My First Week in Loja

Good Friends,

My first week in the countryside of Loja was full and crazy and challenging.  It will probably be months before I clearly discover and define my “roll” in the community.  For now, my motto is “own the streets” which I borrowed from one of my favorite grad school profs, James Olson.  By “owning the streets” I mean that my priority is to be out and about in the community learning people, places, and (agricultural) practices as opposed to “hibernating” in my room.  Also, the fact that my soccer skills should drastically improve is a nice spillover affect.

Slowly, but surely I am getting settled in.  My first two nights I slept on a concrete floor using my dirty clothes and a space blanket for a cushion.  Since then I have bought/acquired a mattress, a cocineta (i.e. a small stove), a propane tank, dishes, and other assorted household items.  By tomorrow night I hope to be able to cook hot meals after I purchase the necessary tubing to connect the propane tank to the cocineta.  I am ready for a break from tuna, mayo, and lemon juice sandwiches.

Yesterday we went hiking to the river where my community will soon be drawing its water.  It took us over four hours of hiking (uphill) at a fast pace with almost no breaks to reach the source.  The “source” river is located in primary forest in (or near…not exactly sure) Podocarpus National Park and the scenery was STUNNING!  Waterfalls abounded.  Then, instead of taking the trail back to town, we bushwacked our way down the (not yet completed) pipeline route.  Thus, the return trip was treacherous!  A number of times we found ourselves traversing class V terrain (i.e. we needed ropes to do it safely) using tree roots to hold ourselves up.  In the words of Louis La´Armour, “Adventure is just a fancy word for trouble.”  All in all we were on the trail over 10 hours and I entertained myself with eating random bits of fruit that I found along the way.  You can safely do that in Ecuador which is another reason why I love this country.  Ecuador is like a All-You-Can-Eat fruit buffet the size of Nevada!

Where/how am I struggling?  More than anything else I miss deep, meaningful conversation.  Lots of people here (my PC peers included) will talk about their notions of God; very, very few truly desire to know Him more and to seek His glory in their life.  Post-modern thought abounds in the sense that “we all decide what is true for ourselves.”  I couldn´t disagree more.

With all of that said, I feel quite “strong.”  Not in myself, but in the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Everyday my needs are met.  I am thankful to be where I am and thankful for the opportunity to seek his glory in all situations, good and bad (Phil. 4:13).  I am blessed with the respect of my peers and a great working relationship with them.  However, both they and I recognize that our common committment to service stems from very different motives.  I don´t mind that.  As Christians, we ought to be different from our peers and we should be ready to be both admired for that difference and persecuted for it.  The irony is that sometimes those opposing views will come from the very same people at the same time.

Don´t be fooled, Friends, I miss home.  It´s not steaks and Blue Bell ice cream that I long for, but the fellowship of family and Christian brethren.  Please continue to pray that the Lord would lead me to a group of people who are seeking to know Him, obey Him, and to serve each other through the preaching, study, and application of His word.

I also yearn for more time to reflect upon what is going on around me.  Right now I am experiencing more “life” than I have time to process.  However, I think a time is drawing near when I will have plenty of time to think, study, and process.  Among other things, I hope to use that time to complete the commentary on the gospel of John that I started in December of 2006.  After that, I may consider writing a book over some relevant aspect of my experiences in Ecuador.  On the other hand, maybe I will just do coloring books.  We shall see…

Looking for My Crayons,

zc