Mission Trip to the Jungle: May 18-27, 2016

(We've put several pictures on this blog post, for many more please click the link at the bottom of the page.)

The team!

What a great experience we had on this trip to the jungle! Several months ago we let it be known to the other OMS Ecuador missionaries that we would like to be able to get out of the Guesthouse, when possible, and help any of them with the ministry they are involved with.  Danny and Julie Beasley, missionaries in Loja, took us up on the offer and said we could help with a mission team that would be serving in the jungle with them.  Danny and Julie regularly visit these churches to preach, teach, and encourage.  This mission team is from the church where they were previously on staff in Illinois. There were 9 people total on the team.

The "real" trip didn't start until Saturday, May 21, but we wanted to be in Loja a couple days before that and spend time with Danny and Julie.  On Wednesday, May 18, we flew from Quito to Catamayo, about an hour flight.  Danny picked us up and took us to their apartment in Loja, about an hour drive from the airport.

Arrival at Catamayo airport.

There are no international arrivals in the Catamayo (Loja) airport, so the team flew into Quito first.  Danny flew from Loja to Quito on Friday afternoon to meet them.  They arrived late on Friday and had an early flight Saturday morning.  They spent a few hours at a nearby hostel between flights.

On Saturday morning they arrived in Loja - Danny had hired a driver, named Leodon, and he picked them up in his van. The 9 of us (10 including the driver) had breakfast together before heading to Gualaquiza.  We had two vehicles for this trip: the Beasley's SUV and Leodon's van.



On the way, we stopped for some pictures in front of this waterfall:

We arrived in Gualaquiza in the afternoon and checked in to the hostel.  We stayed each night at the hostel, it was our "home base".

Each morning we had breakfast at the restaurant next to the hostel, and we had supper there each night, too.  After dinner each night, we had some sharing time to talk about our personal experience from that day.  We talked about things that impacted us positively and negatively, things that were difficult, and things that were fulfilling.

The people group in this area are called "Shuar".  They are an indigenous group of Ecuador.  They are the ones that are known for head-shrinking, though that has not been a practice of the Shuar for many, many years. The communities we visited are very interested and accepting of the Gospel, and they want to learn about the Bible.  We went to several different Shuar communities around Gualaquiza, they are too small to find on the map so I couldn't pin-point each one.

At each community we handed out dresses for the girls.  There is a wonderful ministry called "Let's Dress the Girls"; the team from the states brought down 100 dresses that we were able to give away.  The dresses are called pillowcase dresses, and each dress comes with a headband, a pair of underwear and Bible verse. The girls were so excited to receive them.  Many of them put on their dress right away over their clothes, they were so happy.

We had a different schedule each day.

Sunday

We went to a morning church service in Gualaquiza.  Steven (in the photo at the top of the blog he is standing beside me in the blue jacket) preached in English and I translated. Before the group arrived, I had asked for some notes or a general idea of what the message would be about, so I could be prepared.  I was happy that Steven sent me the full message.  I looked over it several times before Sunday so I could figure out how to translate any of the more difficult sections.  With any translation, there are phrases or expressions that are impossible to translate word for word because they don't literally translate.  Those are the areas that I wanted to be prepared for in advance.  It was such a good thing that I had his message because it started POURING rain during the service and I could barely hear what he was saying.  Fortunately, I could hear enough to follow along on my copy of the message.

In the afternoon we went to a Shuar community in "Machinaza".  The plan was to have part of our group teach the VBS lesson to the kids while Steven and I ("the Steve Team" as Hannah called us) shared the message during a special afternoon church service.  There was a miscommunication/misunderstanding, which can often happen when working with the nationals, and we weren't able to have the church service.

Instead, we had a lot of extra time with the kids, which was very impactful.  We taught the VBS lesson and had a lot of time running around and playing with the kids.  The VBS lesson is about being thankful and it is based on Luke 17:11-19 when Jesus healed 10 lepers and only 1 returned to give thanks.  We taught the same VBS lesson in each community.  Afterwards, we played tag ("cogidas"), duck-duck-goose ("pato-pato-ganso"), and red light-green light. I played some, but mostly watched Hannah have a great time.  She is drawn to the kids and they are drawn to her.  

We left the vehicles and walked across the bridge...

...and up to Machinaza.

Monday

We spent the day at a Shuar community called Proveduria.  It was quite the adventure getting there.  Danny had been there once before and told us what to expect based on his experience.  Unfortunately, it wasn't at all the same.  When he went, he parked his car near a bridge and walked a short distance to get a ride in a canoe.  After a 10 minute canoe ride up the river, he got out and walked about 10 minutes to the community.  

Because of a lot of rain in that area, the road we were supposed to take was blocked due to a mudslide. We ended up driving across the river twice on different hanging/suspended bridges trying to find a way to get to the area for the canoe - it was quite scary.

We eventually made it to the bridge where we would leave the vehicles, but there was no canoe waiting for us.  We're still not sure exactly what happened, but there was no canoe ride and we had to walk to get to the community.  It. Was. Muddy.

We parked the vehicles back by the big bridge, then walked across the hanging bridge.

I nearly fell several times, I was in need of a helping hand

The walking adventure took about 1 1/2 hours - it was actually really challenging because sometimes we would sink into the mud and nearly lose our shoe trying to take the next step.  Even though the hike was a real challenge, we are very glad we got to have that experience.  It's amazing to think that the people from this community have to travel like this on a regular basis.

We made it! The church is behind me.

Not long after we arrived, the church service started.  The singing/worship time of the service is different from what we're used to.  First, there was a lady who sang and most of the others sang along, but we couldn't because we didn't know the words.  Then the pastor asked if there was anyone else who wanted to share a praise song, and someone else went forward to sing.  After that song, the pastor asked again if anyone else wanted to share a praise song, and someone else went forward.  That happened four times.  To us, it seemed so random and unorganized, but that's the way they do it and it was great to experience.

Hannah started crying during one of the songs.  She said she was just so moved - it just impacted her that here we are in some remote area of Ecuador and we're praising God with this Shuar community.

I translated the message for Steven

After the message, the pastor asked if anyone had something they would like to share.  Then he specifically asked Hannah and Julie.  I was just about to say that Hannah isn't comfortable enough with Spanish yet and didn't have anything prepared, when she nearly jumped up out of her seat and hurried forward.  She shared a little bit about how happy she was to be there and worship with them - I was so proud of her.

Hannah being brave

After the service they served us lunch.  As is common here, we got preferential treatment.  We were served first and we ate around a table under the roof.  It was the only table there. They served us way too much food.  We each were given a plate of rice, chicken and salad.  Plus we were each given chicken cooked in a palm leaf, which is not something they prepare every day.  It was prepared especially for us, no one else was served the chicken in the palm leaf.  You never know what kind of food you are going to be served, and though it didn't taste very good to us, it could have been a lot worse.  It was a huge honor because we know that this meal represented their appreciation and respect for us, and it was the best they have to offer. 

After lunch, we gathered the kids under the church roof and taught the VBS lesson.  At each place we went, it was so encouraging to see how well the kids received the lesson and participated with us.

After VBS, we were so happy to hear that we would be taking a motorized canoe back to the car instead of walking the trail back!

Awesome rainbow as we waited for the canoe

It was a short canoe ride.  After about 5 minutes, the canoe operator made a sharp u-turn towards the trees and we nearly tipped over.  We were a little shocked because it didn't appear that this was any sort of place to get off the canoe.  We stepped off into the mud and there was a very steep, muddy, hill to climb.  We though we were done with the muddy trails, apparently not.  It was about a 10 minute walk through the mud to get to our vehicles.

It was a challenging and very rewarding day.

Tuesday

We spent some time in the morning at a community called Naichap.  It was a very small community and it seemed like it was just one big extended family as the majority of them had the same last name, which is the name of the town, "Naichap".  We helped paint the church and we passed out the dresses for the girls.

In the afternoon we went to Roldos and taught the VBS lesson.  Since it was raining we didn't know if we would be able to, but the teacher of the school opened up the classroom for us.  This community really needs a lot of help and prayer; there is a lot of abuse, so much so that they have a social services type office in this small community. 

Wednesday

We spent the day in San Pedro.  We arrived in the morning and they were already getting things prepared for lunch.  Hannah and one of the ladies from the team went over to help out.  Hannah had a lot of fun talking to the Shuar women and learning how to prepare some of the food.  Hannah got to sample a lot of the food as it was being prepared, so she wasn't too hungry for lunch.  

Delicious grilled chicken

After lunch we taught the VBS lesson inside the church.

After the lesson, we went back to the hostel for a couple hours to rest and clean up, then we returned to San Pedro for the evening service.

Thursday

We left Gualaquiza after breakfast and returned to Loja.  We had lunch at the Beasley's apartment and then went to the airport to catch our flight to Quito.  We had a good view of Cotopaxi Volcano from the airplane; Danny took this photo.

We all stayed at the Guesthouse Thursday night. 

Friday

The group from the U.S. had a late flight Friday night so we were able to do some "touristy" things during the day.  We took the group to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World).  Friday was a holiday as the country was recognizing the Battle of Pichincha (May 24).  Because of the holiday, there were some traditional dance presentations that were pretty cool to see.

We went to supper at a nice restaurant that overlooks the historic district of Quito and then we took the group to the airport for their flight back home.

This was such a good experience for us.  Thank you so much to those of you who support us and make it possible for us to do this.   

Please click the link below to see many more photos of our trip:

Jungle Trip photos

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.