truth #12: La Concordia

My first real trip out of Guayaquil! I was so excited to go this last weekend to La Concordia! It took us about 7 hours to get there from the city. It is north of Guayaquil, almost to the city of Esmeraldes. It is number 3 on my map at the bottom. So after spending almost the whole day of Valentines in the car we arrived! Oh and Valentines Day is a little different here than in the states, it is really a day of love and friendship, just as much for friends as for lovers. I explained the joke of 'Singles Awareness Day' to my friends here and they thought it was quite funny. Well back to la Concordia. Five of us from OM went on this trip, Darren, Johanna, Carmen, Maria Jose and me. We lead two church services on Sunday about missiones, and also had christian books for sell at cost at the back. Christian literature is not so abundant here as it is in the States. I got to stay with a real ecuadorian family during our time in the town. Each of us was sent off to a host home for two nights. I must confess at first I was really nervous. Well, the pastor walked with me down the street to the house where I would be staying. It was very dark that night and just as we got to the door all the electricity in town went off. The pastor still knocked on the door and eventually a lady opened it. She was holding up her cell phone for just a little bit of light but it was held at an angle where she could kind of see me but I could see her at all! So the pastor just introduced me to Jenny and then he left. I think at that moment all my Glowing Heart training utterly left me and I was just about speechless. In a home, in a strange town, in the dark with a lady who I had never seen and who could not speak any English... You get the picture. Well finally I got my tongue and the lights came back on. She began to tell me about her daughters, one who was studying in Canada and the other who I was going to share a room with that night. Shortly the daughter, Karlita, arrived with her boyfriend and several cousins. We sat around and talked until after midnight. It was very fun and also very interesting for me to see what lengths of conversation that my spanish could stretch to! My grammar was not at all perfect but we understood one another. I spent most of my time in la concordia with Karlita and her cousins.

Now let me share a little about my ecuadorian family. I stayed in Jenny's house with her, her daughter, son and husband. However we did not eat in her house but instead walked across the patio in the back into the back door of another house (Jenny's mother, the Grandmother). She had a large table that could seat about eight people. Then the cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, nephews, nieces, daughters, sons, grandchildren, brothers and spouses started showing up. I used practically every word I could think of to describe this family because whenever I was getting introduced it was always a different person introducing, at one time they would say this is my sister, but to someone else it was the aunt or the cousin... So confusing! After the whole weekend I still cannot quite separate the family into sub-families but I can say that I love my family from la concordia! During meals we would eat in shifts as the whole family eats at the Grandmother's house and there are far too many people to sit at the table all at once. I was always put in the first shift as I was the guest.

I would stay up at night chatting with Karlita about her future, her desire to go into missions and about what mission life is like. She is a very sweet girl. Also, the grandmother confided in me that she is sure that another one of her granddaughters, Miriam, would be going into missions too one day! I am not sure what Miriam actually things of missions at the moment but it was sweet to hear that from her grandmothers!

We made it home from our trip on Monday evening without any problems... unless you call the car driving itself at one point a problem.. I did pick up some sort of stomach problem from this trip as the rest of the week I had trouble. I am finally better now. My 25th birthday on Thursday February 19, was a wonderful day. I got tons of notes and e-cards that were so fun to get. Also I received so many presents from my Ecuadorian friends, it was a pleasant surprise. Also some close friends here in Guayaquil, Dave and Lolly Erdel, made me supper and a cake that was shared by half a dozen friends.

Here is a list of my trips in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Peru (see map below)

1. Salinas (1 day in November 2008 - this is where I got burned)

2. Playas (1 day 7 Feb 2009)

3. La Concordia (3 days 14-16 Feb 2009)

4. Saraguro (2 days 24-25 Feb 2009)

5. Baños (2 days 27 -28 Feb 2009)

6. Macas (9 days 28 feb - 9 March 2009)

7. Quito (2 days 10 - 11 March 2009)

8. Costa Rica (9 days 21-29 March 2009)

9. Peru (9 days 4 - 12 April 2009)

truth #11: grace is amazing

Fundacion Jesus Por Los Niños... This is the orphanage that I went to on Wednesday. This is now Friday and I am still not sure what I think of my time there. Here is what I wrote in my journal after coming home:

We went to the orphanage today, Lennart, Maria Jose, Marina and I. 10am to 5pm. I must confess it was a LONG 7 hours! 30 children live in this orphanage.. that honestly feels more like a jail. All the children are locked in the building that consists of 2 large bedrooms (one for the boys and one for the girls), a bathroom for each, a large closet with clothes thrown all over making it almost impossible to find the right sizes for each child, a dining area and a kitchen that is kept locked. There is a 'jail keeper' who keeps the keys for the door between the children's living area and the office. While we were there the lady in charge didn't come in for more than five minutes. I get the feeling that the children spend most of their time alone. I have started to get to know the girls and a few of the boys. My heart hurts for them. They are hurting and lonely and yet because they don't know now to express it, it comes out in anger! They are soo angry. They don't listen to any instructions, the only look to you to see how they can use you. One of the girls around 7 years old asked me, "Are you a Christian?" I replied "Yes." Then she goes on to ask me the question that Lennart said they asked him the first week he went. "Did Jesus come in the spirit or in the flesh?" I believe the answer is both, however I didn't respond like this as I knew they were looking for the 'right' answer (which to them was 'in the flesh') and would say that you are not really a Christian if you cannot give them the answer that they want. Instead of appeasing them or getting caught in the trap, I simply asked "Why would you ask such a question? Don't you know what matters is that you know God and have a relationship with Him?" They couldn't argue with that and then went on to another subject. Hopefully we can help them to see it is
about a relationship not about religion or 'right' answers.

We plan to go to the orphanage each Wednesday to help with the children. As we get more people to help hopefully we can go other days as well. There are so many opportunities to help and to minister to people in a real way. We also are going in the evenings to work with the children in the streets, those who sell things on the corners and who basically have a sad and lonely life. We will also continue working with the Island Santay, teaching, playing, and discipling the people there. We have several economic projects beginning on the island. My dad is helping with one, a garden on the island that floods a 60-80% of the time in this season. The people don't get much to eat and go without when the fishing is bad. I will post more about that later.

As for the title of this truth... I am currently reading a book by Philip Yancy called "What's so amazing about grace?" Wow, I am only just in the first couple of chapters but already it has been speaking to me. Some of you know how much of the 'middle child syndrome' that I have (well mostly my family...) and from some of you I have hidden it quite well... I want things to be fair, for each to get what they deserve. But that is completely opposite of what grace is. I think before I read this book I would have said that I understood grace but some how I think I separated it in the spiritual sense and in how I see life each day. How can I say that I understand grace and yet become impatient with each thing that is so unfair, like having to wash someone else's dishes or clean up their mess or even do these things but with irritation in my mind... I cannot say that all these things will be fixed overnight but hopefully during this journey I will understand the grace that God has for me and be able to show the same grace everyday!

truth #10: visas, languages, and headaches are not impossible for God.

This truth will definitely take some explaining.



I will start with the visa... As many of you know, we have been praying like crazy for my visa situation. I think now that I have all the details I can give you the complete story. Here it goes. Laws changed in Ecuador right around the time that I entered Ecuador in September with my tourist visa. Which before the laws changed would not have been a problem. However, now the person entering the country cannot change visa types except in their home country. In more simple words, I could not change my three month tourist visa to a two year missionary visa in Ecuador... Then came the words from my field leader in October when we became aware of the situation, "Tabitha, I hate to tell you this but you are going to HAVE to go home for Christmas." My three month tourist visa would end in mid-December. Well, I was not too sad as honestly the holidays are the hardest time for me to be away from the states. Having to return home for a short period of time, however, was not the biggest problem that we faced. To obtain a missionary visa in Ecuador you have to fulfill about 8 or 9 requirements. One of the biggest was to have letter and documents of the supporting missionary organization. Well, when the laws changed concerning the visas, they also changed concerning what makes an organization a legal organization in Ecuador... Making it next to impossible for me to get the necessary documents because my supporting organization no longer qualified as a legal organization in Ecuador. So I came home in December having no idea when or if I would get the documents. Finally, five days before I left I got the documents. So my dad and I drove down to Houston on Monday, January 5, 2009 to apply for the visa. After the office worker in the consulate looks at all my papers, it seemed that he had problems with two of them. What was slightly irritating was that I had called the office three times before coming to make sure exactly what they wanted in the documents and they wouldn't give anything more than general things. Yet the problems that this guy had was specific things, one of my papers was not a date within the last 15 days, and another paper didn't have a signature or seal (did I mention that he did not tell me about either of these necessary things on the phone?). Well after about 3 hours and a fax later, I had my visa! Amazing, right? Now it is over and I could go back to Ecuador.... Ha, the fun had only just begun. On arriving back to Ecuador with my new visa I had 30 days to register my visa and to get my censo (a governmental id). At the visa registration office, it became apparent that there was a problem with my visa, instead of the beginning date being 5 January 2009 for my two years it said 5 January 2008. A whole year different! So, I then with the help of a very patient friend began a week long process of getting the year corrected (with one document having to be changed and resigned three times because they could not get the name right). I finally got my visa registered on Friday morning (yes this last Friday morning). We then decided to stop by the immigration office and see if they had any openings to get the censo (governmental id). With the past foreigners it has taken around three days of standing in lines and correcting of documents before they received their censo. We walked in around 10:15, went straight to the counter, he looked at my papers, took my picture, printed out my id card, had me sign it, laminated it and gave it to me. We were out of the door by 10:30. I was stunned! With all the other problems that I had faced I never imagined that I would get this card so quickly... So now, as of January 30, 2009 I am finished with visa things for the next two year!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! Maybe this will give you a little more insight to the Ecuadorian processes.



Language, I struggled so much at the beginning of my time with miscommunications and the inability to really talk with people. I took classes three to four times a week and would listen to Spanish during our meetings, church services, prayer meetings, outings with friends, movies, and in the office. I am not at the moment by any means fluent but I am able to communicate and I even am writing daily emails to people interested in missions in Spanish! Of course I always get someone to check it over before I send it... :) God has been so good in helping me in this area and I need to make sure that I continue to study and learn to be better able to work and minister here in South America.



Headaches. I don't understand them. I don't like them. I had at first a great struggle when I returned to Ecuador with a consistent headache that just kept getting worse. After about a month and a half of this headache, it is finally getting a bit better. But even more importantly I am beginning to trust God more in this time. Please keep praying that I will find joy and strength each day no matter what comes my way. I had a long talk with some friends last night that really helped to to gain perspective on my situation and gave me great encouragement.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which
surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

My goal this week is to be constantly giving thanks and praying.