Installment #2 of my Mission Trip to Ecuador Blog
Short Version:
On Saturday, I got to go on a field trip to a waterfall and to trout fishing ponds with the older kids. I chaperoned a girl named Tatiana.
On Sunday, I had the privilege of leading worship for the Casa de Fe kids. They seemed to enjoy the new songs I taught them (as evidenced by the number of times I was asked to sing them again and again and again during the week).
Prayer point: Pray for Tatiana (age 16 or 17). When she was around 3 years old, she was found living under the porch of her home with the dogs. Because she has cerebral palsy, she was not accepted by her family. Pray for healing for her (emotionally and physically), and for a forever family.
Long Version:
Saturday:
After 2.5 days of travel, it was finally time to get to
work!
 |
| Tatiana |
Saturday was an adventure. The kids got to go on a field
trip! I got the impression that this only normally happens when a group is
there due to the number of people needed to monitor the kids in public places. We
were divided into two groups. One group was to go swimming with the younger
kids (they ended up doing a movie afternoon at Patti Sue’s due to rain), and
the rest of us were to hike to a waterfall and go trout fishing with the older
kids. Each of us was assigned kids to chaperone. Other team members had 2-3
kids to watch. I had one: Tatiana. Tatiana has cerebral palsy, is known to
wander-off, and is known to take things that don’t belong to her if they are
left sitting around. She was a full-time job!
I enjoyed showing “Tati” some pictures of my kids on the bus
ride to the falls. Her speech was somewhat slurred, so I had a hard time
understanding her Spanish, but still enjoyed getting to know her. The hike to
the waterfall was steep, gorgeous, and very wet because it rained ALL DAY that
day. The view was worth every step, and although I had to hold on to Tati’s
hand the whole way down to keep her from falling, she managed to leave me a
little behind on the way back up.
Then it was fishing time at a stocked trout pond.
Each of us had to catch our own fish using a bamboo pole with a line, hook, and
dough for bait. It took about 5 seconds to catch your trout and fling it out of
the water. We then brought the fish to the cleaning station where Rita jumped
right in and learned how to gut a fish. She talked me into doing one. I totally
could have jumped in whole-heartedly if I had had gloves, but I just have a
thing for not wanting fish to actually touch my skin.
I swang with Tati and played “Rock, Paper, Scissors” and any
other two person game that doesn’t require supplies that I could think of while
we waited for the trout to cook. Oh, and she poured her water into my water
glass. Since we don’t share in my family, this was an obstacle to overcome. I
tried to clean my glass and to mark it as mine, but eventually someone else
started drinking out of it, so I just started fresh.
The fish came with head and skin on. I did fine eating it,
but couldn’t believe how the kids ate EVERYTHING but the bones—eyes, head,
fins, skin, the works. The fish was complemented by a salad, and something
maybe made of yucca. I did try a fried fish fin later in the week, and it
tasted like a potato chip.
Back at the hotel, we had a little time to prepare our skit
for the Sunday church service before having dinner at the Zuniga’s house. We
played Bible Outburst (Jeff and Nancy were amazing!) and learned more about the
needs in Shell, and at Casa de Fe, and about the Zuniga’s missions, which
include ministry on the streets to prostitutes, as well as their work at Casa
de Fe. They have three older kids, plus one little girl, Naomi, who they are in
the process of adopting. Naomi had severe medical needs as a baby, but now seems
to be thriving with the Zunigas. Unfortunately, adoption is a long, costly
process in Ecuador (as in many other places). It saddens me to think of all the
time kids spend in orphanages waiting for a family as they go through the 2+
year process of adoption, and that is for the fortunate ones who eventually get
a family.
Sunday:
 |
| Our fearless leader, Jeff, wearing his Camp Cherith shirt!!! |
Sunday morning was spent playing with kids of all ages. I
started out practicing my worship songs on their keyboard that evidently
doesn’t get used very often. I think they usually use videos for worship. If I
could just teleport myself there, I would gladly lead worship for them every
week. I soon developed a small group of fans, including Talia. I taught them a
couple of new songs, had them spend time singing with me, and later had Talia
help me actually lead worship.
Talia and a group of boys then played “Pass the Pigs” with
me. One boy tried to cheat on pretty much every turn, but I refused to let him
get away with it. Several didn’t “Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em...” and would rack up a lot of points,
only to lose them all. If you don’t know how to play Pigs, ask me sometime.
It’s the best!
We Skyped Cormorant Lutheran during each of their morning
services. It was neat to give the congregation a little glimpse of the Casa
that they so fervently support.
After a couple of hands of Fluxx with some older girls, we
left to have lunch at Paradera Vista Hermosa. Beautiful view. It really was
beautiful. I had the meat platter, and it was more meat than I usually eat in a
week. Oh, and I tried to eat a fish eye. I did chew it up, but had to spit it
out in the end.
We made a quick field trip to the Nate Saint house before
heading back to the Casa for worship. Nate Saint was a pilot and missionary in
Shell in the 1950s. In 1956 after
making some contact with the Waorani tribe, Nate and 4 other missionaries were
murdered by several tribe members. Despite tragedy, family members continued to
minister to the tribe, and many in the village, including six of the killers,
came to Christ. Go to https://www.maf.org/about/history/nate-saint
to learn more.
We had the opportunity to buy Waorani made items (with 100%
of the money going directly to the individuals who crafted the items), and I
bought some ceramic turtles, a bowl and bracelets for gifts, and for my hubby
and son, I bought BLOW GUNS!!!! Who else in the neighborhood has a blow gun????
 |
| Nate Saint House |
Back at the casa, we helped lead afternoon worship service
for the kids. I spent a lot of time preparing worship songs in Spanish, and
enjoyed the chance to lead the kids. My Cherith friends will enjoy the fact that
I taught them “Salt and Light” in Spanish, and I translated “Thwart” into
Spanish for them. We sang other worship songs that are familiar to both English and
Spanish speakers as well.
Rae translated our skit into Spanish. Topic: Fruit of the
Spirit. My character was basically Jesus, and each person came to me with a
problem, and I exchanged their bad stuff with the fruit of the spirit that I
had taped all over my body. My teammates were great sports with their Spanish
lines. Kudos to Nancy for being the “most improved” on her pronunciation.
Casa de Fe’s chaplain, Mark Blosser’s wife then gave the
message to the older kids, while the younger ones went downstairs for Sunday
school. It was sweet to get to get to worship with the kids and my prayer is
that the power of God will transform each of their lives in huge ways.
 |
| Zuniga Family, plus a family friend, and Ashlynn, who is staying with them for 3 months |
By the end of worship, my throat hurt and I had had a bit of
post-nasal drip, (MDs, don’t read this part…) so I decided to buy myself a
Z-pack and self medicate. The slight symptoms I’d been having for weeks quickly
cleared up. I get the whole resistant bacteria thing, but it is really nice to
not pay $150 or more for the doctor to say that yes, you can have antibiotics
and then to have to pay for the medicine on top of that.
Dinner that night was at a Chinese place. I am partial to
Asia Chow Mein in Columbia Heights, MN, but even compared to lesser places
where I’ve eaten, this place gets ranked pretty low. Oh well. It was food. The
people you are with are more important that the quality on the plate.
After two fun days with the kids, I was ready for a little manual labor in the coming days. Or maybe a lot of manual labor. I facetimed my family, prayed with my roommates, and slept...some...never well. Oh well!
After two fun days with the kids, I was ready for a little manual labor in the coming days. Or maybe a lot of manual labor. I facetimed my family, prayed with my roommates, and slept...some...never well. Oh well!
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.