What does your neighborhood look like?

One of the things that I haven’t shown you yet, but will begin to do in posts ahead, is to show you some of the pictures of our “stomping grounds” in this area. We live in Conocoto, Ecuador, which is a “suburban” town outside of Quito. Now, when you think suburb, don’t think Hoover or Dunwoody by any stretch.

 Think much, much smaller. Think older, more crooked homes; think way older, smaller cars, and think of a way more rustic aspect of life. Think sidewalks with multiple obstacles that are not like our smooth entrances to shopping and dining areas of the US. Think barking dogs, and babies carried across the back. Think steps that trip you because they aren’t the same height. Think walking by tiny dwellings that are mostly constructed of concrete block or brick. Think graffiti, lots of graffiti.

Think about old TV’s that are full of static in tiny storefront areas. Think of little ladies standing next to smoking hand-fashioned charcoal grills placed right on the sidewalk. Watch out-they’re hot! Think of 3 generations of a family sitting on tile-floored shops that are selling panty hose and corn and DVD’s all in the same tiny space. Think of at least two or three shoe shops and pelequerias (hair-cut places) and bakeries and farmacias (drug stores) all in 3 city blocks. But don’t think about our places in America, think of the rusty open doorways that are so close to the road that you can’t hear in the store when the bus goes by, and the diesel smoke that roars into the store while you stand there.

But, more that this, think about the Gospel. Think about getting to know the people that you shop with, smile at, buy from, and bump into in the aisle, and doing it all for the sake of hopefully seeing salvation fruit come one day from these beginning interactions. You know, the ones that stare at you, laugh at your language, and envy your good shoes and your nice watch. You know, kind of like what you do for the sake of the Gospel in Birmingham, or Atlanta, or New Orleans, or wherever, right? Or do you- think about it?

 “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

Matthew 3:23