Ecuador Day 2: Orienting
“We are seeking the divine together.”
Orientation and Acclimation
John Allen teaches us about the seven crosses of Quito, and about the segregation of indigenous peoples in the churches. Certain classes of peoples could not enter the churches, but were only permitted to listen from outside the doors gathered around the cross in the garden.
Today was a very full first day in the field. There is so much I know all the pilgrims want to tell you all back home, but we are very bleary-eyed from a long day and it is well past our bedtime.
We experienced our first full day at altitude. Quito sits at almost 10,000 ft elevation in between several mountain peaks. In Columbia, we live at about 10 ft. It’s a VERY big difference. Many folks were experiencing the mild effects of altitude sickness today, but some Liquid IV mixed in lots of water helped us through the day.
We began the day with an early breakfast in the refrectory — we are staying in hostel rooms on the grounds of a Catholic seminary turned publishing house/ministry center. During breakfast we were joined by some of the e=h staff — John Allen who was our coordinator extraordinaire, and Founder Cameron Vivanco. We gathered in our meeting room for some get-to-know-you introductions with the staff, and the start of our orientation about Ecuador’s history and culture. This included learning about “Flexidorian” time, the large mountains surrounding the sprawling city, and we even practiced how to say hello to every single person in the room when we enter. It’s the Ecuadorian way. Most importantly, we learned that Ecuador is a nation that was “conquered, not colonized.” Things like racism, classism, and misogyny felt familiar in concept, but here they take on a different tone.
We continuned on with an orientation about pilgrimage from assistant director of e=h, and our spiritual director for the week, Jorge Martinez. We discussed what makes a pilgrimage versus a mission, and how our time here is combining the two. “All mission is pilgrimage” Cameron told us again this evening, “because in it all we are seeking the holy together.” If a pilgrimage is an intentional journey to a holy place, then the places where we meet each other - either as fellow pilgrims in a defined team or as two cultures coming together to share our gifts - are holy places. This posture of the heart also helps us avoid selfishness, toxic charity, and a “hero complex,” which are so harmful to the Body of Christ. We do mission through reciprocal partnership - it is in the mutual relationships shared where fruit is borne that no amount of donated money can recreate.
After this, we boarded a bus to go visit the Bascilica and Old Town. This was a chance for us to begin “putting a face” to what we’d been learning, and continue adjusting to the altitude and climate. John Allen told us some great history and lore, particularly about the liberation in the 1820s. Quito’s Old Town is the best preserved old town in the Americas, and we found its architecture to be beautiful. The Bascilica was built by the government to provide a place “beautiful enough for the Pope to visit,” and was erected in time for Leo XIII (not the current Leo, the previous one) to visit. It features a rose window full of flowers - roses are a major Ecuadorian export. In the place of traditional gargoyles, they carved in all the animals of Ecuador, including crocidiles, pumas, komodors (the national bird), and even a peacock. We enjoyed a lovely lunch in Old Town of rice and beef or chicken before returning back to the hostel for more orientation.
We continued with learning more about partnership as a means of mission and pilgrimage, and learned more about our partner church for this mission - Buen Pastor Episcopal Church. Then Brenda, who many of you met this last October at St. Martin’s, came and gave us an orientation about how the medical mission came to be. Tomorrow our doctor and nurses will join Brenda to host a medical clinic at the church while the rest of us do projects with the church members and play with the schoolchildren.
Then it was back on the bus to go to the Youth World office for a final orientation session for today from Cameron. Youth World is the organization that legally and fiscally houses e=h here in Ecuador. Cameron told us the story of how e=h came to exist, how it operates its microscholarship program, how the other ministry programs came to be under the umbrella, and how it all stays organized. Cameron described the evolution of e=h as “accidenting our way into the Holy Spirit.” At every turn, e=h did not seek to grow but simply sought to say yes to God when opportunities or needs knocked on the door, and each time God provided all that was needed to live into that “yes.” We’ll take some time tomorrow to tell you more about it - we were all blown away.
We finally enjoyed dinner at Second Cup, a coffee shop operated by a men’s home in partnership with e=h under the Youth World umbrella. The meal was cooked by two house residents - fresh vegetables, chicken, and quinoa (a native Ecuadorian grain!). We finished the night perusing the thrift shop that supports their ministry for take-home treasures and boarded the bus to come back to the hostel.
It was an intense day, with a great deal of information and emotion to process, especially for foggy brains at altitude. But our team was gracious, joyful, and resilient. Tomorrow we go to Buen Pastor for the first day with them! We can’t wait to tell you all back at home more. But first, we need a good night’s sleep. Buenos noches!
