Ecuadorian Roads

When we first got to Ecuador I thought they did a poor job of infrastructure management. The roads were shocking, landslides and caved in bits of road were everywhere. The wise teacher of time has enlightened me somewhat however. A while back the road to Vilcabamba had significant work done on it over a period of time and was just perfect. For all of a few weeks-months! Then the rains came and the roads went…more landslides, more caved in sections. How do you build excellent roads with limited funds and significant geological faults in the Andes anyway??? I now bump along Ecuadorian roads with more grace and understanding than I did two years ago!

The President comes to town

Being a mother of two toddlers and often at home with them, I am sometimes out of sync with the happenings of Loja, but not this day! Friday, 17th April was a special day for Loja. Our house help, Gloria, came to work talking about the President Rafael Correa’s imminent arrival at 11am that morning. So, when we heard the helicopter land up the road we made our way out to see what was happening. We were in Calle Lourdes at just the right time to see the presidential cavalcade drive past, and our friend Fabricio got in a quick handshake too! Later on we waited down on the Plaza to see him appear there. Eventually he arrived and made his way up to the stage. In the crush of people I checked my phone in my back pocket, and checked it again 10 seconds later only to find that it was no longer there. Silly me, of course for leaving it my pocket, ah well. A momentous day…phoneless but the President was sighted.

KENYA – SIM Global Leaders Gathering

From 22nd till 29th April SIM International organised a Global Leaders Gathering for directors and representatives of various countries. The idea of the conference was to bring people from the 72 different countries that SIM is involved in worldwide to praise God, to pray and to listen to what God has to say to us. Travelling to Nairobi, Kenya made me realize again that Loja is really quite far from anywhere! They have a saying in Quito that Loja is further than the moon, because at least you can see the moon….So, one flight to Quito, another to Madrid, another to London and another to Nairobi. Not great back-to-back, but I survived.

The conference had three main speakers - an assistant bishop from the Kampala Diocese in Africa, Rev. David Zac Niringiye, who has had over 20 years in ministry in varying roles in Africa; Dr. Funmi Para-Mallam a senior research fellow from Nigeria, who published a book called “Why? Oh Why am I a Woman?” (she certainly had some things to say about equality and women, was nice to hear it from some else apart from Karine, who used to come home from uni when doing her masters talking about gender issues all the time!); and Rev. Simon Walker, author of “The Undefended Leader”, the reading of which was homework for the conference.

Of the three speakers the one that interested me most was Simon as I am certainly trying to work out what my place will be within SIM Ecuador and how best I can serve my fellow teammates. His talks were encouraging and thought provoking. Along with his book, I found that he gave me some really interesting ideas on how to talk to people in the varying ministries that they are involved in within SIM Ecuador. I pray that this will be of some use and encouragement to the rest of the team.

I had a great time meeting the many people from around the SIM World and making many new friends.

I also managed to drop in on some friends and family in the UK, which was a real treat. Had a walk with Jules and Josh (RPC) in the Peak District and had a BBQ with the Miller-Crankos (the sun was out). Thank you all for your hospitality!
I made it back home to Karine and the kids and they even met me at the airport, a 40 minute drive over the mountain.
I have put lots of photos on Facebook, so please go and have a look.

10 great things about life in Loja

1. Such great fruit and veg...at good prices! (bananas at 5c each, that is USD, so maybe it’s a little expensive in aussie currency...)
2. Being able to walk lots of places, leaving the car in the garage for days at a time if we so desire
3. Watching horses stroll past my window this morning, passing cows and sheep on my run by the river
4. Mora juice (like blackberry), strawberry juice, tree tomato juice
5. Recognising people on the street regularly as we walk around town
6. The Ecuadorian love of laughter
7. My Baalbergen tendency of lateness not being inappropriate here
8. The aptness of my mountain buggy (pram) for the local sidewalks
9. Being able to get medicine so readily and cheaply, as long as you know what you want!
10. Driving up a mountain for 20 minutes and gazing at the Andes as they rise up all around you

The testimony of an unadorned house

I have begun to meet up with a friend to read the bible. Patricia comes over to my house on Tuesday mornings and we sit down with a cuppa and read and talk. My friend comes from a strongly catholic family but has for a long time been searching for something more, something that works...
So we have begun reading the gospel of Luke together. She is making all sorts of discoveries about what the bible is like, about who Jesus is and what God desires of us. Our conversation also includes things like what I think about praying to the dead, praying to saints, the benefits keeping saints and religious paraphernalia on hand to ensure success and safety.
Yesterday she mentioned the simplicity of our house and that we don't have pictures or statues of saints or the virgin around the house, nor do we have an open bible on a stand, nor other religious bits and bobs everywhere.
She talked about how when her and her husband moved to Loja last year they decided to throw out the Saint and blessed bread and other items that her mum wanted her to have in their shop to ensure success. They related these things to the idea of the golden calf that the Israelites worshipped in the desert.
And her conclusion to the matter....none of those things are really necessary are they? No, because Jesus is our only mediator and no-one else can do his work of giving us access to God the Father.
It was a surprise to me how every part of our lives, including interior decorating, can speak of the relationship that we have with our great God and the difference that trusting in Jesus makes!