Salasaca
The next morning was Sunday and we traveled to Salasaca to attend a Quichua church. Quichua is the language that Larry and Susan are working translating the bible into. The woman of the church wore vikeas or shawls [and] the men wore black ponchos. Everyone wanted to greet us and shake our hands. The only thing we could do was to smile and shake hands it was a little awkward not to be able to communicate a greeting back to them. The service was around an hour long and that seems like a long time when you do not know what is being said. One of the songs they sang had motions to it that had you waving your arms like wings, spinning around and jumping. We may not have known the words but we were worshiping God together. We had some small crosses that we passed out at the end of the service . Then it was time of more greeting and hand shakes and smiles. Then it was back into the truck and we made our way to Shell. It was amazing to see the steepness of hills that they farm on. Tungurahua is an active volcano that had erupted this year. You could really appreciate the destructive force of lava traveling down the mountain side. We stopped at a place where the lava had passed over the road and picked up a few lava rocks. Larry told us that during the eruption you could only go outside if you had a mask and goggles on. He estimated that he cleaned up over 1000 lbs of volcanic ash from around his apartment. We stopped for lunch at a town between Salasaca and Shell, Banos. We ate with Shedd and Kris who work with Larry and Susan in translating the Bible into Quichua. We said goodby to Larry and Susan and their kids and continued on to Shell in Shedd’s truck. Rachel and Amanda traveled in the back of the truck. You travel through a series of tunnels on the way to Shell, unlike here in the states there are not any lights in the tunnel. You are happy to have some one ahead of you leading the way.
Shell
My first reaction to Shell was that it looked like a slum in a war zone. Every house has a gate around it with barb wire running along the top of the fence. I would say at lease 90% of the homes in Ecuador are in some state of reconstruction. With piles of dirt and rocks in front of most houses. The size of the pile of dirt and rocks in front of the house serves as a status symbol of wealth. The bigger the pile the bigger the home expansion you are planning to do. The actual expansion may never actually get done. Larry asked if he could have a few rocks from one of his neighbors and he was turned down because they needed them for their home expansion. Three years latter that same pile of rocks remain. I wonder if we are much different, we have a bank account and maybe we are asked to help out in some area. We say “ I need that money because of this or that plan.”
I walked with Rachel to pick up some groceries. The biggest store in town was the size of a 7-eleven. Since you are walking and carrying your groceries you tend to get only what you need for the moment. It is common to make two or three stops a day at the grocers. The grocers also serves as a gathering place. Rachel lives in the ground level of Shedd and Kris’s home and it was very nice. Shell is a very noisy place with most people having roosters, dogs and parrots. Who ever said that roosters crow in the morning was wrong they crow all the time and that gets the dogs barking. Shell is a noisy place. Monday morning we attended Chapel service at the Nate Saint school. Nate Saint school is a missionary school that Rachel works at. During the song time the power went out but they did not miss a beat. Electricity can be hit or miss in Shell. The mission hospital is a one floor building in the shape of a horseshoe. The hospital is a busy place with a crowd of people there. They perform minor surgeries there but major surgeries they need to travel to Quito.
Casa de Fe
We went to the orphanage after lunch. The children and babies are there because they are not whole in the world’s eyes. Your heart breaks as you hear their various stories. Your heart breaks to make them whole. We held the babies and played with the kids. We were privileged to be able to provide the extra arms and laps to hold the babies, to provide hands to roll a ball or provide a loving touch. We went back to the orphanage a few times over the time we were in Shell. It is hard to come up with words to describe the emotion you feel.
Rachel’s best friend in Ecuador [Pamela] stopped in and we visited with Rachel translating between us. At some point we started sharing various scriptures with each other. The evening got exciting as we bounced back and forth with different verses. While language had kept us some what separated it was exciting how sharing scriptures brought us together.
I had mentioned earlier that my first impression of Shell was one of a slum. I left with the impression of true community and that makes Shell a very special place.
Kids Club [in Salasaca]
Kids are kids every where. When you sit at a table with a child and play-doh it’s easy to communicate. We played games outside and had a great time. After game time we all shared a small snack. Larry gave a short bible lesson that he had translated into Quichua. There is a hunger in the kids for interaction contact whether it was games or the bible lesson or working on a craft. True living is only found in relationship. Unfortunately we are often willing to trade true living to the false security of isolation. Let your heart be touched and even hurt but live your life. Do not merely exist have passion let your heart be open. Part of our trip to Ecuador was to touch another culture and be touched by another culture. To let God expand our minds and hearts.
Youth Group
Rachel and Amanda took a bus back to Shell so Rachel could have Amanda attend the youth group meeting. The youth group has become a big part of Rachel’s experience while in Ecuador. It was nice that she wanted to share that with her sister. They stayed in Shell and went to Rachel’s church in Shell. We attended a Spanish church in town. Once again I did not know a word of what was being said. I would just let my mind put words to the music. During one song Larry leaned over and translated the words of the song. What was neat to me was that the words I put to the music were similar to the actual words. I thought that was pretty neat.
Rachel and Amanda were supposed to get back around 4:00 they did not get back until around 5:30 I was starting to get concerned. We had dinner with homemade ice cream for dessert. Rachel had to go to the bus terminal to get a bus back to Shell. For some reason that goodby was harder for me then when [we] sent her off to Ecuador.
To some degree we are still digesting the whole trip but I hope this gives you some sense of the trip.
Mike
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