Ecuador

Today is my last day in Ecuador where I spent the last 4 days visiting with the Jonkman's and looking at their ministry and a little of Quito.  My visit was great and I really enjoyed my time getting to know Fred and Arlene and some of the people they work with and minister to.  It is evident that although there are always challenges and difficulties, God has blessed their ministry.  As some might not know, they are involved with a local church and helping this church grow and mature.  They also are involved with promoting a Sunday school material that they translated into Spanish with the help of some Ecuadorians.  This material has been well received all over Latin America.  Finally, they are also involved with MINTS (Miami International Seminary) which is a kind of mobile seminary set up to train local leaders in different parts of Ecuador.  As is the reality of most missionaries, I am sure they are involved with many other things that I did not get to see or hear about.  

I arrived in Ecuador Saturday afternoon and that evening we went to a Bible study for a college and careers group.  On Sunday we went to church for Sunday school and a church service.  After church we went to pick up some of the young people who were on a weekend retreat up in the mountains in a place where HCJB radio had their hydro electric project that they had set up to power their antennas from which they would broadcast the gospel all over the globe.  After coming back to Quito we spent the evening at the Jonkman's house discussing the sermon of that morning with people of the church.    On Monday, I went to the office to look at it and talk with Luis Carlos who works with Fred.  He is a very gifted teacher.  After going to the office we went to the Nazarene Seminary to play basketball for a few hours.  In the evening we went back to the office for the MINTS course that is held each Monday night.  Today we spent the day going to look at the HCJB headquarters, the hospital and the Alliance school.  We went to the center of Quito which was neat.  In the afternoon we went to the Equator which was neat and visited with Luis Carlos who lives near there.  

My time here in Ecuador has been really nice.  Tomorrow I head back to Guatemala to be reunited with Lia and the kids.  Please pray for the Jonkman's and their ministry.

Trip to Peru- Last Post

This will be my last post from Peru as I will fly out tomorrow morning early.  My experience here has been good.  I have learned a lot and will leave knowing that I have a lot more to learn.  One of the things I learned was to eat different kinds of food.  As some already know I have always been a fussy or picky eater.  I do not like to try many new things.  Thankfully my years in Guatemala taught me to be less picky and they prepared me for my trip to Peru.  I assumed that in Peru the food would be fairly simple like it is in Guatemala.  However, was I ever surprised.  The food here is very different to that of Guatemala.  Tortillas are not eaten here.  The corn here is quite different from Guatemalan corn.  Also people eat a lot of rice and potatoes and much of the food has an oriental flavor thanks to the Chinese and Japanese who began living here many years ago.  As some of you might know Peru had a president (Fujimori) of Japanese descent.  This past week I have eaten food that would normally be served in fancy restaurants.  However, here it is common to eat this kind of food.  During my week here I have not eaten the same thing twice whether it was a meal or a snack.  Neither have I had the same drink more than once other than the occasional cup of tea that I made for myself.  Also most of the food was locally grown at the conference center and almost all was organic.  It was really quite impressive and needless to say each meal was an experience.

Trip to Peru-Ruins of Pachacamac

Before beginning our day we decided that if it would be sunny we would go and check out some ruins near where we are staying.  We were told by the owners of this conference center that it was best to go on a sunny day.  Since it is cloudy or foggy 80% of the time we decided that the next time the sun would come out we would go, whether it would be today, tomorrow or the day after.  Being a small group we have moved along quite quickly and are well ahead of schedule.  We spent most of the day working since it was cloudy.  However, after lunch the sun came out so we decided to work a few more hours and then go see the ruins.  For myself having an interest in history and archaeology it was an interesting trip and well worth seeing, that is if you like this kind of thing.  The ruins are called Pachacamac which is also the name of this area and the name of the creator god that the people worshiped here.  For many centuries from 200AD till the time of the Spanish conquest in 1533AD Pachacamac was one of the most important religious centers of the Inca and pre-Inca world.  People during that time traveled from all over to pay homage and bring presents to their deity Pachacamac.  They sacrificed to him since he was not only a god who created things and could provide good things, but also a god who could destroy and take away.  However, the Spaniards in virtually no time  at all destroyed the worship of this god when they entered the temple, took the idol which was merely a pole with carvings on it and showed it to the people.  The people expected their god to act and destroy the Spaniards for what they had done, but nothing happened.  As a result, in the eyes of the people the god of the Spaniards was superior and soon afterward people stopped worshiping this deity and Pachacamac ceased to be important and soon was abandoned.  Most of the archaeological site has not been studied yet. Today archaeologists continue to work on the site which continues to provide new clues and evidence to better understand this site.  Archaeologists also continue to unearth graves where important people were buried.  Again, for myself it was very interesting to see a part of history.  What was also interesting was learning how the snake or serpent plays a role in the stories of Pachacamac as well like he does in the Biblical narrative.  One of the funny comments that one in the group made was, "esta serpiente se ha metido en todo" (that serpent has put himself in everything).    This reminds me of the book by Don Richardson "Eternity in their Hearts", which shows how all the ancient cultures of the world have some knowledge of God and the things of the Bible.  God has put eternity "in their hearts".  Obviously what they have is not sufficient for salvation and that is why God calls us even today to go out and spread His Word so that others will come to know the True and Living Creator.

Trip to Peru-Work Shops

My purpose of being in Peru is for a workshop that deals with PMEL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluating, Learning).  The purpose behind this role is that in today's world of travel and media which allows people to see more and learn more, they also are asking more questions as to where their money is going, how it is being spent, and if it is having an impact.  Gone are the days where people gave without asking too many questions.  For me it is actually a good thing that donors are educating themselves and asking more questions.  It forces organizations to take a closer look at themselves.  It make them evaluate themselves and learn from this.  During my years in Guatemala one of the questions I always wondered about was "what impact are we having"?  This is also one of the questions I will have to ask in AMG Guatemala.   As you know AMG is involved with educating children.  However, the question is not simply how many kids are graduating, but also how many are able to find a job.  We are interested in transformation.  We want children to go through the program not only to be changed and transformed themselves, but to be agents of change and transformation in their communities.  So far the workshop has been good although for me it has been somewhat challenging since I have to learn new terminology and concepts.  In general the things I am learning make sense and are things that I have experience in during my time in Cubulco.  I am here with Sander Verduijn of Woord en Daad who is facilitating the seminar, Willie and Diego who work with CDA Colombia, and Marta from Nicaragua.  We are just a small group, but that allows us to move along quickly and share ideas.

Tristan is ONE!!!!

Today is November 1st a holiday in most Latin American countries.  It is the "day of the dead" also known as "all saints day".  This is a day when most Latin American go to the graveyard to party by the grave of their loved ones.  They usually bring the deceased's favorite food and drink.  While people are partying it up in the cemeteries, I am sure there was also a party at our house.  Tristan turned ONE year old today.  Sadly enough I was not able to be there because of my trip to Peru.  Tristan is our pride and joy.  He is very high maintenance, but he is a lot of fun and gives the best hugs not only to us but also to whoever is holding him.  He gets a lot of attention from all sorts of people especially the Guatemalans.  Tristan is still as chubby as ever and he is learning to walk.  Right now he likes to scoot around the house pushing a chair or a stool.  Another thing he is good at is holding a cell phone.  He gets that from his mother.