An Ecuadorian Mission Experience

We started the day with breakfast at Eulogio’s again. It was similar fair with the addition of papaya. Oh, it was so good! Papayas in Ecuador are bigger than the ones we eat in the US. They are bigger than watermelons! After breakfast, we went to the ferria in Columbe. It was one of the most intense experiences in my life!

The ferria is every Thursday, and everyone from all around comes to shop. You can buy anything and everything at the ferria: produce, livestock, blenders, car parts, prepared food, electronics, music (tapes and CDs), movies, clothing, and more. The streets are packed with people, and livestock is everywhere. Some people were very welcoming, but there were some who weren’t happy to see us there. An older gentleman actually hit me as he walked by me. It wasn’t that hard, it didn’t hurt, but he definitely was telling me that he didn’t like me being there. One of the funniest things that happened at the ferria was that some of the locals took pictures of Winston and Austin. They are both red heads with fair skin, so they are about as different looking from the locals as possible. Winston especially because he is about a foot taller than the average indigenous Quechua!

The livestock area was crazy with sheep, cows, rabbits, chickens, cuy, and more. You could by a live cuy (guinea pig) for less than 5 dollars. Pigs and sheep were following people around throughout the ferria. That was pretty funny. You could also buy cooked meat throughout. We saw a number of whole pigs roasted and ready to eat. If you bought some, they just hacked off a hunk. You could also purchase whole chickens or just parts, like chicken feet or chicken hearts. The only food that we could really purchase and eat safely was the bread, and apparently it was really good. Some had cinnamon in the middle, and some was kind of cheesy. A couple of the guys bought soccer jerseys for $3-5 a piece. Comparable jerseys sell for $50 or more in the US.

We left the market for Columbe Grande and arrived to an empty village! Everyone was at the market. It was great down time. Some of us went to the daycare facility and played with the younger kids. We played games and dress up. One of the little girls dressed Alex up in her poncho and hat. It was pretty funny! There were a few young boys who had come home from school, so a group of us played soccer with them. After a while, when we got worn out, we played Ecuavolley with them. Ecuavolley is basically a game that is similar to a volleyball practice circle except they use a soccer ball.

Once people started arriving back at Columbe Grande, we ate a quick lunch and then did some more construction work. We moved sand, dirt and rocks away from the church. The construction supplies had to be moved from the church because they are having a wedding on Saturday through Tuesday. Yes, they have 4 day wedding celebrations!

We finished the afternoon off with another round of VBS. We had planned a skit and craft for the afternoon that we ultimately decided was culturally irrelevant and probably inappropriate, so we substituted one that Rachel and Jose recommended. We dropped the craft, but we had plenty else to do as well. The skit we ended up doing was about keeping the joy and happiness found in God in our hearts, and that no one could take that from us. We sang songs and played games again. Then we split into three groups (we probably had double the kids from the previous day). One group made wire and bead crosses, one put their painted handprints on a table cloth, and the a third played with rocket balloons and bubbles. They had an amazing time! Everything went so well. The adults loved helping with the crosses. They thought it was so fascinating and cool. The bubbles and balloons were a wild hit. Kids were running wild everywhere!

The elders of the community really loved doing the table cloth. We ended up laying the cloth down on the floor. The adults wanted to lay their ponchos down so it didn’t get dirty, but we used sacks from rice and such instead. They got upset when it got dirty and they did their best to keep it clean. We wrote “The Hands of God” in both Spanish and Quechua on the cloth. A giant cross was placed in the center, and every hand in the village was placed on it. It was amazing!

Our time at Columbe Grande came to a close with a prayer and thanksgiving service. It wasn’t something expected or planned, but it was beautiful. We sang songs again, and then the Quechua choir sang for us. I was asked to preach again (with very little warning, I might add!) and offer words of thanks. Eulogio preached after me, and then the elders of the village gave many words of thanks. We handed out the crosses to the children, and then I gave another little speech of thanks. We finished the service with a Quechua thanksgiving dance, and they hung the table cloth up on the wall for everyone to see.

The Quechua thanksgiving dance was very cool. It wasn’t super difficult, but they invited us to participate in something dear and special to their culture. That is huge! They bounce and bob to a rhythmic music, and then had us join them in it. It was a way cool gesture, and it seemed to say that they accepted us and were happy for our presence. I think we did a pretty good job at honoring and respecting their culture, and they were very curious about our culture (I got the feeling that they had very little exposure to our culture).

It was a long and amazing day that left us drained and nearly speechless.

blessings,
dorian