First Three Weeks in My New Site

Howdy all on a Saturday evening. As a worker in sustainable development I am honing my craft in a Quito coffee shop. That is, I am being “sustained” by a bit of caffeine as I attempt whittle down an e-mail inbox that has gotten out of hand. I do apologize for not being able to return most of the e-mails that I receive.

It has been a while since I have posted on the blog. Well…things have been busy. Life in the colegio (i.e. high school) is fantastic and frustrating all at the same time. Things never go as planned and everyday is a challenge. It just takes longer to get things done here. For instance, we are preparing to kick off our broiler operation this week. However, we have been waiting for some time for the city to deliver both water and electricity. We finally gave up and dug a trench ourselves (by hand) to run water from another source. Five days after we finished the trench the municipality shows up unannounced and says they are now ready to install the water and electricity. For the electricity, what they (i.e. the municipality) meant to say was that they would install the meter and it would be left up to us to run the line. Thus we dug the holes, we carried the poles (on our shoulders) and we ran the line. At the end of the day, I genuinely enjoy my work here and believe that it matters for in both temporal and eternal terms. Furthermore, I consistently see how my physical labor lends credibility to the witness of my words. I regularly enjoy the opportunity to share some little snippet of God’s truth and on occasion am able to discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ at length.

Primarily I work with Eric, Amado and Luís. Amado and Luís are the colegio’s two full time farm employees. They are fantastic! Amado and Luís earn $6 a day and their greatest material possession is a mule which they use in their work. Yet, I find them to be fantastically generous with what they have. It humbles me. I can hardly visit their house without them serving me whatever delicious food they are eating for lunch or dinner–their wives are amazing cooks. Eric is a former Peace Corps volunteer who is working as a short-term paid consultant for one of the school’s biggest donors. Our mutual assignment is to make use of the school’s agricultural resources to improve the student’s diet with the long term goal of sustainability in our work.

Allow me to tell you a bit of Eric’s story because it is incredible. Eric was born in Guatemala and was adopted by a Mennonite family in Ohio along with two of his siblings when he was five years old. He still remembers scrounging for money shining shoes on the streets of Guatemala. In his new life, Eric was surrounded by agriculture and American culture and quickly lost his Spanish speaking ability. He had become a full fledged “gringo” – except for his physical appearance of course. About five years ago, Eric began his service with the United States Peace Corps in Ecuador and arrived in country with very little Spanish speaking ability. He struggled along (like all of us do) in the language learning process and until one day…ABERA CADABERA, Eric’s Spanish speaking ability from his early childhood seemed to rise to the surface. He was a “natural” with the language. Eric went on to become one of Ecuador’s most famous Peace Corps Volunteers from the last 5-10 years. When we are out working, Ecuadorian’s are unable to tell that Eric is not Ecuadorian and often demand to see his Peace Corps identification–his Spanish is that good.

My own abilities are improving with regard to my Spanish and also my understanding of organic agriculture. I can easily see myself doing such work long into the future and also hope to adapt some of the practices we use here to the reality of agricultural work in the US.

Well, I have SO MUCH MORE to say, but need to get some rest. So much for a season of tranquility in the rural areas of Ecuador. Life is crazy…and exciting! I do have two parting thoughts:

1) May we be consistently engaging ourselves in work and life experiences that do not let us forget nor ignore the reality of poverty and injustice in the world. “Christian” England managed to ignore the horrors of the international slave trade until William Wilberforce forced England’s citizens to take notice. May we not be guilty of the same sin of neglect and willful ignorance with regard to the reality of life in Darfur, Kashmir, and in our own backyards. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan; lack of hospitality and compassion is a sin. God cares about the poor and he cares about justice. Those two themes are impossible to ignore in Proverbs and throughout the rest of scripture.

2) Thank you for your prayers! Our Father continues to answer them on a daily basis. I humbly ask for your continued prayers for:
- My ultimate satisfaction in God and faithfulness to His calling
- That I would grow in knowledge, love, and obedience
- For wisdom in decision making and leadership ability
- For a genuine love and consistent witness in the colegio and to my fellow volunteers.

Your Son, Brother, and Friend,

ZC