Saturday, March 31, 2012



We are sitting in the Guayaquil airport and thought I would upload a couple photos quick from the jungle. So many pictures, but here are a few.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at church tomorrow morning!




Saying Goodbye

We climbed winding dirt roads through the mountains, and finally arrived at the paved road to Riobamba. The jungle is now behind us. We stop to climb a tower with a great view of the deep valleys below us. A cold wind and high altitude greets us.

Another hour and we arrive at the beautiful Atillo Lakes nestled high in the Andes Mountains. We continue our journey to Riobamba, begin to pack, and then go out to say all of our goodbyes to family and friends in Ecuador.

It is now Saturday morning and we are leaving for the Guayaquil airport and hope to arrive in New Holland by 2:30 to 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. We look forward to seeing everyone back home.

Thank you for all your prayers throughout this trip and for our trip home and our adjustment back to Lancaster County and a busy week ahead preparing for Easter.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Jungle Monkeys and Rain

A soaking downpour greets us as we arrive at the monkey preserve. We put on raincoats and ponchos and enter through the gates. Suddenly Jess lets out a gasp. We look up and a large monkey only inches away is looking down at us. Thus begins our adventures at the monkey preserve.

Judy is the first one to have a cute little monkey jump on her shoulder and climb onto the top of her head. Jessica tempts it off with her hand and soon the monkey has climbed onto her shoulder and head.

We walk through a lush jungle by a river with amazing jungle sights. We return to the car, soaked and muddy, but thankful for this window into the jungle.

We drive south through the jungle and arrive in Macas mid-afternoon. We check out several hostals in town, but they all seem noisy. We find a tourist information center and eventually find a perfect hostal in a remote jungle setting by a river several kilometers south of Macas.

We hike, rest, and relax in the jungle. As the sun sets, we hike back a dirt path with great views of the river and jungle. We return to a campfire and lie down in hammocks. After a delicious dinner of fish and chicken, we enjoy the night sounds of the Ecuador jungle as Janelle and Jessica sing hymns out of the Mennonite Hymnal.

God has again answered our prayers!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Jungle

It's the Ecuador jungle - hot, sticky, rainy, and mosquitoes. We arrived here last night driving through heavy rain. This morning we are sitting in hammocks at our hostel amidst palms, bananna trees, and other vegetation which makes it feel like jungle.

Yesterday, Frank, Janelle, Jess and Ashley hiked some of Chimborazo. Today, we will be exploring the jungle. Judy's foot and ankle have swollen quite a bit from the rafting accident so she may not do a lot of walking today.

We are thankful that we are spending this last week resting, relaxing and being together as a family. We miss Justin and Katie!

Tomorrow is our last day in Ecuador. Saturday, we leave for home.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Volcanoes and Rafting

Volcanic ash burns our eyes as we walk from the bus station to our hostel in Banos. We arrive just in time for an almuerzo followed by hiking, rest, journaling, dinner, and enjoying the hot baths with hot water from the volcano.

It is now Tuesday and I sit on our hostel balcony overlooking the waterfalls. The keyboard feels gritty from volcanic ash. Banos is at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano.

Judy, Jess and Ashley are on a rafting trip. I would have loved to go, but I know what my cardiologist would say at the thought of being thrown into the cold river. “No problem,” they tell us. “It is only Class III and Class IV rapids. If it rains, then we won’t do some of the rapids because they would be Class V.”

It is now mid-afternoon and they have just returned from the rafting. “How was it?” I ask Judy. “I think it will be the last time I go rafting,” she answers. They were all thrown out of the raft into the raging river.











Being swallowed by the rapids.






Judy’s leg is cut and bruised from hitting a rock and she limps from a sore foot. One girl in the raft twisted her knee as she was thrown out. Jess and Ashley are fine. Sounds like I made a good decision to stay back in Banos.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Judy and I take a walk to watch bungee jumping from a bridge over a deep canyon.




We hike to the bottom of the canyon, lie down on the grass watching people free-fall from the top of the bridge until the bungee cord breaks their fall. We watch our step as we cross the raging river on an old bridge with many of the wooden planks missing.

As the sun begins to set, the skies clear. We hike up a road on the other side of the canyon and to our amazement see large billows of ash thrust into the sky over Banos.








The setting sun sets the pillars of ash aglow as though they are on fire. One billowing cloud of black ash after another erupts from the Tungurahua volcano as we sit watching.


Every time we hear a siren, we wonder if we should be evacuating, but locals continue to pass by as though there is nothing to worry about.

We eat dinner, return to our hostel, put our trust in God and go to bed.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Saturday afternoon

Relaxing at the ranch on Saturday afternoon on a warm Ecuador afternoon.








Judy and Janelle sitting in front of the house that Frank and Janelle are building.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Weekend Update

Judy and I spent last week in Cuenca and Ingapirca which is home to the largest ruins in Ecuador. Both places were extremely educational and fit in well with our experience and study of spirituality on this sabbatical. It is amazing to see how God has led us to experience a vareity of in-depth spiritual and religous traditions in the present day and throughout history.

We are deeply grateful to God and for your prayers. There is so much we have learned and so much to process. We look forward to sharing more, if not on this blog, we will share more when we return home.

This trip has far exceeded our expectations. Our spirituality has been enriched and and we look forward to returning home and applying some of what we are learning and experiencing.

Jessica and her friend Ashley from WVU arrived Saturday morning. We visited the ranch in the afternoon and enjoyed an evening with family and friends.

Ecuador has been experiencing a lot of severe flooding the last few weeks. Yesterday, Riobamba had severe thunderstorms and hail which are both very rare. But this morning, we awoke to clear skies and were able to see for the first time Chimborazo, other mountains and even the active volcano spewing ash into the sky.





We spent the day with Frank’s family in Mulalillo and Ambato and look forward to being with Jessica and Janelle this week before we return home Saturday night.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

God with hands

In the front are dramatic life size figures of the twelve disciples and Jesus in the last supper. Judas is at the far left with one hand hidden behind his back and the other clenched in a fist. The disciple next to him has his hands folded in prayer. The hands of the next are folded in his lap. John has his hands crossed across his chest. Another is resting his chin on his hand as though he is deep in thought. Another is holding his hands up as though he is saying, “Not me?” Each disciple is speaking with his hands.

















Jesus too is speaking. With his hands in motion, he seems to have become fully one with his disciples. I remember back to Assisi, Italy, where Jesus’ hands could do nothing but hang on the cross. Both then and now, his hands seem to catch the full spectrum of emotions both he and the disciples were feeling.




















These statutes are far more than stone and clay. They represent real people and a real God. This is more than God with a face! God now has arms and hands that touch, heal, comfort, lift up and communicate.

As I sit in the church and religious museum in Cuenca, Ecuador, my heart and spirit are caught up in the fullness of God’s amazing love to create us in his image and then to reveal himself to us by becoming fully one with us.

The sound of a large door closing interrupts my deep thoughts and prayers. I look at the clock and realize we’ve been sitting here for more than an hour. Could it be time for the church to close. I panic! Surely we are not locked in again!

I run to the entrance of the church, and my worst fears are confirmed. The huge wooden church door towering above me has been closed and locked. I imagine spending a long night inside this church alone with Judy, the statutes of the twelve disciples and Jesus.




















I hear a sound to my left. I quickly walk to the small room and to my relief, a guard is still there. He sees the horror in my face, smiles, and directs us out a back door. As we walk out the door, my heart is still racing. I ponder how the disciples and Jesus must have felt and how their hearts raced at something much more earth shattering than being locked inside a church for the night!

I ponder the hands of Jesus in motion at the last supper along with all the disciples. I ponder the hands of Jesus nailed to the cross. I ponder the amazing love of an awesome God like none other!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Everyone needs a God with a face

Children drag their mothers to the ice cream man selling ice cream out of a large ice chest. Inside, an elderly priest speaks words of inspiration and encouragement to a full church. A younger man helps him rise to his feet to lead the people in prayer.

It is raining and I sit in a park under a tree in Cuenca, Ecuador on Tuesday morning. I try to imagine life 3,000 years ago. I think of the vases, pots, and whistling vessels dated from 1500 BC to 500 AD in the museum we just visited. Many of them had faces including eyes, a nose, a mouth and ears.

Why put faces on pots and vessels? You won’t find any pots or vessels with faces in my home? What is the significance of the face?

There were statutes of the devil which had faces and statutes of shamans which had faces. The shaman’s mouths were open as though they were speaking with great animation.

My mind returns to the tall cathedral in front of me, towering over the trees. Does it have a face? Above the main archway are two angels with faces looking down at everyone below. Jesus is at the center. He too has a face and is looking down.

Under the archway are many faces – children, parents, tourists, business men and women, an elderly man sitting on the steps talking to a friend. Taxi drivers and others also pass by never noticing the faces looking down at them. I too would have missed these faces had it not started to rain and I sought shelter under a tree.

I reflect back to the Orthodox monk high atop the rocks in Greece who told me with great excitement, “Our God has a face!” In Jesus Christ, we see God’s face.

I think of Paul’s words to those worshiping idols. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”

Everyone needs a God with a face. But a face is not enough. The pots, vessels, shamans and devils had faces but their eyes could not see, their ears could not hear, and their mouths could not speak.

In contrast, God has a face with eyes that see us, ears that hear us, and a mouth that speaks to us. What a privilege to know such a God! And what a calling and responsibility we have to share this God with others who are seeking gods that see, hear and speak.

This is a personal and real God – a God like no other god!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Cuenca

We arrived in Cuenca after a six hour bus ride from Riobamba yesterday afternoon. Ecuador is receiving a lot of rain in recent weeks. Major flooding and avalanches closing roads are common across Ecuador. There is also rain in Cuenca but we also had times of sunshine. We spent the day in museums and churches, learning a lot about the history and culture of Ecuador. Will post more later.

Weekend Photos

Frank and Janelle are planting their first vegetables at the ranch behind their new house.








Janelle is playing violin while Frank is resting in the front yard of the ranch.











Judy and Dani and her two week old baby. Dani lived with us several years ago and is the reason we are in Ecuador.













Judy riding horse at the ranch.














Joselo, Judy and I at the ranch.











Atthe village next door, watching the festivities.




















The procession in Riobamba preparing for Holy Week.






Sunday, March 18, 2012

Photos for post below

The Franciscan Catholic Church we attended Friday evening.









The Saturday evening worship concluding a marriage retreat. Janelle is playing with the praise band.


Preparing for Holy Week

We arrive late and are barely able to enter the packed church. The benches are packed and people are standing everywhere, even on the steps entering the church.

It is Friday evening and we are at one of several Catholic Churches in Riobamba. Lay persons are carrying flowers, fruit, a large sack of rice and other items to the front of the church. The priest receives them with a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing. People continue to press in. Being taller than most, I am able to see what is happening. Others are standing on tip-toes trying to watch.

It is time for communion. Judy and I walk forward to receive the wafer the priest places in our mouth. Our Catholic friends are kneeling in sincere prayer. When the service ends, the crowd enters the street where there is hot tea and bread for all. A loud explosion nearby startles me. Someone is setting off fireworks a few feet away. It is downtown Riobamba and hundreds of people have seemed to worship God with sincerity and purpose.

It is now Saturday evening. Rose petals line the path where each couple enters the evangelical charismatic church. Women are clapping and cheering and celebrating each couple as they enter. The husbands are given a red balloon in the shape of a heart. The worship band is playing upbeat loud music. It is the end of a day-long marriage retreat for about sixty couples as they gather to celebrate and recommit their love for one another.

Judy and I are sitting in the back, off to the side. We came to hear Janelle play flute and oboe with the worship band. But the organizers refuse to allow us be bystanders. They bring in extra chairs and insist on us joining the rest of the couples.

Joy explodes inside the room as everyone joins the worship band with singing, dancing, and clapping. Thirty minutes later, there is a message of encouragement for the married couples and then communion is shared as couples. We have experienced communion two nights in a row in completely different settings, both very meaningful and sincere.

Husbands are invited to pray for their wives as they lay hands on their heads. More prayer, more worship, and then more prayer. God is in this place! I notice several couples wiping tears from their eyes. There is a final song of joyful celebration – more dancing, shouting, clapping and praising God for what God is doing in these marriages. The evening ends with a feast and a time of fellowship and joy!

Sunday morning, I awake at 5:30 with roosters crowing. At 7:30 church bells are ringing. Church bells seem to ring with great urgency in Ecuador. In Italy and Greece, they rang slow and steady. Here they ring fast as though it is time NOW to come.

Janelle has already left the house to practice with the praise band which began at 7 a.m. We join Janelle and the praise band about 8:45. The worship service has already begun. We are 15 minutes late. Janelle is again playing her flute and oboe during the first hour of music and worship.

A sermon and time of response takes up the second hour. By 10:30, the service is over, and we are on our way to the market with Janelle and Frank to buy fruit and vegetables for a picnic at the ranch where they are building their new house.

At the ranch, we ride horses, bake two chickens in an outdoor oven, and enjoy a wonderful feast with Janelle, Frank and friends. After lunch we take a hike around the ranch and then go to a neighboring village which is having a big festival. A wild bull is in the center of a ring surrounded by hundreds of people. Clowns and others who want to show off their brevity, dance in front of the bull and then run for the fence as the bull chases them. Every so often one of the persons misjudges and gets knocked down or thrown forward by the charging bull.

The sun is setting as we return to Riobamba. Friends join us in Frank and Janelle’s apartment. We are going to make crepes, but first we go downtown Riobamba to watch a procession that kicks off Holy Week a week early. The Franciscan Catholic Church we attended Friday evening is having a long procession throughout the town of Riobamba. Thousands of people are part of the procession, some carrying large statutes of Jesus. It is like a parade with floats, but the floats are carried through the streets by youth. Hundreds of other youth are holding hands and marching in the procession. It seems like most of the city is here, but this is just one of six large Catholic churches in Riobamba.

The young, middle aged, and elderly are walking in the procession – some carrying candles, others carrying crosses – everyone seems to be in a serious mood contemplating the meaning of Jesus carrying the cross on his way to the crucifixion. One man representing Jesus is carrying and dragging a large wooden cross over his shoulder. He is bare foot and looks weary and exhausted.

What a weekend! Four different occasions of experiencing a deep spirituality that exists in Ecuador. I ponder what New Holland would look like if we took our religious faith this seriously. I ponder what our churches could look like. I ponder and I pray.

Friday, March 16, 2012

A day with Janelle at her school




















We had the opportunity to spend Monday with Janelle at the school where she teaches science and music every day from 8 am until 1 pm. The above photo is Judy and Janelle standing at the entrance of the school. The next photo is of them walking toward the administration building. The rest of the photos are her teaching various grades. She teaches music to all the grades (preschool through grade 7). I also have a photo of what it looks like out one of the windows of her classroom. She did an excellent job! In the afternoons, she gives private music lessons from 3 pm to 6 pm every afternoon. We are proud of the way she has ajusted to this culture and the good job she does teaching!









Ecuador Hospitality


Four dozen roses and wonderful Ecuador hospitality!