Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Those of us who have seen the symbol on car bumpers and key chains know that a fish can represent Jesus, but did you know that things like corn, beans, and melons could represent Jesus' 12 apostles?  That's one of the interesting tidbits you learn when you celebrate Holy Week in Ecuador...

...which we did, just a couple weeks ago.  In fact, we just celebrated our second Holy Week in Ecuador, since we had taken our initial visit to Hillary's sister last year at this same time.  This time around, however, we celebrated in a much more Ecuadorian style...


...by making fanesca! the traditional 12-grain/fish soup painstakingly prepared and (sometimes dutifully) consumed by Ecuadorian families every year during Holy Week.

Our NILI Director, Lucy, shows our group what we need to do to prepare the ingredients for the fanesca.  Look at all of those ingredients!

Hillary and Ian shuck the thin casings off of hundreds of beans called avas (somewhat like our lima beans) to prepare them for use in the fanesca, while one of the girls from our NILI Professional family makes faces behind us. :-)

Hillary stands next to the massive cauldron we used to make the fanesca.  (And by "we," I mean the kind ladies from our church who actually knew what they were doing.) 

The finished product, topped with hard-boiled eggs, a sprig of cilantro, a couple of sticks of mozzarella cheese, and served alongside fried bananas (maduros), fried dough balls stuffed with cheese, and a fried cheese empanada.  Graciously, the dried (and quite pungent) fish was served on the side, to be added to the soup if so desired.

We also commemorated Holy Week by attending the "parade" (don't think floats; think slow, somber march of penance) called Jesús del Gran Poder (Jesus of Great Power).  This gloomy Good Friday (they call it Holy Friday here) ceremony looks, to the typical North America observer, like a Ku Klux Klan meeting gone wrong, but is, in fact, an opportunity for men and women (sometimes even children) to demonstrate remorse for sin through a difficult, sometimes grueling, march of physical castigation.

Don't fear!  These are just the cucuruchos, those who march in the parade.  They've inherited their KKK-looking garb from Spain, where this procession originated.  The garb signifies anonymity and self-denial, though we're not sure on its exact origins.

 

The hoods--most of which only have slits for the eyes, not the nose or mouth--are claustrophobic, especially with the sun beating down on their dark-colored robes in the middle of the day.

Many carry full-size crosses, some even heavier than these, recalling Jesus' march to Calvary.

Others put heavy crossbeams across their shoulders.

Many go barefooted on the hot pavement of the streets of Quito.

This man has written a message to God across his chest, asking for forgiveness, as he carries a crossbeam with a nasty herb attached to it that causes skin irritation.

Some put manacles around their ankles and carry the chains with them on their march through the city streets.

This man has both barbed wire around his waist and a crossbeam covered in that skin-irritating herb on his shoulders.

Even the very young participate.

It wasn't a gloomy weekend for us, though, despite the cucuruchos.  We celebrated the Triumphal Entry of Jesus at the beginning of Holy Week and his resurrection on Easter Sunday!

A procession of worshipers marched down the aisle of the church shouting "Hosanna!  Praise be to the Son of David!" on Palm Sunday at our church in Carcelén.

The worshipers were followed in by "Jesus," played by one of the young boys in the church, riding in on the back of a donkey (or the backs of two of his buddies dressed up like a donkey, at least).

NILI friends gathered outside the Carcelén church on Easter Sunday.

This is how we celebrate the Risen Lord Jesus on Easter Sunday in Quito!  The lyrics of the chorus say, Christ is not dead.  He's alive!  I feel it in my hands.  I feel it in my feet.  I feel it in all of my being!

We even made a good ol' pot roast, just like mom used to make it, for Easter Dinner!

It was a special treat to celebrate all of the festivities of Holy Week with the church here in Quito, Ecuador.  There is no greater time of the year to be a Christian, and we felt honored to celebrate alongside brothers and sisters who knew well in their hearts and minds the hope we have in Christ because of his death and resurrection.  We hope it was a blessed Holy Week for you, our beloved friends and family back home.  The body of Christ is united around the world to declare that He is alive and His Spirit is with us!

New Thank You Video!

Dear friends and family,
      Here is a brief thank you video we made for the churches who rallied behind us in support of our mission to Ecuador!  We'd like to share it with you all here on the blog as well -- as a way of saying a broader thank you to so many others who've supported us and as a way of summarizing what we've been up to since being here.
     God bless you!
     Ian & Hillary

The Blessing of Friendly Visitors

    Over the course of our time in Ecuador, Ian and I (Hillary) have been blessed to be able to build wonderful relationships with seminary staff and students, global missionaries, and members of our local church in Carcelen. We feel so fortunate to live and take part in the community life here on the Nazarene seminary campus each day! This semester, though, we've been reminded of the blessing of our friends and family back home in the States--and of just how much you all mean to us.
    At the beginning of the year, we were visited by a dear couple, Olivet friends Nick and Katie, who were traveling through Ecuador on a short vacation. It was absolutely wonderful to get to catch up with them over a meal. My sister Lauren was also able to meet with us!

Dinner with Lauren and Olivet friends Nick and Katie.

    Then just last Saturday evening a group of Olivet students landed in Quito. They came to spend their Spring Break as part of a Communications and Evangelism Team that would film the fifth season of "Mujer Valiosa" (Valuable Woman), a Christian TV series sponsored by the South American Region of the Nazarene Church. Joining with a communications team from the North Andean Field, the Olivet students filmed sessions of cooking, crafts, personal testimonies, and interviews with psychologists and medical doctors for the series.
     What made this visit especially meaningful to me and Ian was the fact that they were led by Brian and Lynn Utter, who, after returning to the States from their missions work in Argentina, began attending our home church, the Manteno Church of the Nazarene in Manteno, IL. We got to know Brian and Lynn a little bit before coming to Ecuador, and they were able to share with us about their experiences here in Ecuador while they were in language school. Seeing them was like being reunited with our Manteno church family.
     On Wednesday afternoon last week, the Olivet group came over to the seminary campus to host a soccer tournament and pizza dinner! This was a great time to get to know the students better. And we were also able to reconnect with one of our NILI students from last semester who was part of the group!

Our soccer tournament on the seminary campus.

The games were so fun because EVERYONE played: staff, students, missionaries... everyone!

Olivet and seminary students watching the game.

      Also last week, Ian and I got to see Charlotte, a dear friend from our Olivet class of 2009. Charlotte was in Quito all of last week as the special speaker for Alliance International Academy's Spiritual Emphasis Week. Friday night we had dinner with Charlotte, her mom, Lauren, and a couple of other dear Ecuadorian friends from Alliance. What a blessing and encouragement it was to get together with these friends and hear what God is doing in their lives!

Dinner with Charlotte, her mom Michelle, Lauren, and friends from Alliance.

Ice cream for dessert!

     These visits from friends have been a great encouragement to me and Ian this semester. It is so good to see such friendly, familiar faces when we're so far away from home. It helps us remember where we've come from -- and where we'll be returning to after we complete our year of volunteer service.
     We thank God for His faithfulness to us this year and His provision in even the small things, the blessing of friendly visitors!

    

A Hot and Very Meaningful Ministry Week!

     Two weeks ago, NILI staff and students traveled to Quininde, Ecuador for a week-long missions' trip. For me (Hillary) and Ian, it was the first time we'd journeyed West outside the Andes Mountains, down into the coastal region of Ecuador. It meant a long, curvy ride, and though we were still a good two hours from the beach itself, at the end we were greeted with 80 degree heat, humidity, and sun (a nice change from the cold and rainy weather of Quito!).

     We'd chosen Quininde because the Quininde Church of the Nazarene is currently without a pastor, and Jeremías, a seminary student originally from the town, has been traveling home every weekend to preach and help with the youth group. This has been difficult, since Quininde is a good 4.5 to 5 hour trip one-way from Quito, and Jeremías is also a full-time student. Through our visit, NILI hoped to both support this local church and encourage our friend filling in as interim pastor. 

      Monday afternoon, as soon as we arrived, we jumped right into prepping the church sanctuary to be painted. In the mornings throughout the week, we worked on this painting project: painting the interior of the sanctuary and the exterior of the church's front. Several members of the church also came to work alongside us. The transformation was remarkable!

Outside the church (before painting)

Working alongside members from the church to paint the outside.

Our group with the finished product!

After painting inside the sanctuary (before it was the same color blue as outside)

     In between painting, our group also helped clean up grass, trash, and debris around the church to prevent moisture and mold from spreading inside the sanctuary and to help prepare a space for bathrooms to be built. On our last day, we helped mix some of the first batches of concrete (by hand!) that would make up the foundation for the bathrooms outside, behind the church.

Removing debris from behind the church (side of the church before cleaning).

Cleaning a space for the bathrooms to be built.

Side of the church after cleaning.

Mixing concrete for the bathroom foundation.

     After working in the morning each day, we'd have lunch together at the church and then prepare for our kids' outreach/evangelism. The church in Quininde actually has a small church plant just outside of town in a large "finca" (or plantation) which produces palm oil, bananas, and cocoa beans.  Our first afternoon we visited the "finca" and shared our kids' program with songs, games, and Bible stories in a large field, hoping to attract kids that had never heard of the church before.

Singing together in the "finca."

Playing a water balloon relay game (perfect in the heat!).

      After our kids' program (and dinner), we returned to the "finca" to meet with a Catholic family the Quininde church had been witnessing to for several weeks. (One of the men from the church who had seen our kids' program asked us to come and speak with his parents and his siblings, whom he desperately wanted to come to know the Lord.) We had the privilege of meeting with this dear family in their living room (a very simple room with concrete walls and floor and plastic chairs for furniture) that night. Our group sang several songs, and Lucy, our Director, gave a brief gospel presentation afterwards. We prayed together and then spent some time visiting. Before we left, the family presented us with hot chocolate (made from the beans harvested right there on the plantation).
      Then Wed afternoon, we visited the Quininde church plant inside the "finca." We presented our kids' program for the children of the church and afterwards we attended the Wed night church service with the small, adult congregation. Our group shared two praise and worship specials (in Spanish and English) with the church, and Lucy preached a brief message of encouragement.

Quininde's small church plant inside the oil, banana, and cocoa bean plantation outside of town.

Playing with the kids before our program began.

Performing our skit about Javier, missionary to Africa.

Wed night service with the adults.

Getting ready to share our praise and worship specials.

     Thurs ended the week on a high note with a very special event. Every year, the Quininde church hosts a kids' outreach event for the kids of the church to invite all their friends. Lots of children eagerly await this time of year because the church gives Samaritan's Purse (Operation Christmas Child) shoe boxes to all who register and come. It was a joy to be able to present a special program for the day (with more songs, games, and Bible stories), and at the end of the program, our group was able to help pass out the shoe boxes!

Explaining the Bible story.

Singing!

Water balloon relay race.

Passing out the Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes.

The shoe boxes were a big hit!

He loved his box!

     It was such a blessing to be able to join with our Quininde brothers and sisters in Christ in their ministry through the church and it's extension in the local plantation! Through our physical work (painting, cleaning, and mixing concrete), kids' outreach, Wed night service participation, and in-home evangelism, we experienced the love of God in a powerful way, and we saw Him at work in the hearts and lives of the Quininde people.
     We continue to pray for the lives of those we touched while there; that those in the church would continue to grow and mature in their faith and that those who heard of the Lord for the first time would seek Him out by visiting the Quininde church.
 
     Thank you for all the extra prayers for our group during this week! Ian and I know that it's because of your support -- through your prayers and generous gifts -- that this ministry is made possible.
     We appreciate you all greatly! God bless you, much.