Never Too Old

June 29th

Banos, Ecuador

This morning started out with our new church group from West Texas and Oregon attending Iglesia Bautista de Valle (what was once known as the First Baptist Church of Patate) in the heart of downtown Patate. The name change came about because many members of the church were from surrounding communities and the church does actually sit in a valley, so why not be more inclusive and change the name from Patate to Valley? Anyways, it was a great opportunity to worship in Spanish with many of the people that work here at the camp and the community of Patate. It was also the first time since I’ve been down here that I got to see Pastor Angel preach a sermon.

After the service, we all headed up to Costa Restaurante just up the road from the church for an awesome lunch. It was there that I really got to know one of the members of the new group that came down. His name is Bob and this is his first time in Ecuador. He’s eighty four years-old. No that wasn’t a typo, he’s eighty four years-old and decided to come to Ecuador with a few members of his church out of Odessa, Texas. He was stationed in the Pacific during World War II and then worked for a Texas oil company afterwards, spending sixteen years living in Venezuela during the 1950’s and 60’s. What took me back was his youthfulness and almost fluent Spanish. Needless to say, I spent a good part of lunch talking to him about his experiences in South America and in the Pacific and his motivation for coming to Ecuador. Talk about someone willing to leave the comforts of home for a third-world country at such an old age. His perspective was refreshing though, one that was uninhibited by reasons why he couldn’t come. And he certainly could have had his reasons, but it was very encouraging to someone obey God’s calling to serve in Ecuador….even if it’s just for a week.

The afternoons pass quickly here in the mountains, this one especially fast. Dennis, David, Adriana, and I decided we wanted to go hang gliding or parachuting on top of the mountain overlooking Patate, but the rainy conditions made the roads nearly impassable and a big, muddy mess. So, we turned around and headed for Patate where we relaxed in the warm springs, heated by the geothermal waters at the base of the volcano Tungurahua. It was a fun way to end the day and a relaxing end to a great weekend.

Tomorrow, we head to a school just outside of Patate to do a Vacation Bible School in the morning before coming back to work in the coliseum after lunch. This week will be different, numerically speaking. It will be a stark change here at the camp, from 190 to 15 people. But this change will hopefully allow me to get to know those in this group much more than I was able to get to know some of the people I met during the two crazy weeks of M-Fuge. Another workweek starts tomorrow and with it more opportunities.