Snow in Quito??

It's Friday afternoon (yesterday) and I'm driving to a meeting with the seminary directive and what do my wondering eyes see? Snow in Quito! For most of the morning it was sunny and around 70 degrees and bam! around 3pm, things began to change quickly, very strangely. Dark clouds rolled in, rain began, then hail, lots of hail and bits of snow! The roads were filled with icy, slippery material and Quito drivers had no idea how to drive in this condition. All the cars pulled over to the side causing one of the greatest friday afternoon traffic back-up in the history of Quito. This is my seventh year in Quito and this city continues to surprise me!

Looks like navidad came early!

Mujeres de Ecuador!

Ecuador is a very diverse country. You can see it in the customs and traditions of each region. The Covenant Church divides the country into five districts--sierra, coast, north, amazon, and quichua.

Recently we had the national women's retreat. Through various contacts, we were able to invite two women from the States to be our speakers. They travel all around the world to work with women in prayer retreats. We had the privilege of having them this year at our "Convencion de Damas". Here are the pictures they took of the women in Ecuador.

Ladies from Ambato, Ecuador...nice pink dresses. This city is known for the flowers and fruits.

The ladies below represent the quichua district. All the ladies presented a dance.

These women below are from the coast.

So diverse and each one full of life! The retreat was a great time of prayer and rest. God is good!

Los Tsachilas

One of the many indigenous groups in Ecuador. These are the Tsachilas living in Santo Domingo, the heart of Ecuador. It's sort of a reservation where you can visit and see how they live life. All the musical instruments are made of animal skin, plants, and trees.

Above: Picture of the entire band in a jam session. The long sticks make sounds of rain. That was my favorite.

Picture below: I went to this reservation with a Covenant church group from Minnesota. This team was working in three Ecuadorian Covenant churches in Santo Domingo, very close to this reservation. The Tsachilas invited them to dance while they played their music. This group showed no inhibition!

The Tsachilas have their own native language but this lady holding the snake spoke Spanish and was our tour guide. The snake is in the jar is one of the most poisonous found in this area. It's called "X". It was difficult to stand next to her as I translated from Spanish to English for the group. I felt queasy just looking at the pickled snake...

View from my kitchen window but only on clear sunny days. Beautiful snow capped Cotopoxi Mountain...

Finally I got some fun pictures to post! A few of my students and I work at the Pan de Vida Ministries on Wednesday evenings. We are feeding about 150 people every Wednesday! Fresh food is donated by local churches and Christian organizations. We chop veggies, cook, and pack the hot meals.

Many of these students are Asian. Only one gringo and one latin student...This is Yunqui showing off this strangely shaped carrot. Fruits and vegetables are plentiful and inexpensive in Ecuador. They are huge in size too!

Here's David working with the children's program. These boys in the picture are street kids who sell candy and shine shoes.

Here's Sonia distributing the hot meal. She's Chinese but born in Ecuador. More "Latina" than Asian. She has an amazing heart to serve others and it shows in this picture.

After school and Pan de Vida, we are all usually exhausted on Wednesday nights. Tired but content!