The Lote Tres Church

Monday
On our final work day at Lote Tres, Nikki gave the devotional.  It discussed the idea of not being able to see all of our projects to completion.  We’ve been able to do many things here in the mountains of Ecuador, but we may never see the completed bathrooms or milk coolers.

Ricardo de Jesus Franta

A mist blanketed the area, dropping a small amount of rain on the terrain.  Part way up the mountain, our bus began to slip a little.  Nelson backed down and tried the road again, spinning out another time.  He backed up further as the entire group loaded onto the back of the bus.  This time, he was able to slowly climb up the slippery part of the road and made it to Lote Tres.

At the church, projects for our final day were sought out.  The wonderful paint art the children did before had found its way onto many surfaces.  Now brightly colored were some doors, a couple walls, the benches, and a couple dogs.  Jerry, Tony, and Keith took up the task of sanding the paint back off the benches and restained them.

Mark and Jim met with more people from the community to talk about their agricultural potential.  Several ideas were presented that would benefit them, including the ideas of micro loans, the formation of a coop, and developing markets for cheese and guinea pigs.

A couple days ago the dump truck filled with sand got stuck.  The next day, the truck deposited its load at the bottom of the newly formed road.  Terry, Matt, Nikki, Richard, and Philip began the huge task of moving the sand.

The first attempt was to fill the wheelbarrow and move it up the hill.  Two people tried pushing, but it was too full and slippery for the load to make it.

Moving sand bag by bag

Alternative methods had to be found.  The blue bags donated by the MOPS group came in handy.  Bit by bit, shovel by shovel, the sand mound began moving up the mountain.

Children and community members began helping.  Children would take 1-2 shovel fulls of sand, while adults would carry 4-5.  Horses were brought down to help, greatly lightening our load.    

Sue helped shovel some sand early in the morning, and then did her final workshop at the school.  Today focused on multiplication and division.  She also gave the teachers a much needed gift: long underwear.  Sue had noticed the school building was also frigid, and the teachers were always wearing their winter clothes.  The students, however, were accustomed to the cold temperatures, since they lived in Lote Tres while the teachers lived down the mountain.

At the end of the day, the hill of sand was almost gone, but not finished.  Nikki’s devotion came into perspective for those who had labored all day carrying heavy loads of sand on their backs.

This evening the group discussed the things they had learned and the blessings they had seen during their work at Lote Tres.

The childrens' choir

Sunday

Jim wishes Lanette Happy Birthday! 

In the morning, we got up to the church early to prepare for the service. It was supposed to begin at 9, so we began to set up for our parts of the program.  And then we waited, and waited.

People began to come, but 9 am came and went.  Around 10, the service actually began.  There were many parts to the service. It began with traditional Ecuadorian singing.  They sang songs in both Spanish and quichua.  Women did a couple songs and dancing.  Children also did some songs and dancing, each of them giving the Americans a flower.

Then, another band showed up.  They were an Andean folk band, with several guitars, pan flutes, and other instruments.  The band was amazing!  They played several songs.  The service continued with our Noah play.  The kids seemed to enjoy participating in the play, holding up their animal masks.  Next, we sang a couple songs we had prepared.  These songs were in Spanish and English.  They wanted to hear more music from us, so we sort of scrambled and decided to sing another song many people knew.  It actually went pretty well and they really enjoyed it!

They gave us knitted hats!

There was more singing and dancing done by children and adults from the church.  There even was a young boy who rapped!  After one of the women’s choirs, they asked each of us to come up to the front.  They then presented us with knitted hats.

Four hours later, the church service concluded, and lunch began.  Bowls were passed out among our group, with a variety of foods inside.  There was a thick slice of their cheese, which they call fresh cheese.  A piece of thinly cut beef, containing a bone, was slightly salty and cooked to the consistency of well done bacon.  Two pieces of corn were cooked, although their sweet corn is much different.  The potatoes were small and round, and could be dripped with a spicy sauce.  

Jim and Richard set up for showing the photos from their trip earlier in the week to Oyacachi.  People crowded around the projector and learned about agricultural practices as Jim explained them.  They were also excited to see the short movies containing images of themselves.

Traditional ecuadorian dinner 

Nikki, Kasey, Matt, and Philip played with the kids for a while.  Then Nikki and Terry set up different stations for the kids.  Some continued playing ball, which later turned into soccer.  Some enjoyed coloring in sheets depicting Noah’s Ark scenes.  Other children crowded around to chase after bubbles.  And the most popular event of the day was homemade spin-art.  Terry and Nikki brought several colors of paints, which were dropped on a coffee filter in a salad spinner.  The children then used the salad spinner, causing the paint colors to blur and made neat designs.  They really enjoyed it.

Mark, Jim, our interpreters, and members from Covenant organizations called FACE and MERGE met with town members to discuss the future potential partnerships with the groups.  It was great for the community of Lote Tres to be able to meet these people and make connections.

After the meetings, a name drawing was done.  In other trips, groups had brought a few items and given them to the pastor to give away.  This year, we had people at the church service write down their names and put them in the drawing.  They were winning hats, a jacket, bags, and other items.  They seemed to enjoy it.  Being sneaky, Richard entered his name into the drawing.  But he had to put a Spanish flare onto it to make it believable.  At first the group didn’t understand, and then began laughing when Ricardo de Jesus Franta’s name was read to win a bag.  Sadly, they wouldn’t let him win any prizes.

Church in Oyacachi 

Saturday
In the morning, we got to Lote Tres and began setting up for our children’s program and Phillip gave a devotional at the church.

At first, only a few kids were there for the children’s program.  But slowly, they began to trickle in.  The children colored pictures, played games with a basketball, and enjoying hanging out.  The skit Sue wrote then started.  It is a skit about Noah’s Ark.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  We’ll probably be performing it again tomorrow at church.

Noah's ark kid's program 

Once the skit was done, the group packed up and boarded the bus.  A long and extremely bumpy ride later, we arrived at Oyacachi.  The entire group was impressed by the scenery.  We ate lunch and then departed on a walk towards the Old Town.  Along the way, Jim and Richard pointed out some of the things they had seen on their tour of the Oyacachi earlier in the week.  They were impressed that the sewer system, exposed earlier this week, was now covered up and underground.  Other items were also shown, such as the guinea pig farm, rotational grazing, electricity lines, and other progressive items.

Down at the Old Town, the group explored the antiquated church and houses.  They were made out of stone, with moss, grass, and small bushes growing out of the walls.  Turning back towards town, everyone made the long trip uphill.

Back at Oyacachi, many people enjoyed the warmth of natural hot springs.  Kasey and Nikki made everyone laugh as they jumped from the hottest to the coldest pool!

People also stopped by the wood carving store, buying many handmade bowls and items.  They were beautifully carved and wood burned.

After a dinner of excellent soup at the Lomas household, there was another discussion.  Jerry was impressed by the amount of projects we have been able to accomplish in just a few short days.  Nikki felt the people of Lote Tres were more motivated to help this time in comparison to her last trip here.  Many members echoed the same sentiments.  When talking about Oyacachi, people were impressed about how the town has advanced in just a few short years.  Jim and Mark felt the presence of the Gospel and a faith in God has helped Oyacachi move forward and stand together.  Sue was excited about the fact that the town is so isolated, yet it has a great market for its cheese and wood products.  Matt pointed out that since the town completely moved in the 1960’s, many of our parents are actually older than the entire place!  Everyone laughed.  

Group Observations ... 

Phillip:
the children seem mature for their age.

Kasey:
I’ve been before.  This time they seem more open than last time.

Jim:
Flexibility is important.  Some days you have plans, but then you can’t cross the road to get there.  We’ll get around the obstacles, I’m sure. It good to prepare for the need to be flexible.

Tony:
We’ve had to be flexible with our Spanish.  Sometimes we don’t have a translator while we are figuring out what tasks to do, so through pantomime and little words we do know, we figure it out.

Jerry:
Those women may be small, but they are strong!  They can carry bags of concrete up the big hill.  Have a strong work ethic.

Nicki:
I enjoy hanging out with the kids.  I prayed to be able to communicate with them, and suddenly I had a whole bunch of new friends!

Sue:
They have been reserved, but now I’m greeted warmly.  One morning I even got two hugs!

Keith: 
I love seeing the progress on the church.  There’s now a roof when before it was just open.  The work can be strenuous but rewarding.

Matt: 
I’m surprised by the amount of random, stray dogs.  People seemed shy at first but warming up.

Mark: 
This is a testament to the importance of returning to the same area.  Developing relationships with them is important, and I’m encouraged to keep up the partnership.

Terry: 
The church service was great.  Although I didn’t understand a word being said, I was still touched by the fact that we are all believers.  Sat next to a lady with a child.  She showed me proverbs 3, I showed her psalm 23.

Richard:
I do feel the flexibility is important.  I’m encouraged by the farming practices we’ve been seeing in the other towns and hope we can show it to Lote Tres.  And, like everyone said, I got a sunburn.  Shoot. 

A very stuck truck

Friday
This morning, Kasey gave a devotional that included the fact of being a shining star for God, and that we shouldn’t grumble in our circumstances.  Later today, the call to not grumble became difficult!
In the morning, people began different tasks around Lote Tres.  Keith, Jerry, and Tony began sawing wood to construct a toolbox.  Next, they cut ropes into shorter lengths, which were later used as jump ropes by the children.

The rest of the group focused on moving concrete bags and preparing to mix the concrete for the bathroom floor.  With the pipes in place, we filled in trenches dug by the group a few days ago.  Jim, Kasey, Sue, and Phillip began to mix the mortar for the concrete, while other group members collected rocks to be used as the base under the concrete.  Once the mortar was mixed, Matt and Richard hauled several wheelbarrows full of gravel, which was put into the concrete mix.

After lunch, a group departed for the school.  Sue continued working with the teachers on their math program, while Keith, Phillip, Nikki, and Terry played with the kids.  The kids enjoyed their new jump ropes.  They wanted Kasey to count the times they had jumped, which went well until they started getting into higher numbers like 70!  Terry and Nikki had a good time drawing pictures on the playground with the chalk, outlining the children on the ground.  Later, a soccer game started, with children of all ages chasing after the ball.

Back at the church, the work continued.  Tony sanded rust off of beams in the church, in preparation for painting them.  Down at the bathroom, Mario and Mark began mixing the concrete with water.  When it was the correct consistency, Matt and Richard shoveled the concrete into buckets while Mark carried them to into the bathroom to be made into the floor.

Painting of the beams went well, with Jim and Tony handling most of it easily.  But getting the areas close to the ceiling proved to be a little challenging.  With ladders made of logs and a couple rungs hammered in between them, Nikki, Kasey, and Richard slowly ascended them with care to reach the highest points with a paintbrush.

800 blocks to unload!

After a long day, the group was pretty tired, with soreness beginning to set in.  But that is just when the real work began.  A truck filled with 800 cinder blocks arrived at Lote Tres, and was the first vehicle to use the town’s newly-finished road.  A line of people formed, passing down the blocks and stacking them into a neat pile.

We then waited for the sand truck to arrive, being promised it was “just around the corner” by the cinder block driver.  A while later, the truck rolled around the corner and began ascending the hill.
Then it stopped, hitting a soft spot in the newly-formed road.  The dump truck reversed, rolled down the hill, and then began to head back up the hill.  Hitting the soft spot again this time, the wheels began to spin in the soft earth.  Digging its left side lower and lower into the road, the left rear tire was in a trench almost to the axle.

Members from our group and the community descended onto the truck, assessing the situation.  People began digging out the tired, hoping the precariously leaning truck wouldn’t tip under the weight of its load.
Kasey’s discussion on not grumbling laid on our minds as we tried to make the best of the situation.
Waiting and working for a long time, the truck was eventually able to move.  More digging proceeded, and eventually the truck pulled out of the trap that had it for the past several hours.  The weary group cheered, and boarded our bus to go back down the mountain to Cayambe.  And for the first time in our mission trip’s history, the bus had to return down the mountain in darkness, slowly driving through the twisting turns and steep curves in the shadows of night.

Painting Benches

A few weeks ago while researching guinea pig (cuy) raising, Terry came across a website of an Ecuadorian foundation focusing on agriculture. She contacted them, and found out they did work with guinea pigs. Today, Jim called the phone number Terry had found, and got ahold of a man named Fred. A few minutes of discussion later, a guinea pig producer named Edwin was coming to pick us up at the hotel!

Edwin took Mandy, Richard, Terry, and Jim to the farm where Fred works for the foundation. This is an organic farm that helps train people of the area in farming practices. We were able to ask many questions about guinea pig raising to them, and learned a lot! Fred showed us their facilities, where they actually raise the guinea pigs together with rabbits.

Guinea pigs aka cui 

Next, we went on a trip to Edwin’s farm. This is another organic farm, doing everything from start to finish. Edwin raises plants in a garden and also in a green house. He makes his own fertilizer for the plants, and also raises guinea pigs. His facility for the guinea pigs was very modern but simple. We were very impressed with all the work he does. Edwin is also working on developing more markets for guinea pigs, including opening
a restaurant and looking into exporting them abroad. He also offers training courses on farming and guinea pig raising.

From both of them, we were able to get tons of information and pictures! It was amazing how simply things worked out for us! Glory to God for making the plans work so well.

The rest of the group went to Lote Tres. Matt gave a devotion to the group before they left. Arriving up on the mountain, they were happily surprised. A large payloader had arrived, digging out the dirt to construct the new road to the church! It worked all day, slowly filling trucks full of dark topsoil while creeping toward the church. The group worked hard again today. Piles of construction material and sand were moved, which was very tiring hauling heavy wheelbarrows up a steep slope.

The bathroom construction is moving along. Rocks were put down under the level of where the concrete will go. Lines for the future floor were leveled. PVC pipes were fitted and the process of piecing the pipe turns began.  Up in the church, several people worked on painting benches. First the benches were sanded, and then a coat of medium brown paint was applied to them. Many people also had the opportunity to play with the kids. An impromptu soccer game began. The younger children really enjoyed the paper airplanes Nicki made for them, throwing them off the second story porch of the church.

Late in the afternoon, Jim, Terry, and Richard gave a guinea pig presentation to a group of people from Lote Tres. This focused on the information gleaned from today’s tours, along with information researched and found beforehand. The people seemed very interested in the guinea pig information, and asked many questions about how to raise theirs better in the future. At night after eating dinner, several people enjoyed a small walk through the town of Cayambe.

Wednesday
Nicky led a devotion today. The ride from Cayambe to Lote Tres is 40 minutes long up a steep hill with several curves and sharp angles. The roads are cut away from the sides of the mountain, sometimes through limestone, other times through dirt, showing the soil profiles with dark and deep topsoil. Piles of rock lie along the side of the road, with families beginning to lay the rocks into the road. Fields dot the mountain sides, looking like a patchwork quilt from far away.

Quickly in the morning, Jim, Richard, and our translator Mario went with a group of 15 people to the town of Oyacachi. It was about an hour and a half ride to Oyacachi. Getting closer to the town, green mountains steeply rose, as a valley swept between them. Waterfalls burst forth from the mountain sides, while a thick mist drifting between the mountains.

The group arrived at the church, finding the pastor was not there. However, his wife was there, and she was able to direct us through our tour of the town. As with our experience yesterday, roads were dug up and impassible by our bus. But this time, the roads were dug up to put in a city-wide septic system. Without our ability to drive, we began on a long walk with the group. A blessing in disguise, we were able to find many examples of positive agricultural practices along the way. Jim and Mario were able to talk with the group about several topics. These included pasture management and rotation, cutting and storing of forages, the general health and management of the cows, a trout pond and raising system, a commercial guinea pig raising facility, cleanliness and natural cooling of milk cans, and other topics.

We continued walking and walking, being directed by the pastor’s wife towards the old, abandoned village. In the old village, there were old buildings, with deteriorating walls being taken over by grasses and trees. Further down the path, we finally met the pastor, who was very receptive to our group. After a long walk back up the hill, our group walked by the wood carving place. We also toured looked through and bought some cheese from two of the local cheese plants. The group was able to ask questions about the cheese production. Back on the bus, the group happily discussed their ideas of how to produce cheese.

Back at Lote Tres, the rest of the group (Mark, Keith, Kasey, Phillip, Jerry, Tony, Matt, Nicky, and Terry) worked hard all day on projects around the church. They sanded tables and benches in preparation for painting. Group members laughed as children helped them with the sanding.

In preparation for building bathrooms near the church, a large pile of brush had to be removed from the front of the building. Next, a large trench was dug for the bathrooms. The trench went around the front of the building and turned out towards the new road. It was obvious the group had worked hard on digging these long and deep trenches.

Concrete came on a truck, with group members transporting and stacking the heavy (50 kilo!) bags. The group was tired but proud of all their hard work they had accomplished today. Mark and Jerry built a small, portable toilet to be used until the better ones are finished. Sue worked today with the school teachers. She met with them, working with the seven teachers on their reading and math programs.

The group that worked at home also commented on how open and welcome the community has been. Kasey, Sue, and Nicky stated that it feels like we have been here a week with how far along the relationships are. Matt and Phillip played soccer with the kids, which helped warm them up.

There was a church service tonight. Women from the group sang a couple songs. Kasey gave a testimony, while Mario gave a sermon. Terry iterated the point that although she didn’t understand most of what was being said, she still was touched by the service. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Tuesday
Flexibility is a virtue, constantly being stressed by our leaders, Mark and Sue, during the training process. Today, the group experienced their first encounter with flexibility.

After breakfast and a morning devotion lead by Matt, the bus was packed and ready to head up the mountain.

The group traveled through hills and valleys, up and down, marveling at the sights and scenery; along with the impressive stick-shift driving of our bus driver, Nelson. As we climbed, the roads changed. The blacktop gave way to cobblestone, the cobblestone gave way to dirt. Dotting the hillsides along the way were several greenhouses, used to grow cut flowers for export. The group was also impressed by the row crops planted high on the hillsides, with such sharp angles, demanding the crop be planted and harvested by hand.

And then the flexibility came into place. A mile and a half away from our destination, Lote Tres, the bus came to a halt in front of a huge gash in the road. A two foot trench had been dug this morning, exposing a broken water pipe in need of replacing.

We waited while our translators talked to different people, assessing the situation. About an hour later after going through several options, it was decided to turn around and find another way into Lote Tres. This option was a correct choice, and we arrived in Lote Tres.

An Ecuadorian Jersey?

At first glance, Lote Tres is a small village with progress being made. Some buildings are two stories with paint on the outside. Others are small huts with exposed concrete and only half finished. Two cows and a bull graze by tethers in the front area near the church. A couple dogs wander through the town.
The group was warmly welcomed by the community. We ate lunch in the church and were impressed by its progress. The mission team from two years ago will be happy with the church’s progress. That group helped haul and pour concrete to build the headers of the roof. Now, the entire roof has been finished, and the church is no longer open-air. Keith and Jerry had worked on the church the previous mission trip, and they were very happy with all the advancement the church has made.

Community members assembled and we had a meeting to discuss their and our goals for the mission trip. Projects were proposed, discussions ensuing about how these projects could be materialized and managed by the team. Currently, plans are underway for a variety of things: building a road to the church, installation of a latrine for the community, digging and designing of a milk can cooler fed by a river, and an agricultural extension trip to a neighboring village. With much work (and flexibility), we hope to be able to leave this community with sustainable features that will help them long into the future.

Traveling down the mountain, we arrived in Cayambe, the town where our hotel is located. Cayambe iu a larger town, with busy traffic and larger buildings.

The group had dinner at the home of an old friend, the daughter of Jaime Lomes.
We look forward to all of the great things God has in store for us and the residents of Lote Tres!

Monday
Hello from Ecuador!!! The entire group has made it to South America after several hours of flights.

From across the airport, the group spied a UW-River Falls sweatshirt. Mario, our translator, had a huge grin on his face as he greeted us with his River Falls apparel. Joining him was our other translator and MERGE leader, Mandy.

Yes, Nicky is that popular in Ecuador

Boarding the bus, we were quickly driven through the busy streets of Quito. Cars swinging in and out of lanes, a few travelers were surprised by how crazy traffic is in other countries!
We arrived at the MERGE house for our first night. After some instructions on the next day’s journey up the mountain, the 12 weary travelers headed for bed.