Santo Domingo de los Colorados

I spent yesterday and today in Santo Domingo, about 2.5 hours east of Quito.

After reading Elisabeth Elliot's "These Strange Ashes," I was instantly drawn to the Colorado Indians (sorry, but im not sure if "indians" is the politically correct term. i would opt to use "indigenous" or "native american" but here every calls indigenous tribal people "indians". you may have also heard of the "Waorani Indians." im sorry if i've offended anyone reading this.) She had spent the first part of her life reaching the Colorados and lived with them in a town called San Miguel just outside of Santo Domingo (we drove thru Santo Miguel and i saw a Palm Tree where Doreen and Elisabeth's house once stood). in her book, she describes the journey of her and her buddy, Doreen, as they worked in Bible Translation among the group. it took a lot of time building relationships and finding someone to actually teach them the oral lanaguage so as to write it down. this city is full of missionary history, and it was a privilege to have visited it this week.

i just read that Colorado is another word for "red" either in their language, or some understood term in Spanish. anyways, Colorads are identified for their red hair, and i had only ever seen them in pictures. well friends, i met true blue Colorados, painted a community center with them, and ate lunch with them! here's a picture of the Colorado pastor of the church in the community. (bad picture, but someone else has better ones that i'll get later.) i learned that the red stuff on their red is from some red vegetable where they take they take it and smoosh it on their head. i think it's only men, but im not sure.

eating lunch with the Colorados was quite an experience. the house, was a hut, with dirt floor, or planks of wood. the kitchen looked like it was also the sleeping and laundry room. where we ate, was in the front of the hut, with a thatched roof, low tables and benches, and no lights, cept for the rays peeking thru the planks of wood. at that moment, it occured to me.... "THIS is life for the Colorados, and they are so happy." Primativo, the pastor, prayed in the Colorado language. it was a neat experience. the food was good - some sort of beef stew, rice and plantain.

anyways, i went with two other women from HCJB - Sheila (who is my new superhero, and legend) and Janine (the coordinator for Spotlight). the purpose of the trip was to train english speakers of a church in Santo Domingo how to start a Spotlight Listener's Club, following our model here in Quito. remember in a previous post how i said that many people have heard about the Spotlight Listener's Club in Quito?? well, we're starting to train other churches in Ecuador, and im working on the site to make resources available for people across the world to start the same program.

when we arrived in Santo Domingo, we made our way into the jungle - seriously, middle of nowhere, humid, banana trees everywhere, including COFFEE TREES AND COCOA TREES (see pics below!) we were helping to paint a community center. the Colorado pastor has a vision to reach this generation of youth and so the renovation and creation of a youth/community center is the start. later in the evening, we trained two english speakers who seemed quite excited to start the Listener's Club.

i had sooo much fun with Janine and Sheila. these women have lived such exciting, fulfulling lives...and as i mentioned, Sheila is my new superhero. apart from having worked with the Colorados herself right after Doreen and Elisabeth Elliot left, and having been a missionary in Ecuador for 25 years, Doreen went to her church in the UK and had Sheila over for dinner every week, drove Elisabeth and her husband to Santo Domingo to visit it again, was held up by guerillas in Colombia, was one of only TWO teams to respond immediately to the 2nd earthquake in Indonesia (the other being the French Red Cross), can speak the Colorado language(!), and is heading to India later this year to help with the plans of some medical facility, she is just hilarious! did i mention she's single? both her and Janine are 50 (but don't look it at all!), and are single. i told them that they make single missionary life look like a lot of fun. i've always been drawn to the company of older women, and these past two days were SUCH a great experience to hear their stories, their struggles, their vision, and their continued efforts to reach the lost. Sheila is the director for healthcare world wide, so she oversees and helps medical efforts mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Euro-Asia. because that is her focus now, she will be moving to Spain probably within a year as a more central location. as mentioned, Janine oversees the Spotlight Listener's Club and it beautiful to see how God can use even English HERE to reach people for him.

here are some pics:

ohhhh, that sucks, i just tried uploading pics and i think something is wrong with blogger. anyways... i'll get them up next week again.

know that i am seeing, learning, and thinking a lot about life. while i miss each one of you tremendously, the realization that this is exactly where i am suppose to be brings comfort.

mucho amor,
dL

Mindo - butterflies, rivers, and orchids!

Hey all,

this past weekend, i went to a city - not really a city, more of a village - called Mindo with 3 other friends. two other working visitors from HCJB - Bonnie (med student from San Franciso, Califonia) and Katharina(aka Kathy working in the German Radio Department from...Germany!) and Kara(a girl Bonnie met on the bus one day who is volunteering at an orphanage.) not only was the company great, but the sites were spectacular.

the bus ride was about 2.5 hours from Quito to Mindo. we left on Saturday morning, and stayed til Sunday afternoon. we almost didn't make our bus - we made it to the station 10 minutes before the bus, and thank goodness, there were just enough tickets left for us to get on the bus! throughout the trip, both on the bus and while walking thru town, we met so many different people and had some great conversations. while in Mindo, we met a group of friends who were Ecuadorian who gave us a ride to another part in Mindo that would have taken hours to walk. we met a couple of German girls, and just yesterday we met 4 guys from Florida who just graduated "college" as they call it, on the way up to a waterfall. we found out from them that it cost $5 to look and play in the waterfall, so we opted out of that, and instead hiked back down with them, talked alot, and took a swim in a river! im learning one thing that i love about this mobile, or travelling, gypsy-life that i currently have: i definitely appreciate the warmth and openness of many individuals - both Ecuadorians and foreigners - who are so willing to talk, help out you, and learn about your life. it's so sincere, and it's something that i find only happens on the road - or perhaps not really in North America. as i think about north american culture, often times we are so concerned about getting to our destination, and our facial expressions and body language speak of our mindset. life on the road seems to be much more friendly than life at home, but if anything, it's yet another challenge to myself to be the exception and not the norm. i'd like to be that person that a visitor in Vancouver would feel comfortable asking "excuse me, but how do i get to Science World?" i'm always reminded daily that i should be willing to be inconvenienced to help someone, or do something for someone who cannot return the favour.

Mindo is a lush, vibrant village of people that consists of 1500 people. located in the jungle, the climate is a little warmer than Quito, a little more humid, and mosquitoy. i didn't see any of them, but they feasted on me. i probably have 20 or so bites, but they're not as bad as when i went to Africa and almost gouged a hole in my leg from scratching. when i returned, Faby informed me that Gaby once got a mosquito bite...where the mosquito had laid an egg in her leg, and there was a mosquito growing in her leg. nasty. needless to say, she had to go to the hospital to get it taken out. i was quite concerned when he told me that, but Gaby assured me that Mindo moquitos are just fine. oh....GOOD.

the hostess of our hostal is a lady apparently listed in the Lonely Planet guidebooks. next time you guys are in a bookstore, look up Ecuador, Mindo, and she may be in there. i think her name was Julia. (yeah right, like you're gonna do that. i can think of only one person who would actually do that, and that's only cos she loves travelling just like me. dag, that's you by the way..)

we went tubing down Rio del Mindo...bunch of tubes connected together, rushing down a river...it was nuts! and incredible experience! bobbing up and down in a river wtih a bunch of girls, and one male guide was the time of our life. we took a visit to a butterfly garden too, and i have a new appreciation for butterflies. and took a stroll thru an orchid garden. mom and dad, you would have looooooved the orchid garden, im sure. photos below.



me, Kara, Kathy, and Bonnie...in the truck on the way to the Rio!



us heading down the river...



me, holding a butterfly. as much as i would like to say that the little guy just landed on my finger, it's actually because i have mushed banana - which they like to eat - that he came to feast with me.



and then there's the butterflies.



and more...



last one.

by the way, if you'd like to treat your ears, and your soul - get the new Switchfoot's "Nothing Is Sound."

Spotlight's Listener's Club

i had a great evening of ministry last nite. after work, i headed over to English Fellowship Church, a couple blocks away from HCJB, and helped out with the Spotlight Listener's Club. (read page 5 for the focus on Quito...the one i went to last nite!) essentially, Spotlight is a 15 minute program broadcasted on HCJB (and perhaps other radio stations) throughout the world every evening, to help the listening audience learn english. Spotlight talks about different topics in what is known as "special English." Special English is simply a slower version of normal english spoken at a rate of approximately 90 words per minute. read the above link for more detail.

every wednesday the people of Quito and the surrounding communities meet in EFC for a Listener's Club, where we sit together and listen to the program, and afterwards we break up into small group and have discussion in english about the program. hence the name, Spotlight Listener's Club.

well, i had a great time! when i got there, the computer wasn't working so i rebooted it, worked some magic and got the show running in Windows Media. i also helped set up the sound board, and we were on our way! i was in my haven... hadn't touched sound board for quite sometime now. anyways... after listening to the program, we broke up into 3 major groups - Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. due to my lack of spanish, i took a group of 8 Advanced English speakers, and had a great time talking to them about the program. it was wonderful to see Ecuadorians progressing so much in their english. i met a woman, Alexandra, who has been attending the Listener's Club for 1 year and, clearly, is quite fluent in English now.

hmm, i wonder if they have a Spotlight Listener's Club for spanish :P

anwyays, there were over 100 people there, and apparently last week there were 160! it's a growing ministry here in Ecuador, and currently serves as a model for other countries. a woman from Ontario contacted the organizer, Janine, here at HCJB for resources and assistance to get on started in Toronto, to help immigrants and refugees who have trouble speaking english. Janine has asked me to help make the resources available on the internet, since other organizers are across the world. we're meeting up next week to talk about Spotlight's presence on the website and how we can implement it accordingly.

many people who come to the Listener's Club are not Christian's but have a desire to learn english. i've heard testimonies, however, that thru conversations, many people end up asking about God, or Jesus and what the whole deal with Christianity is about. many people have come to know who God really is thru this program. many of the English speakers are fellow missionaries at HCJB, and it was a privilege to serve last nite. this is definitely something i'll be doing every week until i leave.

if all goes well, either next week, or the week after, i will be going to a shelter/communal housing called Casa Gabriela (or Gabriel) to meet the street/abandoned boys who live there. According to Jerry, the President of Extreme Response, many of the boys there just want someone to talk to, learn english, play with, and the like. im not sure yet what my role will be, but im looking forward to helping the area there. Jerry told me that there are a set of twins originally rom Guayaquil (about 8 hours away) who ended up there, because when they turned 10, their father said, "ok, you're 10...you have to go live on your own now." so they hopped on a bus to Quito in the hopes to find more job opportunity (for a 10 year old!!) and met someone who worked with Casa Gabriela. can you imagine?? i'll let you guys know how that goes when i get there.

next week, the Kid's Club at Zamiza starts up again. it stopped for a few weeks, but now that the Alliance Academy is back in school...we'll be heading out again starting next week.

much love,
dL

walking, eating, and learning

i spent saturday afternoon in a crater... well sort of :) another working visitor, Wendy, and i decided to hike Pululahua (or Pululagua... both are used) Crater. it was an afternoon of adventure of trying to find the right bus to La Mitad del Mundo, then finding yet another bus to a road that was a few kilomoters from the crater itself. it wasn't quite what i expected, but still spectacular, to say the least. The number of inhabitants of Pululahua is around 60 people. as you can see in the picture, it's a small community that's spread out thru out the crater. the town's main form of transporation are mules and horses. there is only one road where cars can enter, but there are few in the community cars. the walk to Pululahua ended up being our "hike" because we were beat when we reached the crater. with the hot sun on our backs, it was enough to call it a day when we reached the crater. what's interesting is that we reached the TOP of the crater, so if we had continued, we would have had to go downhill first, then back up..but it was steep with a gravel path all the way. when we were walking down the crater a little, we met a man who lived in Pululahua walking up the path with a bag of rice or something. we chatted for a bit and he pointed out the one school, community center and church in the community. my entire day cost me about $1.25 USD after a ride on the Metrobus (sorta like Skytrain) 2 buses to Pululahua, a bag of sugar cane (yum!) and the same route back. Wendy and i were giddy at how little we spent for such a wonderful day!

sunday followed with a BBQ at HCJB. that was another good afternoon. i met 2 more Working Visitors that were my age... one is a med student (Bonnie) working at an HCJB Clinic and the other is a girl working in the German Radio Department (Kathy - pronounced Kat-tee). it was a good time of fellowship and burgers.

this week at HCJB is filled with Annual Meetings. though i am not an official member/staff of HCJB, i've been invited along with the other Working Visitors to attend the meetings. the two first sessions after today have been amazing. i'm really gaining a better perspective of the heart, the history, and the vision of HCJB World Radio. a great time of worship (in english!) and some solid teaching from, Ron Hutchcraft. his site doesn't look like much, but he is a powerful speaker and has definitely challenged my view of missions. something that was really really cool about the meetings, apart from the phenomenal teaching, is the technology that we're using to facilitate these meetings. i didn't mention that these sessions are viewed from 5 locations: Colorado, Indiana, Texas, Quito, and Shell. that's right, 5 regions were tuning into the same meeting through satellites, cameras, the internet and everything else! the President, Dave Johnson, and Ron spoke from Colorado Springs, while we in Quito tuned into live streaming video on a huge screen. the fun part was when we went to each different region and had everybody wave on camera! after the teaching, people from different locations were able to ask questions, and see the person ask the question from the different regions! it was really cool to see the advancement in technology and how we really are a global community.

do you guys remember Ruth? she's the other woman from HCJB that i go to Zambiza with. Ruth returned to the States a few weeks ago to do some speaking and visit her sister who was suffering from cancer. we heard today that her sister passed away yesterday. please keep Ruth in your prayers during this difficult time. she should be back in Quito by the end of September.

dL

with a purpose

i led my first bible study yesterday in the office. and to top it off, it was in spanish! thank goodness it was a small group (James, Cristian, and Edison) cos i was really nervous about my spanish. i spent the nite before preparing in English, then took a shot at translating it into spanish with Faby... thru that experience, we both learned that i suck at articles. i have no clue when to use la, el, es, ese, este, esto, esta, a, o blah blah. well, i know some because just like french, there's masculine and feminine, but others i just guess.

anyways, we took a look at James 2:14-26 - the chapter about Faith and Deeds. the part that really got to me was the following portion:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

with the recent devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and now Tropical Storm Ophelia in Florida, i've felt helpless and compelled to help. i believe that James (and Jesus often times) use the example of the poor because they are prevalent in every society. From the slums of India, to the dumps in Quito, and the downtown eastside in Vancouver - poverty strikes every culture. thinking about it for too long can make many of us uncomfortable.

---

"change the channel, i don't need to see a starving child while im eating my dinner, it makes me feel guilty."

don't make eye contact, i don't want to give this person on the street money. they should get a job!"

"i'll do my good deed and give you food, but don't you dare touch me - i don't want to get some disease. you smell like alcohol."

"what am i suppose to do? i can't save the world. i'm just trying to live my life. i'm just one person..."

---

until recently, these very thoughts would often dwell in my mind. this was my perspective. but the reality is that i can make a difference through One Person, the world was changed...

whether it is actually through finances, or through just talking to someone in a shelter, or whether it's sitting quietly holding a child... i can do something. i used to ask, "why is this person in this situation?" i don't know the answer to that question...but what i DO know is that i CAN help in some way. it's time i stop just talking about how sad the world is, and start doing something to change it.

a revelation during bible study really shook me, more than i thought it would. i find it's much more easier for me to do mercy ministries here in Quito, rather than Vancouver. why? because less fortunate families here are in their state because they literally have nothing. they work their butt off trying to support their family and provide a home. in Vancouver, the less fortunate are in their state because of some dumb choices they made along the way. our government gives them money, and there's ample food at various shelthers. but you know what, Jesus never said "care for those who deserve your help." no...His love is for everyone, as should mine.

as "rah rah" and "revolutionary-wannabe" as this is gonna sound, i wanna live life knowing that i made the most effort to communicate the love of Christ to everyone i meet, whether in word or deed. i don't just want to go thru the motions of life, maintaining and keepings things rolling. no, i want live intentionally, and missionally.

"Preach Jesus; use words, if necessary." - St. Francis of Assisi.

dL

cultural faux pas!

hey all,

i encountered my first (that i can remember, because i will never forget this) cultural faux pas here in Ecuador...

i slammed a car door!

but it wasn't out of anger, i tell ya. no, it was cos the door didn't close...both times that's right, i did this twice in one day.

it was sunday morning and we were heading off to church in our truck...and i was the last to get in. the door didn't close the first time, so as the truck was going, i opened the door again and closed it a little harder. i guess that resulted in a "SLAM!" and my mom said, "oh, you're very strong," as my sister looked over at me like i just picked my nose or something...

THEN, later in the day, a bunch of us went to a city called Tumbaco to eat some ice cream at this new place that opened up. after, we went to this sports arena to decide if we wanted to skate, bowl, or hit the arcade. well, upon leaving the parking lot to enter the building, i was the last to leave the car, and i closed the car door of Faby's car. it didn't lock (cos you have to hold the handle up, and of course i always check) so i opened it again, locked the door, and closed it a little bit harder - which of course resulted in another "SLAM!" except this time there were 9 people there...5 guys and 4 girls and they all noticed. Faby said, "do you want to break my car?" half jokingly. and then i rememberd the wise words of the Lonely Planet guidebooks - never slam a car door in Ecuador as this is extremely culturally offensive.

Faby later explained that it was ok, cos i was all worried that i had really upset some people. apparently, if you do that, it's a rude gesture to everyone INSIDE the car and OUTSIDE. he said, "maybe cars in Canada, or North America have heavier doors, and are made of a different material...but here, this is my little Suzuki. you have to be gentle."

i know now.

in sports news, my friends and i learned that im quite the competitive air hockey player. we played many games and i hit the puck many times, quite forcefully. i explained that because i'm not allowed to slam car doors, that i would slam pucks :)

in food news...i ate cow feet soup. it's called "Caldo de Patas" and yes....yes i ate it. it was basically the tendon of a cows foot...and for me, it was bad as it sounds. well, actually, asian people might like it...hard core asians...but for me, i can do without it for the rest of my life. it was like eating a piece of wobbly gelatine with no flavour. you guys know that gelatine and Jello is made out of the same stuff, right? well, as the thing sat in my mouth, i thought "this is Jello...this is what Jello is made out of except flavoured orange." the actual soup part was good as it had onions, cilantro, a cream base and a little peanut flavour...but the texture of the foot was just...ick. my family has been wanting me to eat this for awhile. the next crazy thing on the menu is "Yahuarlocro" - blood soup with bits of cooked blood. hey man, im in Ecuador... im gonna be adventurous!

with regards to language, i now know why i understand gringos (white people) better than true blue Ecuadorians. gringos speak with easier spanish...simpler words. i realised this cos this past sunday we had a pastor from the States speak. he used to pastor at my church, Iglesia Evangelica Biblica en El Inca but moved to the States, and is back for two months to work with HCJB. he was born in a city called Cuenca, a little ways away from Quito. anyways, it was the first spanish sermon i understood, because he used simpler gringo-ish spanish! i was quite happy...but am still determined to understand Ecuadorian spanish.

paz, (peace)
dL

Mambo becomes Joomla...

hey all,

alright, so this post is a little more technical than normal. remember way back when, i told you that part of my job since i've arrived was to help migrate new info from HCJB's old server to the new one, using the new content management system called Mambo? well, we just learned that Mambo's name has been changed to Joomla. go figure. when i first heart Mambo, i thought to myself, "strange, this word means 'hey, what's up' in Swahili." well, turns out that the name "Joomla" is swahili! as quoted from the site, "The name Joomla! is a phonetic spelling for the Swahili word "Jumla", which means "all together" or "as a whole". It was chosen as the entire teams behind Mambo were unanimous in their commitment to protecting the interests of the creators and community, which was the true cause for the success and acclaim earned by that project." my question is...what's the deal with all the swahili!

in other news, you may have noticed the new link of radioplanting.com. this is the new site that James finished while i was sick. yah, with the new content management system of Mambo, or i should say Joomla, we can create pretty decent sites in a couple of days. this site focusses on radioplanting, one of HCJB's largest activities aside from television, healthcare etc. i'd encourage you to take a read thru to discover the exciting ministry of radioplanting, and to read up on how God can use radio to reach people.

i've just finished a project i've been working on the past couple of days. while it may sound boring to many of you, i enjoyed doing it. does that make me a geek? basically, HCJB is going to be revamping their intranet - internal network. and me and James are responsible of making sure that it goes smoothly. we're in contact with free lance programmer in Turkey who will be writing the script for us. my job, was to document the various processes that users/admin will take to access the new intranet. make sense? well, trust me... it was good experience. now, we get to wait and see him make this document into a living program - clickable and everything...that's so exciting!

i got my hair cut earlier this week, and coloured. my host mom said i looked younger...my response, "but im only 20, how much younger could i look?! 15??" and she said, "no no, maybe 18." so i guess that's a compliment? who knows...

i saw a man walking 5 goats today. THAT was random. i was walking to catch the bus, looked right to cross the street, and saw the goats coming towards me. it's as strange as..seeing a man walking 5 goats in Vancouver.

i'm out,
dL