Lessons Learned

Last Saturday, the Coe family and the Nichols family decided to host a small gringo style “cookout” for our friends down the hill in the Davis Foundation just to say “ thank you” for their help to us in a variety of ways. We also invited a few people from Alliance Academy in Quito that have expressed interest in ministry alongside the camp and orphanage here in the valley.

Now, North Americans frequently like to cookout in the early evening. You know, a nice Saturday afternoon, some good conversations, and time to just be together. We strategically invited some bi-lingual folks to help us with the conversations. So on Friday night our two families shopped for food, and carried the multiple bags back to our little enclave in the mountainside. I think we estimated 32 people total would be in attendance. Our flat concrete roof is a great spot to host a crowd like this.

Well, our kind brothers and sisters did not tell us when they accepted the invitation, because they are so gracious as to not offend us in any way, that during these months there is a really high probability of a rainstorm after about 2 PM each day. Not that we had not experienced it before, but I think we just failed to connect the dots that it may happen on a daily basis for several days in a row.

The morning started out beautifully, and Vickie and I walked into town and bought enough strawberries for dessert to feed an army for about 2 $ from the local market. As the day progressed we accomplished some tasks and then Bob Coe fired up the grill around 4:15 PM. Yep- you guessed it. Around 5:00 PM, or right around our projected arrival time for the meal, we received what we call in the southern US as a “frog-strangler” rainstorm. Let’s put it this way. I don’t know if it is something to do with the equator or the altitude but it was raining buckets, sideways buckets.

See our photos of both food prep and wall-to-wall guests in our house. Around 30 very wet Americans and Ecuadorians all under one roof. All, despite the storm, had a good time. Now, clean up was a different story as we continued to mop muddy floors until 11PM. Thankful to be exhausted from serving our friends here.

Blessings!

 

         “… the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 Matthew 20:28