Happy Thanksgiving to all in the States! I hope you feel very blessed and enjoy your turkey today and the rest of this week! :) I am very thankful for a family here that has invited us over for an American Thanksgiving dinner. It should be fun!
Continuing from where I left off in my last blog, I finally felt a lot better last week and was able to go back to my normal routine of working and classes. I was VERY happy about that, and soo excited to see the kids again, whom I had missed so stinkin much. Last week and this week so far have been incredibly cold and rainy here in Quito. None of the buildings have heaters, so, unlike in the States, it is almost impossible to escape the feeling of freezing alive (I'm not entirely exaggerating!). In the evenings after work and classes, the other girls and I would huddle in our kitchen, wrapped in alpaca blankets, and sit around the oven while we took turns cooking things just so we could have the heat. Who would have ever thought it'd get this cold on the equator? I knew I'd be 10,000 feet high, but I still didn't expect it.
Actually, this cold is really unusual for Quito, and all the Ecuadorians have been making comments about it too. The children at the orphanage have really been affected by the cold and rain because they aren't allowed to play outside unless it's a decent temperature. Being kept inside is a huge deal for them because they typically spend about half their days outdoors. Their involuntary confinement resulted in everyone being grouchy, and the toddlers were biting and pulling each other's hair almost incessantly. Thankfully, the clouds parted for a short period of time Monday morning and we were able to take the kids on a walk. It didn't last long though, and by the afternoon it was pouring once again. Last night we went to Bryan's apartment and the guard at the gate was wearing a beanie, scarf around his face, several jackets, gloves, and bubble-wrap around his shoes, and I still felt really sorry for him. Needless to say, I hope the weather warms up soon! I'm such a Californian when it comes to being cold. :-P
This past Saturday, the 20th, Matt took our group out to El Refugio for a prayer retreat. El Refugio is a retreat center/camp that Youth World runs outside the city. It was nice to get out of the city for a bit again and be surrounded by the beauty and quietness of nature. The director of El Refugio, Paul, guided us in prayer and meditation throughout the morning, leading us through Jesus' parable of the Lost Coin and other passages. In the afternoon we were on our own to meet with God. We began our time in a sweet, “Swiss Family Robinson” style tree house in the mountains, and then were free to roam about where we pleased. Despite the intense cold, and mucho rain in the afternoon, I was happy with how the day turned out. I took the time to talk with God about my future (immediate and long-term) and to pray for the orphans and for a lot of you guys. It was also a time to think about what permanent changes I want in my life as a result of this experience in Ecuador. Though I didn't go into the prayer retreat starved for a time of solitude like many of peers (since I had gotten plenty of that while I was sick), I still enjoyed the time immensely. Regularly planned prayer retreats are something that are strongly encouraged to be a life habit here, and that is one of the MANY pieces of wisdom I plan on keeping with me for the rest of my life.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, no matter where you spend it this year. :) I have been so blessed and am so thankful to God for each one of you. Whether you supported me through prayer or financial giving to enable me to come to Ecuador in the first place (almost three months ago), or if you have prayed for me every day, or even just once, since I've been down here – this experience would not have been the same without you, so Thanks! As you eat until you burst today, and as the Christmas shopping season officially begins, I pray that you will take the time to think about the beautiful people of Ecuador who hunger both physically and spiritually this Holiday season. And if you take the time to lift up a sincere prayer to God for them, I trust Him that their lives will be blessed. :)
I love you all so dearly!
With overwhelming thankfulness,
Jenni
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thoughts on Being Sick
It's been over two weeks since I wrote my last blog. I apologize! I worked on one for several days last week, but ended up deciding not to put it online. It was titled "Faithfulness" and was my effort to summarize a lot of things that I have been processing through and learning here. Hahaha. I realized I still need to do a LOT more processing before I can put any of it into adequate words. I saved the draft though, so hopefully once I'm back in the States I'll be able to finish it.
The week before last was pretty uneventful as far as "doing" goes. I was still sick and stuck in bed a lot. I wasn't able to work at the orphanage and missed several classes, which was really hard. On Wednesday, the 11th, I had been sick for a week and a half, and had already tried taking over-the-counter meds without any results, so Bryan decided I needed to visit the nearby clinic. We went the next day and a doctor prescribed me two different types of meds. The appointment and the pills combined only cost me 20 bucks! Throughout the rest of the week I didn't feel much better, but once I finished the prescription last week I started to feel like I was on the mend. After two and a half weeks of being sick, I have finally gotten most of my health back.
Those weeks of being sick were a trying time for me, as I had to stay home alone quite a bit and felt like junk. A combination of feeling horrible and not being allowed to do anything made me an emotional and homesick wreck. However, I continually asked God throughout the days to not let them go to waste. I really believe that He did put them to good use, and I am so thankful for that. When I wasn't sleeping, I read, journaled, prayed, and cleaned the apartment a lot. I spent a lot of time thinking about, and processing through, what I had learned in my classes so far (thus the attempt at writing a blog last week). In my Spiritual Formation class, we recently had a discussion about “being vs. doing,” understanding what defines our lives as Christ-followers, and how to find that balance. What a gracious, timely gift from God, that He would give me that information right before I would need it the most. When I wanted to be “doing things” the most for God, He took my hand, stopping me from running ahead, and said, “Hold on, child.” He needed me to be completely still before He could teach me the particular things He had in mind.
Out of the two and a half months that I have been in Ecuador, my heart was transformed the most during those weeks of loneliness and “unproductiveness.” God called me to examine my heart and dig to a deeper level than ever before. It has been incredible to see Him move and speak to areas of my life that I didn't even know He wanted/needed to speak to. My soul can now rejoice in that time of sickness because I have seen what God has done in my weakness. In retrospect am reminded of what Paul said in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'... That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God is always gracious and loving, and it is so wonderful to know that He will never allow time to be wasted, as long as it is time given to Him. :)
Thank you to all for your love and support. As I've said before, your prayers mean the world to me, and especially now in these last few weeks of my trip. Know that I am praying for you too! Chao!
*Currently in love with the song “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” by Chris Tomlin.*
The week before last was pretty uneventful as far as "doing" goes. I was still sick and stuck in bed a lot. I wasn't able to work at the orphanage and missed several classes, which was really hard. On Wednesday, the 11th, I had been sick for a week and a half, and had already tried taking over-the-counter meds without any results, so Bryan decided I needed to visit the nearby clinic. We went the next day and a doctor prescribed me two different types of meds. The appointment and the pills combined only cost me 20 bucks! Throughout the rest of the week I didn't feel much better, but once I finished the prescription last week I started to feel like I was on the mend. After two and a half weeks of being sick, I have finally gotten most of my health back.
Those weeks of being sick were a trying time for me, as I had to stay home alone quite a bit and felt like junk. A combination of feeling horrible and not being allowed to do anything made me an emotional and homesick wreck. However, I continually asked God throughout the days to not let them go to waste. I really believe that He did put them to good use, and I am so thankful for that. When I wasn't sleeping, I read, journaled, prayed, and cleaned the apartment a lot. I spent a lot of time thinking about, and processing through, what I had learned in my classes so far (thus the attempt at writing a blog last week). In my Spiritual Formation class, we recently had a discussion about “being vs. doing,” understanding what defines our lives as Christ-followers, and how to find that balance. What a gracious, timely gift from God, that He would give me that information right before I would need it the most. When I wanted to be “doing things” the most for God, He took my hand, stopping me from running ahead, and said, “Hold on, child.” He needed me to be completely still before He could teach me the particular things He had in mind.
Out of the two and a half months that I have been in Ecuador, my heart was transformed the most during those weeks of loneliness and “unproductiveness.” God called me to examine my heart and dig to a deeper level than ever before. It has been incredible to see Him move and speak to areas of my life that I didn't even know He wanted/needed to speak to. My soul can now rejoice in that time of sickness because I have seen what God has done in my weakness. In retrospect am reminded of what Paul said in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'... That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God is always gracious and loving, and it is so wonderful to know that He will never allow time to be wasted, as long as it is time given to Him. :)
Thank you to all for your love and support. As I've said before, your prayers mean the world to me, and especially now in these last few weeks of my trip. Know that I am praying for you too! Chao!
*Currently in love with the song “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” by Chris Tomlin.*
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Beach, Class, Shrimp, and Sickness
Dearest friends and family,
Last I wrote you I was about to head to the Ecuadorian coast for the Day of the Dead holiday weekend. After getting an hour and a half of sleep Friday night, the bus picked us up at our apartment (which was sweet) at 5:15 Saturday morning. It was a long, but gorgeous, drive to the beach, and though a lot of people slept most of the way, I couldn't because I didn't want to miss any of the scenery! ;) Ecuador is a very geographically-diverse country, with its Andes mountains, Amazon jungle, and Pacific coastline, and I feel blessed that I had the chance to witness much of its beauty during our drive. I know I will never be able to eat a banana or coconut again without the image of miles upon miles of tightly packed palm trees growing bananas and coconuts resurfacing in my mind.
My favorite part of the drive, however, was each small town and isolated house we passed by and the people that stopped to watch us. There is never a lack of people outside in Ecuadorian communities, whether it's the kids playing soccer barefoot in the dirt, the women with babies strapped to their backs hanging colorful laundry on clotheslines, or the men sitting on curbs and porches talking. The dark brown face of the indigenous Ecuadorian is indeed beautiful to behold.
After crossing a third of the country, (and crossing into the Northern Hemisphere,) we arrived at the beach around 12:30. The beach we went to, Same, is a small, locals-only type beach so it was pretty much completely deserted except for us. Our group included all of the short-termers and the Youth World staff that oversee us (Bryan, Christy, and the Jenson family), as well as Brad Miller, the Director of Youth World, his family, and a group of high schoolers they brought. This specific beach has been adopted by Youth World as their favorite holiday/spiritual retreat spot, and many of the families have been going there for years. I can totally see why, because it is an amazingly beautiful and peaceful place (with warm water and palm trees with coconuts on them). :) One of the key things that struck me was how wonderful it was to breath there. The fresh, sea-level air was such a relief from the severely polluted, high-altitude air of Quito. The still quietness was also a relief from the constant noise of urban city life.
During our stay at the beach we shared a few oceanfront wooden huts and one more modern condo-style room for 15 bucks a night. We held our Worldview class in the newer room. (Don't forget I wasn't on vacation!) The class was awesome. Spencer MacCuish is a professor at Eternity Bible College, a school he started with Francis Chan and a few other guys in Simi Valley. He took the week off teaching there to fly down to Ecuador to teach us our intensive class. He is also good friends with Matt, my director. I had thought the class was going to be about world religions, but the first day he told us that it would actually be about worldviews. Spencer was an incredibly wise and knowledgeable prof, and I can honestly say that my life will never be the same because I took his class. We began by learning about the American worldview, and then learning how, as American Christians, we have adopted much of that worldview into our faith without realizing it. Then we studied what a purely Christian worldview would look like, and how we can apply that to ALL aspects of our lives. Spencer gave us tools for understanding any culture/person's worldview, and how to relate the Gospel story to them in a way they can understand. That is seven days, six hours a day, in a nutshell. ;) I wrote abundant notes, so I cannot wait to share them with you in person once I am home. Books read include: Living at the Crossroads by Michael W. Goheen and Craig G. Bartholomew, and Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy.
The one bummer of the whole trip for me was that I got incredibly sick Monday night. We're not sure exactly what happened, but I can't remember ever being that sick before. It was most likely food poisoning, since it was so severe but only lasted til Wednesday. Every day we ate at a little shrimp and fish place, literally on the sand, that was soo good, but I may have ate something that wasn't cooked right. It's hard to tell. Needless to say, I've never thrown up more in my life, and I spent all day Tuesday in bed. At least I could see and hear the ocean from there!
Wednesday morning we packed up and left the beach by 11:00. I was thankful that I was feeling better since the drive was so long. We were all sad to leave and wished we had had more time to swim and lay out. But "it is what it is" (as Spencer has a habit of saying quite a bit). If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have said it was a great time of being rejuvenated and refreshed, but I'm sure everyone else would still say that. :)
Since being back in Quito we finished our class with Spencer. Last night we threw him a thank you/goodbye party, and he left for California this morning. It's crazy how quick he entered our lives, made an impact, and then left, but yet it was still such a profound impact. I am so thankful to God for him and the ministry he has to everyone he comes into contact with. We are definitely going to miss him here.
Though I healed from whatever bug I got at the beach, it weakened my immune system so that by Wednesday night I was feeling a cold coming on. (I know, sad day right? I hardly ever get sick in the States! Who do these Ecuadorian germs think they are?) The past couple days I've only been able to attend class and sleep the rest of the time, since my cold has gotten pretty bad. If you all could pray for my health, I would greatly appreciate it. :) If I'm not better by Monday I'll have to see a doctor.
If I AM better by Monday, then everything will go back to the usual, like it was before the beach. I'll go back to work at the orphanage, and Spanish, Spiritual Formation, and History classes resume. I loved the change we had for a week, but I'm excited to get back to the norm. We have three more weeks here in Quito and then it's off to the jungle! And after that, the only thing left is debrief! Can you believe it? So crazy. It's all downhill from here. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing! ;)
The last thing I want to say before going to work on my Spanish is...
Happy 50th Birthday to my wonderful Mom!! I hope you have a great day on Monday! ♥ Everyone, please make sure you give her lots of birthday hugs for me this week! Thanks! :)
I love you all! Have a great week!
With Joy,
Jenni
Last I wrote you I was about to head to the Ecuadorian coast for the Day of the Dead holiday weekend. After getting an hour and a half of sleep Friday night, the bus picked us up at our apartment (which was sweet) at 5:15 Saturday morning. It was a long, but gorgeous, drive to the beach, and though a lot of people slept most of the way, I couldn't because I didn't want to miss any of the scenery! ;) Ecuador is a very geographically-diverse country, with its Andes mountains, Amazon jungle, and Pacific coastline, and I feel blessed that I had the chance to witness much of its beauty during our drive. I know I will never be able to eat a banana or coconut again without the image of miles upon miles of tightly packed palm trees growing bananas and coconuts resurfacing in my mind.
My favorite part of the drive, however, was each small town and isolated house we passed by and the people that stopped to watch us. There is never a lack of people outside in Ecuadorian communities, whether it's the kids playing soccer barefoot in the dirt, the women with babies strapped to their backs hanging colorful laundry on clotheslines, or the men sitting on curbs and porches talking. The dark brown face of the indigenous Ecuadorian is indeed beautiful to behold.
After crossing a third of the country, (and crossing into the Northern Hemisphere,) we arrived at the beach around 12:30. The beach we went to, Same, is a small, locals-only type beach so it was pretty much completely deserted except for us. Our group included all of the short-termers and the Youth World staff that oversee us (Bryan, Christy, and the Jenson family), as well as Brad Miller, the Director of Youth World, his family, and a group of high schoolers they brought. This specific beach has been adopted by Youth World as their favorite holiday/spiritual retreat spot, and many of the families have been going there for years. I can totally see why, because it is an amazingly beautiful and peaceful place (with warm water and palm trees with coconuts on them). :) One of the key things that struck me was how wonderful it was to breath there. The fresh, sea-level air was such a relief from the severely polluted, high-altitude air of Quito. The still quietness was also a relief from the constant noise of urban city life.
During our stay at the beach we shared a few oceanfront wooden huts and one more modern condo-style room for 15 bucks a night. We held our Worldview class in the newer room. (Don't forget I wasn't on vacation!) The class was awesome. Spencer MacCuish is a professor at Eternity Bible College, a school he started with Francis Chan and a few other guys in Simi Valley. He took the week off teaching there to fly down to Ecuador to teach us our intensive class. He is also good friends with Matt, my director. I had thought the class was going to be about world religions, but the first day he told us that it would actually be about worldviews. Spencer was an incredibly wise and knowledgeable prof, and I can honestly say that my life will never be the same because I took his class. We began by learning about the American worldview, and then learning how, as American Christians, we have adopted much of that worldview into our faith without realizing it. Then we studied what a purely Christian worldview would look like, and how we can apply that to ALL aspects of our lives. Spencer gave us tools for understanding any culture/person's worldview, and how to relate the Gospel story to them in a way they can understand. That is seven days, six hours a day, in a nutshell. ;) I wrote abundant notes, so I cannot wait to share them with you in person once I am home. Books read include: Living at the Crossroads by Michael W. Goheen and Craig G. Bartholomew, and Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy.
The one bummer of the whole trip for me was that I got incredibly sick Monday night. We're not sure exactly what happened, but I can't remember ever being that sick before. It was most likely food poisoning, since it was so severe but only lasted til Wednesday. Every day we ate at a little shrimp and fish place, literally on the sand, that was soo good, but I may have ate something that wasn't cooked right. It's hard to tell. Needless to say, I've never thrown up more in my life, and I spent all day Tuesday in bed. At least I could see and hear the ocean from there!
Wednesday morning we packed up and left the beach by 11:00. I was thankful that I was feeling better since the drive was so long. We were all sad to leave and wished we had had more time to swim and lay out. But "it is what it is" (as Spencer has a habit of saying quite a bit). If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have said it was a great time of being rejuvenated and refreshed, but I'm sure everyone else would still say that. :)
Since being back in Quito we finished our class with Spencer. Last night we threw him a thank you/goodbye party, and he left for California this morning. It's crazy how quick he entered our lives, made an impact, and then left, but yet it was still such a profound impact. I am so thankful to God for him and the ministry he has to everyone he comes into contact with. We are definitely going to miss him here.
Though I healed from whatever bug I got at the beach, it weakened my immune system so that by Wednesday night I was feeling a cold coming on. (I know, sad day right? I hardly ever get sick in the States! Who do these Ecuadorian germs think they are?) The past couple days I've only been able to attend class and sleep the rest of the time, since my cold has gotten pretty bad. If you all could pray for my health, I would greatly appreciate it. :) If I'm not better by Monday I'll have to see a doctor.
If I AM better by Monday, then everything will go back to the usual, like it was before the beach. I'll go back to work at the orphanage, and Spanish, Spiritual Formation, and History classes resume. I loved the change we had for a week, but I'm excited to get back to the norm. We have three more weeks here in Quito and then it's off to the jungle! And after that, the only thing left is debrief! Can you believe it? So crazy. It's all downhill from here. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing! ;)
The last thing I want to say before going to work on my Spanish is...
Happy 50th Birthday to my wonderful Mom!! I hope you have a great day on Monday! ♥ Everyone, please make sure you give her lots of birthday hugs for me this week! Thanks! :)
I love you all! Have a great week!
With Joy,
Jenni
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