Leading by Serving

    Ian and I (Hillary) have been blessed to be a part of several ministries here through NILI and the Nazarene Seminary. One of my favorite parts of serving with NILI so far, has been leading our NILI students in our weekly service projects.  Every Monday afternoon after lunch, the four NILI students and us staff members load into our Sprinter (our little van) and head to either the Extreme Response day care in Zambizo, the city's garbage dump, or to Betania, a local home for older adults.
   The day care in Zambizo was begun by a non-profit organization called Extreme Response. Extreme realized the great need when they saw the 300+ people living and working in the city's garbage every day, surviving on what they found in the trash. Now, Extreme not only offers day care services to the preschool aged children of Zambizo workers, they also provide family counseling, hygiene classes, education assistance, and more. Their story really is an incredible one (to read more about it, visit: Extreme Response & the Zambizo Dump Day Care).
    Usually during our visits to the Zambizo Dump Day Care, we lead the kids in singing, Bible stories, art projects, puppets, games, and English lessons. During our last visit, we used the Creation story to help teach the kids their numbers in English and Spanish.

Going through the days of Creation to teach numbers one through seven.

Playing "Memory" game with numbers.

Ready for the next activity!

    If we're not at Zambizo on Monday afternoons, then we're usually serving at Betania, the local home for older adults. Betania was founded in 1970 by a group of evangelical women who wanted to provide meals and shelter to seniors without family in the Quito area. It really is a wonderful ministry to these seniors who have no one else to care for them. Here is a little video glimpse of Betania, though the video is a bit dated and renovations to Betania have taken place since then: Betania Video
   When we go to Betania, our primary goal is to just visit with the residents there. Often we talk, read the Bible together, read stories, paint the women's finger nails, and do art projects. On our last visit, we did a Fruit of the Spirit art project and read the story of Lazarus. I sat with a group of older women who wanted me to read the story over and over again they were so moved by it.

Kayla helping one of the women with her art project.

Listening to the story while finishing their art projects.

Miranda reading a story to one of the women.

    It is always an exciting time when we're serving on Monday afternoons. From rounding up energetic little ones at Zambizo to catching pigeons that sometimes wander into the cafeteria at Betania, we're always kept on our toes! 

    One neat story we have from Betania is from our first visit there. Jen had told us about Gloria, one of the dear women residents there, who loves sharing her testimony with everyone she meets. Gloria tells everyone about how she is able to walk again after the Lord healed her legs a few years ago. She also tells them that what she is looking forward to most is seeing Jesus in Heaven. Once we arrived at Betania, Ian and one of the NILIs went back to Gloria's room to visit with her. As soon as Ian (with a full beard) walked into the room, Gloria exclaimed "¡Jesús! ¡Jesús!" ("Jesus! Jesus!"). Ian quickly introduced himself as "Ian," but then ministered to her as I think Jesus would have, listening and encouraging her throughout the afternoon.

    In addition to helping the NILIs with their service projects at Zambizo and Betania, Ian and I have also been helping with CENIC, a ministry here on the seminary campus that raises funds for the Church by facilitating events for local churches on campus. We hope to post more about our work with CENIC very soon.
    Also, this coming week, we'll be taking the NILI students to Southern Quito to work in two indigenous churches there: painting, doing kids ministry, and participating in worship services through song. We'll also be traveling to Latacunga, a small town south of Quito, on Saturday, in order to do a large kids outreach event there in a local park. Please pray for us as we travel and minister there! We'll look forward to seeing all God has in store for us; we're expecting great things.
    Thank you SO much for your continued prayer and support!  If we can be praying for you in any specific ways, please let us know.
    Many blessings!

Journey into the Jungle

A couple weeks back, I (Ian) had the privilege to travel with the NILI students toward and into the Amazonian Jungle in the east of Ecuador.  We spent about 5 days outside of Quito, mostly in the cities of Riobamba and Shell (you can click on the names of the towns to view them on Google Maps).  This is one of two major travel times scheduled for the NILIs each semester.  The other trip is one to the Galapagos Islands at the very end of the semester--a trip Hillary and I will not be participating in this semester.

The trip to the Oriente (as "the East" is called in Spanish) was full of fun, adventures, challenges, and spiritually significant moments.  I thought I'd share some video clips that highlight our time.  I've also loaded an online picture album that you can link to by clicking on the picture to the left of this paragraph.  Hope you all enjoy!









When we first arrived in Riobamba, we sat down to a nice meal of chancho (pig).  A meal consists of some ladies--who have been gnawing on the pig during the afternoon--ripping a hunk (in our case, a leg) off of an entire fried pig and serving it to you with toasted corn and a kind of salad.  Kyle, one of our NILI volunteer staff, told me that if I would take my video camera around to the ladies selling the chancho, they would all greet me with beautiful greetings and vie for my business.  It wasn't so....

Around 6am on the first full day we spent in Riobamba, our group left to visit the nearby mammoth (relatively inactive) volcano called Chimborazo.  At 20,564ft. above sea-level and very close to the equator, the summit of Chimborazo is the point on earth furthest from the earth's center.  Though our group certainly did not summit this behemoth, one of the highlights of the NILI experience is a hike up Chimborazo to about 16-17,000ft.  Enjoy this brief clip of our students climbing Chimborazo...

...and here's another brief clip of some wild alpacas we saw on the faldas (skirts) of Chimborazo....

Later during the afternoon of that same day, our group drove about an hour outside of Riobamba in order to get a good look at the often-active volcano called Tungarahua.  I'd love to share that beautiful view with you....

After leaving the city of Riobamba on Sunday afternoon, following services at one of the Nazarene churches in the city, our group traveled about 1.5 hours to the east to the town of Shell.  (For those who are familiar with the story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other three missionaries martyred in the 1950s by Waorani natives, Shell is the town their missionary work was based out of.)  

The highlight of our time in Shell was certainly our brief visit to meet members of the indigenous tribe known as the Waorani in the jungle--a trip we made by half-hour flights in very small (6-seater) planes.  This is a little longer video segment highlighting what it took to get there....

...oh, and landing was no small task either....

Though our visit with a few members of the Waorani lasted only about an hour, they greeted us as brothers and sisters in Christ.  The first members of this tribe to be converted experienced their conversions under the ministry of the widows and families of the martyred missionaries from the 1950s.  The entire tribe has been converted since.  The older man in the blue basketball shorts is Dewi, one of the men who participated in the raiding party that killed the missionaries in the '50s.  He is now one of the first men to live to be a grandparent in this previously war-ravaged tribe.  The members of the tribe performed (and invited us into) a traditional dance... which we only found out afterward was actually a marriage ritual.... :-)

We shared a brief but special moment with the Waorani when we sang a fimiliar hymn in the three languages represented in the small Waorani church that day--English, Spanish, & Waorani....

And finally, just to remind you that we currently live in a country with many volcanoes, here's a shot of some channels carved by lava flowing down the side of the volcano Tungurahau.  They were formed just a couple weeks before we arrived.  (You'll see one on the other side of the guard-rail at the very beginning of this shot, and one later in the shot.)

Well, there's a taste of our trip to El Oriente.  It was certainly one of the fun highlights of the time here so far.  We're hoping and expecting that Hillary will be able to join me on the trip next semester when we take the next group of NILIs.  Continue to keep the next semester of NILI in your prayers, as we're hoping to have more students apply for the program very soon.

We love you all and covet your prayers!  We hope to share in an upcoming blog about some of the great ministries we've been able to participate in over the past couple of weeks.  Until then, enjoy these videos and our interview with Engage Magazine HERE.

Missionary Profile: Ian and Hillary Cole | engagemagazine.com

We´ve been featured in a recent missionary publication by the Church of the Nazarene.  Click on the picture to check it out, and thank you for the continued prayers!Missionary Profile: Ian and Hillary Cole | engagemagazine.com

Photo Update!

Hello, Friends and Family!

    Lots has happened since our last blog post, and we're hoping to fill you in on some of the highlights through several pictures!

    We are so blessed to be a part of a wonderful, Christ-centered NILI staff, and we have enjoyed getting to know them better these past few weeks!  Upon our arrival, NILI treated us to ice cream. :)

Lucy Olivo, Director of NILI with her husband Pastor Salomon and their little boy David Israel (or "Davidcito")

Jen, Assistant Director/Ministry Coordinator of NILI; Jana, Student Life Director of NILI; and Kyle, Accountant & Secretary for NILI

And you know these people. :)

    We've also gotten settled into our little apartment! We are truly thankful for this space to call our own. It has everything we need (dishes, blankets, towels, etc), and it's been a great haven for the two of us when we've needed it.

Our kitchen, where we make and eat our breakfasts and dinners. (Mon - Fri we eat lunch in the small cafeteria on the seminary campus with the seminary staff and students.)

A view of our living room from the kitchen. No TV, and we haven't missed it! It has been wonderful reading, journaling, and spending time with others while here.

    Ian and I also have our own office space in the NILI office on campus. This is where I have been working in the mornings, and Ian has been working in the afternoons. (The classroom where Ian takes his Spanish classes is right around the corner from here, and the CENIC office where I work in the afternoons is downstairs.)

 Our office welcome. We've been welcomed with open arms by all of the seminary staff and students here, but especially by NILI staff members.

Our office space with NILI. Note the small "NO English" sign hanging on the bookshelf. As staff, we've been asked to help enforce the Spanish-only policy for students to help ensure that they are being fully immersed in the language while here.

    A couple of weeks ago, Ian and I helped take the NILIs to the TeleferiQo, a cable car that scales one of the mountainsides of Quito, in order to get a view of the city from above.

Quito and active volcano Cotopaxi in the distance. (Cotopaxi is one of several active volcanoes in the Andes Mountains near Quito though none pose any immediate threat to the city.)

Our NILI group: Elysha, Kayla, Lanea, and Miranda with seminary students Christian and Cristina. We try to encourage the NILIs to spend time with seminary students as much as possible to build strong relationships and to help their Spanish.

    One weekend, we helped NILI staff surprise the students with "La Gran Carera." What they thought would be a boring workshop, became an "Amazing Race" through Quito! And yet they still (hopefully) learned how to navigate Quito's public transportation systems: the goal of the activity.

NILIs Miranda and Lanae with seminary students Meri and Nancho

NILIs Elysha and Kayla with seminary students Jeremias and Priscilla  (the winners with their prizes!)

    I (Hillary) have also really enjoyed getting to know the NILI/seminary girls better through fun activities such as painting pictures, cooking/baking, and staying up late playing games during pajama parties. I hope and pray that this shared fun will be the foundation for deeper relationships and spiritual growth in the future.

Pajama party with the NILI and seminary girls on campus.

    One of the most meaningful experiences so far has been Ian's trip with the NILI's into the jungle just last week. We hope to write a longer blog reflecting on this trip very soon!

Our date night before Ian left with the NILI's for a week in the jungle.

     Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! We cannot tell you how much it means to us to have our friends and families behind us. We've shared our testimonies with the NILI staff and students over the past few weeks, and we've told them that your support has been one of the ways in which God has confirmed to us that we are where He wants us this year. And God has been so faithful to us thus far! We've encountered challenges we didn't expect, but He has been here with us, and our understanding of missions and ministry is deepening as a result (more on this in our next blog). We are so thankful for you! And we continue to lift you up in prayer each day.

     As our brothers and sisters here in Ecuador say, "Dios le bendiga" (God bless you)!