Welcome to a typical day in the life of a missionary in Cuenca, Ecuador!

 

Welcome to Cuenca , Ecuador where ministry opportunities are abundant - where the “fields are white unto harvest”. Down here, every day is an adventure-whether you like it or not!

 

Let´s take for example breathing. Yes breathing. Here in Cuenca we are at an elevation of about 8,400 feet above where I grew up in Southern Maine and New Hampshire. Due to the lack of air way up here in the Andes, people from the cost tend to hyperventilate, and wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air! Until one adapts to the elevation, stairs can be a tremendous challenge.

 

Please note: I am in love with Ecuador! I am so excited to have the opportunity to minister here, and bring the Gospel Message to a people who have never had the chance to hear it. This essay should serve only to let you know what everyday life is like here in beautiful Cuenca. I do not find most of the following experiences annoying myself. I find them interesting. I hope you do to!

 

Another example of everyday adventure is the driving. You may have heard how dangerous driving conditions are in Third World Countries. I must affirm that notion. Just about every day I come within inches of losing my good health due to imprudent, competitive, unlicensed, crazy drivers. And many of the roads are worse than the logging roads one may find in rural areas of the USA.

 

(I shouldn´t complain. Most people who have ridden in my car have been scared of MY driving! Just ask Pastor Larry Clouse or Pastor Craig Jarvis!!!!)

 

But, just to get out of the house is an adventure! (Pease see the pictures of our road ) They are paving our road at the house we are renting. For the next six months we will be looking at mounds of dirt , deep trenches for the plumbing, mountains made out of rocks, and hills of shale. Not to complain or anything-but it is a genuine adventure to carry the kids over mounds of wet clay and mud while doing my best not to slip and break my leg by falling into an 8 foot deep trench. Getting groceries or gas tanks from the car to the house is a real workout. Cleaning our dress shoes off for church usually takes about 20 minutes….yet another reason to get to church early!

 

Once we get to the car, we have to drive through a grass field where one can see big aloe vera looking cacti, an oversized outhouse, and lots of mud. Once we cross the field, we need to make sure we have engaged the 4x4 in our Isuzu Trooper to make it up a rather steep, muddy, slippery path. Somebody had the bright idea to dump a truckload of cement and asbestos roofing fragments, so we have to be careful not to shred our  tires on these wire and metal rod imbedded building materials.

 

Once we make it up the hill, we can disengage the 4X4 mechanism. But getting out of the vehicle can be treacherous too. One must be careful not to be trampled by a herd of passing livestock. Be sure to greet their shepherd or you will be considered a typical unfriendly, cold American. A Chevorlet  Luv pickup has it wooden bed filled with big cans of freshly extracted milk and a man who will serve it to you out of the can with a ladel, pouring it into your milk jug. We do not need any milk right now, but we need to make sure he doesn´t commit manslaughter. He is headed right towards us as his vehicle jumps, bumps and girates over the deep potholes and manmade speedbumps. Whew! he didn´t hit me , but he got me somewhat muddy as he barrelled through that puddle. Oh well, the people at church will understand. Got to get back into the vehicle….here comes a bus!!!!!

 

Once we weave our way through the maze of muddy roads littered with huge craters to get to the main avenue, things change drastically. Yes, we might see a herd of cattle or goats walking along the mainway led by their owner (Usually the women herd the cattle or other livestock) . And, yes, there will be Indigenous women in their traditional dress walking barefooted  and carrying  huge loads of cornstocks on their sinewy strong backs. Or maybe a full 5 gallon barrel of natural gas tied to their backs with a blanket. Furthermore homeless people will be asleep on the sidewalk. People who have had WAY too much liquor to drink will be passed out, possibly half on the sidewalk, half on the Avenue. Others will be laying in the bushes or the grass. (Saturday night is a big night for drinking, but then again so is every night here in Cuenca. Rumoured to be per capita the city with the biggest alcoholism problem in Latin America)

 

But in addition to the rural look, we will see a very urban setting. Busses are screeching by at breakneck speeds. So are huge dumptrucks full of rocks or gravel. Small pickup trucks have their bed loaded with at least 35 people and nobody has a seatbelt on. Bicyclers are in danger as they brave this highway, but they are as commonplace as homeless people. Cars have to swerve to avoid hitting them. Of course cars will slow down for absolutely nobody. It’s be alert or be killed here! Or obtain a much bigger vehicle than anybody else and drive as fast and as careless as possible. We have seen a big number of people in the past 2 years spread out over the meridian after being crushed or pummelled by careless, speedy drivers. It is never a pretty sight. And it is all too commonplace.

 

To the left we will go, passing a major variety store which imports thousands of products mostly from China. On the other side of the road is a big store called “Superstock”…owned by the same family which owns the variety store. I usually go to Superstock for church supplies. They even have disposable Styrofoam coffee cups for church! The road and sidewalks are just filled with busy people going here and there, hustling and bustling. People are flocking to a big grill under a tarp where a woman is selling shish’kabobs. The smoke flowing from the freshly cooked, pre marinated and seasoned meat smells uncommonly good. Beside this stand is another grill where an older indigenous woman sells grilled bananas. Beside her is a hardware store a day from being open for business. A big group of ownerless dogs are causing what will cause some moments of intense frustration for people as the hounds strew absolutely every cubic inch of the garbage which was left in 7 bags on the side of the road.

 

I need to step on the gas a little more in order to avoid being trapped by a long, drawn out parade in honor of the Virgin Mary. People dress their children up in elaborate costumes, and have them mount an equally elaborately costumed pony. Anything from religious items, to candy, to moonshine will be tied, fixed, fastened, or taped to these religiously designated animal transports. The children may be dressed like shepherds, cowboys, Indigenous people, or religious figures such as Moses. The adults may costume up too especially at Easter. But invariably some of the adults will be doing a religious “sacrifice” by carrying a mannequin of the virgin Mary. There will be trumpets, horns, singing, and worshipping of the virgin. All this will be done as they march for miles to their designated shrine. After they worship there for a while they will usually go to a park or somebody’s lawn where they will partake of a wholly roasted pig (Please see photos of roasted pig), hominy, rice, and liquor and dancing. Sometimes they partake of these festivities right there at the shrine! (How religious of them!)

 

Needless to say, I want to reach my turn before the 1,000 person strong multitude blocks me! I need to get to church!

 

As I take my turn I have to make a serious decision. My light is red. And I want to take a left at this “T”. Oncoming traffic on the other side of the meridian has a red light too. If I wait until our lights turn green, I will be waiting until my light turns red again. The law says that I can take my left if there is no traffic coming from the left (The two way road I need to take) So, I will wait for the oncoming taxi and bus to pass through the meridian where I am waiting, and then I will pass. This would have been a perfect plan hadn’t an inconsiderate, probably unlicensed minivan driver wheeled up beside me and parked himself diagonally in front of me. He effectively cut me off! He wants to go first! He wants to win! So does the dumptruck who cut the minivan off!!!! At this point they start a motor revving, horn honking, and obscene gesture making match topped off with the yelling of explicatives which I shall not translate. Oh well, I guess we’ll all make it sooner or later.

 

Once I finally take the turn, things change again. The street we are going down is usually blocked by multiple busses all fighting to “win”. On each side of me there are cars trying to pass me (Yes this is only a two lane, two way street). The sidewalks are filled with vendors and pedestrians. One may see 15 full bodied pigs roasting in the open air on metal sawhorses, ready for hungry consumers. Also present are hundreds of roasted guinea pigs….the delicacy of Ecuador. There are probably two little mom and pop stores on every block , accompanied by electronic retailers, electronic repair shops, a windshield repair shop, seafood restaurants, and a field in the middle of it all where people tie their cows to graze, throw garbage, burn garbage, and take naps after picnicking.

 

After we take a right and approach the church, we can see our newly purchased, lighted sign (Please see photo of our sign). It reads “Iglesia Bautista Trinidad”, and it has our trademark symbol of the Bible with crosses and the Alpha and Omega symbols on the Bible’s open pages.

 

 On the both sides of the street which approaches the church, there are many apartments and houses, all enclosed with ten foot high fences or walls. Everything is surrounded by stores and vendors similar to the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph. (Yes there are fields for cattle and people too.) On the other side of the road is the huge Newspaper headquarters called “El Tiempo” (If interested please see www.eltiempo.com) I had better get inside the church soon. Here comes another parade in honour of the virgin Mary. I sure hope people get to church on time for Sunday School/Discipleship Class!

 

It is now 9:30 and time to start. The only people who have arrived already are my wife and children, and my brother in law, Paul. He is the most punctual and faithful at church thus far. Although we are few, we are going to start. I am trying to teach punctuality here at church. I think we need to honor the Lord in this area, so I try to be an example, teach on it, and start on time.

 

It is now 9:55 and some more people are starting to arrive………finally. Remember, class started at 9:30. This is typical. As each one arrives, the class needs to pause and the people who arrive need to greet each and every person who is seated. This is a strict part of our culture here…..to refrain from doing so would be offensive and rude. People are very friendly here as a general rule. If somebody does not complete all of the social etiquette requirements, it will definitely be noted. And people tend to carry grudges for a long time, despite their friendliness! So we pause the class just briefly, and resume it just as quick. I remind the latecomers gently that they have missed almost half the class. And that it would be beneficial to all- especially for themselves-  if they were to arrive on time.

 

Class went well, and now there will be a 15 minute recess as we get ready for the actual worship service. We have coffee and soda ready along with the absolutely necessary bread and crackers (Here it is not customary to have coffee without bread of some kind). Everybody partakes in conversation and food and beverage.  The fifteen minutes are up and it is time to start.

 

However our guitar player has not arrived. He is the only instrumentalist we have. He can’t use the excuse of busses being late, because he just financed a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle. I really don’t want to sing acapella again. I guess I will give him 60 seconds. I start to pray , but I know he isn’t going to make it. The sixty seconds are up. I guess I had better start now. “!Bueno, ya vamos a empezar!” I announce , signalling for all to come and take their places. Everybody gets rid of what they had in their cup or in their napkin, and they settle down into their seats.

 

I announce that we are going to have to start with a few acapella songs, and most people chuckle and others say that “ It’s ok , Pastor, no problem” . “We’ll make it!”

 

We fire up the old overhead projector and start the first song right on key! Our projector is old but it will survive the morning service. It is going to be a good service , I think to myself. “Lord please use me this morning as I do my best to convey your truths, sharing your Word with these dear ones.”

 

That’s what it is all about, right? That’s what I am here for. And all of the peripherals and annoyances are to fall into a place if insignificance as we look at the big picture. We are here to share the Light with a people who have been under the grip of the king of darkness for centuries….since history can record! What a privilege! What a challenge! I am so excited to be able to share here! May God do great and mighty things through the inadequate service we as a family can give Him here in lovely Cuenca , Ecuador. We know He is more than adequate to get the job done well!