The Elusive Christmas Spirit

I am writing this on December 15th, so there are only 10 days left until the big day and yet I am having great difficulty getting into the “Christmas Spirit.” A quick check of Windows Media Player reveals that I have over 17 hours of Christmas music (I was always a big fan of Christmas CD’s) ripped to my laptop. Yet even though I have a great little set of speakers attached to said laptop and although we regularly play a lot of music in the evenings (having no TV does that to you) we have yet to choose to play any Christmas music. I said as much to Kelly on Sunday after we came back from the service at Bastion. “We haven’t yet played any Christmas music and they will have been playing it at the services back in Belleville!” The last two weeks they have been playing a few Christmas songs and hymns at church services both in Bastion and Alborada and they even played one of my recent favourites “Celebrate The Child” - thanks Dan and the Wisdom band for teaching it to us a couple of years back - at Bastion on Sunday. By the way, that’s another song that sounds better in Spanish!




I drive the 5km into the little town of Playas and see that it is full of reminders that the Christmas season is now upon us. In its own way it is as commercial here as it is in Canada. The stores are full of artificial Christmas trees, singing lights (yes, most of their Christmas lights hum tunes incessantly), decorations, toys, employees wearing little red Santa hats, Christmas cakes, turkeys, and all the usual fixings. The streets are full of vendors peddling their Christmas wares like Nativity scenes and battery operated toys. The Christmas season is well and truly here in Playas, yet I don’t feel that I am experiencing it yet. I am not in the mood. I feel like I am just an observer of all the frantic activity and I am not really sure just why.




As I ponder this conundrum in search of an answer I have come to the conclusion that it must be one of, or a combination of three things. First, it is hard for those of us from the Northern hemisphere to imagine Christmas without snow or at least cold weather with the imminent threat of snow. Even in Scotland where it rained more often than not there was the possibility of snow. It could happen. Here, you know that it is just not going to happen. All the locals are talking about how cool it is at the beach at this time of year. We know that it has only been around 28-30 degrees most days, I would think! However, although it is so cool (beach season is usually in the 30’s) there is absolutely no possibility of it snowing. None. We will not experience the near silence of countless millions of unique snowflakes gently falling almost soundlessly on Christmas Eve. We will not wake up to a glistening, blinding, deliciously white carpet of snow. Barring the freakiest of freak storms that would turn the world on its head there will be no snow on the equator this December 25th. Maybe that’s the reason for my lack of enthusiasm – the weather is simply not conducive to the Christmas spirit.




The second possibility is that when you are removed from the whole merry-go-round of buying Christmas presents for family, friends, co-workers etc., you are also removed from the commercial idea of what Christmas is. The merchants would tell us that Christmas is buying. It is the largest collective orgy of spending that the world has ever seen and if you don’t do your part then you are in danger of being labeled a modern day Scrooge. Somehow that doesn’t seem to fit in with the Christmas story I read in the scriptures and I have always been uneasy with it. Maybe it would be better if we just had our wild orgy of spending and called it something other than Christmas. After all, how much time do we actually spend contemplating the birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the World at this time of year? Perhaps it is the sense of being removed from that merry-go-round that finds me watching instead of participating.




The final possibility is that what we call Christmas is really for us a concentrated time of sharing and spending time with our closest family members. “I’ll be Home for Christmas” is a Christmas hit for a good reason. Well, we won’t be home for Christmas, and we will miss out on those family together times which are always special despite the extra work, stresses and family tensions that those times always bring. We won’t be making any trips to family members, we won’t be pulling any Christmas crackers, and we won’t be in any of the family photos this year. It could be that not planning for those family gatherings is leaving me bereft of the Christmas mood.




Having said all that, my mood may be about to change. I may just be about to get into that Christmas spirit, albeit a little later than usual. We are really excited that we are going to pick up Holly and Jessica at the airport late on Thursday night! After a short night’s sleep we have a mad rush home on Friday to be here for a Teacher’s Christmas party at the camp in the afternoon and a trip back into Guayaquil for the Christmas Service at Alborada on Sunday. We will have just a handful of days to play our part and buy decorations for our little $19 tree, buy some Christmas presents, buy the turkey etc., and then relax and play the music - Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Michael W. Smith, Rachael Lampa, Hanson, Relient K, The Chieftains and The London Philharmonic Orchestra! If I am not in the Christmas Spirit after all that then I guess it must just be the weather!

On a final note, I will be preaching for the first time on December 28th at a young people’s Christmas supper at the church in Alborada. I will be talking about holiness and could use some prayer support!




Verse for the Day:




Genesis 3:17-19
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistle for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”




I am enjoying the different perspective that reading the Bible in Spanish gives you. It is also a great way to do your devotionals and practice your Spanish at the same time. Currently I am reading in the book of Genesis and had to stop when I came to the words “cardos y espinas” which mean thorns and thistles. It got me thinking about the little garden that we are tending here at El Faro. The garden is full of little thorns that attach themselves to your pant legs, laces, shoe soles or worse yet, jab your skin! They are extremely annoying to come across. Moreover, the ground here is either stony and rocky and very difficult to dig into or very fine and sandy. None of it seems to be very good soil and if you spend any time working in it at all during the day you find yourself very quickly sweating. So, what must it have been like for Adam to have been thrust out of the Paradise that was the Garden of Eden into the world outside? It must have been a huge shock to the system, a very rude awakening to the consequences of his sin. These last words from God must have been ringing in his ears as he tried to wring a living out of the barren wilderness. Maybe if we all received immediate punishment for our wrongdoings we would be less likely to wander astray from God’s will. But who am I to question God’s mercy and grace in holding back from us what we deserve?


We are posting this picture just to prove to Tim Horne that we have actually been on the beach!

For those who like to know where they are in the world, this is looking northwest towards the town of Playas.

A Busy Week Part One

I can’t believe that it has been more than a week since my last blogpost! However, it did seem to be a busy last few days so I guess that I will have to accept that it has been. We spent the first four days doing something that we will probably be spending a lot of time doing during our time here – acting as hosts.

Jose and Ivan came out from Bastion Popular to begin work on some of the things that need to get done before the next camp season begins in February. First up was the last of the four main cabin blocks as it, although having been mostly completed, still lacks bathrooms. The sinks, toilets and showers were no more than roughed in last year and space was a bit tight without the four rooms in this cabin. It was up to Jose and Ivan to build the sink counters and install the sinks and it was up to us to look after Jose and Ivan for the four days that we were here. Sounds simple right? However, you have to remember that we were trying to do this with our Spanish running at probably around 60% - 65% of where it used to be ten years ago – and harder still – Kelly had to try to remember how to cook for Ecuadorians, who like their rice just so. We decided to jump in with a leap of faith that somehow things would work out just fine – as did Jose and Ivan who were stuck living with us, miles away from their own homes, for four days.

They arrived at around 10am and we showed them where they were to sleep. We gave them a choice of either one of the cabins, or the spare room downstairs that is slated to be an office but for now sleeps four in two bunk beds. They chose the latter which was fine with us as though it gave us all a little less privacy meant that they had access to the washrooms and showers immediately underneath our deck, the cabins currently not being connected to the water system as the main pump is down and in need of repair. They then immediately got down to the typical Ecuadorian order of the business – “Un poquito de agua por favor?” “A little water please?” This involved more than just your standard glass of water but necessitated providing them with a twenty liter jug of water, a stand with a tap to place the jug on, and two plastic cups, one red and one blue so that they could tell them apart for the week. Access to an ample supply of water is of course a major requirement for the average Ecuadorian worker and they happily took theirs down to the aforementioned cabin block and tested it out. A couple of deep draughts and contented looks were the result.

Ivan was then directed to sweep out the rooms as Jose and I then spent the next half hour or so checking out what was required in the way of building supplies. This should have been a simple job but I was very quickly reminded of how narrow my knowledge of Spanish vocabulary is. Ask me about simple bible stories, biblical concepts and theological definition and I can still hold my own but I have no idea what a screwdriver, hammer, and table saw are as they are not words I ever needed to use before! Thankfully Ivan seemed to know what he was looking for in and around the “bodega” or “storage room” which turned out to mostly involve “cemento” or “cement” (that one was easy); “madera” or “wood” ( a little harder but I was proud I knew what that was) and trowels, rebar, wheelbarrow all of which he thankfully found without my help. Interestingly enough I still don’t know what any of those are called so I guess I will have to check my dictionary.

Next up was a trip to the local ‘ferreteria’ or building supply/hardware store. I knew that we have accounts with a couple of the local stores in Playas and I even know my way around town well enough town to find them. We went up to the first one, “Disensa” where Jose is well known from previous construction projects at the camp but unfortunately they did not seem to have what he was looking for and I could not seem to catch what it was that he asking for. We then went across the street and down a bit to “Ferreteria San Fransisco” which unusually, was closed. Now Jose was getting a bit worried as we were heading into less familiar territory and he was unsure as to why they were closed. “You do have some money if we have to buy these right?,” he asked. “Dale said you would if we ran into any problems.” “Yes, I have some money,” I answered confidently although still not sure exactly what it was we were looking for. “Fregadora” he replied as I asked which I guessed may have something to do with washing as the verb for ‘to wash” is “fregar.” It was at this point that I managed to put two and two together and come up with four which is unusual for me as it turns out that we were actually looking for the sinks themselves. By way of confirmation Jose informed me that yes, we were looking for “fregadoras”, “lavacopas”, “lavamanos”, which means that I now have three new words for a sink! This was as we were on our way to “El Chino” the third ferreteria which is a little off Jose’s usual radar screen and will probably remain that way as they told him that they would not have any until Friday at the earliest. It was also here that we found out that “Ferreteria San Fransisco” had been shut down for 11 days – something to do with their paperwork! From here it was all downhill as none of the remaining two stores had the required sinks. We ended up returning to the camp with nothing more than a bag of cement and in Jose’s case a plan F as B,C,D and E had failed to work. As for me, I returned with a warm fuzzy feeling inside as I knew that I was for sure back in Ecuador! Stay tuned for more!

Verse For the Day: Psalm 136:3,13
“Give thanks to the Lord of Lords: His love endures forever. To him who divided the Red Sea asunder; His love endures forever.”

Why is it that when I look out my bedroom window I doubt that we can see a church established here in El Arenal? After all if God can part the Red Sea in a far more spectacular fashion than Hollywood ever dreamed possible, surely He can do such a small thing as gather together a group of His people here in this hot, windy, dry and dusty, corner of Ecuador.

Our First Visits to the Churches in Bastion Bloque 6 and Alborada

After a week of anticipation we finally got to go visit our old friends at church services in Bastion Popular and Alborada. First up was Bastion. The church there has a service beginning at 8:30am so that meant an early start for us. We were up at 6am and left home just before 7am. So for all those back in Canada who have difficulty getting up for 10:30 or 11:00 maybe you should come to Ecuador and try this service! What a great time to get started in the morning!
By the time we arrived in Bastion it was still nice and cool and the church was full. The building is 4 times the size that it was when we were first here to see it planted in 1995/96. It has two floors, one which is what I guess we Canadians would want to call the “Main Auditorium” and the upper floor is for Sunday school. There must have been about 50 in attendance and afterwards Rolando told me that they have decided to move the service back to the school gymnasium next week as the number of those in attendance has been growing after a time when the numbers had been down somewhat.

As we drove up to the church we were delighted to hear the music and singing from out in the street and as we entered it was exciting for us to see an entire worship team composed of three guitarists, four singers, a drummer and a keyboard player. The band also had a decent sound system and the congregation was using Powerpoint for the song lyrics. Having served on the worship team in Quinte Bible Chapel for a number of years it was a joy for us to see and it was a big change from the days 11 years ago when Tim Horne and/or I were the praise team! The music was lively, relevant and brought us to the throne of God. Part way through the service there was an opportunity for individuals to take part by sharing from God’s word or praying. Immediately following this we remembered the Lord together in the bread and the wine and from there moved directly into the sermon. The service was well-structured and had a good sense of flow to it while being nudged along by a chairman at the appropriate junctures. I was interested to hear the quality of the sermon and was well-pleased with Franklin’s take on John 8; The Woman Caught In Adultery. Franklin had obviously done his homework and was well prepared, presenting a carefully thought out and gracious take on the story while reminding us that we were no different from the Pharisees in that we too can be hypocritical when we need to be gracious and merciful to those of our family, friends and neighbours who are caught in blatant sin.

Afterwards we had a warm welcome as Rolando presented us to the congregation. We received many handshakes and “besos”(kisses) while our Spanish was put to the test as we tried to keep up with the questions and comments. It was a struggle but I think that we more or less held our own although it is obvious to us that our Spanish is certainly rusty. I think that this week calls for more study time!

After we had said our goodbyes we headed off to Alborada to meet our old friends there. We squeezed a few extra bodies into our Chevy Vitara and with the 1.6 litre engine performing over and above the call of duty all 7 adults headed up the Via Perimtral with Dale, his guitar and Jose crammed in the cargo area until we got to Bastion Bloque 10. There we dropped of Jose, Willian, Dale and Dale’s guitar who were all heading to the later service there.

With a lighter load the Vitara roared on until we came to the Alborada turn where we left the Via Perimetral and headed south to our old stompin’ ground. This was the second time this week that we had taken this road as we had also headed down into Alborada on Thursday after meeting with the Bastion elders. We felt a little more confident about where we were going this time as on Thursday we had been completely disoriented. Alborada and its approach road have experienced enormous changes since we were last here. As we drove in on Thursday we did not recognize anything at all until we reached Albocentro, the old downtown that we knew from before and even then we had reached it more by accident than by good navigational skills. We never did find the church!

This time we only felt a little more comfortable as, although we had Nikki and Rolando with us to help keep us straight, things could change at the drop of a hat. For example Rolando jumped out just before the new bridge beside the church and to tell you the truth I never really did find out why he was with us or where he was going. He had simply found out that we were headed for Alborada and asked for a ride. It was around then that I found out that Nikki had never actually been to Alborada although she claimed to have a pretty good idea of where it was. Finally she spotted it and one missed turn and around 10 minutes later we were back outside the church which we had passed but could not reach because we were on an overpass! We found a parking spot easily and moments later we were heading into the building that Kelly and I had known so well but that we knew had changed so much. At least we hoped we were because as Nikki confessed, “I’m still not sure that this is the right building but I think that’s David’s car outside.” Not knowing whether we were heading into a Pentecostal, Baptist or Brethren service we walked somewhat cautiously into the building. It is at times like this when you are afraid of making a fool of yourself that it is a good thing to be a male and kindly offer to let the women go first!

We need not have worried because we immediately recognized Alba, who has not changed at all, and then David and his father Jorge on the platform, who both gave us friendly waves.
As we took our seats and looked around us once again, we were astonished to see how much this church had also grown since we fellowshipped there before. This building is also about four times the size of what we had known previously and also was well equipped with all the modern technology. At a quick count there must have been over 100 in attendance and although we arrived a little late and missed most of the music we were aware that they also were very enthusiastic in their worship.

It wasn’t long before we were given a warm welcome and invited to come up front to be introduced to the congregation. As I looked down on the sea faces it was encouraging to see number of familiar faces amongst all the new ones. We were asked to share a bit about what we were going to be doing and what we had been doing. As I had only prepared for the former and not for the latter I played it safe as I did not want to embarrass myself by butchering the language in front of such a large group of people.

David preached for almost an hour and it was fantastic to see a young man who I had mentored while here before now carrying himself in such a confident and capable manner. When the service was over we were thronged with people wanting to talk to us. Amongst them were Gaby, Leyla, Jose, Raul, (Super) Mario, Walter, Estefani, Andres, Zarita; all of whom were young people who we knew from our kids club or youth group from the nineties. They are all now in their early to mid-twenties and in some cases, married. It is great to see them still attending Alborada and in most cases actively involved. In the case of Estefani we discovered that she was a girl who had come from time to time to the kids club that we had held in our house but had no idea that she had become a Christian and was attending the church there. Later we were also invited to visit David and Kathy later this week and made tentative plans for Friday. David has been very involved with camp in the past and we are looking forward to talking with him about its future.

After saying our goodbyes and promising to come back from time to time we made our way back to Dale and Janet’s place where we had a quick lunch before taking them back out to Playas. They had received an invitation to attend a First Communion for one of the local families and decided that it would be appropriate for them to make an appearance and get to know some more of the local families. They caught the last bus back to Guayaquil at 8pm leaving us to enjoy the aftermath which has been one huge party. First communion is a huge deal here in this primarily Catholic country and for us it has been a chance to experience one continuous neighbourhood party since they left. The drinking, music and dancing began next door around 4pm yesterday and they are still going strong today at noon as I write this. The music is of course played at maximum volume and I could not sleep last night until about 2am. Kelly of course, slept well as usual, although she did complain of being somewhat restless and waking a few times.

Verse for the day: Psalm 140:12
“I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.”
We are trying to be more conscious of the needs of the poor. In Canada we are so used to people having access to all sorts of government and church programs to help those in need. Here there is very little of that sort of thing and it is always so difficult to know exactly what to do. However, we have given out a few coins first to a boy who was begging at the toll booth on the way into Guayaquil, and then we gave a small loaf of bread to a little girl and presumably her brother who were begging as we bought ourselves a treat at the bread shop. She immediately gave it to the little boy who wasted no time at all in attacking it. Finally I gave all the loose change that I had in my pocket to a crippled beggar who approached us outside the market. It probably wasn’t much more than 50cents but he was counting it carefully as we walked away. We know that this is but a tiny, tiny drop in a huge ocean and as skeptical Canadians we are always afraid of being conned. However, we think that maybe it is better to err on the side of kindness than that of hardness. After all, if the Lord is on the side of the poor, maybe we should be too.

The First Week Is Over

We have now been in Ecuador for a week but somehow it seems timeless. It feels like we could have been here a month or a year or even that we never left! I don’t know why that is other than that we feel so far from Canada and that the distance between there and here is so large both in terms of miles and culture that we might as well be on another planet.

Over the last few days we have been slowly settling in to our new home. We have met and chatted with a few of our neighbours like Maximo, Michael, Santiago, Macario, and Carlos. We have also met the owner of the local “tienda,” or shop and are hoping to meet the young boy who keeps ringing our doorbell and running away. I was finally quick enough on Wednesday to see who it was and where he lives so I am going to make it a project of mine to meet him as that is probably what he is looking for.

We have also begun slowly to do what we believe we came here for. We had Carlos over on Wednesday evening and chatted with him for two hours over “un cafecito,” a little coffee. Carlos became a Christian in the summer and seems to be eager to learn more about his new faith. He also seems a little lonely as he is from Guayaquil and doesn’t have many friends here in Playas yet. We agreed that in a week or two it would be good to study the bible and learn together.

On Thursday we drove back into Guayaquil again and met with the three elders of the church in Bastion Popular Bloque 6 to talk about camp. Our goal over the next couple of weeks is to talk to all the missionaries and Ecuadorians who have a role to play or a legitimate interest in camp. We had a great conversation with Rolando, Jose and Felipe. They had lots to say about how the construction and early days of the camp have gone and were quick to point out areas that need improvement. We found them easy to talk to and knowledgeable about important areas of camp life such as the organization, finances, programs, participants, personality conflicts, maintenance, and the property itself. Once we have a clearer picture of what everyone is thinking we plan to pull together a larger group of people from the four key churches, Bastion Bloque 6 and 10; Sauces and Alborada and begin to plan for the future. So far the key issues that keep cropping are a lack of organization and accountability which is understandable as the camp has been without someone in a permanent leadership position up to this point.

Prayer Request: Please pray that the Lord would grant Kelly and I and the various leaders here wisdom as to how we move forward with the camp ministry.
Verse for the Day: Psalm 140:7,8

We Finally Made It! Part Four

What a great day Monday was! Two major accomplishments were the order of the day as we successfully navigated our way directly to Dale and Janet’s house in Guayaquil and we all managed to get our new censos. OK, I know that this doesn’t sound like a lot but by the end of the day we were all heaving sighs of relief and nobody more so than Kelly and I.

As opposed to Sunday morning our little Vitara had started at the first ask and we had left the camp at 6:30am. Despite this success after the previous day’s exertions, I was worried. We were aiming to be at Dale and Janet’s house by 8:00am and I only had the vaguest idea of how to get there. It has been 10 and a half years since we lived in Ecuador and even then we had only travelled the road from Guayaquil to Playas twice. Once in a bus and once when 8 of us and our luggage squeezed into a tiny Chevy Sprint. On neither occasion was I really paying that much attention as to how to get there and back as at that time we had no vehicle of our own. Furthermore, when we had driven out to Playas with Dale on Wednesday evening the route to the beach had not been my first priority as I had been trying hard to avoid being side-swiped by an aggressive taxi-driver or totaled by a wayward bus. To complicate things the sun had been setting fast when we made that trip and we had been travelling in total darkness long before we arrived at the camp. Dale had also planned to draw me a map but somehow in the excitement of them leaving we had forgotten to see that through. So here we were setting out on that same road and hoping to navigate the various twists, turns and intersections in order to arrive safely in Guayaqul and not in Quito or Cuenca or some other corner of the country.

Here’s what I knew. I knew that if I went back into Playas to the main intersection and carried on straight we would be on the road to Guayaquil. I knew that at some point we had to get off the beach road and on to the Via Perimtral and from there come off at the Via Daule. Once on the Via Daule, I knew that I would be able to find El Caracol, where Dale and Janet live. In Canada this kind of trip would not be difficult as you would simply look up a road map and plan your route the night before or drive with one eye on the road and one eye on a map, which of course I would be very unlikely to do. Unfortunately road maps in Ecuador are few and far between. I know because I have something of a map fetish and I had looked high and low for a map 10 years ago with absolutely no success whatsoever.

If you are without a road map in Canada you can always fall back on a road sign. Unfortunately road signs in Ecuador are thin on the ground and don’t always seem to be very helpful. For example Dale had told me that I needed to take the “Via Daule” exit and not the “To Via Daule” exit which I should see first. This seemed like a very fine distinction and didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me but I was prepared to defer to his vast wealth of knowledge and driving experience. After all he had been a truck driver prior to being a missionary; surely he knew what he was talking about.

We found our way to the aforementioned main intersection and found the road to Guayaquil without incident. There we stopped to gas up. I had half a tank of gas which I figured should be more than enough to reach Guayaquil under normal circumstances but I was not planning for normal circumstances but rather for the abnormal. While there, I stalled for time by asking the young fellow pumping gas what you called a gas station in Spanish. “Gasolinera” he replied helpfully. This was not entirely idle chit-chat because I had a deep seated fear that I might be asking someone for the nearest gasolinera before the day was out.

Having run out of things to ask the puzzled young man, I jumped back in the car and we headed off once more, with me wondering whether or not I should have tipped the young guy. It was then that I had a stroke of genius and suggested to Kelly that we could simply follow the big blue bus ahead of us as it was obviously one of the regular buses between Guayaquil and Posorja, a town a few kilometers past Playas. This hope faded almost as quickly as the bus faded into the distance. I am sure that most Ecuadorian bus-drivers could make an easy transition to the world of NASCAR.

It was then that another brilliant idea lit up my one coffee morning. “We could always hire a taxi-driver to lead us there and we could follow him,” I suggested, “You know, just like they do on the Amazing Race.” I knew that it was a dumb idea as soon as the words were out of my mouth but it had seemed like a great idea in my head. “I thought that you said you know the way!” retorted Kelly. It was then I more or less ‘fessed up. “Yeah, I think I can get us there, but I am not sure,” I said somewhat unconvincingly. “But if we have a big problem, we could always try for a taxi driver,” I persisted.

We passed Progreso or “piggy town” as Dale’s kids like to call it and managed not to take the road to Salinas which, after all, would have taken us west when we needed to go North East. Incidentally, I think that Dale’s kids are on to something here. I definitely prefer the name “piggy town” as the main street is absolutely crawling with apparently aimlessly wandering pigs and progress is something that there does not seem to be a lot of in this little town.
It was around this time that Dale called us to see how we were doing. This was comforting as we now knew that if we got hopelessly lost we would at least be able to contact him even if we had no way of describing to him where we were. “Tell Dale to stay close to his phone,” I suggested, tight lipped.

Once we got past Progreso the road widened out to two lanes both ways and we were reminded just how much progress this country has made. This highway was recently built and would put many a Canadian highway to shame. It is smooth, well designed and sign-posted, with constant reminders to buckle up and not to drink and drive. The centre median is full of beautiful trees, shrubs and flowering bushes all the way to Guayaquil, a distance of more than 50 kilomtres. In the daylight we could see what we had missed in the darkness of Wednesday night. On both sides of the highway the country stretched out in a mixture of scrub, bananas and ranches. Other than the first few miles close to the beach where the land is almost desert-like the country was much greener than we thought it would be at this time of year. The only disappointment was the huge amount of garbage strewn along the edges of the road.

As we got closer to Guayaquil the level of traffic began to increase, as did my heartbeat. All I needed was to find the exit for the Via Perimtral, surely it would be well signposted. Suddenly there it was. “How will you know which direction to take?” asked Kelly with good reason. “Easy,” I replied … “We just have to go north.” “Yes, but how do you know which way is north?” “Well, the sun rises in the east and sinks in the west so at this time of day it should be more or less to the south-east. So if the sun is more or less to our right as I think it is then we should turn left on to the Via Perimtral” I answered confidently. “It’s too hazy to see the sun,” she replied unhelpfully.

Ignoring the concerns of my beloved wife and using my instinctive sense of direction as much as cold logic I turned left on the Via Perimtral and headed north. Immediately I began to recognize the general layout of the hills and knew that we were on the way. There is a large hill on the edge of this part of the city that is covered in antennas and dishes and is instantly recognizable and I could see it now off to our left. So now all we needed was to pass “To Via Daule” and wait for “Via Daule,” except that, after a few minutes, there was “Via Daule.” “What happened to “To Via Daule?” I cried ‘Did we pass it already?” “Did you notice?” If not quite panic-stricken, I was concerned. I had visions of having to try to get off this highway and negotiate a maze of one way streets before I could turn back on and head back south. “I didn’t see it!” “I didn’t see it!” cried Kelly somewhat defensively. “I’m taking this one!” I decided. “Are you sure?” asked Kelly. “No, I’m not,” I said. “But we are so close surely we could ask someone or call Dale to come find us if I am wrong.”

Suddenly there it was – the Via Daule stretched out before us in all its chaos, congestion and confusion. As we approached it I knew that we had taken the wrong exit but it didn’t matter, I recognized where we were and knew we were only a few hundred yards south of Dale’s house. We would not have to make any embarrassing calls for help. A swing through the traffic lights to the left a few hundred yards up past their house until I could do a U-turn was all that was needed. The school was there on the right, followed by the church, all of this was familiar territory and a sight for sore eyes.

We made the U-turn, pulled up to the gates of the guarded “El Caracol,” where the guard asked who we wanted to see. “The Canadian Family,” I said, feeling confident that there could not be any others in this neighbourhood. “I need to see some identification,” he said. He wasn’t satisfied with anything less than my passport which he decided he was going to keep until we left, but it didn’t matter we had made it!

The rest of the day was comparatively easy for us, though not for Nikki Horne. We all got our “censos,” or ID cards at the “Departmento de Migracion.” Nikki had some hoops to jump through but that is her story to tell. For us it was a simple matter of showing the official the necessary documentation, getting our mug-shots taken and paying the $4 each. Oh yes! It did take us most of the rest of the morning to get the necessary papers e-mailed to us from Lloyd Rogers in Quito, but those are just details. The big news is that we made it to Guayaquil by ourselves and back again to Playas by 8pm that evening! It had been a long day but an immensely satisfying one.

Verse For The Day:

Proverbs 3:5,6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.’

I guess I always thought of this as referring to choices that we make in life and I am sure that theologically that is what this verse is saying. If we trust the Lord and walk with Him, he will keep us on the right path. Today however, as I look back to our trip to Guayaquil, I am confident that He kept us on the right road even when we were not entirely sure which roads to take.

Leaving Playas

Entering Progreso (Piggytown)

Downtown Progreso

The Main Road Between Playas and Guayaquil

A Cute Little House and Business Along The Way

A Reminder that driving in Ecuador can be dangerous

The Tolls Entering Guayaquil

The Hill With All the Antennas On It

Looking East Over Guayaquil

You Never Know What Kind of Driver You Will Encounter!

We Finally Made It Part Three

We had great plans for Sunday. However, great plans don’t always come off the way that we hope for. We wanted to go into Guayaquil to visit a couple of the churches in the city and spend the day there. We knew that the church in Bloque 10 of Bastion Popular was having a sports day starting at 9am. Also, we had contacted our old friend David Edgecombe from La Iglesia Evangelica Alborada to let him know that we would be there at some point during their service, which starts at 10am. This is the church where we had fellowshipped between the years ‘95 and ’97 and we were looking forward to meeting old friends. Everything was set. We had all our ducks in a row. Our day was lining up perfectly but nobody had told our nifty new car.

As we went to start it there was nothing. No response. Not a sound. My first thought was that I had left the lights on and that the battery was flat. It wouldn’t be the first time that I had done something that foolish. Fearing the worst, I checked to see if we had power. Yes, the lights were working. Now my mind was racing through all the possibilities, which didn’t take long because I know nothing about cars. I thought, “If I open the hood and take a look underneath, it may simply be that there is a loose connection somewhere and I could probably fix something that simple.” It seemed like a good idea. Except try as we did, we could not find the hood release. We looked in all the usual places that a hood release might be found: under the dash, by the driver’s seat, further under the dash, in the glove box, and even further under the dash. No sign of it. We got out of the car and had a look all around the hood area to see if there might be one hidden somewhere outside. As desperate as it seems we even opened all the other doors including the hatch wondering if some crazy car designer with a wild imagination and a wicked sense of humour had placed it in some unbelievably obscure spot in the vehicle. But nowhere could we find it.

Finally, we even prayed about it which is not something I would do in this case because it seems to me that common sense should tell you where a hood release is but, not surprisingly we had no sudden, illuminating, lightning bolts of wisdom. Now I know that to all you wannabe mechanics out there this sounds ridiculous but we spent about an hour trying to find that hood release before decided to give it a rest.

By this time we had given up all hope of getting into Guayaquil on time so we called Dale Horst to see if he had any suggestions. “Try Santiago’s brother,” he suggested. “I’ve seen him rip apart an entire motor and put it back together again.” “He just lives a couple of doors down.” That seemed like a good idea except for a couple of minor details. First, it was still only 8am and there was no sign of any activity in the sleepy little village of El Arenal. After all, we had heard some of our neighbours partying until 5:00am. Second, there was no way that I was going to bring someone around to look at this car until I had found the hood release. My pride simply would not allow it. I would not be that “crazy gringo!” Over and above all of this I needed to regain some credibility with Kelly. After all, if a man cannot open the hood of a car what is he good for?

So we went back into the house with me brooding over my ineffectiveness as a male. “There has to be a way to get into that thing,” I said. Kelly agreed patiently but still obviously skeptical as to my ability to solve this problem. So I decided to change into clothes that would be more appropriate for looking under a car. Maybe if I got more aggressive with my clothing I could be more aggressive with my searching. After all, I had been reluctant to crawl under the dash or worse yet, under the car in my new white golf shirt which I had saved for three months in order to wear for the first time in Ecuador. I have a bad track record with white shirts to which my two quick-witted daughters can attest. Before I headed back out though, I needed to take care of a couple of other things. I simply had to have another coffee in an attempt to stimulate my notoriously slow early morning brain cells and I needed to text a couple of people to let them know that we would not be making it to Guayaquil.

Having enjoyed a cup of Nescafe and dealt with the texting I set myself back to the problem. Kelly, ever my faithful life-partner decided to help me take another run at the problem. Back we went over the same battlegrounds as before and still we had the same result. No sign of the hood release. Things were looking really bad. I was even beginning to think of selling the car and sticking to buses and taxis. Finally, not hoping for anything much I opened the glove compartment one more time, but this time with a difference. I lowered my head down to seat level and looked up into the cavity above the open glove compartment and there, well hidden but with the standard hood release marking was the long-looked for, ill-spoken release. “Found it!” I cried, delighted that I had been the discoverer and hopefully regained at least a semblance of respect. From there it was a simple case of naming off numerous non-descript car engine parts to impress my admiring wife. “I think it might be a bad connection at the starter motor,” I said, pointing at what I hoped might in actual fact be the starter motor. After a few pokes, prods, and cable wiggles I tried to start the vehicle again and to my delight and absolute astonishment, it started!

It was now 11am and only a little more than three hours had passed since we had left the house with such eager anticipation. Not bad for my first try at car repair in Ecuador and yes, for those of you who are wondering, I will be getting a professional to take a look at it, but for now it’s running and that’s good enough for me. I love my 1997 Chevy Vitara and it looks like it is going to fit in well with our renowned back-catalogue of quirky vehicles!

Verse for the day: Galatians 1:3-5

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

It struck me as I read this passage that it wouldn’t matter at what point during the post-resurrection era that you read this verse you would believe that you lived in “the present evil age.” The age we live in today certainly fits that description. I glanced over a fruit vendor’s shoulder today at the newspaper he was reading and saw that it was full of pictures of supposed Ecuadorian criminals who had obviously met violent ends. In a country and world that is full of fear it is comforting to know that Christ came to rescue us from that kind of evil and violence.

Our Chevy Vitara looking like a lean mean desert runnin´machine

A bug´s eye view of our car .... no hood release here!

Where not to find a hood release on a Chevy Vitara - isn´t this where most of them are?

Where to find the hood release on a 1997 Chevy Vitara

Finally! Underneath the hood! I fixed something here but don´t ask me what.

We Finally Made it Part Two!

We spent most of Thursday morning recovering but headed into Playas to get some supplies just before lunch. Dale showed me where to pay the water and electric bills and introduced me to a number of the business owners in town, particularly those that had been used for the various construction materials while building the camp. Kelly headed off to the market with Nikki where they bought some fruit and vegetables. Playas impressed me as having a busy little town centre, somewhat reminiscent of the busy downtowns that I was familiar with growing up in Scotland. I’m sure that we will find most of what we need there without having to return to Guayaquil. Towards the end of our visit we stopped by one of the cyber cafes where we found that we can spend an hour online for a dollar. We spent a few minutes catching up on some e-mails and then headed back to the camp.
In the afternoon we visited some of our neighbours like Macario and his sons and Santiago, the pastor of the local evangelical church. Later we toured the little church with Santiago’s wife and felt almost guilty to see that in contrast to our well maintained facility they have virtually no roof left as the metal has rusted away and there is more patch than roof and more holes than patch – if that makes sense! Maybe we will be able to help them somewhere along the way. The rest of the day was spent with Dale, Janet and Nikki just getting to know each other and talking long and hard about the camp and how this ministry should be structured. It is an amazing facility and there are so many things that it could be used for. I shared that it is my goal to spend the next couple of weeks listening and talking to a number of key people about the camp and the role that it could play here.
On Friday the Horsts and Nikki began preparing to leave and head back to their homes in Guayaquil. So it became time to be sure that we knew our way around the camp. Dale explained to me one more time how the unusual and slightly complicated water system works here and I think I finally understood it. Then it was time to go through the various keys to the facility – there are many – and discover what each one does. Before they left however, we headed over to a local hill that the Horst children call the “Lion King Mountain” for its similarity in appearance to the one in the movie. It is a few miles away from the camp, although you can see it clearly from our bedroom window. As we got closer to it we noticed that the area around the camp is almost a desert although the area immediately behind the beach itself is quite green.
The road to the mountain gradually deteriorated until it was little more than a track and must be a mess in the rainy season. However, the site itself is really quite beautiful in a rugged way. Part way up the hill is a shrine to Mary at which some candles were burning so it is obviously visited regularly. From the hill you get a marvelous view of the coast and also the small town of Morro. There is very little to see in Morro itself apart from the dilapidated Catholic church which dominates the centre of the town. It must have been a beautiful sight at one time, but now certainly is not that time. The shrine and the church reminded us that there are many people of faith in Ecuador but that for some, that faith is religiously placed in an object rather than in God, while for others, it is a faith in ruin and decay.
We returned to Playas and had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It was one of the best Chinese meals I have ever had and at $2 a plate you could not go wrong! When we returned to the camp the Horsts made their final preparations to leave and we drove them back into town to catch the bus to Guayaquil. From there Kelly and I drove around in circles for about 15 minutes as I could not seem to get my bearings. We finally made it to our destination – the cyber café, where we again caught up with some e-mails and found our way home afterwards without incident other than the sight of a dog being killed by a speeding truck. The road to the camp is a busy one as it passes on to the busy and expanding port of Posorja.
Our first night at home was uneventful but it also felt a little strange knowing that this is now our home. We were still a little reluctant to look around all the cupboards and nooks and crannies because it felt like we were snooping. However, we got settled into bed and had our best night’s sleep in a long, long time, with both of us being out for the count until the morning.
We spent Saturday settling in. We unpacked, moved some furniture around, and generally made the place our own. At around 11am we drove into town and once again hit the cyber café where we were able to spend two hours catching up with a number of people on MSN, write a few more e-mails and finally make a more thorough post to our blog. It looks like communication, although not as easy as in Canada, is not going to be a huge problem with the easy availability of internet access at cyber cafes and the excellent cell phone coverage. In addition to conversing on MSN Messenger we have been able to both text our family in Canada and received a very clear call from Holly on one of our cell phones.
We have been pleased with the way that our first few days have gone and will continue to update from time to time as we are able and have news.

Shopping in Playas

The view from the top of the hill

I guess I should have turned this one first but it is of course the shrine!

...and here is a contrast for you!

.... and a professional ad type pic of our new wheels - which wouldnt start on Sunday morning... more about that later!

We Finally Made it!

On Wednesday, November 21st at 2:00am we finally arrived in Ecuador and it felt good to be back. It has been about 10 and a half years since we lived here and it has been too long. I don’t know why we didn’t make the attempt to come back for a visit at some point during that time but I do know that we should have. However, all that is in the past and although we did not quite feel that we were coming back home at least we had a sense of knowing that this is where we belong for now -that this is where God has placed us for as long as He needs us to be here. As the plane made its final approach I was reminded of our first arrival back in April of 1992. Then as now I was aware that Guayaquil from the air at night does not look like a Canadian city. A Canadian city illuminates the sky like some permanent Christmas tree with its gaudy overabundance of lights. Guayaquil does not. Yes, there is light but its brilliance seems to be burst forth from little oases scattered amongst swathes of poorly lit deserts of semi-darkness. It reminded me that Ecuador, much more than Canada is a country of contrasts between the have and have-nots.
We were welcomed at the airport by Dale Horst who has been working here for 2 years and a smiling Ecuadorian contingent of Rolando, Wilfrido and Felipe, all of whom we knew from our time here before. It was great to see them and allow them to grab our various pieces of luggage and load them into the sturdy little green SUV. We were quickly whisked off to Dale’s house where we visited for a half hour or so while munching on popcorn and water and then around 4am we made our weary way to bed.
We awoke to the familiar dawn chorus of chickens, dogs and noisy traffic and had a breakfast of pineapple, toast and coffee with Dale while we made our tentative plans for Wednesday. I say tentative because all plans in Ecuador tend to be that way. It can be difficult for we Canadians to get our heads around that but after you are here for a time you begin to accept it or go crazy from dealing with constant frustration. I prefer to accept it. However, we set off around 9am with a tentative plan to see if we could fire off a few e-mails, register our visas downtown, buy a couple of cell-phones and the aforementioned SUV, visit a little with someone, anyone, and make the hour drive out to Playas before it got too dark. To accomplish any one or one and a half of those things would normally be considered a successful day here but, amazingly we managed to do all of the above plus be in our first ever fender bender and watch Ecuador pump their first 3 goals past a distraught Peruvian soccer team as all of Ecuador went into raptures of delight for a team on its way to a 5-1 victory. I believe that it may well have been our single most successful day ever in taking care of the practical details of life here.
A typically crazy roller coaster/bumper car ride through Guayaquilenian traffic ensued as I took the plunge and drove us out to our new home at the camp. Dale navigated and Kelly held her breath and tried not to look. Our daughters will be delighted to know that as opposed to being one of the worst drivers in Canada I am one of the best in Ecuador and I say that with a certain amount of pride! We arrived at El Faro De Esperanza at around 7pm and were met by Janet Horst, her four sons, Burke, Alanson, Denzel and Selwyn. It was also great to see Nikki Horne a Canadian who is also a missionary here. We were given a warm welcome, a delicious meal and an initial tour of the facility. We talked long and late and but eventually fell into our bed around midnight with our heads spinning because of all the new sights and sounds.
Thursday saw us all up a little late from our various exertions but ready to get to know our new co-workers a little better. However, as it is time that we headed into town to hit the cyber café I will have to leave you hanging here until the next time!

On the plane!

The view from our living room window

Me having a little coffee

Downtown Playas

Local shrine to Mary

Included below are a pic of kelly and i at the shrine, our new 97 chevy vitara, pic of the dirt surrounding the shrine and kelly enjoying everything with her new sunglasses!

Final Day In Canada

We are down to our last day in Canada and I am exhausted! We ran the roads all weekend saying goodbye to Holly and Jessica and although it was hard to do it is good to know that they are behind us and support us in what we are doing. That doesn't help me sleep though as I run over and over in my mind all the things that we still have to do and the things that we know we will not get done. I am jealous of Kelly because she is sleeping well and even when I wake her with all my tossing and turning she usually falls right back to sleep! All my married life I have wondered how she can do that!

I have done a lot of reading in the wee small hours of the night trying to get back to sleep as that usually does the trick for me. Not these last three or four nights, however.The good news is that I did manage to finish "Sarum" by Edward Rutherford so now I don't have to take it with me! In fact, I left it with Hols as I know that she will get around to it at some point. It is a fascinating novel about the history of the area in and around Salisbury, England for those of you who are interested.

In other news we hear that we may have a vehicle lined up for us in Ecuador, as one of our old Christian friends deals in vehicles and has a 1997 Chevy Vitara for us if we want it. He is asking $7000 for it, which is a serious chunk of change but unfortunately used vehicles are very expensive there and this one sounds like it is in good shape. We are resigned to the fact that a vehicle will probably be our biggest expense. Although we decided to do without a vehicle when we were in Ecuador in the mid 90's it would be extremely difficult to do it this time when we are in a more remote area.

Tim Horne has also given us the names of some folks that he has met in and shared the gospel with in and around the small community of El Arenal, which we understand is about 5 clicks outside of Playas and is where the camp is located. We are looking forward to getting to meet our neighbours and hope to quickly establish some good relationships which will pave the way for helping in the community and sharing Christ.

It may well be a few days before we have the opportunity to post again so don't be impatient if you are looking for news and there isn't any. We have a few busy days of travel and adjustment ahead of us, followed by some time of settling in before the first camps begin in February. If you are the praying type we would love it if you prayed for our safety on the journey, adjustments for all four of us as a family and good first impressions as we meet our new neighbours.

Verse for the day:

Matthew 6:31,32

31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

This verse jumped off the page at me when I opened the Daily Bread devotion this morning. I need to believe this as we head off to Ecuador with no guarantees of income. We are going out to another country in faith that all our financial needs and the needs of the camp will be met by other people, many of whom we will never meet but who we are trusting will be prompted by God to simply share with us. That shouldn't cause sleepless nights! I believe the verse, so why am I worrying about it? There shouldn't be a disconnect here! Somehow I have to make it personal, make it mine. Pray for that!

in the final stretch!

Ok.... so we are in a mad rush here as we try and fit in everything that we need to do before we fly on Tuesday. We thought that we had paced this out quite well but we still seem to have to much to do... why is that? Poor planning I expect!

The girls are not coming to the airport to see us off so this morning we are off to Ancaster to see Jess one more time before we go. Tomorrow it will be a quick run up to Kingston to say our goodbyes to Hols. They are both excited however, to be coming down for Christmas.

Verse for the day:

Matthew 6:19 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (NIV)

Life is like a Christmas catalogue - full of all kinds of marvellous looking potential gifts that seem certain to bring lasting joy. The problem is that they don't. Maybe we need to get our eyes off the Christmas catalogue of life and look at what lies beyond it -eternity. By focusing our attention and resources on it we will find everlasting satisfaction.

flights booked

We booked our flights for Ecuador yesterday and it felt good to finally get it done. We are about two months behind where we wanted to be but that was our schedule and not the Lord's so hopefully we are now in harmony with His.

Here is our itinerary:

CO2957 20NOV TORONTO HOUSTON 1400 1640
CO 810 20NOV HOUSTON GUAYAQUIL 1845 0110 ARR. NOV 21

So we are flying Continental and it will be a long day as although we leave at 2pm Tuesday afternoon it will be after 1am on Wednesday when we arrive (just in case you have trouble figuring out military time). I don't know how good my Spanish will be at that time of night but I know it won't be very good!

We have a number of details to tidy up before we leave including disposing of two vans, a final visit to the doctors office, and a trip or two to government offices. The remainder of the time we would mostly like to spend with family and friends and to that end we had an overnight at my parents on Tuesday night which was a hoot.

Verse for the day:


Romans 10:17-18
17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

This verse was originally directed at those Jewish people who had chosen to reject the Messiah but it is also applicable to all who choose to say that they have never heard the truth about Christ. I certainly would not consider Playas to be the ends of the earth but it is out there a bit and we do want to make sure that people in that area get a true and accurate presentation of the gospel. The passage includes a quote from Psalm 19 that teaches that Creation itself displays the message that there is a supreme creator of the universe and that He is visible to us through His creation that we see all around us.

Our goal is that people would come to faith in Christ by hearing the message.
You can read the passage in context at:

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=52&chapter=10&version=31&context=chapter#en-NIV-28192

this just in....

We finally got our visas today and it is a great feeling to know that we are that much closer to going. We are now checking out flights and hoping to head out in a few days.

Verse for the day:

Jeremiah 5:22
"I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

This was taken from the Daily Bread reading for today and I think is particularly appropriate when we are going to be living on the beach!

we should have known

We should have known that it would not be that easy! Our visas are still at the consulate in Toronto! First we were told that we needed to pay $260 as they had not been paid for in Ecuador....although we know that they were indeed paid for. However, to keep things simple we paid the required amount and then were told that we could pick the visas up on Monday. We reminded them that we had been told on the phone that they would be ready for pick up when we arrived. But apparently we had been misinformed because of course they had to see our passports first. We happily produced our passports but naturally that did not really help any as the visas would still not be ready for pickup until Monday. So.... guess where we are going on Monday!

On a happier note.... we have more camp pictures. These are courtesy of Heather Moore, who is also committing to a year in Ecuador and should arrive shortly after us.

http://picasaweb.google.com/heathermoore21/Camp2007?authkey=FueIvsIstKU


...just click on the link and you should get there.

Verse for the day:

John 8:42,43

42Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

going for our visas!

We finally got word yesterday that our visas are in Toronto! So tomorrow we will take a run up and pick them up. Hopefully there will be no last minute snags so we are still not buying the tickets until we have the visas in our hot, grubby little hands!

finally getting somewhere?

We got word last night that our visas have been issued and are finally on their way to Toronto. When they arrive we will have to arrange to have a brief interview at the time that we pick them up. So it looks like we might finally be getting close to heading off. I know that I am not holding my breath until we get them in our hands though!

According to Lloyd and Linda Rogers they have never had a visa application that was as difficult to handle as this one and no-one knows why it has been so much trouble. Apparently they even wanted to hold on to our original documents to the point that he had to pay to get them back! Nevertheless, we are making progress and hopefully we will be able to fly in a few weeks.

Here's one of the better maps of Ecuador as it clearly shows Playas on the south-west coast and the also the city of Guayaquil where we lived previously from 1995 to 1997. It is from this city that we expect that the bulk of the campers will come from.

What's Next?

Kelly and I had a fun weekend. We visited our daughter Holly in Kingston and had a great time together. We went up on Saturday afternoon and took her out for supper to a restaurant of her choice where Kelly and I had fish and chips and she had, surprise, surprise - a veggie burger!

We spent the evening watching "Volver", a Spanish movie with English subtitles which allowed us to brush up on our language skills without having to work too hard. Then we had a sleepover in her little apartment. We slept on the futon and once again found it to be remarkably comfortable.

In the morning we went to Holly's new church home which meets just around the corner from her apartment. It is called "Next" and it is an interesting experience if you are open to different ways of "doing church." This was the second time that we have been there with Hols and we found that they were just as warm and friendly as our last visit which bodes well for her. The first to welcome us was the same official greeter that we met the last time. He gave us a big smile and although he was wearing an Ottawa Senators shirt, he seems like a real nice guy! Outgoing and friendly, he is exactly the sort of extrovert that you want to meet you at the door. It turns out that his uncle used to be the pastor when Kelly went to the Free-Methodist church in Frankford about...well, I won't tell you how many years ago! Once again we tried out the "fair trade" coffee that was on offer. I downed mine before we got to the pew but Holly is delighted that they let you take...no, encourage you to take your coffee right to your seat if you so desire.

It is great to see that they have quite a lot of kids. In fact probably half the church is composed of young couples and their families, which answers the ongoing question that many churches have as to where the 20's-40's are. Could it be partly that they make it so easy for families to be there? A couple of pews have been removed and replaced with couches which the younger kids clamber over. We saw parents changing their babies right in the pews and no one batted an eye. The kids were allowed to move around a bit, even when the service started and it was refreshing to hear their chattering, squawks, and general restless energy until they went downstairs part way through.

Once again the music was well played by the praise team and their selection of songs was intriguing and thought provoking. A couple of Bob Dylan and U2 pieces that were obviously written at times of personal searching were helpful in letting us identify with some of our pew-mates and reminded us of our need to seek and find answers to some of the nittier, grittier questions in life. They brought to mind some of the psalms of David with their anguished cries during times of severe trials. However, I personally would have liked to see at least one piece that was unashamely and pointedly worshipful as when they so did the last time that we were there it changed the whole tone of the service. I imagine that they are trying to make their service as seeker friendly as possible and on the whole I think that they accomplished this, but they have no problem in proclaiming the Word of God and making it relevant to a modern world so I think that maybe they need to find a way to do this with their music also.

Gary was the speaker this morning and he shared some thoughts about love. His style was very relaxed, thoughtful and appropriate, with some great personal stories and insights to help us understand the different kinds of love that we see described in scripture. The admonition to "love one another" as he imagined that John might have said it was unforgettably dramatic.

We were all invited to stay for what they described, if i remember correctly, as a "lucky lunch" as opposed to a "pot-luck". Holly was delighted to see that the first four dishes were all veggie-vegan! Always one to try any kind of food I found that the veggie chili tasted pretty much like non-veggie chili! I also tried a number of other dishes that I was unable to name but they mostly tasted yummy for the tummy!

After we sat down at the table the pastor and his wife came and sat beside Holly and struck up a conversation with her. Kudos to them for making a point of doing that! They are a young couple in their mid-twenties and obviously have a sensitivity towards God's leading in their lives. While we were eating and making friends with some of the folks we had a visit from a couple of people who were giving out free energy saving porchlights! Naturally Holly took one even though she has no porch light but between the free light bulb, veggie food, U2 music, colourful hippie style clothing of some of the folks and overall relaxed friendliness of the place she is convinced that she has found a group of people that might think about church the way that she does. I even noticed that she was paying attention all the way through the sermon as she made a comment to me about something that Gary said when he was deep into his presentation. This is a good thing!

I would love to go back sometime and see how they run their small group studies. It appears that they have a number of them going on during the week and have obviously had some success with their overall strategy as they have already planted a second church about 10 blocks away. If you love to research on the web or are just incredibly nosey like me you can check out their website at:

http://www.nextchurch.com/

So, although we are still waiting patiently for our visas we are finding useful ways to spend our time with family and new friends and know that God knows best when it comes to matters of timing.

Here is the verse for today.... thanks to the Next crew!

Romans 12:10

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

May we all be committed to carrying out this command and demonstrate Christ's love to all our fellow Christians.

Snail's Pace

Things are still moving along at a snail's pace where our visas are concerned. We found out yesterday that Lloyd had to rewrite our letter of guarantee because he had used one verb in the present tense rather than the future tense. Having said that, he is still hopeful that we might get a final go ahead in the next few days.

The Daily Struggle

I found this quote today and thought I'd share it.

"I write these words at the age of fifty-five. During the past ten or twelve years, I have often - and with greater seriousness than ever before - reflected upon the course of my life. Certain patterns of thought and attitude and conduct have come to light, some of them quite disturbing. I look back upon repeated failures in my efforts to subdue inner conflicts and fears, to combat immaturity and self-centeredness, to build genuine and enriching relationships with other people, to conquer besetting sins, and to grow in holiness and communion with God. I now see that every period of my life has been marked by…struggle. But the persistence of the failures, together with a growing understanding of the past, has made the struggles of recent years exceptionally intense and painful."

I can fully understand the writer and also relate to the words of the apostle Paul who wrote the following:

Romans 7

14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

In a strange way I guess these quotes make me feel better as this is also the way I feel about my life. Every day it is a constant struggle to be the Christian I want to be. I fail my Lord in so many ways but thanks be to God, He is gracious and merciful to me. There is no question that I need to become more like Jesus in order to carry out the Great Commission and draw people to God.

Two Days On The Road

Kelly and I just got back from two days on the road with Living Books. We spent the time visiting a number of accounts in Eastern Ontario and saw some beautiful Fall colours while driving through the Madawaska region. Sales were down but that is to be expected at this time of year in what is essentially a tourist region. We had an enjoyable time working together again and it gave us a preview of what we are going to be able to do in Ecuador when once again we will be working with each other a lot.

We finished up the trip in Bancroft and took the time to visit my brother David and his wife Eleanor. It was good to catch up on each other's news as we really have not been able to spend much time together over the last couple of years.

Verse for the day

John 5:21
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

The Colours seem so much brighter when you are there!

I think this is Purdy Lake

The sign on the chip wagon pretty much says it all for

Ontario's camping region at this time of year

some good news

We got some good news this morning when we found out that our missing marriage certificate has mysteriously reappeared! This is good because now we do not have to worry about ordering a new one. It should mean that our visas could be on the way in a few more days. I don't think we will really believe it until we are holding them in our hands however.

more snags

I know that this title is "Life on the Beach" but as you can tell we are still not quite there yet. Although in our hearts we are getting closer we are still far removed physically. Yes, we are still awaiting our visas.

The latest on our ongoing visa saga goes like this. The Ecuadorian consulate is insisting that we still need to give them an original certified copy of our orginal marriage certificate despite the fact that this is not on their list of requirements! This is further complicated by the fact that they now say that they do not have the orginal that we sent them and that they claim that they have in fact never received it. We suspect then that they are asking for this further document to divert attention from their unwillingness to admit that they have lost it, or simply that they are holding out for a bribe..... which would not be unheard of.

Kelly and I are going up to Toronto to order an "urgent needs" copy of our marriage certificate and a long form, certified version of the document. Hopefully this will satisfy their requirements and will finally move the process along. However, we only have a certain amount of time to get this document to them before they can decide that the visa application is dead in the water and that we need to begin the expensive process again.

Although it all sounds frustrating we are at peace with it all, knowing that, as Lloyd Rogers the Ecuadorian missionary says, "The Lord's clock is neither a minute too fast nor a minute too slow." We are happy then, with His timetable and will trust that He will deal with this stumbling block in the way that He deems best.

We are having a good time together with our daughters this weekend. Holly is down from Kingston and we picked up Jessica from Redeemer in Ancaster on Friday. They both seem to be settling in well to their studies this year. Holly is enjoying her Spanish/Italian major although she is finding it tricky to keep both languages apart. Her favourite course is Romance Philology which is a study of the roots of the romance languages. Jessica is enjoying her first year of university life and likes most of her courses, particularly the History of Eastern Europe.

We went to Kelly's parents for Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday; sang and played together as part of the praise team at church this morning and are heading up to my parents this evening. Then it will be a quiet day tomorrow until we take Holly back and Jessica heads off with one of her friends.

Verse for the day:

Ephesians 5:19,20

19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Few Family Shots

From left to right: Kelly, Jessica, Holly and Ray

Holly and Jessica enjoying a recent family vacation in the States

Jessica and her main man, Christopher

Holly posing like a prima donna