An Ecuadorian Mission Experience

Hey there folks!

Now that nearly a month has passed since we returned from Ecuador, it is time to really unpack our experiences and explore how we might bear fruit. This was our third experience in Ecuador with Youth World as a church, although each year we've had new folks join in. We have definitely seen a growth in maturity each year with regards to our team and to our approach towards mission. It has been a blessing to be a part of these experiences.

This past Sunday night, our team (minus two because of vacation and college orientation) gathered at the Miller house to fellowship, cook, eat, laugh, share stories and unpack our experiences. The food was amazing! It included: empanadas, llapingachos, a pork dish, a shrimp dish, fruit, a beef and plantain soup, fried plantains, Ecuadorian white rice, arroz con pollo, watermelon juice and so much more. Some of the most fun was had during the preparation of the food. Many of us hung out in the kitchen laughing, telling stories, reminiscing, and having an amazing time together. The kitchen is just an great place to fellowship.

After dinner, the team gathered to unpack our experiences and explore how we might bear fruit from our experiences. We started out sharing our favorite memories, partially to jog our memories, but also to share in the blessings of how God moved in the midst of our time in Ecuador. Some shared how they loved getting to go into small groups in the homes of church members from Iglesia Zoé, and being blessed with the opportunity to share our faith, hear their testimonies and then pray together. Some remembered our own goofiness and laughter and how awesome of a team that we had. Another remembered the joy and smiles of the children that we served amongst at parks and schools. Another shared how it made a huge impression on him that Pastor Josué's church (Iglesia Zoé) did not have walls (either figuratively or literally). And a few youth shared that they loved their time with the youth of Nueva Jerusalen. We spent a whole day traveling and ministering with 20+ youth from their youth group, and much time (hours!) was spent laughing, singing, joking and sharing on the bus. This was the first time in three years that we were able to really building relationships with local youth that we felt would be sustainable.

Next we shared our successes and struggles in transitioning back to life at home. There were some struggles and some eased in pretty naturally with very little to no struggles. Some folks dealt with illness, bringing a little bit of Ecuador back home. Some struggled with going from being busy with work and ministry on a day to day, moment to moment basis to then having nothing to do back home but just hang out. Some were so excited to see family that they had very little trouble transitioning back home. Some struggled with the excess that surrounded them after being in the midst of poverty and life in a developing country. Some folks didn't have a chance to rest of have down time before they wisked away on another adventure. Everyone had unique transition experiences.

Last, we shared how we believed we may be able to bear fruit from our experiences. This is the most important aspect of mission in many ways. This is how we determine success on many levels. How is God moving in your life and how are you going to bear fruit? And it was exciting to hear the potential and the things already in motion. One person is being lead to be more attentive to God's call in his life. Some are feeling moved to help get camera equipment donated to Casa Gabriel (a street kid ministry of Youth World). Many of the youth feel more confident in their faith and want to be more open with sharing their lives and faith with others. A couple youth want to return to Ecuador to give a full summer of volunteer time to Youth World, and then maybe pursue a year internship at some point. One person is beginning to wrestle with a possible calling to fulltime mission service. A couple folks feel called to help sell jewelry that helps young women get rescued from the sex trade industry. The potential and depth of the fruit is amazing! I can't wait to see it all come to fruition. These are things that won't just be one time events. These are things that will be cultivated over years...that is exciting!

And so it is, here we come to the end...which is really just a beginning. The onfield experience of 2011 is over, but we will see the fruit for years to come. Thank you so much for following us. Thank you for your patience. I cannot say enough thanks for your support and prayers. I hope you have enjoyed this blog and the experiences of this team. May Jesus bear fruit in your life through these experiences and stories!

Now, I'd like to leave you and challenge you with a few words about...

MISSION

Mission is a pretty hot topic on the blogosphere lately. There is a great discussion going on over at Jamie The Very Worst Missionary (she's awesomely hilarious!). She serves in Costa Rica, I believe, as a fulltime missionary. I've also had many discussions with my friend Cameron, clergy, and other youth ministers. Short Term Missions are a multi-million dollar industry (maybe even multi-billion!). That's insane! How and when did missions become an "industry"?

So, as a person in charge of the spiritual formation of a community, it brings to mind LOTS of questions. Are we doing the right thing? Is it all worth it? Are we doing good? Are we spending all this money the right way? Is it better to just write a check and not go? Are we being a blessing? Is it more about us? Is it more about the people we are serving? Are we bringing Jesus to them? Is Jesus already there? Are we doing it right? ....I mean, really, I could go on and on. This is tough stuff!

We could discuss theology and the Great Commission. We could look at the history of missions. There are lots of angles that we could approach this from, but for the sake of time and to make certain points, I want to focus on two particular pieces of the puzzle.

The first is how we talk about short term missions. How often do hear someone say that they just went, or are going, on a short term mission trip? What do you think about when you hear the word trip? I think of vacations and fun and things that are all about me. I think of tourism, sight-seeing, and stuff like that. When we use the word trip attached to short term missions, it can be very innocent, but the connotations can deeply affect the way we approach and do mission. When it is a mission trip it can be more focused on ourselves. It is something we go and do. It has an end. We leave it behind. It can easily become about what we are doing and what we are getting out of it. It tends to be more self-focused when it is a trip.

Hey there folks!

Many apologies for my tardiness! This should have been posted a long time ago. After getting back from Ecuador, I just had a couple days turn around before I headed on another mission and youth conference to Minnesota. Between sleeping and hanging out with the family, I just didn't get this done. So very sorry!!!

Our last day was a whirl-wind adventure. We had to be packed up early in the morning because we were catching a red-eye flight home later in the evening and we weren't coming back to the hostel. The last day was our only day without ministry. It was our down day to site-seeing, shopping, fellowship and final debrief. Our first venture was a trip to the market in Quito. This is such a fun place to be! The market is teeming with life. The rows of stalls are tight with just enough room to slide by an on-comer. The stalls overflow with merchandise, and you are constantly being solicited. You can find anything Ecuadorian that you would love to bring home: shirts, soccer jerseys, pants, jackets, items made out of alpaca, wood carving, ceramic dishes, instruments, bags, flags, coffee, jewelry and so very much more. Negotiating is encouraged, but you also need to be respectful, as many of the workers only make a few dollars a day. It is important to make sure they can make a living. Unfortunately, we don't bring cameras into the market because pick-pocketing is common, so we only have a picture or two from the market.

After a couple hours at the market, we took the bus up to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth). The equator, technically, is a mile wide. There are two monuments north of Quito, but neither are dead center. Both are fairly touristy. We went to the one with the larger monument. We also had lunch there, got to browse some other shops, and hang out at the middle of the earth. It was way cool, and we finished our time there with a team photo.

The evening took us to El Refugio, a retreat center run by Youth World that is located 40 minutes outside of Quito up further in the mountains. It is amazingly beautiful and serene. We had some alone time to hike, pray and spend time alone with God. Some of us hiked way up the mountain, and some of us hung out around base camp. A few of us visited the llamas! One is friendly. One is not so much. After our alone time, we spent time in final debrief. We first spent some time naming sights, sounds, smells, and tastes from the week. It was a time to not only name the obvious sights and sounds, but also to name the places that we saw Jesus and experienced Jesus. After that, we spent time in an affirmation circle. This is always an amazing experience. We shared incredible affirmations and blessings to one another. Many tears (of joy!) were shared. This is a place that we share how we see and experience Jesus in each other. This is a place of amazing love. The Holy Spirit moves strong and the emotions are on our sleeves. We were so into it, that the hosts had to cut us off.

We then moved to dinner around a campfire. We got to eat some Cuy (a national delicacy). Cuy is...guinea pig! We think of them as pets, but in Ecuador, guinea pig is a very high end food. They LOVE it! It tastes a lot like duck. It is greasy dark meat. Not too bad. We also had hotdogs, chips, watermelon and finished with smores. After dinner, we were wisked away to the airport.

Even though our flight departed at 11:30pm, the airport was pretty busy. There are layers and layers of security. They even took Winston to his luggage under the airport to go through it piece by piece with him! Pretty crazy stuff. The first flight wasn't too bad. Most of us slept okay. But the surprise of the trip awaited us in Atlanta. Apparently, storms came through the early morning, and our flight was canceled. Initially, the 14 of us were bumped to 7+ flights, and it was possible that we could get bumped to the next day. It was tough. I worked hard to get half of us on flights to Columbia. 6 people ended up getting onto one flight home. 6 of us stayed the course to Charlotte, and we got home on two different flights. Anne and Samuel were trying to get to Seattle, and after getting bumped a few times and rescheduling to a new flight, they finally were on their way (although, I picked their luggage up in Charlotte the next day...ugh).

It was an adventure that was pretty amazing. But we made it home. Check out the pics below from the last day (final thoughts/notes will be posted very soon):

Hey there folks,

Well, yesterday was our last full day. It is pretty crazy how an adventure like this is just over all of a sudden. It just feels strange. This begins the hard process of phasing ourselves back into our normal lives. They say it is pretty difficult to convey to others what we may have experienced, and it can be so very true. So, our hope and prayer is that we will be able to successfully communicate our experiences to our family and friends.

Unfortunately, today I can't upload photos. I don't know why. I have internet. It is slow today, but every time I go to upload photos, I get an error message. So very sorry. I will upload photos from today and yesterday once we are back home.

Yesterday was a fun day that wasn't too intense. Most of our days have been busy from sun up to sun down. Ministry has been pretty intense most days! In the morning yesterday, we went to a ministry site called Casa G. It is a ministry that helps take street kids off the street, give them intentional Christian community, and raise them up as Christian leaders. They house up to 12-14 youth at a time, ages 14-20. A family from the US lives in the house, and they also have an Ecuadorian "Dad" that lives with them 3-4 days a week as well. They get put in school, they get a room with a bed and other amenities they have never had, and they instantly have a bunch of new brothers. They cook meals together, they study together, they play together, and they learn how to incorporate themselves into a normal life. It is a pretty incredible ministry.

Once we arrived at Nueva Jerusalen, we started helping them paint the walls of a courtyard. The courtyard and building attached will be used for youth ministry and other church functions, I think. So we spent a couple hours before lunch painting. For us, it was a fairly frustrating process because they paint very differently here. The paint is diluted and watered down to the point it looks like white water. Even thinner than milk. And you put on layer after layer after layer. Sometimes you can't tell that you painted! But we have been learning that it isn't right, it isn't wrong, it's just different!

Lunch was delicious! We had soup with pop corn in it, Coca-Cola Chicken, rice and a mix of fruit and vegetables. And then we got a siesta! I don't think that is necessarily a normal part of life here, but we took a 30 min rest period. Oh it was awesome.

In the afternoon, we went with the Nueva Jerusalen teenagers to a park nearby. They are trying to reach out to the community by being a constant positive presence. They want to reach out to children and families and invite them to church, so they go to the nearby park, play games and talk with people about their church. We had a blast with the folks from Nueva Jerusalen, but it was a bit anticlimactic because there weren't too many people out in the park yesterday. We said goodbye to our new friends and headed to dinner at an incredible Chinese restaurant. Chinese food is a little bit different here than it is back home, so it was very neat to have that experience.

Today, we will go to the market, visit Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth...the Equator) and then spend some reflection time at Youth World's retreat center, El Refugio. After all that we will zip to the airport to depart at 11:30pm (12:30am back home). We land in Atlanta a little after 6am, and then finally land in Charlotte a little after 9am. Sooooo....we will see you all very soon! Much love to you and thank you for your support and prayers.

blessings,
dorian

Grace and peace!

Yesterday took us an hour and a half south of Quito into an indigenous town called Quicono. In this town Christians are struggling for the same rights as Catholics. The best way to compare it or describe it is to the Catholica Protestant clashes in Ireland. In Ecuador, you have the Catholics and then everybody else, all the Christians. Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, Pentecostals, etc. are all lumped in together as Christians. ABout 90% of the population of Ecuador identifies itself as Catholic. In some areas Christians are viewed in a negative light. This town is one such place, and as a minority, the Christians are persecuted. The town authorities will deny water and other services. Christians are trying their best to respond in love by sharing the Gospel and doing acts of community service.

In the morning we arrived at a school to play games, do crafts and hang out with kids. It was a bit awkward as the school didn't act as though they expected us. But eventually they allowed us to hang out with the kids. It was a fun time, and the team of youth from Nueva Jerusalen jumped right into their program as we tried to assist as best we could. As we filed into the school, all I could think about was how this scenario would play out in the US. There is no way that a school would shut down their learning day to play games, do crafts and hear an evangelical message from a group of strangers. It was a strange dichotomy for me.

Lunch was pretty cool. Apparently, Jose Luis' church has a sister church in Quicono, and a member of that church provided us with lunch. It was very indigenous: chicken soup (with parts), indigenous corn, potatoes, ava beans and fruit. The home was a farm, and there were chickens walking around us throughout lunch. The property had three structures situated together, and they were very primitive with some modern amenities. They were so gracious to share their space with us.

The afternoon took us into the middle of the town (I think), and we performed some community service. We repainted some lines on a soccer/basketball court. It wasn't too hard, and it went by really fast. But it was cool to do something to benefit the community.

For once, we weren't out too terribly late, and after dinner we had time to hang out and play games together at the hostel. It was a good, fun day together. It is hard to believe, though, that tomorrow is our last day and we fly out in the evening. Unbelievable! Again, thank you for all your support and prayers! See you soon!

blessings,
Dorian

Grace and peace, my friends!

I hope you had a wonderful Pentecost! Ours was quite the adventure! We started off the day by worshiping at the English Fellowship Church. Cameron's husband Roberto is the music and worship leader at EFC. EFC is a bilingual church that was founded for missionaries. It gave (and still does give) them a place to go and bed fed away from their ministry sites. It has grown and serves a larger demographic than just missionaries, but this appears to still be at it's roots.

Roberto invited me to play bass with him at church. It was a ton of fun! They have a full praise band, and we rocked it pretty good. Our group got to sit in the balcony and got a great view of the service. One neat aspect of the sermon was the pastor invited up a group of gentlemen. One of them had grown up Ecuadorian, but traveled to live in the Middle East. He has returned to live in Ecuador. He played a couple songs for the church, and they lyrics mixed Spanish, English and Hebrew...pretty crazy.

After church we were treated to a recording studio session! Roberto was allowed to use some space of the church's to set up a recording studio. It is a ministry that allows churches and groups to come in and record their music. They help them sell it, and some of the proceeds go to a local orphanage. We recorded Every Move I Make, and it was great fun! It has been years since I had been in a recording studio, and it felt awesome to be back.

After lunch, we headed to Nueva Jerusalen. The church was having a huge youth event that included songs, worship, prayer, preaching (yep, me!), and then games (Minute 2 Win It syle, dude!). The games were intense and a whole lotta fun. Afterwards, all the Ecuadorian teens wanted to take pictures with the North American teenagers. It all was good fun and incredibly awesome.

I wish I could write more, but my eyes won't stay open any longer. I will try to add some pictures from John and some others very soon. Thank you for your prayers!

blessings,
dorian


Day 6 on the Ground: EFC and Nueva Jerusalen

Hey there folks!

Well, we are back in Quito now, and so you have the priviledge of taking some time to check out many pictures from the last few days. I don't have a lot of time, so I can't write too much, but I think you'll be happy with the pictures. Yesterday was mostly travel back to Quito. The bus ride was a little more intense. You drive faster going up than going down! So some folks had some motion sickness issues.

We stopped at some gas stations and bought some neat snacks (like the combo of potato chips and pork rinds). We actually saw a bus that had swerved for some reason and was off in some trees. Kinda scary, but our bus driver was the best and he took very good care of us. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier (too difficult to go and look back right now), but you get to drive through some different regions. The coast, the jungle and the highlands. The jungle isn't the Amazon (it's on the other side of the mountains, the east side), but it is still neat to travel through the jungle. We saw banana farms and African Palm farms (they harvest the nuts for oil). Then you quickly rise in elevation and enter the mountains. Incredible views. I don't think the pictures display the full glory, but you'll get an idea.

Gedeon is a band and music ministry that Cameron's husband Robert is a part of. They travel around Ecuador putting on concerts and sharing Christ's love and the Gospel. Pretty awesome! And their music rocks! There was also a group from Christ Church School in Greenville there with us as well. We knew a couple of the people in the group, but not as many as past years. There were a couple different acts that opened for Gedeon. There is a ministry called Casa G that helps get street kids off the street and then trains them to be Christian leaders. A few of them did freestyle and choreographed dance for us. It was a good bit of break dancing, and they were incredibly talented. There was a couple of dudes from Carmen Bajo (a church in a certain slum neighborhood of Quito) who rapped for us as well, and they were quite talented (and of course it was all in Spanish). And there was a band from Casa G that played a song that was sort of a reggae/ska mix. And then Gedeon rocked it out. It was a blast, and it was equally fun watching our group, the group from Christ Church, and the Ecuadorians mix and dance and laugh and have a great time.

And then we finished the evening with Papa John's pizza! Haha!

Well, I'm off to church, so I hope you enjoy the pictures!

blessings,
dorian


Day 2 on the Ground: Travel to Atacames and our first ministry site:



Day 3 on the Ground: first full day in Atacames and visits to 2 schools and a park:



Day 4 on the Ground: Construction at Iglesia Zoe:



Day 5: Travel back to Quito and Gedeon Concert at Carmen Bajo:

Grace and peace, my friends!

Today was a really fun day, but also super tough. Our job, today, included moving 5 dump truck loads of dirt around the church! It was pretty intense. 

But first, the morning started off with breakfast at Pastor Josue's house. When we arrived, we were greeted by a cow nose sting ray at Josue's house. It was given to him by the local fishermen. Winston and I got to take pictures with it. Way cool! We had bolon de verde for breakfast, which is a plantain ball with cheese inside. 

We had one job yesterday... Moving dirt. 5 dump truck loads of dirt were dropped off at Iglesia Zoe, and our job was to layer and spread out the dirt. The land the church sits on used to be a shrimp farm, so when it rains the area floods. So all the homes and buildings in the area have to bring in dirt and raise up the ground. It was a six hour job, but actually succeeded in moving all the dirt! It was very hard labor, but it was a lot of fun too. We were also blessed that it stayed cloudy and relatively cool all day. 

There was lots of laughter and joking throughout the day. One of the funniest instances occurred after lunch. For lunch we had pork, a potato and rice (there is a pic on facebook). The pork had fat and skin (with hair!) still attached. During conversation, it became apparent that Patrick ate the whole thing...he didn't realize it had fat and skin on it because the dining room was a bit dark. Pastor Josue asked Patrick if he ate the peel with the banana too! We all laughed hysterically, and I think Patrick was a bit grossed out. He was still able to laugh about it. 

Samuel fell back into a wheel barrow, Anne did a head stand on the pulpit area, Jimmy and Winston were cracking jokes all day...it was really a lot of fun. 

When we finished working, we all grabbed a post and prayed for Iglesia Zoe and Pastor Josue. It had been an amazing day, and it feels pretty cool to have contributed our sweat and hard work to the foundation of the church. During debrief, we talked about what we had learned about the church and the people of God. Common themes were: not taking anything for granted, the church isn't a building but a community of people, keep it simple (church is about relationships, love and Jesus), being the presence of Christ, and the church doesn't have walls (both literally and figuratively!).

We finished our time in Atacames with dinner at Josue's house. It was a traditional Bolivian meal (Josue is a missionary from Bolivia ministering in Ecuador) of fried egg, rice with pork (I think), and plantains. It was delicious! We prayed, gave thanks, hugged, took some pictures and said our goodbyes. But by the time we got back to the hotel, Pastor Josue had already Friended many of us on Facebook! Look up his church Iglesia Zoe on Facebook...Josue has posted 200 pictures of us already on his church's Facebook page!

Our time in Atacames was pretty amazing. It was definitely life changing, and I look forward to the group sharing with others in the future about their time here. 

We will be back in Quito this afternoon/evening, so pray for our travels. Also, I'll be able to post pictures later tonight, so you'll have a bunch of new pics to check out tomorrow. Hasta luego!

Blessings,
Dorian