Ecuador Days 5 & 6: from Seas of Foam to Foaming Seas
special thanks to Gwen and Tim C for tonight’s reflections.
Day 5 - Sunday Worship and Family Fun
Yesterday ended up being a very late night heading into a very early wake-up, so tonight you get a two-fer!
Sunday at El Buen Pastor
By Gwen Geidel
The Sunday morning service began as we might expect at home at St. Martin’s — with families greeting families, welcoming newcomers, and finding a pew. But it grew into so much more! The church filled, then the entry porch filled, and then more members congregated in the street, and they all participated fully. The evening before, the Bishop had asked Caitlyn to give the sermon the next morning and that he would be presiding at the service. Caitlyn’s sermon on the reading from Luke was an excellent reminder of how we are all connected (maybe by BBQ?) and definitely by Jesus setting us free from our demons, in whatever form they may occur. It reminded us how all of Christ’s body works together to heal. After communion, the extraordinary service did not end before the Bishop called all of us from SMIF forward for a thank you but also a blessing for safe travels which included a church member pairing with each of us to help bless our continuing pilgrimage. All of us deeply felt the blessing from the church.
AND, it was the church’s Family Day and, wow, do they know how the celebrate families! As you will see from the multitude of photos, each age group was celebrated in its own way and SMIF members were interspersed throughout the various age groups. We had wonderful loving members who played with the smallest of the children- everything from musical chairs, duck duck goose to many other balloon and fun games. The laughter and love was contagious!
Just beyond the little ones were the youth, lead by 2 young men who made sure all were included and made each participant feel special, including us! Many games began with unique team separations- from making animal calls to circle formations. And that was only the beginning of cheering each team on to celebrating success. From the team balloon game, to plastic cup towers to water pong, the youth leaders made each feel special and appreciated.
Between the children and youth, the face painting table was a hit with them all. I spent most of my time with the youth and children but the adults had many games and many activities, too.
We were then blessed with a meal lovingly prepared. The youngest were served first, then youth and only then the adults and helpers.
If you might think that was enough for a day- think again!! The cotton Candy machines appeared and the lines were long but all were so patient and excited. The adults also began to dance in earnest- such energy, celebration and fun. And finally the Bishop announced that the foam blowing machine was ready- the spirit lead the Bishop to fully participate and show the children and youth such love in the midst of huge piles of wet bubble foam. Finally by around 4 pm, parishioners began to disperse and we all said our good byes. An incredible family celebration!
After our celebrations we went out for a pasta dinner (variety is the spice of life!) and then back to the hostel to pack for the next part of our pilgrimage - to the Galapagos! You might notice from the pictures that two young women from the church were blessed alongside us. Meet Melli and Nachita. They are members of Buen Pastor who are joining us on our Galapagos pilgrimage. While we are here, we will be doing a pilgrimage curriculum together written for us by e=h and lead by our e=h staff Spiritual Director, Jorge. Back at Buen Pastor, they will be doing the same curriculum as we are each day. Then, when we return on Saturday, we’ll regather with Buen Pastor to debrief together and share in the final piece of the curriculum reflection — pilgrims walking side-by-side in the beauty of holiness. After dinner and debrief, it was off to get packed and go to bed!
We woke up at 4 AM this morning (to John playing “The Sound of Sunshine” on a speaker through the hallways and knocking on doors to make sure everyone was up - Thanks John! It could have been…a much less pleasant song choice). We caught the early bus to the airport so we could get through the tourist control office for the Galapagos, have our bags specially scanned for ecological contraband, and get to our gate. I’ll let Tim tell you the rest.
LANDING APPROACH, SAN CHRISTALBO ISLAND, THE GALAPAGOS.
By Tim Carrier
“Look out the window. You can see an island!” It was my seat mate, Laura Alberg. She had the window seat and she was eager to share what was just coming into view: San Cristobal Island, one of the islands in the Galapagos Archipelago, our home for the next few days on our Creation Care pilgrimage.
In response, I craned my neck to follow her words. What I saw, when I looked through the window, was a spot of land that at first glance seemed well, empty. There was shoreline, rocks, vegetation, but no houses, no cars, no endless ribbons of asphalt, the usual markers of an approach to landing at a modern airport. There were only scant signs of human existence: a slender dirt track across a ridge and three small wind power generators, but otherwise,… it was Empty. That was my first thought. Empty. As if the machinations of humans were necessary to make something, well, Full. Second thought. I need to think about the first 6 1/2 days of creation instead of late in the afternoon of day six. You know, when we show up. But then that is why we are here on this pilgrimage to develop a better sense of Creation as it was in the Beginning: Pristine, unmarred, never needing to be cleansed because it had never been sullied by humans. In other words, in God‘s word, it was Good. I am fixing that thought in my heart as we continue on this journey.
Beautifully said, Tim. Wow. After a bit of a flight snafu (the plane had to be “reengergized” due to technical difficulties, and then we had to change to a new plane at our connecting stop), we arrived just as Tim described in San Cristobal. We enjoyed a belated lunch, a quick settle into our rooms, and then we went to Playa Mann (Mann Beach) for just a little time in nature before dinner. It was a glimpse into what those first hours on that sixth day must have been like. Playa Mann is FULL of Galapagos sea lions. They have absolutely zero fear of humans, and we all enjoyed bathing under the same sun. The baby sea lions played in the water at our feet (which is very cute, and also alarming because you are supposed to maintain 6 ft of distance. They failed to tell the baby sea lions this rule, though). The water was crisp and cool, and the air was much warmer than Quito. For one of our Buen Pastor friends, it was her first time getting to see the ocean. For those of us who have laid eyes on that horizon before, well, it was like we were seeing it for the first time too. It was stunning. The look of pure wonder and joy is the same in both languages.
After an incredible hour on the beach playing and watching the sunset, we went to dinner in an open-air restaurant, and walked back to the hotel. As I’m writing this last paragraph, I can hear Mary Virginia, Lindsey, Nachita, and Melli laughing hysterically together in the courtyard. But for the rest of us, and to you, Buenas Noches.
