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.