dad and the OMS president Bob Fetherlin recently took a short trip to Ecuador to speak with our national partners about the Billion.Global vision.  Our Ecuadorian partners are really excited about doing their part to reach the goal.

Please visit the website billion.global for more information.

Train and Multiply: “Train and Multiply” is the church planting multiplication model that OMS uses. It is a proven and successful model for training leaders and reproducing churches. We are excited to be attending training for this in August in Greenwood, IN. We are looking forward to using this method in Ecuador alongside the national association that we partner with.

Based on our previous time in Ecuador, we know that being near others from our OMS team is a high priority. These ministries will allow us to work at the OMS Ecuador office, close to other members of our team.

If you are interested in investing financially in our ministry with the resources that God has blessed you with, please click here: www.onemissionsociety.org/give/theskinners2 (Our OMS profile page isn't updated yet but will be soon)