September 2011 to January 2012

I've got a LOT to catch up on... here's what's bee going on for the past five months or so :)

Chinese Jungle Trips

 At the beginning of November we went to a jungle town, Guarumales, 3 1/2 hours from Cuenca because a Chinese company has been contracted to build a dam there.  Technically it is a government camp and it is sort of like a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.  You have to have permission to get past the army guards at multiple check points and it's kind of crazy.  Anyway, a brother in our group got permission for us to enter the camp as "visitors" and stay the night.  There are about 100 Chinese people there working as laborers and as engineers.  We preached in our jeans (my favorite), since we were only supposed to be there as visitors.  

At one point I could have sworn I was living a yearbook experience because we were in this tiny dorm room with two bunk beds.  There were eight Chinese guys sitting respectfully reading aloud Psalm 83:18 where it says that Jehovah alone is the most high for the first time ever.  These men, like most Chinese people, had never seen a Bible before.  They were extremely excited to receive literature in Chinese since they pretty much have no communication with the outside world.  They have no telephones or internet!  I offered a Bible at the end and one man said he would just read the magazines, but another said, "I'll take it!" Then, after leaving, another man followed us outside and asked if we had another copy of the Bible for him!  It was a super cool experience.

 Window to window preaching

 Office to office preaching

The dam tour (no pun intended)

  Over new years we went to several other towns.  Since not everyone in our group was able to come, I was forced to speak more than normal and with a quick prayer the words came.  It was amazing because normally Chinese people are not very receptive to Bible truths, but every single person accepted literature and conversed with us.  We had two awesome experiences.  One couple is studying the Bible over the phone with the Chinese publisher we have in Cuenca.  Since we don’t get to visit them frequently, they were really excited to get the literature.  I offered them the new magazines and they saw that I had other older magazines and asked me for them.  I left 15 magazines and 3 books with them and when we returned later, they were hunched over the magazines reading.  Super cool.  Another couple was happy to see us.  They too wanted all the literature they could get.  Both of them raved that the literature has very good information and that they learn a lot by reading them.  They said that they believe that we really want to help people and that we have genuine love.  To hear those words come out of a Chinese person’s mouth is a miracle in itself!  We had our first telephone study yesterday!

 YuDi... my Chinese teacher :)

 15 magazines and 3 books later...

All work and no play... don't think so! ;)

Chinese Updates

My Chinese is actually improving!  It is NO WHERE near where I want it to be, but I'm being patient.  I understand much more now, so I really can't complain.  It makes it slightly difficult because I have a ton of studies in Spanish, so I have to schedule aside time to work on my Chinese.  I've been making it my goal to go visit the Chinese girls that attend meetings to help them prepare comments in Spanish for the oral review.  This is the fourth month that I've done it.  The first few months were.. rough... but, recently has gone pretty smoothly :)  I have them read the scriptures in Chinese, the question, the information that I print for them, and then ask them to give me a brief answer in their own words.  I am actually able to then translate their answers more or less to Spanish for them and we practice.  Both of the girls have been giving their answers too!  YEAH!  We also have a new Chinese man attending meetings.  Damaris and Amanda translate Sunday Spanish meetings for him because he can't attend Saturday night Chinese Watchtower.  Our little group is growing :)  Every month we are really trying to travel to Loja to preach.  It's a really long day that includes nine hours on the bus on curvy mountain roads.  Thankfully, Jehovah continues to bless our efforts there and we have started many studies!

Races & Olympians

As many of you may know, I like to play sports and run.  So, a few months ago Damaris and I decided to run a 10K here in Cuenca for the second year in a row.  We ran the same race when I first arrived in Cuenca last year.  Anyway, we went to go get out race packets the day before the race and the Japanese girl that was visiting us, Yuka, wanted to take our picture with our race packets.  As soon as she took the pic, a guy came up to us and asked to take our pic with his cell phone.  I immediately responded, "NO!"  I didn't want a random guy taking pictures of me!  Then, Marcelo whispered, "That's Jefferson Perez."  A name that I quickly recognized because the sports stadium here in Cuenca is named after him!  He is Ecuador's claim to an Olympic gold and a world champion at... no other than... fast walking!  Haha.  Yes, our stadium is named after a fast walker.  Anyway, I decided to let him take the pic and then took a pic with him too :)

Visitors & Hospital Trips

We have been super busy with visitors.  In September Laura came to visit.  We had a great time showing her our stomping grounds and we even got to go to the beach the last day and a half she was here.  She ended up going home with an extra Ecuadorian souvenir - a cast.  Yep.  After a BEAUTIFUL day on the deserted beach, we went to look for food in the town and one of the joys of Ecuadorian living, uneven sidewalks, took its toll.  After buying pain meds, a foot wrap, and a block of ice, we decided to eat dinner and wait until the morning to see if her foot still hurt.  It did.  With full intentions of heading straight to a hospital in the nearest big city, Damaris and I went for one last swim in the ocean... bad idea.  Something cut or bit Damaris and she bled quite a lot and needed to go to the hospital as well.  I just kept praying not to get hurt because we would have been a sorry bunch.  Haha.  Anyway, Laura's foot was fractured, casted, and we got her crutches for her flight back to the states the next morning.  Poor thing.  Damaris' foot was cleaned, she was put on an IV for antibiotics and we thought she was healed.... unfortunately, a week later, the infection returned with a vengeance.  Her foot was red and swollen with infection.  CRAZY!  She had to go back to the doctor, get another IV of antibiotics, and stay at home with her foot elevated for three days.  Now, I am happy to say, she is healed :)

From there, we had a long line of visitors from within the country...  Ecuadorians, Japanese, Americans...
In December I had Sara for almost the entire month and Paula, Pedro & Alma from Oklahoma were here for a week.  We had a ton of fun together :)  There are a million pictures on my webshots.

Informal Witnessing
Laura and I traveled on the city tour bus one day to get to see the city.  A young girl asked me to take her picture.  She was from Oregon and was studying abroad.  Of course, she asked me why I was in Cuenca and I explained that I was here preaching.  Another woman, Robin, was behind us and heard me talking and came up and introduced herself.  It turns out that she and her husband were Witnesses from Texas visiting Cuenca to see if they thought they could retire here.  We ended up spending every day of the rest of their trip together and I got to show them around Cuenca.  It's amazing how big and yet how small the brotherhood is.  It was as if we'd known each other for years.  Such fun!

One Year Anniversary!

Okay, so I've officially been in Cuenca for over a year!  It has been a super crazy and unforgettable year, but VERY rewarding :)  I often wonder what I did to deserve such an awesome, interesting and happy life. Here is a top ten list of amusing stories that have happened the past few months and a top ten of awesome reasons I'm here.  Enjoy :)

YOU MIGHT BE IN ECUADOR IF....

1.  The saying "15 days" makes your realize you will NEVER get whatever is attached to it. - Our apartment is falling apart.  Seriously, the walls are crumbling and there are drips of water on my wall coming through the "Humidity Blocking" paint my sister bought to paint my walls to save my life (maybe that's a little dramatic... but it was her goal).  Of course, I have been calling my landlord since July to get it fixed and he always tells me that they'll do the work in 15 days.  They don't say two weeks, it's 15 days... let me just tell you 15 days is a non-existent time period that never comes.

2.  You use laundry clips to launch your upstairs neighbor's underwear up to their patio because it magically appeared in your patio... and you want your clip back!

3.  You fight your toilet to flush... hourly

4.  Sewage backs up on your patio because your neighbor is using their washing machine.

5.  You get an hour lecture from a doctor that you're paying about the archaeological evidence that he doesn't believe exists to prove Christ's existence.

6.  "Irregularites" in the sidewalk cause broken bones - (See Visitors section above with Laura's story)

7.  Garbage is put outside on neck level trays to keep animals away and the trays are never put back up, causing near dental emergencies!!!!!!!!!

8.  Pedestrians have no rights... unless you consider being hit a right... (Poor Steph!)

9.  You almost wipe out daily on the bus… or nearly lose clothing!

10.  Your have to wear scarves to cover the holes that magically appear in every article of clothing you own and have to re-sole every pair of shoes you own.

YOU MIGHT BE IN ECUADOR IF....

1.  People love the Bible and want you to study with them every day!  No joke.

2.  Anyone would bend over backward to help you.

3.  You can travel around the country doing what you love - teaching the Bible.

4.  Your daily life is a yearbook experience.

5.  You find new reasons to be thankful every day because you see Jehovah's hand caring for you in all your activities.

6.  You never go a day without a crazy story to tell.

7.  You walk out of the market with four giant bags of fruits and veggies for under $20.

8.  There is a $1 workout dance class that knocks your socks off :)

9.  You can get two weeks of laundry picked up, washed, dried, folded, and returned in the same day for a whopping $6!

10.  You can find a $1.50 happy hour!  ;)