Ecuador Day 3: Meet Buen Pastor

special thanks to Lindsey, Lucy, & John for helping with today’s blog.

Poverty Orientation

Cameron gives us the poverty orientation.

We began our day with a poverty orientation with Cameron before heading into the neighborhood.

When we think about poverty generally, we think about what a person might lack — food, shelter, money. People living in poverty, when surveyed, answer differently — lack of voice, control, autonomy, education, choice.

So if we want to elevate people from poverty, we must do so in a way that understands their same relationships to God, self, creation, and others that all people work for (and can break) in their lives. We must understand how dignity and self-worth weave through as aspects of crisis, relief, rehabilitation, and further development. It was a paradigm shifting presentation for our whole team, some of whom spoke about wanting to come “do good work” and worrying about “why would we waste time going to a graduation tomorrow?” A great deal of poverty for the person in it is struggling with the institutional and internal forces that constantly deride them with taunts of, “you are not worthy.” Shame pervades actions and intentions, in individuals and in community, in isolation and in the neighborhood. Shame and indignity become like a swamp that tries to sink ones belief in their responsibility. Poverty allieviation isn’t just pulling someone out of the swamp, but “cleaning the mud off” through empowerment, development, rehabilitation, love, joy, and celebration. This is the root of e=h’s mission, and our time here too.

Worship and Work Projects

When we arrived at Buen Pastor it was like greeting all your long time friends that you haven’t seen in ages. Exclamations of joy were sounding from every greeting. Hugs were given out like candy. From the moment we arrived, it was clear that Joy, love, and celebration would be our constant companions with us, the community, and Christ. 

Steven - a young man from Buen Pastor - welcomed us and led us in a brief praise and worship. It was Steven’s first time leading worship with a visiting team, but we only learned this later as we spoke with him during our work at the church. He confidently and beautifully spoke as though he’d been preaching for years. Steven made sure our companions of joy, love, and celebration were on full display and called us in to sing and dance and praise with him and the congregation. 

After Steven’s reflection, we got to hear from Bishop Juan Carlos Quinonez, Bishop of Central Ecuador. (yes, the bishop joined us!!!) He graciously joined us for the full day, and told us about Buen Pastor’s founding. Before becoming bishop, he was the priest there and loves the congregation dearly. Buen Pastor was founded in South Quito in the late 70s to serve the many youth in the neighborhood. In the last 50 years the church has become multigenerational, but still has a heart for youth and college ministry. They asked that you all please pray for their church, their youth, and most especially for the young people of that college ministry. They especially asked that you pray for the college students.

Buen Pastor as a ministry site of e=h hosts a committee of people who determine and facilitate the microscholarships in their neighborhood. They serve 52 families through the program and a total of 70 kids. Many members of the church are also graduates themselves who continue to serve those growing up after them.

After a greeting by the Bishop (did we mention that the bishop joined us!!), we began to get to know members of the community. Though the language barrier does exist, we had help from translators, our companions of LJ&C (love, joy, and celebration), and probably a bit of the Holy Spirit, to get to share our names and who gave us our names. 

Then we broke into teams for the day.

Our medical professionals went to do their docotory things while the rest of us set off working alongside cleaning, sanding, scraping, and painting 

In all of our orientations, our e=h hosts had prepared us to be people oriented and not task oriented. They weren’t kidding!! We would scrape, sand, or paint for a bit - but after a few minutes, another community member would come over with LJ&C in tow and chat with us a bit. Much of the morning continued in that way, alternating between work and community, work and community - all the time building relationship with the help of LJ&C with the Holy Spirit.

Some connections need no words, only the common language of love to understand. In that respect Tom made a new best friend Roberto just by opening his heart and arms and talking to him in English with love and Roberto responding in Spanish. Roberto followed Tom around, both smiling and even made a point to sit next to each other at lunch with Tom proclaiming “I am going to sit next to my new best friend.”

Lucy’s Reflection on the Work Projects

by Lucy Case

As I reflect from the work portion of my day I can’t help but notice the details. We were instructed to sand and prime the outside and inside of the church walls. We used brushes, scrapers, sand paper, sponges, and smelly cleaners. This work seemed very tedious and minuscule compared to the extent of what we learned about e=h’s impact yesterday. I attended each brick on the wall until my fingers burned and the paint splatters washed away. Eventually, I noticed as each single brick and wall came together, the church looked brighter and more cheery. It was satisfying to watch our small progress change the mood of the whole church and I knew we made a difference.

One part that struck me was our teamwork. Reaching the tippy top of the brick walls required ladders and endurance of raising your arm up to polish. The lady in charge looked at me and saw that I could reach the top with less effort and offered me the job to polish the top half of all the walls. As I looked around all the North Americans took initiative and gracefully topped the highest parts of the walls with a shiny coat. When I reached the bottom half of the wall, I started to squat down and my legs shook. I thought to myself: I am going to be sore in the morning. The same lady from before saw I was struggling and stoped me to take over the bottom half of the wall. We looked at each other and laughed because I could see past the top of her head and there was at least a foot height difference. Through my broken Spanish we developed a strategy to help each other reach the spots we couldn’t get. This moment made me realize how different we all are and that we fit together perfectly. I represented the top (north) and she covered the base at the bottom (south). This geographic analogy can emphasize the unique perspective I have (at 6 feet to be exact) and others can offer. Working together made our work more efficient and the small details we polished up came together to make the room shine brighter.

I will always remember these details as I strive to reach new heights (hopefully I’m done growing taller) and also learn to ground myself. I should also stand firm, even though I hate my head sticking out in a crowd. Since my eyes can reach parts that others can’t on their tippy toes, I should take advantage and fill these gaps. At the same time, others can fit in places I can’t. The North and South both fit together to make America and the world a better place.

Medical Clinic

by Lindsey Hunter

Today, the medical team evaluated approximately 40 children and church members at Buon Pastor. The Saint Martin’s team was able to minister to their needs due to our wonderful interpreters. The church members were incredibly kind and welcoming to us.

Many of the patients I saw expressed not only physical problems but ongoing stress and anxiety due to various life situations. I realized that while it was important to assess and provide medications, it was just as important to hold a hand and listen to each person’s story as they shared their concerns.

It was a joy to use the gifts God has given me as a nurse to touch the lives of my brothers and sisters in Ecuador, reminding me that we are all part of the body of Christ living life together.

Lunch

Then lunch!! Food is essentially the national love language in Ecuador. And while many of us were struggling through the spoken language barrier, we were more than capable of communicating through the love language of food. Some of our pilgrims have actually discovered that their love language may be more in the eating side of food. 

Lunch started quiet - almost like an elementary lunch room after  the kids got too loud and a teacher turned the “volume light” to red. But ever so slowly, the volume built as our pilgrims and the buen pastor community began to find their ways to communicate. How long have you attended Buen Pastor? Tell me about your family. What is your favorite food? Can you pass the hot sauce? The Holy Spirit landed on person after person and the fire of love, joy, and celebration continued to grow. By the time lunch ended and the first group of us was sent back to work (so the next group could eat) you could sense the “but wait…we’re not done talking” vibes radiating off of everyone. 

Vacation Bible School

Post lunch the medical clinic began again, and work around the church continued. Sand a bit. Scrape a bit. Chat a bit. It was a nice rhythm. 

Then VBS. A room off the side of the church started to slowly fill with children. Some came from the medical ministry. Some came because their parents were meeting with the bishop. And some came because they are part of the church. 

When the kids walked in, we could tell they were timid and maybe a bit skeptical. But then, out came the summer camp style games. Share your name but also your favorite animal - and you can act it out too. Monkey Mary was a hit, especially with the sounds, jumping, and motion. You should ask her to demonstrate it when we return. Human connect four where teams compete to win squares with get to know you facts (who has 3 siblings? Who does not like chocolate?) or bible trivia (what did Jesus feed 5000 people with?)

We saw our companions of love, joy, and celebration get louder and louder. Laughter grew. Kids flat out beat our pilgrims to spots. And we learned that many things about us are similar - even though we live in very different cultures thousands of miles apart. 

We then moved into a craft time where we painted “stained glass” crosses with the children. Some quickly painted one then wandered outside to find a ball or play a game. Others remained and painted 4 or more crosses. Colors and compliments became our new love language as we worked alongside the remaining children to help them express their love and joy. Many of the crosses adorn the windows and walls of the dining room at the church as a remaining symbol of the love, joy, and celebration that these children and our pilgrims shared. 

As painting continued, the occasional metallic BANG would come from a courtyard behind the church. Then laughter and the tone that tells you a group of kids is debating whether someone is “out” or not - but in this context “eliminado”. The kids had found both a soccer ball and a few of our pilgrims, and they were all playing “one touch or you’re out” soccer in the courtyard. The bang was when the ball was kicked against the big metal door in the courtyard. After a few rounds of scary loud noise and close calls with windows, we shared the “use your hands version” that many of our youth know from Gravatt as Gaga-ball. Language barriers were kicked aside as “2 toques” (two touches), “tocó tu pies” (touched your foot), eliminado, or “repetio” (play again). Shouts of ELIMINADO! were almost as loud as the metal door, but much more joyful.

We finished our time together with a story. Mary Virginia told this story of an Italian Monk, who first began making pretzels as rewards for children who said their prayers in the shape of benediction. Following the story, we all said the Lord‘s prayer together. It was just powerful to hear the same prayer said by all participants in their own language. And we shared a snack of pretzels with all of the children - every good story needs an illustration! Some were skeptical and asked us to eat it first, but once they tasted pretzels, were very excited. Some wanted to take extras home to their friends so they could share the story and the new snack.

Back in the church, we closed with prayer, praise, and worship. But after VBS, our pilgrims were met with hugs, love, and joy from the children - some may have even tried to play side games during the worship. John was jokingly called the “pied piper” for the group of boys that coalesced around him in the pews. The joy, love, and celebration had reached a high point in the closing and washed over all our pilgrims and the Buen Pastor community. The bishop kicked off the “hug fair” as we all began to say our goodbyes for the day. And in Ecuador goodbyes aren’t quick and quiet, every person says a farewell and shares a hug with someone before they leave. More joy. More hugs. More love. 

Then after a quick group photo we hopped on our bus and headed back to our hostel for the night. 

The Evening

We returned back to the hostel for a wonderful dinner cooked by Cameron’s mother-in-law. We ate encocado, a traditional seafood dish from coastal Ecuador featuring fish cooked in a flavorful spiced coconut sauce, with rice, fried sweet plantain and fresh watermelon. It was so delicious no one thought to take a picture!

Then we returned to our gathering room to surprise Debbie with a birthday party! Debbie got to experience another of what we were assured by our hosts was an “important cultural tradition”, which in English translates to “Take a bite!” Debbie obliged, leaned down to take a small bite of frosting, and Brenda rushed forward to bop her face into it! We enjoyed our caramel cake while debriefing our day and stories around our team’s “three rules,” sharing which rule practically applied to us today and how it shaped our spirits. (More about the three rules below).

We ended with a peaceful Compline at around 9 PM. We should be going to bed, but as I write this nine of our folks are gathered around the table learning how to fold oragami peace doves from Tim Kana, which we will give as gifts to the graduates of tomorrow’s first e=h graduation party! And Jim swept up around us after his wife’s festivities.

Joy abounds, love grows, and more awaits us tomorrow. Buenas noches.