I promise I'm not crazy! At least, I don't think I am...
As the blog title implies, I'm currently going through a rather drastic transition in career choice - from working as research chemist (though I'm trained as a biologist) with the Army Corps of Engineers to a missionary to Ecuador. And so you ask,
"So, you're just going to Ecuador short term and then coming back to your comfortable job with the
government, right?"
The answer: not exactly. I'm in the planning/fund raising stage of what is set to be a two year mission to Ecuador. And so you say,
"What?! In this economy, you're giving up a secure, career position with the federal government to go to a
developing country as a missionary? A position which you have to PAY to take?!"
The answer, again: not exactly. I may have the option the take these two years as a leave of absence and come back and pick up where I left off, but at this point I have no idea where I'll find myself in two years. Besides, I'm not so sure I like the idea of leaving the mission field and then just "picking up where I left off." I can't really wrap my head around that. Somehow, it doesn't make sense. And also, I wouldn't say that I have to pay to go, but I do have a lot of support raising to do (any of you who have experience with this, I could use some pointers...).
Why? And why Ecuador?
The short answer to why I'm going: I feel a strong, clear calling from God to go and serve. I decided ten years ago that I wanted to do missions work as part of my career - medical missions, to be exact. But God had other plans for me at that time, and I followed the paths that he opened up in front of me, and here I find myself, ten years later, staring missions work in the face once again. The difference this time though is that God put me here. Note that I said earlier that ten years ago I wanted to do missions work. This time God wants me to do missions work, and I can't even begin to express just how amazing and exciting it is to know God is calling you to something big!
Why Ecuador? That's where God is leading me. Besides, have you been there or seen pictures? No? Well, you're in luck! I have been there, AND I have pictures! It's an amazingly beautiful country, very diverse, full of beautiful people, beautiful beaches
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| Bahía de Caráquez |
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| Cuyabeno |
exotic wildlife
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| Frog (obviously, but I don't know the species) |
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| Birds (again, I don't know what kind) |
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| Alpaca |
artisan markets
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| Otavalo |
breathtaking landscapes
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| Cotopaxi |
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| Baños |
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| On the way to Quilotoa |
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| Quilotoa |
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| Another view of the crater of Quilotoa |
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| View of Quito from el teleferico |
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| Night view of Quito from El Panecillo |
the middle of the world (equator)
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| Mitad del Mundo |
and, of course the occasional tree-hanging snake, pirhana, ant the size of your thumb, poisonous frog, tarantula, and spider the size of your hand. C'mon, it wouldn't be an adventure without those...
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| Ojo de Gato |
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| Piraña |
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Conga ant
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| Tarantula skin |
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| Spider the size of my hand (look to the left of the hole) |
Yes, I promise this IS actually the short version...So what will I be doing there?
I was fortunate to have a conversation with Brent Foulke of Stadia at the National Missionary Convention in November of last year about my interest in Ecuador, and he filled me in a new collaborative project that Stadia was starting with Compassion International and Camino de Santidad.
A bit of background on these three organizations:
Stadia (www.stadia.cc) specializes "in helping churches start healthy, successful new churches." They have helped to start over 100 new churches in th last decade and have over a 90% success rate. Planting churches. Changing lives.
Compassion International (www.compassion.com) focuses on "releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name." Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 26 countries.
Camino de Santidad is a church planting movement in Manta, Ecuador, led by Pedro and Rosita del Hierro. This movement has resulted in 59 new churches with 25,000 people attending. Their vision is to plant 100 churches.
The collaboration (pulled from Stadia's website):
This year, Stadia is bringing together people and churches with Compassion International to open four churches in villages near the city of Manta, Ecuador. These villages have approximately 5,000 people each. But NO churches of any kind. Several lack wells to provide drinking water; they all lack schools and health care. The average wage is about $30 per month.
Our Stadia partners will be teaming up with Camino de Santidad to begin a church, drill a well, and provide education and health care for the families in these villages. They will also partner with Compassion International to sponsor children and also to sponsor a Child Survival Program that helps babies make it to the age when they can be sponsored.
For a more in depth read of the collaboration (which I highly recommend), check out the recently posted update from a follow-up trip taken by two of Stadia's leaders to Manta in January: http://www.stadia.cc/pdfs/Ecuador_Trip_Report_Jan2011_Jones%20Foulke.pdf
Where do I fit in? I won't have one specific job; rather, I'll fill a number of positions as I'm needed to. First and foremost, I'll be in charge of coordinating and organizing short-term trips that Stadia churches will be taking to Manta to aid in the planting effort and the start-up of the new Compassion Child Survival and Sponsorship programs at each of the four new sites. I'll also serve as a liaison between Stadia and Compassion Ecuador, will work with Compassion to gather histories and create files for the ~1000 children who will be starting in the Compassion Child Sponsorship and Child Survival programs at the four new sites, and will likely serve with Compassion on an as-needed basis as a translator/facilitator for visiting groups on Compassion-sponsored trips.
I am so excited about this new opportunity that God has put in front of me! Will you prayerfully join with me on this journey?
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