Wrapping up a three year adventure

How do you sum up three wonderful years in few short words?

 Ecuador has been a place of great beauty, fun adventures, interesting cultures, delightful friends, fascinating history, breathtaking art, and so much more.

    I've worked with young people from around the world. I've delighted in their      learning, anguished over their troubles and prayed for their journey. I've also been able to participate in the birth of a new church and worked on Christian school conferences.
     It has been so good to work in a very well run school. The schedule often left this "youth impaired" gal tired to the bone and taking deep breaths to keep going in the high altitude, but the purpose of our mission and occasional R&R would refresh the body and give energy to the soul. I thank God for the honor of finishing out my missionary career in this delightful place. I am most blessed.
     Where to from here? In June I plan to return to Garner, NC  and resume teaching ESL classes at Wake Tech. My plan is to buy a home and perhaps take in international students from time to time. No matter where God takes me, I find there is beauty to find and enjoy. There are fears to conquer, difficulties to endure, and disappointments to sort through. Most of all there are people to love and encourage.
           Hope your adventure these last three years has been as fulfilling.

Full speed ahead

The hardest part of being in Quito is being away from family. Summer gave fun opportunities to make Little House on the Prairie costumes for the granddaughters and to prepare for Hannah's arrival in August. God has blessed me with 6 delightful little girls to enjoy. Facebook, emails and Skype help keep in touch but there is nothing like a warm hug and princess kisses to keep a grandma's heart a pumping!

Cataract surgery left me with odd as well as peculiar vision all summer. With some last minute adjustments, the new glasses were ready the night before I returned to Ecuador. Unfortunately, I am still having some problems with the eye and may have to cut short my time in Ecuador if further surgery is necessary.

I am back teaching home ec and scrapbooking. We continue to torment the other classes with the smell of baking goodies.  :)  New groups of students fill the classrooms with questions, comments, joys and sorrows. It has been good to spend time with individual students and parents. The Mom's Bible study has resumed. I am part of the teaching team. Next week my home ec students will make 120 Christmas cookies for the Mom's Party. I try to teach that cooking is a beautiful way to minister to others.

Although at times I had my doubts, you can teach 13 year old boys to sew! We've finished our stitches and embroidery, have sewed and stuffed our neck pillows and are now doing individual projects from a hand puppet to a flowing cape. I love to see them grow in confidence and skill.

Camera crazies have made it hard to download pictures for my blog. Pardon the long pause.
I continue to enjoy the beauty of this Andean country. One Saturday a friend and I took a scenic train ride along the mountain range. Another long weekend my pastor and his family took me to the beach.
As always, it is great fun to have Ecuadorians friends over for a meal or to visit a beautiful historic building with one them and learn more about this country's long, illustrious story. I pray that my short stay will have added some blessing to these wonderful people as they journey in their walk with God. They have surely enriched my life with their love and kindness.

Finishing strong

The school year is drawing to a close. The girls' formals are back in closet after the Junior Senior. The Seniors have left on their big trip. Teachers are cramming in their last minute exam preps and projects are keeping kids up late at night. In home ec we are preparing a turkey dinner for our final project. Sewing students are scurrying to finish stuffed animals, pajama bottoms and pillows. A few still fight with the knitting needles. "Could you show me again, Ms. Ruth???" " How long does it take to make a scarf?" " I can't, Ms. Ruth." To which I reply, "I can't never did anything. Keep knitting."

My pastor and his wife, Dr. Gonzalo and Viviana Suarez keep me encouraged. I so appreciate their love and friendship. Gonzalo is a clinical psychologist as well as a pastor and Vivi is the head of the Spanish Department at Alliance Academy. We are planting a church in a neighborhood called Pusuqui in the northern part of Quito. We are still looking for a permanent locale. For now we meet in living rooms. Rental property is very difficult to find. Our legal papers should be done in a few months so we have to find a permanent address before the final draft is filed. The government will check to make sure we are a real church.

In two weeks I will be landing in Raleigh-Durham Airport for summer vacation. Besides visiting family and friends, I hope to have the cataract removed from the eye that was injured in Venezuela. It will be nice to be able to thread a needle again.  :) Thank you for your prayers during this school year. God has blessed. I wish you could have sat with me during a mothers' outing where different ones expressed how much the school means to them and how they have grown in their understanding of our great God.

 My return ticket is bought for August 25th. It will be good to recharge the batteries before heading full speed ahead into the 2012-2013 school year. Hope you have a great summer.

Vacation in Otavalo

Otavalo is a prosprous Kichwa town that is bustling with commerse and tradition, new ways and old.

My friend and fellow teacher Brenda Brennan and I spent a delightful Easter break soaking in the beauty of this lovely mountain town. Sixty-two years ago my family moved to Guatemala where the Cachiquel and the Sutujil in their colorful dress and charming ways fill the memories of my childhood. It feels like home among these folks. The women wear long dark skirts and brightly embroidered blouses. Their beautiful faces and breathtaking hair bring back warm recuerdos as we call it here. Everywhere I turned I heard  Christian radio, heard talk about church or saw someone doing a Bible study at their market stall. Curious, I asked our taxi driver, who was a converted drug addict, what percent of the town were believers. Much to my delight he said about fifty percent. It showed  on every street corner as people politely helped you find your way, where civic pride and a spirit of honesty permiated the place. I came home much refreshed.

Carnaval

It was Carnaval weekend. School was out the following Monday and Tuesday so my friends the Cascantes and I piled into their car and headed for Riobamba. Janett's parents have a lovely tourist center they built on an old hacienda where we could enjoy a night's sleep with no airplanes, no barking dogs, no construction going on half the the night, no traffic, no car alarms...ah, peace and quiet. I slept like a baby. I didn't even hear tree frogs clacking about rainy season.
Carnaval is a big deal in the Riobamba area. People in colorful costumes danced in the streets as town bands played the familiar tunes used often for celebrations. People milled around the city with cans that sprayed white form to see who they could catch off guard. Kids with buckets of water, garden hose or water balloons hid on roof tops or in doorways facing the street splashing those who didn't duck soon enough. We drove with the windows up and often had to turn the wipers on after giggles kids drenched the car on the way by.

That of course, was the fun part of Carnaval, but as evening approached, red faced men who had spent money they didn't have to spare on liquor they didn't need, staggered home, some leaning on their wife's shoulder, others simply sprawled out on the sidewalk to sleep it off. I was told they save all year to blow it on Carnaval parties. It broke my heart to go by their homes that stood in dire need of paint and upkeep knowing that the money had gone for such excess.


The new semester is in full swing. First semester kids finished up their projects (like this teddy bear) and a new set of middle schoolers are learning the art of cooking and sewing. I guess as a grandmother, kid nonsense bothers me less and less and I find myself just enjoying their youthful exuberance. "What are we making today, Ms. Ruth?" greets me at each cooking class. The room fills with a scurry of hand washing and apron tying. "Is this a teaspoon or a tablespoon? Where's the sugar? Can I break the eggs this time?" I love the excitement in their eyes as they carry home a piece of aluminum foil filled with their latest culinary conquest. Mom's also thank me for having the patience to teach their children to cook. It's great to hear that one of my kids made a pizza for the family or a batch of biscuits, or brownies or whatever they just learned. My eighth graders are trying to master needle and thread. We've gone from basic stitches to embroidery. Next nine weeks we'll tackle the sewing machines and projects like neck pillows and stuffed animals and maybe even white knuckled knitting. :) It takes them about a week to relax holding the needles.

The big Christian School Conference is March 17th. All is coming together. Keep us in your prayers. I'll try to post more often. A computer crash complicated life for a while but we are back on track. My Ecuadorian pictures were still in my camera. Woo Hoo. Until next time...

A Busy Fall

The rains have come to Quito and the cold has set in . The heater at my feet is a welcome companion. The school year has gone well. I enjoy my classes. The kids are enthusiastic learners. I have four equipped kitchen plus a large sewing and scrapbooking lab. My seventh grade cooking classes and eighth grade sewing classes have turned out to be a lot of fun. The seventh graders amuse me with their enthusiasm about the mysteries of cooking. The boys try to out macho each other with hot sauce in their spaghetti sauce. (It didn't last long) :) We had a week where we went around campus sharing our goodies to bless others. I want them to see cooking as a way to show kindness to others.

It was such a blessing to be able to fly up to North Carolina for my daughter Tammy's wedding. She had asked me to arrange the beautiful Ecuadorian roses she had ordered as well as other lavender and purple flowers. The few short days were a flurry of delightful activities as friends and family helped celebrated Bryan and Tammy's marriage. All five nieces were dressed like princesses and stood up front just like they were supposed to. It was a lovely, lovely time.

I'm back in full swing in Quito. The ACSI office is almost finished. I have already been working on organizing materials and planning a spring conference. The English classes after school are fun great. How do you explain to a confused language learner why THAT and WHAT don't rhyme??? The church plant I'm involved in is looking for a permanent location. Our legal papers have been turned into the government. October 24th I joined the "third age" as they call it here. Some may call it old turning 65 but I call it blessed! Hope your fall is also going well.

Summer's Over-School Starts Tomorrow

What a great summer! I had good visits with my kids, and fun times with grandkids as well as siblings, and friends. Sorry the US was so hot. I glowed quite copiously among my compatriots. Life in the Us may be a lot more orderly than Quito but the weather here has you beat hands down. It was wonderful to have Judy and John and the girls with me in Kansas spending time with Mom. We crowded into her room at Kidron Village and livened up the place immensely. Great grandmothers are fascinating to little folks. Brooke told me after her visit to Kansas that she was going to get old and walk with a stick too!

The trip back was long and luggage scrambling but finally all of us reached our destination with a sigh of relief. It's so good to be back. Places look familiar and inviting. I don't shake at the thought of getting lost or forgetting how to tell the taxi driver where I live. Friendly smiles and warm hugs welcomed me home. The little church plant where I attend received me with open arms. Pastor's detached retina is much improved. It was good to have him in the service.

This year I'll be back in the class room. I'll teach Home Ec and scrapbooking part time and the rest of the time work on opening an office for ACSI Latinamerica in Quito. They have also asked me to serve as interim department head for the Fine and Manual Arts Department.

Soon after returning I had the fun of doing the flowers for a young missionary couple's wedding. With roses cheap in Ecuador, we had flowers and petals everywhere. We even showered the couple with armloads of rose petals as they left for their honeymoon.

Tammy and Bryan had Chip, Beth, Brooke and I over for the 4th of July. We were working on their wedding plans for November 5th in Greenville, NC. All. five nieces look forward to being in Aunt Tammy's wedding. I will be doing flowers again, but not with so many roses to throw around with abandon. Some how the price of roses rises sharply when it leaves Ecuador.

Hope your summer was as refreshing and that your battery is as recharged as is mine for a new year of ministry.

The end of the school year

The sun has set on the 2010-2011 school year at Alliance Academy. The tassels have been turned, the hats thrown in the air, the tearful good-byes have been said and the gowns are once again in the school closet awaiting another group of eager seniors. It was a lovely graduation with flags paraded through the gym representing the many nations at our international school. A tall German marched next to a petite Russian behind a delicate Chinese and a handsome Ecuadorian. Missionary's children marched next to students who had never heard the Gospel until they stepped into the halls of AAI. All 39 represent many hours of investment and much prayer as we take them through their last year of high school and begin the rigors of college selection. Part of my job has been to send out their transcripts, hoping that God would show each one which is the college he has planned for them. They will be scattered across the globe by the fall pursuing their dreams and draining dad's pocket. :) How do you explain to a B average student that perhaps Harvard isn't her best choice. Some will pursue medicine, others ministry, engineering or a military career. The variety is great. Some haven't decided and are taking a year to work. How do you measure the value of an investment in a student's life? When it is your own child, it is priceless to you when others mentor your teen through the adolescent struggles. The look of gratitude in the eyes of parents whose children have struggled and finished are supreme payment to those of us who have had to hand out detentions, send out reminders, write up demerit slips, skip part of our lunch to monitor their in-school suspension and generally put up with their general immaturity. For some it finally clicks. There is a new look in the eye, less non-sense, an obedience attitude and life begins to fall in place.

Patty and I now work in a quiet office. I miss stepping out into the hall where a science class is doing some kind of measurement calculation or students are joking at their lockers before dashing to the next class. The lockers are empty and only an occasional face peeks in the office
to see if reports cards are ready. It has been a good year. Secretarial work is not my best suit but it has been good to be a part of the team.

Next fall I will be back in the classroom part time and working in
the Association of Christian Schools International office as it is
organized in Ecuador. I look forward to new challenges
and opportunities to invest in the lives of young people.
There is much to do here. It has been calculated that there may
be as many as 500 Christian schools across the country.

July 2 I fly home for some R&R with family and friends.
I'm anxious to see my granddaughters and especially spend time with Mom. Dad passed away in August so it has been a year
of adjustments for her.

Hope your summer is refreshing too!

A visit to Cuenca

It all started out with a set of dishes I've been collecting. Each week as the budget permitted I'd go by the Artesa Shop and buy another piece of these hand painted dishes. Having heard that they were made in the city of Cuenca, it became my quest to some day visit this delightful place and find some wonderful factory direct prices. One thing lead to another and before I knew it I was part of a caravan of folks headed for Cuenca and some serious shopping. The scenery along the road is always breath taking in Ecuador. Huge mountains and volcanoes sweep up either side of valley where a patch work of plowed fields, forests and interesting homes delight the eye. After a refreshing stop in Riobamba for an overnighter with friends, the nine of us piled into the two vehicles and set off for Cuenca.
The trip went without a hitch and we drove into what felt like a piece of Europe. A winding river ran across the valley, gorgeous homes lined the steep bank and elaborate balconies hung over the streets creating a charming vacation spot. The clean streets, the old cut stone sidewalks and the red tiled roofs completed the picture.








The hotel was the old Spanish style with balconies inside surrounding an open court. Being Ecuador there were plenty of fresh roses and a variety of art and decorations to catch the eye




We went to a lookout on the side of the valley where a gallery had outstanding hand painted pottery by a well known artist. We also were able to visit a town where almost every store had handmade jewelry in local silver and gold. It's interesting how towns have their specialties. One is all leather products, another is mostly colorful woven or knitted souvenirs and another is wood carvings. Quito's specialty is cute little yellow taxis, dodging trolleys and double buses.. :)

Wish you could have come with us. We had such a good time even if the pottery factory was closed for Easter vacation...maybe next time.

Decorating in Quito

It started with an orange sofa and chairs. Mind you orange, isn't exactly my favorite color, but when Patty said a friend had a set she was storing at her house and was willing to let me use, I accepted it gratefully. I had a bed, a desk and a sewing table with which to decorate two bedrooms, a study, dining room and sitting room. I couldn't be fussy about orange. Since I get a kick out of decorating, it became a project to see what kind of combination I could come up with that blended with ORANGE!!! I don't really like fall colors so I thought I'd try crossing the color chart and see what I could do with orange and blue. I did have a blue table cloth I could use... Patty also loaned me a table, frig, stove and bed table and my campus sister got in on the project and started looking for items I could use she might have stored away. Soon she found just the right blue drapes that I mended and hung. My neighbor Lois also loves to decorate and we began foraging local shops for items in my blue and orange. We threw in some green and yellow for accents and had so much fun! You would be surprised how often the Indian artists use orange and blue. I found carved birds, dried flowers, macrame, burlap, paintings, pottery, a rug, inexpensive plants and little by little made the apartment home. My little lady on the corner often has orange or yellow flowers that I put here and there as a final touch.

I've learned that when God puts "an orange sofa" or any other thing in your life that isn't what you would have chosen, you have two choices; you can belly ache all the time which, of course, brings no beauty into anyone's life, or you can see what compliments and brings out the beauty in what you used to find plain or ugly.

Here at the academy we are in a huge change in student demographics. Some of the issues we deal with are not of our "choice" and at time are not very pretty. My prayer is that not only will I be creative in my apartment, but I will be able to bring harmony and beauty among those who would normally clash.

Just add the warmth of the fire place, fill the chairs with people to love and you have changed a sofa you really didn't like into a ministry tool and a fun place to restore your soul.

If you can't find something to
beautify your ugly piece of furniture, come to Ecuador. You'll be amazed at what you find.

The Conference

x


It was a quick flicker of the laundry room lights and every thing stopped in our kitchen. None of the breakers had flipped so I was afraid that all our appliances were headed for the junk yard or at least some serious repairs. With the conference breathing down our necks, Jilly and I didn't have time to do much about it. I said a prayer and rushed off to my duties at the conference. There was current in the back of the house so finally I plugged in a crock pot to save the chicken that was defrosting in the freezer and used a flimsy burner to heat water for coffee. After a few days a coworker at the academy who is an electrician came to take a look. He ran an extension cord so the frig would work, flipped some things around and got the washer to work and I heaved a sigh of relief it all was wasn't burned out. Of course fixing these things took out the hot water. Juan was perplexed about the stove and dryer. The apartment owners' repairman finally came and my friend joined him to solve the electrical mystery. Somehow half of the 220 went out taking lots of stuff with it. Nothing was damaged permanently! I'm not a tree hugger or anything but I was ready to kiss some humming appliances. We even found the source of the terrible smell that about drove us out of apartment. I thought we had fried a mouse when the appliances all went out but it turned out to be a drip in the back of the defrosted freeze.

The staff at Alliance Academy as well as a national committee had worked for over a year on this huge conference. From the lovely welcome reception at the Sheraton Hotel for international educators from across Latin America to the last plenary in Spanish for Ecuadorian educators, the conference was a smashing success. About 300 came to the English portion where the Association of Christian Schools International brought in a wonderful group of conference speakers. Even during the English portion some sessions were included in Spanish for those who are not totally comfortable in English. On Saturday the entire conference switched to Spanish for Ecuadorian educators. About 460 showed up for a day of special speakers and seminars. My role in the flurry of activities was as head of the facilities committee. My committee put up signs so people could find their way around, set up the speakers lounge and central office, made sure each room was in good order, speakers had all they needed, made sure coffee pots weren't flipping circuits :) and I also was available to help at the ACSI materials table and registration desk.


At the last plenary Stuart Salazar, the ACSI Latin America director, announced that I would be the ACSI rep for Ecuador next year. I've told AAI that I will teach half time and then the rest of the time I'll work with ACSI. For those of you who don't know, that is what I did in Venezuela. It is so good to be getting back into this ministry. I organized the first conference Stuart came to as a rookie director twenty years ago so it was like a trip down memory lane for us to work together on this conference. There is much to be done in Ecuador for Christian schools. I've been told there may be as many 500 Christian schools. Looks like there will be enough to keep me busy!


One of the perks of living in Ecuador are the flowers. A family from school who has a flower farm donated hundreds of beautiful roses to decorate the conference. I buy roses every week from a little lady who sells on the corner near my house. They run about 5 for a dollar. They are long stemmed and last for days. This week I have orange in the living room and white in my bedroom. Last week it was yellow... I buy them as much for the little lady and her daughter as for myself. They supports themselves standing on the corner all day helping car get in and out of parking places for pennies, she crochets and knits as she waits and some days sells roses. You can only buy so many scarves...I think this week I'll buy a doily she made instead. This Christmas since I couldn't send a Samaritan's Purse shoe box, I had the fun of making a box for her little girl. Wow! a person could fall in love with a place like this. Especially when the refrigerator is humming a happy tune.

Off to work

Would you like to walk to work with me this morning? As I step
out the front door, I am met by the sound of traffic, the chirp
of birds and the beauty of the flowers that drape over our chain
link fence. Workmen are stirring across the street as they start
their day making a new medical building. The electric door
clanks behind me and I greet the watchman who usually stands
on the corner.

I cross the street and the keys that hang around my neck clank like a little lost sheep. (If you hang your keys around your neck you don't lock yourself out of any place, but you sure can't sneak up on anybody.) I cast a quick look up at the Volcano Pichincha. The sky has been gorgeous behind her for the last few days and the weather balmy. One of my many keys gets me onto the school property. To the left is the soccer field and to the right is a small Bible Institute that is also a Quichua Church on Sunday. I open another gate and cross to the school entrance.

Easy commute! I greet the Quichua man setting out his wares for the day, wish the school guard a good day and head off to my office. Hope you have a good day too.