Here's a quick recap of my first few days...
After writing this, I've discovered that it is much more than a "quick" recap, so if you ever get bored, just skip to "Sunday" and then look at the pictures.
Also, when I'm super excited about something, I become Mr. Detailed. So bear with my Sunday recap, as it could pass for a very poorly written John Grisham novel.
Friday: exploring the town, getting a cell phone (my number is... just kidding. Unless you want to give an arm and a leg to talk for 2 minutes), eating a wonderful meal of burritos, tacos, totopitos, and then also buying 6 apples, 6 plums, 5 mandarins, and 10 carrots for $2.80. I could live here just due to the cheapness of fruit and the mountains. Si Dios quiere...
Random birthday note: Happy Birthday Briana Dawkins! May the Lord continue to lead and guide you and grow you into an even more wonderful daughter of the King for His greatest glory...
Saturday: got up early to run, and due to the fact that we're 2 miles above sea level, I lasted 10 minutes. I also discovered a beautiful basketball court right outside mi casa (see below), and I'm SO excited at the possibilities... Mr. Johnny, John Mark, and I began to set our schedule (which we're finding is subject to change) and look at where we'll be "investigating". We had a nice meal of stew and homemade biscuits, I skyped with mi madre y mi hermano, my good friend Helen, and the newly wedded Josh Goodman, and finally headed back home (Mr. Johnny's guitar in hand).
On a quick side note, I've watched three movies since I've been here: Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Evan Almighty, and We Are Marshall. POTC3 was not good. The only reason I watched it was for "closure" in my POTC viewing experience, but there really isn't any closure at the ending! Kiera Knightley was the only good thing about the movie. Evan Almighty was ok because of the family values and Steve Carrell, but just a so-so movie overall. We Are Marshall was good in the sense that it was a very moving story, but I felt like it lacked a "defining moment" after the first five minutes. Matthew McConaughey gave a great performance, and it was a pretty good story overall (football movies are usually a plus), but it just wasn't my cup of tea. So if I had to rank them all so far, I'd say they all tie for third. Back to Ecuador...
Sunday: I woke up, went to the corner market to buy some "leche" (milk), and met Eduardo. I look forward to getting to now him better in the near future! Please keep him in prayer... after a meal of Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes, I headed over the iglesia. It was wonderful getting to know some of the members, especially "Patricio", whose father is a "periodista deportiva" (sports journalist), so I'm excited about getting to meet him sometime, for that's something I hope to do (si Dios quiere). After church, Cristian, a friend of the Maust family and the son of Edison, the guy who sold us the cell phones and a prominent member of the church, talked with me about music and asked if I played any instruments. So after discussing music for a bit, I had the privilege of playing "Open the eyes of my heart" with Cristian and his father singing. Now, a huge blessing from God, it looks as if I'll be playing the song with the church band and maybe becoming a temporary member of the band (for the summer)! Praise God!
After church, I went back to my room, threw down some food, skyped a bit at the Maust house, then went back to mi casa. I noticed some kids playing ball on the playground (see below), so I jumped at the chance to play with the locals! There was an "intense" game going on, so I had to wait until the end, but then asked if I could play ("¿Puedo jugar?"). They allowed me to, and I was "drafted" #2 overall, just after "Jonathon". I noticed that the rims were a bit short, because one was bent significantly forward (probably about 9' 4'') and the other just slightly (probably about 9' 8''), so I was pretty excited at this opportunity. My team consisted of a middle-aged man, a 30-year old woman, a mid-20's guy, myself, an Asian female Jehovah's witness (early 20's), and a 10 year old kid (plus me). I had a blast just running up and down the court (because they all LOVE to run the floor), distributing, and shooting when necessary. I found myself alone on one fast-break (towards the 9'4'' hoop) and felt it suitable to two-hand a slam dunk home. It was a very gratifying feeling, for I am presently unable to dunk on a ten foot hoop. Also, during the game, a young woman (probably around 15) from the other team told me I have "ojos bonitos"- beautiful eyes. She also asked when my free time was... so that's about when the conversation ended...
After the game (which was won, 21-12), I stuck around and dunked a couple of times on the higher hoop, much to the delight of two younger guys, (spelled like they sound) Jerman and Beckett. I had a SUPER fun time dunking for them (yes, showing off), and I must say they are both well on their way to being sick ballers. But then we started talking about different things, such as our shoes (they are proud owners of "Converse" and "Patrick" shoes) and comparing the English and Spanish versions of different words. I discovered the words for undershirt- pronounced "bee-bee-dee", shorts- pantanoletas (when I tried "pantalones cortas", they laughed very hard), and basketball shoes- zapatillas. The Lord also blessed us with a beautiful rainbow ("arco iris"). So these guys are probably my two favorite people in all of Ecuador (possibly South America or even the world) and I look forward to getting to know them more and more in the future and learning more Spanish from them (and teaching them more English). We played on the jungle gym together. THAT is how cool these guys are (no sarcasm intended- pure truth).
I went back to my room, sad to leave (well, Jerman left first, so it was ok), and prepared for the Colossians Bible Study that night. I left for the study a bit early, seeking a place to eat "cena" (dinner). Unfortunately, I have discovered that it is nearly impossible to find a place to eat dinner on a Sunday night around my house, so I settled for potato chips, an ice-cream bar, and tropical punch Gatorade. Oh yes... I ended up getting 20 minutes early to the church, and... it was locked. Mental note: don't EVER go early to anything in Ecuador. Nobody else will be there. But when we began, I had the privilege of meeting many great people. We had a "meet-and-greet" meeting, and it was a blessing to meet many great people, including the great high-school aged "Paul". More on him later... after the meeting, I headed back to my room. Oh! During these past few days, I finished the book Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. A few things I am so inspired by is how Hudson Taylor never stopped having faith in the Lord, even in the direst of circumstances. He also would ALWAYS make time for God- a co-laborer in China said that even when they were ridiculously busy (this is paraphrased), Hudson Taylor would pray from 2 AM to 4 AM, because he knew that was the most quiet time and the time he was least likely to be disturbed. Man, I'm VERY convicted at this, for I have a lot more free time, yet don't even come CLOSE to spending 2 hours in prayer every day... may You work in me to find that perfect balance, oh Lord...
Monday: this day consisted of waking up early-ish to have a quiet time and go on errands with John Mark and Mr. Johnny. We visited the University, the Pastor of another church, found some basketball nets (finally) to buy that will be soon put up on the hoops shown below, ran into a drunk guy (I can understand more or less what most people are saying, but I could not understand anything this guy said), walked around Riobamba a good bit, and went into a couple of pharmacies. Two side notes: In Ecuador, almost all stores are closed from 1-3 in the afternoon, and every lunch (these places are still open) consists of soup, an entrée of rice, veggies, and a meat, and a small dessert (plus jugo- juice). Today's dessert was, according to Mr. Johnny, three teaspoons of pineapples. John Mark got more than Mr. Johnny and me, but that measurement is no hyperbole. Seriously... I laughed when they served it (after the waiter left). Almost every lunch ranges from $1-$2.50 for everything, so that's pretty sweet. After lunch, we headed back to the house (skyped with Dad), and then went back to "el centro" (downtown) to meet with the SMAC leaders. SMAC is one of the main English learning centers where John Mark and I will be serving Monday-Wednesday mornings. After staying there for a bit, we came back to the neighborhood and spent time hanging out with Paul. His family attends the Mision Iglesia Bautista Seguidores de Jesus (the church we attend/serve in), his dad is a doctor, his brother goes to the University in Quito, and he made the Youth Ecuadorian National Team for Squash. Oh, he sings and he will soon be in an English presentation of "West Side Story" at his school next week. I practiced with him while we hung out, playing the parts of "Maria" and "Tony", among others. He will be "Chino". Upon completion of our time together, John Mark and I went back to his house, ate dinner, and now I have been writing this blog for the past 129475832946 hours while also watching the Office online.
Some other new words I've learned: mimar= to spoil, fisurar= to fracture, lobo= wolf, joya= jewelry, calidad= quality, and telecable= cable TV.
People to be praying for: Patricio, Frankie, Cristian, Edison, Luis, the Maust Family, Paul, Mirtha, Miriam, Myrian, Efrian, Luis (another one), Rachelle, Jonathon, Mitlo, Jerman, Beckett, Eduardo, Rosalita, Catalina, the Grandmother at the house I'm staying in, and the many other people whose names escape me.
If you have made it this far, you deserve a prize.
One good thing I got from "Evan Almighty": "God" tells the mother that He doesn't usually give people exactly what they pray for immediately (she prayed for their family to grow closer), but will give them the opportunity to answer their prayer. In her case, her husband was supposedly going psycho (building an ark), and she was thinking about leaving him permanently, but God revealed that this was an opportunity to grow the family closer together... so she returned. So now I pose the question to you: are there prayers you are waiting on an answer from God for that He might be presenting an opportunity to grow closer to Him by acting on it yourself? I'm not saying this is Biblical, but it certainly deserves some pondering...
A cool thing from Colossians: this is a life worthy of the Lord that pleases Him in every way (according to Paul)- "bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father..." (1:10-12). This is what Paul prays for the believers in Colosse, and this is something I request prayer for... please pray that I would honor the Lord through doing my best to please Him in these ways... I encourage you all to look at this list and strive to do the same...
In His strength alone, by His glorious grace, for His greatest glory...
Luke Sjogren
After writing this, I've discovered that it is much more than a "quick" recap, so if you ever get bored, just skip to "Sunday" and then look at the pictures.
Also, when I'm super excited about something, I become Mr. Detailed. So bear with my Sunday recap, as it could pass for a very poorly written John Grisham novel.
Friday: exploring the town, getting a cell phone (my number is... just kidding. Unless you want to give an arm and a leg to talk for 2 minutes), eating a wonderful meal of burritos, tacos, totopitos, and then also buying 6 apples, 6 plums, 5 mandarins, and 10 carrots for $2.80. I could live here just due to the cheapness of fruit and the mountains. Si Dios quiere...
Random birthday note: Happy Birthday Briana Dawkins! May the Lord continue to lead and guide you and grow you into an even more wonderful daughter of the King for His greatest glory...
Saturday: got up early to run, and due to the fact that we're 2 miles above sea level, I lasted 10 minutes. I also discovered a beautiful basketball court right outside mi casa (see below), and I'm SO excited at the possibilities... Mr. Johnny, John Mark, and I began to set our schedule (which we're finding is subject to change) and look at where we'll be "investigating". We had a nice meal of stew and homemade biscuits, I skyped with mi madre y mi hermano, my good friend Helen, and the newly wedded Josh Goodman, and finally headed back home (Mr. Johnny's guitar in hand).
On a quick side note, I've watched three movies since I've been here: Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Evan Almighty, and We Are Marshall. POTC3 was not good. The only reason I watched it was for "closure" in my POTC viewing experience, but there really isn't any closure at the ending! Kiera Knightley was the only good thing about the movie. Evan Almighty was ok because of the family values and Steve Carrell, but just a so-so movie overall. We Are Marshall was good in the sense that it was a very moving story, but I felt like it lacked a "defining moment" after the first five minutes. Matthew McConaughey gave a great performance, and it was a pretty good story overall (football movies are usually a plus), but it just wasn't my cup of tea. So if I had to rank them all so far, I'd say they all tie for third. Back to Ecuador...
Sunday: I woke up, went to the corner market to buy some "leche" (milk), and met Eduardo. I look forward to getting to now him better in the near future! Please keep him in prayer... after a meal of Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes, I headed over the iglesia. It was wonderful getting to know some of the members, especially "Patricio", whose father is a "periodista deportiva" (sports journalist), so I'm excited about getting to meet him sometime, for that's something I hope to do (si Dios quiere). After church, Cristian, a friend of the Maust family and the son of Edison, the guy who sold us the cell phones and a prominent member of the church, talked with me about music and asked if I played any instruments. So after discussing music for a bit, I had the privilege of playing "Open the eyes of my heart" with Cristian and his father singing. Now, a huge blessing from God, it looks as if I'll be playing the song with the church band and maybe becoming a temporary member of the band (for the summer)! Praise God!
After church, I went back to my room, threw down some food, skyped a bit at the Maust house, then went back to mi casa. I noticed some kids playing ball on the playground (see below), so I jumped at the chance to play with the locals! There was an "intense" game going on, so I had to wait until the end, but then asked if I could play ("¿Puedo jugar?"). They allowed me to, and I was "drafted" #2 overall, just after "Jonathon". I noticed that the rims were a bit short, because one was bent significantly forward (probably about 9' 4'') and the other just slightly (probably about 9' 8''), so I was pretty excited at this opportunity. My team consisted of a middle-aged man, a 30-year old woman, a mid-20's guy, myself, an Asian female Jehovah's witness (early 20's), and a 10 year old kid (plus me). I had a blast just running up and down the court (because they all LOVE to run the floor), distributing, and shooting when necessary. I found myself alone on one fast-break (towards the 9'4'' hoop) and felt it suitable to two-hand a slam dunk home. It was a very gratifying feeling, for I am presently unable to dunk on a ten foot hoop. Also, during the game, a young woman (probably around 15) from the other team told me I have "ojos bonitos"- beautiful eyes. She also asked when my free time was... so that's about when the conversation ended...
After the game (which was won, 21-12), I stuck around and dunked a couple of times on the higher hoop, much to the delight of two younger guys, (spelled like they sound) Jerman and Beckett. I had a SUPER fun time dunking for them (yes, showing off), and I must say they are both well on their way to being sick ballers. But then we started talking about different things, such as our shoes (they are proud owners of "Converse" and "Patrick" shoes) and comparing the English and Spanish versions of different words. I discovered the words for undershirt- pronounced "bee-bee-dee", shorts- pantanoletas (when I tried "pantalones cortas", they laughed very hard), and basketball shoes- zapatillas. The Lord also blessed us with a beautiful rainbow ("arco iris"). So these guys are probably my two favorite people in all of Ecuador (possibly South America or even the world) and I look forward to getting to know them more and more in the future and learning more Spanish from them (and teaching them more English). We played on the jungle gym together. THAT is how cool these guys are (no sarcasm intended- pure truth).
I went back to my room, sad to leave (well, Jerman left first, so it was ok), and prepared for the Colossians Bible Study that night. I left for the study a bit early, seeking a place to eat "cena" (dinner). Unfortunately, I have discovered that it is nearly impossible to find a place to eat dinner on a Sunday night around my house, so I settled for potato chips, an ice-cream bar, and tropical punch Gatorade. Oh yes... I ended up getting 20 minutes early to the church, and... it was locked. Mental note: don't EVER go early to anything in Ecuador. Nobody else will be there. But when we began, I had the privilege of meeting many great people. We had a "meet-and-greet" meeting, and it was a blessing to meet many great people, including the great high-school aged "Paul". More on him later... after the meeting, I headed back to my room. Oh! During these past few days, I finished the book Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. A few things I am so inspired by is how Hudson Taylor never stopped having faith in the Lord, even in the direst of circumstances. He also would ALWAYS make time for God- a co-laborer in China said that even when they were ridiculously busy (this is paraphrased), Hudson Taylor would pray from 2 AM to 4 AM, because he knew that was the most quiet time and the time he was least likely to be disturbed. Man, I'm VERY convicted at this, for I have a lot more free time, yet don't even come CLOSE to spending 2 hours in prayer every day... may You work in me to find that perfect balance, oh Lord...
Monday: this day consisted of waking up early-ish to have a quiet time and go on errands with John Mark and Mr. Johnny. We visited the University, the Pastor of another church, found some basketball nets (finally) to buy that will be soon put up on the hoops shown below, ran into a drunk guy (I can understand more or less what most people are saying, but I could not understand anything this guy said), walked around Riobamba a good bit, and went into a couple of pharmacies. Two side notes: In Ecuador, almost all stores are closed from 1-3 in the afternoon, and every lunch (these places are still open) consists of soup, an entrée of rice, veggies, and a meat, and a small dessert (plus jugo- juice). Today's dessert was, according to Mr. Johnny, three teaspoons of pineapples. John Mark got more than Mr. Johnny and me, but that measurement is no hyperbole. Seriously... I laughed when they served it (after the waiter left). Almost every lunch ranges from $1-$2.50 for everything, so that's pretty sweet. After lunch, we headed back to the house (skyped with Dad), and then went back to "el centro" (downtown) to meet with the SMAC leaders. SMAC is one of the main English learning centers where John Mark and I will be serving Monday-Wednesday mornings. After staying there for a bit, we came back to the neighborhood and spent time hanging out with Paul. His family attends the Mision Iglesia Bautista Seguidores de Jesus (the church we attend/serve in), his dad is a doctor, his brother goes to the University in Quito, and he made the Youth Ecuadorian National Team for Squash. Oh, he sings and he will soon be in an English presentation of "West Side Story" at his school next week. I practiced with him while we hung out, playing the parts of "Maria" and "Tony", among others. He will be "Chino". Upon completion of our time together, John Mark and I went back to his house, ate dinner, and now I have been writing this blog for the past 129475832946 hours while also watching the Office online.
Some other new words I've learned: mimar= to spoil, fisurar= to fracture, lobo= wolf, joya= jewelry, calidad= quality, and telecable= cable TV.
People to be praying for: Patricio, Frankie, Cristian, Edison, Luis, the Maust Family, Paul, Mirtha, Miriam, Myrian, Efrian, Luis (another one), Rachelle, Jonathon, Mitlo, Jerman, Beckett, Eduardo, Rosalita, Catalina, the Grandmother at the house I'm staying in, and the many other people whose names escape me.
If you have made it this far, you deserve a prize.
One good thing I got from "Evan Almighty": "God" tells the mother that He doesn't usually give people exactly what they pray for immediately (she prayed for their family to grow closer), but will give them the opportunity to answer their prayer. In her case, her husband was supposedly going psycho (building an ark), and she was thinking about leaving him permanently, but God revealed that this was an opportunity to grow the family closer together... so she returned. So now I pose the question to you: are there prayers you are waiting on an answer from God for that He might be presenting an opportunity to grow closer to Him by acting on it yourself? I'm not saying this is Biblical, but it certainly deserves some pondering...
A cool thing from Colossians: this is a life worthy of the Lord that pleases Him in every way (according to Paul)- "bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father..." (1:10-12). This is what Paul prays for the believers in Colosse, and this is something I request prayer for... please pray that I would honor the Lord through doing my best to please Him in these ways... I encourage you all to look at this list and strive to do the same...
In His strength alone, by His glorious grace, for His greatest glory...
Luke Sjogren
The phenomenal Chimborazo. God enjoyed making this one.
"The thief that is caught will be burned."
My Sanctuary. This is one of my favorite places to worship God.
Montañas hermosas. Pictures don't do them justice.
None of the rims here in Ecuador have nets. Until now.
Dunk City. Population: Me. And Lebron James.
My house is on the left. This view is from the playground.
Casa Cualquiera. (Regular/Random House)
The playground right outside my house. With the montañas hermosas in the background. If you look closely, you can see the hoops in the middle of the picture.
Mi casa. If you see the small door in the bottom left corner of the picture, behind the fence posts, that is the door to the LEFT of my door. So yes, you can't really see my apartment-space.
Un chico that I helped construct a puzzle.His friend didn't want his picture taken.
2 comments:
The pictures certainly don't give the mountains justice. Probably as time goes on, we'll get better pictures as we hike up among them.
Actually, I think today was the first day since you came that the mountains were visible, and even then it was cloudy....
I'm really excited about what God will do through us this summer!!
JM
Hey Luke...your mom sent me the link to your blog! Very nice!! And I'm one of those people who will read EVERY word you write! Nice pics too. They make blog entries so much more interesting. You are going to have such an amazing time!!!
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