Re-entry...

It has now been 3 weeks since we left Quito and I sit here from our sunroom in Kingsford with the seabreeze coming in, thinking that it all feels quite surreal.

Our week in Nashville with my brother and his family was great, and a good stepping stone between 2 worlds - still driving on the right hand side but mostly english spoken around us. We celebrated Thanksgiving, raked up lots of autumn leaves which the kids then jumped in and promptly disappeared, and even saw a puppet show in downtown Nashville library.

We arrived in Sydney on the 5th Dec and spent the next week helping with all my sister's wedding preparations for the following Saturday, although we did sneak in a quick 2 trips to the beach! Now we are getting our head around living here for the next 8 months. Our church family has been so fantastic at helping us get settled, to the point that we were able to sleep in the house they had organised the first night we arrived, and had breakfast waiting for us in the cupboard for the following morning! So thank you Lord for the way you care for us in such a myriad of ways and thank you RPC.

Some things that have struck us as we get out and about...

Less high heels; lots more leg showing with guys in shorts and girls in dresses and skirts (naturally as we are in the heat of summer but after seeing people mostly in jeans for 3 years it does stand out); lots more green spaces and trees visible within the city; tiled roofs and finished buildings; smooth roads; some things cheaper such as fast and reliable internet, some things more expensive like fruit and veg; wondering how to greet and farewell people appropriately (do I wave aimlessly in the air, merely say goodbye, shake hands or kiss on the cheek???); telemarketers ringing up...and so it goes on.

Feeling a little whelmed but enjoying being here too. Let's see how the next few months pan out, by God's grace we will have some rest, some re-energising, re-connecting and fun, plus all the other responsibilities fitted in too!

Tentative plans

Three years in Ecuador as an Australian has led me to make tentative plans....I don't actually 100% believe that something will happen until it has started happening anymore!

For example, we had planned a farewell lunch out at Mollepamba (about an hour out of Loja) with the group that John has been teaching out there once a month on Sundays. We had the date planned already for months as the 1st November, we were bringing all the pizza ingredients to see how it turned out in Jorge's wood fired adobe oven. Off we start, up and over the pass, halfway down the hill to La Toma only to round a corner and see a big line up of cars. Hmmm.
John gets out to investigate, and after asking numerous people, finds out that although it was only 9am, the 9.30am road closure had already started and the police were not going to let anyone else through, unless it was a medical emergency. What's more, the road wasn't going to be re-opened until 6pm that evening. The reason? The Virgin of Cisne was making her pilgrammage back from Loja to El Cisne that very day, knowledge new to us, but obvious to some of our other local friends when we mentioned our frustration the next day. I was sort of glad to see we weren't the only ones in the dark as we observed irate drivers yelling at the police about why they hadn't shut the road in Loja itself rather 40 minutes down the road!

The next complication was letting our friends in Mollepamba know that there was no way we could make our planned lunch. There is one place in their house where they can get reception for their mobile phone to receive messages, so we sent a message, hoping that they would check their mobile phone. The phone call we got from another girl who was in a different spot with some mobile phone coverage a few hours later asking where we were and that everyone was waiting for us for lunch made it clear our message hadn't gotten through...

So no farewell lunch in Mollepamba and a lot of pizza dough to get through with an alternative bunch of people was the end result of that tentative plan!

Another example, John had arranged a trip out to Zamora, about an hour out of Loja (opposite direction to Mollepamba) on a particular Tuesday. He leaves the house at a reasonable hour, drives over to pick up Morgan (about 10 blocks) and can't get any further as this was the day of a taxi and bus driver strike in an effort to see fares increased. The whole of Loja was gridlocked with taxis and buses blocking most intersections making it impossible to get through. John didn't make it any further than Morgan's place and had to ring up and cancel the meeting in Zamora.

I had gotten Evie ready for school like normal, only to show up and see that there was no school due to the strike, which most everybody else seemed to know but me. There is just a certain level of ignorance that seems to come as a result of being a foreigner in another culture.

And so, I continue to make plans, but with a much higher expectation that they might never come to pass, and only as it happens do I believe it!

Celebrating Evie's birthday

Evie turned 4 on October 29, so we brought a cake along to her pre-school and got the kids to jump around like kangaroos! We had a little party the next day at home and enjoyed seeing the kids all play together. It was a good Australian-Ecuadorian mix with fairy bread and a pinata!

Into the clouds

Our church in Loja is helping out with a church plant in a town called Celica. Celica is about 4 hours south west from Loja and is usually in the clouds. They say people from Celica find out who their spouse is only after they get married, cause they haven't been able to see through the haze before that (haze of lovesickness???).

This church plant was started by a pastor from Guayaquil who used to travel the 6-7 hours every week or so and now this responsibility has been passed onto our church. There are a few different groups that take turns in going to Celica each week. John has gone out with Toño a few times now.

John stood out as a gringo and received the appropriate 'go home' greeting from a local walking down the street on his first visit, thankfully the guys from the church were more welcoming!

There they stood in the middle of a room that was the size of an average lounge room in Australia making loud music to the Lord....

This new church is so thankful to have our church supporting them and showing an interest in them; and we are really glad to see how our Loja church is taking up this challenge to invest in the lives of other younger christians, even when it means an 8 hour drive on a Sunday.

May it be so that more and more Ecuadorian christians reach out to those around them, especially in Loja province!

Spiritual refreshment in the Andes, 24-28 August

This year’s spiritual life conference for SIM Ecuador was a special treat for us as David Cook (SMBC principal) along with his wife, Maxine, came as our conference speaker. Speaking about the God who rules, based on Psalms, the talks over the week were a challenge and encouragement to be a child of God who delights in him, who, despite the troughs and peaks of life, can praise the Lord – for that is our eternal song (well, this was amongst a lot of other things that were brought to bear…cherishing God’s word, a warning not to fool with sin – it is a deadly enemy, living a holy life in sight of a holy God) .

The pool, as always, was freezing but fun, the food particularly good (I was in charge of liaising with the chef) and it was fun to chill out with our team mates for a few days!

The river

I take my jog along the river that runs near our house. Some days it is crystal clear as it flows, other days after rain it is like a raging torrent. I run upriver until I get to a bridge that crosses over onto a dirt track and there are no more houses that you can see from the road. Once there take some time out to stretch, while I contemplate the flow of the river. It’s a good way to gain perspective.

I often think about the part in Ezekiel 47 where Ezekiel is shown the river that emanates from the temple and flows out, getting deeper and deeper such that no one could cross. The water from the river is the source of life, where the river flows everything will live, fruit trees bear fruit every month because the water from the temple flows to them. As I head back home listening to this particular river running through Loja I am reminded that God is in control of everything. His word continues to go out and call people into his family, his kingdom continues to grow, his power sustains all life and he is merciful to us. There is nothing that can stop the flow of God’s river of life.

When I feel weak and unsure about our ‘effectiveness’ here in trying to encourage people in their faith, in our desire to build up Christian leadership, in wanting to see people fully submitted to Christ, the sound of this river reminds me that God’s will shall be accomplished, and I ask again for his mercy and wisdom for us to be part of that work here in Loja, for the sake of his holy name.

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." Ezekiel 47:1-12

Randwick Presbyterian Church in Loja!

From Sunday June 28th until Monday July 6th we had a team of 9 from our home church, Randwick Presbyterian, visiting us and getting involved in some ministry here in Loja.

It was a hectic week but very worthwhile. We really appreciated the opportunity for this group of people to experience a bit of life in Loja, meet people, encourage and challenge them with the great news of Jesus and generally do some things they would never normally do (up close and personal with a guinea pig)!

We had an outreach for women held at our church (we taught them dot painting on Australian animals cutouts), we had an AFL clinic which even spiked the interest of the police in the park who then stayed around to provide security for us and help find (the many) stray balls, we hung out with the guys from our youth group and also got involved in working at the cafe and the english minsitry events over the week. I think God challenged each of us to do things we never normally do and to trust him in stretching situations.

The team did a great job and got to enjoy some of the incredible scenery around Loja too!

Thanks God for bringing this great group of people to us!

Jesús habla las plenas

I was reading Luke 9 this week with a friend. The end of the chapter finishes off with Jesus responding to a man who said ‘I will follow you wherever you go’ by talking about how Jesus has nowhere to lay his head. Jesus does not promise that everything will be smooth sailing if you decide to follow him.

In our discussion my friend said Jesus really talks straight, or ‘habla las plenas’, he doesn’t beat around the bush, doesn’t say anything other than the truth. In response to people wanting to follow him, he wants them to think about it first, he tells them it won’t be easy and wants them to count the cost. But he tells the whole truth…the cost is well worth it because the reward is so great – eternal life spent in his presence.

It is a great thing to discover anew with my friend the character of Jesus, that he does tell it like it is, and what he has to say is the most important thing we can pay heed to in this world where we often have to wade through a lot of white noise to get to the point.

Parque Nacional Poducarpus

That was a great hike! I can't believe how easy it is to get to 3500m above sea level from our house. Diego and I got dropped off at 10am on Friday expecting to do a 3 day hike. We began climbing with only 30m visibility, things were not looking good. We managed to get from 2750m to 3500m in around one and a half hours while I lost the sole of my shoe. Not a good thing as the amount of mud that we walked through meant that I fell over more times than I care to mention. 

As we walked along the ridge of this park we had a GPS to make sure we didn't get lost in all the cloud, and we were glad of that given the crazy signs that weren't even stuck down very well. However, the track on top was fairly well marked, it being the deep trench loaded with mud. With sticks poking into legs and mud coming close to our knees we made camp at around 4.30pm and about 5.30pm we had our first view, for 15 minutes, of what we had missed all day, what a view! After a great dinner, we were off to bed with this goal: If it's clear in the morning we keep on going, if not, we return. 

Day two was no better, in fact I believe it was worse. It rained continually for the entire day and we actually only stopped twice on the 5 hour return to make sure we could change and be warm again. There were moments when we both had trouble feeling our hands due to the cold wind blowing across the tops of the mountain. 

All in all it was a great experience and a really enjoyable time with Diego. Maybe next time we will make our goal, La Laguna del Compadre!

No wonder I stumble over my words in spanish!

Check this out for a word - otorrinolaringologico. How can it legitimately have so many syllables??? Little wonder I sometimes get stuck half way through trying to say a word, let alone a complete sentence!

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!

¡La Evie, tan lojana!

Evie was playing 'waitress' the other day and gave me the menu of what was on offer at her 'fruit shop'. There were mangoes, bananas, grapes, apples, strawberries..... I placed my order of mango only to find out there were no mangoes available. Ok then, bananas. No, no bananas available either. Grapes? No, says Evie, actually we only have apples today.

Quite a common experience here. It made me chuckle!

Plus, here is a pic of Mattias adding to his climbing exploits.

Oh the joys....

Mattias is a climber, Evie is a jumper......

At least the furniture is getting a good work out!