with yummy passion fruit juice, moraberry syrup, fresh pineapple, and a new fruit to us - pitijaya(?) we spent time getting to know our team members a little better – round table questions, laughter, some – sharing about what we are expecting from this experience. It’s normal to have varied expectations, uncertainties, fears – but bottom line is we’re here because God has drawn us – and we look for how and where he is working – and it will come in unexpected ways so we need to be open to what he has and loosen up on our driven, result oriented cultural thinking. Jenell and Andy informed us of some important tidbits about this country – like relationships are more important than tasks – people will rather be late than rush past someone without finding out how they are doing. They will stop a meeting to personally greet everyone – people are important! (unless, of course, you’re the driver of a vehicle – then guess what – drivers have the right of way and pedestrians beware – you will be hit if you’re not careful – yikes!) The weirdest tidbit to get used to is – don’t flush the toilet paper – it must go into the waste basket – hello – I could just see Canadian moms rise to this occasion – where is the hygiene in that, we could all get deadly diseases, you know! 
Must rise up and lobby on that one!) But as I was able to observes on the way to Cayambe (our home for the next week and a half) children play on roof tops – they’re flat roofs to be sure, the family dog hangs his head over the side of the roof and observes cars go by, chickens, pigs, cows freely follow their owners around (we’re in the countryside now – driving up into the Andes Mountains, not in Quito)I also was caught by surprise by how badly out of breath I was after taking a gondola up a mountain and tried to walk the rest of the way to the top. I never did make it. Not enough oxygen – no amount of spin classes prepared me for this. The altitude was over 4,000 m, my legs got heavy and my heart was pumping hard – the view however was stunning!
After a good meal we have settled into our hotel, laid out our work clothes for tomorrow and are ready to apply some elbow grease to give assistance as well as an open heart and mind to meet Christian brothers and sisters of the Quichua Indigenous people. There’s joy ahead in fumbling our ways into relationship by sheer body expression – even to them Spanish is their second language – I’m sure lots of surprises lie ahead. We’re grateful, God has packed our day with lots to digest – so I’m off to bed for now. T
On our way to Cayambe we made a little side trip to CBC Ecuador.
I was so surprised be the campus. It was wonderful, a true honor to our Lord. I have now visited two of the campuses. It was the most meaningful time of the day for me, overwhelmed with the feeling of how many have been touched by the Lord through their experiences at CBC. I also praise the Lord as He continues the work He began in their lives and what He continues to accomplish through them for His kingdom. Praise the Lord. D
2 comments:
My goodness, you did pack a lot in didn't you?
I think we can all learn from the important tidbits Jenell and Andy shared with you -
"like relationships are more important than tasks – people will rather be late than rush past someone without finding out how they are doing. They will stop a meeting to personally greet"
everyone – people are important!
Sounds good to me!
Still learning that as I sometimes wonder "how can it take someone an hour to retrieve one item from the store that is 3 minutes away?"
Answer - strike up a conversation with a lonely person in the line next to you.
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