Ethereal Queen

Report from Ecuador

I returned from Ecuador last night. Here is my report:

Ecuador Journal
July 22-26, 2007
Quito, Ecuador

Monday, July 23, 2007

I arrived in Quito at midnight Sunday night and settle in for a brief night of sleep. After breakfast this morning, I went with Bob and Diane Peterson – volunteers from Hope Presbyterian Church in Memphis who have really taken Ecuador into their hearts – to an amazing school in Carmen Bajo. My translator was a lovely woman named Sandra and her 14 year old son, Gonzalo accompanied us. His English is amazing and he’s a beautiful, bright Christian young man. The administrators of this school, Pancho and Pity, are two amazing people. Their school is in the midst of remarkable poverty – raw sewage cascading down the majestic mountains, shacks as far as the eye can see, stray dogs and people everywhere. In this setting, they have managed to build an oasis for children where they eat 3 meals a day, attend classes, computer classes, English classes from babies through 6th grade. I met with a group of their teachers and “Community Mothers” to discuss the issues of sexual abuse and their stories were sadly familiar. Then I asked them what solutions they saw were possible through this school. These insightful men and women know what needs to be done – parenting classes, sex education classes for the children, partnerships between parents and teachers, and support groups for both victims and offenders. I know that Committed to Freedom and Hope Church can assist them to meet these goals.

From Carmen Bajo, we went to Pifo Church, pastored by Ramiro Baez to teach the first night of my seminar to a group of pastors. When we first planned this trip, we guessed that about 10 people would be there. We were surprised to have over 60 people show up from all around the area, pastors and lay leaders, eager to understand the issues of childhood sexual abuse. This one day seminar (when taught in English) will be stretched over three evenings since most of these people work during the day. The church is a very nice structure and they have a school, recreational courtyard where children can play, and a sanctuary for the congregation of about 400.

Danielle, a major reason why I was contacted to come to Ecuador, was at the seminar. I have communicated with her several times by phone and email prior to coming, and it was a great pleasure to finally meet her in person. She is a woman of great vision and heart for the people of Ecuador, and is especially concerned about how to help people who have been sexually abused.

On our way home from Pifo, there was a boy, about age 9, holding a tiny infant who was probably no more than a few months old. He was running in and out of traffic, holding the baby up to the windows of cars, begging. This is not an unfamiliar scene.

Ecuador seems to be a country of great contrast – from the very little I’ve seen. Quito is a progressive city with good roads, beautiful buildings, and a LOT of traffic. The Andes mountains that surround it are breathtaking and the weather is wonderful – mild and varied – sitting right here on the equator at 9000 feet! I’d like to come here just to explore! In the midst of such progressiveness, there are raw sewage waterfalls and disturbing poverty.

At the end of the day, Bob, Diane, and Tucker Strickland – the man overseeing the work of Hope Church in Latin America – to summarize what took place today and determine what needs to be the next step in bringing the tools of Committed to Freedom to these new friends.


Tuesday, July 23, 2007

We learned early this morning that Pastor Holguer Molineros was in a terrible accident after the seminar last night. His leg shattered and his wife injured. Danielle’s husband was right behind him when it happened with a doctor he had just picked up from the airport. They were terrified of bandits who roam the highways and are extremely violent and dangerous.

We traveled to Yaruqui today to see another school and church pastored and run by Pastor Holguer (pronounced olehair). Of course he was not there and his school is on summer break, but some people from Hope were there to conduct Vacation Bible School, so there were lots of children. It is not nearly as well kept as Carmen Bajo, nor was it very well supervised, but they are still doing an incredible work in their community that doesn’t seem to be as desperately poor. They work with Compassion International to have a substantial feeding program.

After seeing this school, we went to LaHacienda, an old Spanish plantation that Danielle is converting into a school to serve over 1000 children. The kids from Hope Church are doing the renovations and working very hard with an incredible attitude. Diane, Danielle and I went to lunch at Sally Melenke’s house. Sally as been a missionary in Ecuador (from the US) for over 23 years. Had a good conversation and got better acquainted over a great meal. Sally had been without water for several days. She heads back to PA at the end of the week. We left and prepared for the seminar. Tonight, we had 73 there and it was a great evening of teaching and sharing – even if my computer crashed mid-presentation.

Wednesday, July 24, 2007

I met with Tucker and Emil Borja this morning to discuss the strategies for what was next in the area of sexual abuse issues. We determined a course of action that included coming back in a few months to have a seminar with all the congregations of the Pifo’s Pastor Network, identify potential leaders, and develop support groups using The Uncaged Project. We will translate this into Spanish and have these groups in place as follow up for the next seminar. These are exciting plans and there is much to do to implement them. Emil will begin work to translate our website into Spanish as well. Funding is a big issue, but I am certain that God will provide the resources to get this done.

We met with Danielle and Mauricio Cevallos, and an Ecuadoran couple, Milton and Carmen Gurado, who are pastors. The Gurado’s work with an indigenous tribe, the Quecha (pronounced key-schwa), who are regarded as second class people by the majority of Ecuadoran’s, who are called Mestizos (meaning mixed blood). Quecha are migrant people who’s daughters are routinely raped, uneducated, and forced into a life of poverty and subservience. In Yaruqui, a province in Ecuador, there are almost 3,000 Quecha with only one pastor to serve their spiritual needs. We are looking into a model of US ministries to the migrant workers as a way to help these people living under difficult circumstances.

The final evening of the seminar was deeply moving for both me and those who attended. We returned to hotel where Tucker joined us and we had a time of prayer and fellowship, humbled and excited about what God is doing in Ecuador.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Bob, Diane, and me were driven to the airport by our dear brother Pancho at 4 am. Standing in line to get our plane tickets was a large group from Arkansas returning from their missions trip in Ecuador. After a long day of travel, all of their luggage and mine were lost somewhere between Houston and Arkansas. As of Friday morning, our luggage has still not been located.

posted by Sallie @ 5:36 PM