Thursday, February 4, 2010

Well, it's been awhile since I updated. I guess it's been a challenging time for me, for a number of reasons. I don't plan to inflict all the details on anybody who is still reading this blog. Suffice it to say that homesickness featured around Christmas time, plus the seemingly endless frustrations in trying to do what I do here, and in trying to do almost anything sometimes. Lineups, delays, patients not following directions, the many trips it has taken me to simply renew my passport and then transfer the visa to the new passport. So far that little project has meant 10 trips, 4 to the Canadian consulate, and 6 to the Ecuadorian gov't. department to do the visa. And it's not done yet. And all is not happiness and joy in the 2 churches that I'm involved with and that is hard to see. And then on top of it all. it's been SO HOT!!!!

So after a particularly bad week, at the beginning of January I seized the chance of an empty house to go to the beach to stay for a couple of days, to have a break from all that frustrates and regroup a bit. It was a wonderful few days, a time to listen to the quiet - nothing to hear but birds and breaking waves, a time to breathe clean air, and do nothing but sit and gaze at the Pacific ocean or walk along beside it. It was also a time to be able to pray in that quietness, and do some listening to God. So it was a very body- and soul-restoring time, and I came back to the city with a few ideas as to how to do things a little differently to reduce the demands a little. It has been dawning on me slowly that I am only one person, and can't sustain the way I've been working, with the patients that I now have.

So it's now the beginning of February, and I have stuck to my new resolutions fairly well, which has reduced the burden a bit. The frustrations of trying to accomplish things are still alive and well. I have just come home having experienced 2 huge ones. And these are things that are almost incomprehensible to the average Canadian. Again, I'll spare you the details but if any of this happened in Canada the uproar and complaints would be heard for miles around. Here, you just have to fight the urge to burst into tears and throw yourself to the floor in a tantrum, and smile as sweetly as you can and say, "Thanks, I'll come back." All the while knowing that coming back the next time involves yet another long, noisy and desperately hot trip by public transit!!

But, of course, it's not all negatives. Last week, I was able to be at the high school graduation ceremony of 6 of our Bastion kids who have made it all the way though the education system to graduate and go on to university. These kids are from the very first class ever in our little Hope of Bastion school, and have overcome many difficulties to get to where they have. The odds are against so many of these Bastion kids: lack of money for uniforms and books, lack of parental support, lack of structure and discipline in the home, the wish to go and get a job to have some pocket money. Pregnancy is another huge issue, many of these kids go off to live with each other, with parental consent, at age 15, 16, 17, and of course, inevitably get pregnant. And that's the end of their education!
So I felt very proud of our kids as I watched them get their diplomas last week. It was an enormous accomplishment.

And now school is out and camp season is upon us. The first of 4 weeks starts on Monday. As always, it seems to have arrived much faster than we somehow expected, and we wonder if we're ready. Last weekend we took about 30 of those who will be leaders and counsellors in the coming weeks to camp for a part work weekend, and part training time. Everybody worked very hard on Saturday morning, getting the place ready - cleaning cabins, windows, mattresses, shifting piles of construction leftovers, painting.... Lots got done. And then there were sessions by a great guy from Quito, teaching some leadership skills. It seemed a very young group, but some of the older ones who were not able to be there for the weekend will be at camp.
So ready or not, it all gets underway on Monday. The first 2 weeks will be youth camps, then there's a 2 week break, followed by 2 weeks for children. We have groups of North Americans coming to be a part 3 of those weeks. And at the same time other groups will be arriving via Quito to go to Onzole to work on projects there. And we look forward to seeing how God will overcome the problems, and work wonders in both places.

And.....I am looking forward to having a couple of my own family members arrive to visit, my niece comes next week for 10 days, and then in March my sister is coming back for a second visit, and she'll be here for a month. And I'm SO looking forward to these visits.

So, please pray for us in these weeks ahead. And I will write about them.