April Prayer Letter

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19 v 14

Here's a diary of the past month or so...it's been busy!!

Feb/March	Travelling with my parents around Ecuador.
Mar 9th	Parents leave in the early morning, start to pack up the Quito apartment
Mar 11th - 13th	get a lift down to Shell with Bruce, director of Water Projects with my many bags. Working in the Shell water projects office, shopping in the hardware store for tools for the Mutints water project, unpacking and settling into my little house on the HCJB compound behind the hospital. Katrina, my Quito buddy, arrives in the evening to spend her last weekend in Ecuador with me. Privileged!
Mar 14th	Katrina and I end up in Banos, a town about an hour away from Shell and signed up to do “canyoning” which turns out to be abseiling down cliffs. Due to my spectacular lack of balance I get a few pretty impressive bruises.
Mar 15th	quiet day in Shell, packing and preparing to leave for my first jungle trip in the morning
Mar 16th	wave Katrina off at the bus stop, we've become such good friends during the past 6 months, it is gutting to see her go but also am thankful and amazed at God's provision and timing for our time in Ecuador. Get to MAF for around 7am and weigh our bags. I'm flying into Makuma with Alex and her 6 month old baby, Benjamin. Slight delay with MAF so I get to go back to bed for a few hours. Fly to Makuma in the afternoon, it's very exciting to be flying over the jungle. It really does look like broccoli from the air. Makuma is about 40 mins flight from Shell. On arrival we stay the night in a missionary's house.
Mar 17th	We walk an hour to Amazonas where an HCJB water project is entering its final stages. Alex chats with the president of the water committee and informs him of how much sand and stone the community will need to collect so that some more concrete works can be finished. Start reading “Through Gates of Splendour” this evening.
Mar 18th	Wake up to rain, rain and more rain, we wait 'til the rain stopped and then begin the three hour walk through the jungle to Mutints. Have to balance on slippery logs and trudge through mud. I fall in a stream up to my waist, I like to provide comic relief. Arrive in Mutints around 4.30pm and set up our mosquito net and roll mats in the community centre. The community provide us with dinner. The stars, through the breaks in the cloud, are breathtaking.
Mar 19th	Visit the spring site, about a kilometre from the community, water gushes from a rocky outcrop. The spring capture area will be quite small yet there is sufficient water for the community. After the visit, we hold a meeting in the community kitchen, a palm leaf thatched house. I describe the work we would start when I return to the community and that I will be bringing three “colleagues”, a doctor, a water engineer and a nurse! We are provided with a feast for lunch, yuca (a root vegetable, also called cassava), varieties of potato, fish, plantain...and beetle larvae. I eat two, it has a strange, sharp taste with a rubbery texture. We walk out later in the day and I finish “Through Gates of Splendour”.
Mar 20th	we spend the morning waiting for MAF, back to Shell in the early evening.
Mar 21st - 22nd	Recovering, Sunday lunch with Martha, the lady I lived with previously in Shell.
Mar 23rd	sick once again with some variety of stomach bug
Mar 24th	shopping for materials and tools for Mutints, work in the office in prep for the next visit.
Mar 25th	bus to Quito, 5 hours, to pick up my friends Alison and Sue from the airport. Whilst waiting for a taxi at 8.30pm on the street, I watch helplessly as a man was mugged about 20m from me. Quito feels especially unsafe after being in Shell. So lovely to see my friends arrive at the airport. Also lovely to be back in Quito to stay with the Harrisons again.
Mar 26th	straight into tourist mode, we catch a flight to the coast and a 3 hr bus ride to Puerto Lopez. Book a tour to Isla de la Plata or “Poor Man's Galapagos”, find a hotel and swim, briefly, in the Pacific.
Mar 27th	all day boat trip to the island to see a lot of the birds which are found on the Galapagos. Also spotted a school of dolphins and snorkelled with tropical fish.
Mar 28th	Back to Quito, lunch then bus to Shell.
Mar 29th	ahhh, peaceful Sunday.
Mar 30th	back to the jungle, we fly in the morning to Makuma and then make the journey to Mutints. We are accompanied by Sarah, a Swiss nurse who has been working in Shell for nearly a year and who will help with the project for a month. Lots of the community have come to carry materials and help with our bags. In the evening, I introduce Alison (doctor), Sue (water engineer) and Sarah to the community and explain the work we will be undertaking.
Mar 31st	We start the morning at 7am, I lead devotions in the schoolhouse, speaking briefly on our need for Jesus, water of life. We make our way to the spring site and I set the men to work on carving out a channel in the rock, the first part of the spring capture exercise. I begin a topographical survey of the 1km route between the spring and the community. Sue has to return to the community as she is struck down by some kind of bug. Alison doctors her while Sarah and I complete the survey by lunchtime. In the afternoon, we help with school. I tell the children the story of Palm Sunday and we make paper crowns saying “Jesus is King”. We play games, teach them some songs. We also do some geography! Alison talks a bit about the UK and we show them the Union Jack and a picture of the Queen!
Apr 1st	In devotions I speak on the need for clean bodies and clean hearts. Clemente, HCJB technician arrived yesterday evening to help with the work. Mutints is his own community so he is keen to get started on the work. We construct a small concrete wall as part of the spring capture. We offer that anyone who would like to see Alison, the doctor, can do so. We request that they come in daylight hours so that she can inspect them more easily, there is no electricity in the community. One lady comes with her baby who has a chest infection. At night there is a spectacular storm where the lightning lights the whole landscape up as bright as day.
Apr 2nd	This morning in devotions, I explain how we can get the water of life, how we can have clean hearts through acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. Work continues to sieve gravel for use as a filter at the spring capture. I spot a fish in the supposed “spring”, this isn't a good sign. We work on the shore of a river pausing every now and then to scramble out of the way as a tree is felled to retrieve guava fruit or whilst someone goes off to cut some palmito, the soft centre of palm stems, used in cooking (consistency of cooked egg white). I, inevitably, fall in the river. In the afternoon, the girls teach English, tell the Easter story and play games with the children. I return to the spring site to complete the capture. We mix concrete under a tarp as there's a downpour that soaks us through. We had reiterated the offer of a health check up at lunchtime. Around 6pm the first lady arrives with her baby for a check-up, followed by almost the whole community. Alison and Sarah work by candlelight, diagnosing and dispensing medicines. Sue, meanwhile, gives me a lesson in water engineering.
Apr 3rd	We give our thanks to the community for their hospitality at breakfast and start the walk out to Makuma at about 8.45am. By 3pm we are back in my house in Shell. Sarah stays in Makuma and will go back to Mutints by herself for Easter week.
Apr 4th	Recovery! Then purchase of materials and construction of a cake... (I'm an engineer!)
Apr 5th	Alison's and my birthday, we were born the same year too! We have cake for breakfast. Later in the day we visit the hot baths in Banos.
Apr 6th	In the morning, Alison and I are given a tour of the hospital. Then it's tourist mode again, we do white water rafting on the Pastaza river which is great fun. In Banos, I do a bridge jump...
Apr 7th	bus back to Quito
Apr 8th	sight seeing around the Old Town in Quito and souvenir shopping.
Apr 9th	Sue and Alison leave in the early morning. It has felt very normal to have my two good friends here, it now feels strange that they aren't here. I have some admin tasks to do, including writing this prayer letter. Tomorrow, I will go and see the Good Friday procession in the Old Town before making my way back to Shell. Back to the jungle again on Tuesday to continue with the project.

Praise and Prayer Points

• Praise God that non-Ecuadorian pilots with MAF have been permitted to fly for the next 1-2 years.

• Praise God for safety on the trips so far into the jungle. Please pray for continued safety and health, stomach bugs hit with unpleasant frequency.

• Please pray as Sarah and I take devotions on the work days in the community, please pray we will be clear in our presentation of Christ and in our example of him in how we live.

• Please pray for the practical work with the water project, that it will be successful. I have some doubts over the purity of the water source and will be doing some tests.

THANKYOU for all the birthday cards, gifts and greetings I received!!

Happy Easter!

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5 v 8

February Prayer Letter

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16 v 9

El Corazon visit
In mid-January I visited the community of El Corazon with Martin Harrison and two visitors. El Corazon is located about an hour from Quito at the foot of the El Corazon mountain, it is a mestizo community with no church nor any Christians living there. Some attempts have been made in the past to capture the springs up in the mountain and bring the water down to the community using a hosepipe arrangement. We climbed up 1000m above the community along the pipeline to the spring capture, finding numerous pipe breaks and that the inlets were clogged with silt. The locals who accompanied us said that they had not had water for over two months. HCJB will commence design of a new system in the next few months which will bring water direct into every home. There will also be opportunities to carry out activities to share the gospel through words. I hope to return in June to help with a team of vets who will attend to the community’s animals and run a kids’ club.

Martin supervises the excavation of our pick-up during a “pause” in the mud on the way up the mountain!

Shell
I travelled down to Shell, on the edge of the jungle, at the end of January to take the Leadership course and to work for a time alongside Alex and Alfredo Leon. Alex (English, Isle of Wight) and Alfredo (Ecuadorian) are both water engineers. Together they form the Water Projects Shell office carrying out projects in a very different environment to our other projects in the Sierra (mountainous region) and Costa (coast). Almost all the communities in which they work can only be reached by air and by walking. The logistics of travel mean that they are away from their Shell home for a week at a time. Work has therefore been even more challenging since Benjamin, their first son, was born in September.
Our plans for January had been to fly into the jungle and walk to the community of Amazonas where we would work for a week. Unfortunately MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship – with whom we fly) have been struggling with new legislation which, so far, means that none of their non-Ecuadorian pilots are permitted to fly. At present, MAF have just one Ecuadorian pilot upon whom their full workload has fallen. Consequently, we were unable to make the trip as planned to Amazonas. Instead, I worked in the Shell office for nearly two weeks, completing drawings and designs for another project. It was very satisfying work. I stayed during that time with an Ecuadorian lady, Martha. Previously, Martha had worked as a maid to a missionary family but with the departure of that family last May, so her job departed also. It was a privilege to be able to help her financially for the 10 days I stayed with her.
I will be returning in March to Shell to stay until the end of May. I will be working in the office and in the jungle to construct a water system in the small community of Mutints. I hope to spend a lot of time in the community, working on the project and building relationships with the people there.

Wheaton College Folk Religions course
Last week I attended a course on Folk Religions at HCJB under the auspices of Wheaton College. Despite missing the first two days due to flu, I found it fascinating since it was a subject I had little explored before, especially coming from a Western, reformed background. The course emphasised the importance of exploring the culture first and understanding the origins of the traditions, rituals and customs in place before sharing the gospel. The oft-repeated phrase “Jesus came to save us from our sins” can completely intelligible in some cultures where the nature of sin and an all powerful God of love are utterly foreign. It has provided much food for thought as I prepare to stay in the jungle communities.

Parents
My parents arrived last week and have been enjoying getting to know Quito and the various areas of service in which I participate in here. They have volunteered at Spotlight Listeners Club where Ecuadorians come along to listen to a very clear English radio broadcast and hold discussion in groups. The discussion questions are presented so that an opportunity to share the Christian faith is afforded. My parents each ran a small group and had a great time doing it! On Sunday, my dad came along to chop vegetables and serve food at Pan de Vida. Pan de Vida is a food programme for the less fortunate of Quito. On Sunday, the programme includes a church service and provision of a hearty meal. Other programmes throughout the week include a clothes closet, sewing lessons and after-school help for children.

My parents and I at the HCJB compound in Quito

In the next month…
- taking time off work to travel and spend time with my parents before they leave 9th March.
- moving to Shell and starting work on water projects there
Prayer points
- Pray for wisdom as appropriate activities and studies are planned to coincide with the Water Projects work in El Corazon. Pray that God will be preparing hearts in that place for the time HCJB will be in the community.
- Pray for MAF who are struggling to complete their work and that enough flights can run to permit the Water Projects work in the jungle communities to continue unhindered. As you can imagine this is a frustrating time for MAF.
- Pray that my parents and I will have safe and enjoyable travels around Ecuador.
- Please continue to pray that I will be able to discern God’s will for my life in relation to longer term international mission service.

10 Ways to avoid becoming a missionary

I found this through a link on the OSCAR website...

1. Ignore Jesus' request in John 4:35 that we take a long hard look at the fields. Seeing the needs of people can be depressing and very unsettling. It could lead to genuine missionary concern.
   (John 4:35 "Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."
2. Focus your energies on socially legitimate targets. Go after a bigger salary. Focus on getting a job promotion, a bigger home, a more luxurious car, or future financial security. Along the way, run up some big credit card debts.
3. Get married to somebody who thinks the “Great Commission” is what your employer gives you after you make a big sale. After marriage, embrace the socially accepted norms of settling down, establishing a respectable career trajectory and raising a picture-perfect family.
4. Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies can be disturbing. The situations they describe will distract you from embracing whole-heartedly the materialistic lifestyle of your home country.
5. If you happen to think about missions, restrict your attention to countries where it's impossible to openly do missionary work. Think only about North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and other closed countries. Forget the vast areas of our globe open to missionaries. Never, never listen to talk about creative access countries.
6. Think how bad a missionary you would be based on your own past failures. It is unreasonable to expect you will ever be any better. Don't even think about Moses, David, Jonah, Peter or Mark, all of whom overcame failures.
7. Always imagine missionaries as talented, super-spiritual people who stand on lofty pedestals. Maintaining this image of missionaries will heighten your own sense of inadequacy. Convincing yourself that God does not use ordinary people as missionaries will smother any guilt you may feel about refusing to even listen for a call from God.
8. Agree with the people who tell you that you are indispensable where you are. Listen when they tell you that your local church or home country can't do without you.
9. Worry incessantly about money.
10. If you still feel you must go, go out right away without any preparation or training. You'll soon be home again and no one can ever blame you for not trying!

You can see the full thing here:
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/10ways.htm

January Prayer Letter

Happy New Year!

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not
consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3 v 21-24

Parasite Medicine trip
I travelled back to Chimborazo and Lupaxi Chico in mid-December to help our hygiene worker, Tannia Lascano, distribute parasite medicines. We were accompanied by a doctor from the Ministry of Health who turned out to be a Christian also. This was really encouraging as we were able to pray as a group before starting each day´s work. We visited four communities and enjoyed their hospitality also, I had ´caldo de pata´ for the first time – cow´s foot soup. It was very tasty. The work to distribute the medicines highlighted, once more, that to gain the benefits of clean water; good hygiene practices must be followed. Wash your hands, everybody!

Joining our hygiene promoters, Tannia and Gladys (far left and right), and the local doctor to distribute medicines.

Zambiza Dump Christmas Party
At the start of December I volunteered along with hundreds others to help at party held for the people who live near and work on one of Quito´s rubbish dumps. The event was run by Extreme Response, an organisation who works with these people throughout the year also. The party was attended by about 3,500 who played games, listened to live music and had their photograph taken with Santa! An evangelism team moved through the site taking opportunities to chat to people and share the gospel. I was in charge (don´t know how I managed that!) of a team to distribute lunch, a bag of toys for the children and a bag of staple foods for each family. It was great fun especially working together with mainly local Christians.

Fiestas!
December felt like a whole month of festivals in Quito! Quito Day was on 6th December and was
marked by Fiesta Brava (the Ferocious Festival!) of bullfighting, concerts and chiva rides. A chiva is an open-sided bus with a brass band on top which travels on trips around the city. Everyone blows whistles, waves flags, shouts ´Viva Quito!´ and gets out for a dance in the street halfway round!
Christmas Eve is the day that Ecuador celebrates Christmas and I was invited to spend the evening with Isabel, my Spanish teacher´s family. The evening involved karaoke, turkey and opening presents as midnight approached. I spent Christmas Day with a number of HCJB families. New Year´s Eve is all about burning the old year, año viejos (something like a Guy for 5th November) were on sale from Christmas. On one of the main streets in Quito large displays of these año viejos were set up, they were mainly on a political theme with Bush, Obama and Correa (Ecuadorian president) featuring heavily. Elsewhere the theme seemed to be Kung Fu Panda…I don´t know why!

Año Viejos for sale on the street

Work
I have been finding work in the office difficult in the past month. For various reasons the projects I´ve mentioned in previous prayer letters have, all but one, fallen through. Whilst this has been frustrating, the next few months will involve work on the water projects for 2009 and travelling to start work on a jungle water project out of Shell.

In the next month…
- attending a seminar at HCJB on leadership
- some time in Shell to familiarise myself in advance of going to live there from March, also hopefully travelling to jungle communities to help with projects
- moving to another apartment this week

Prayer points
- Praise that I had a lovely Christmas and for the warmth and kindness of so many people who
invited me round during this time and those who posted cards and presents to me here.
- Please pray for work here, I really want to be of use and to learn too, pray that I will learn what God is teaching me through all these experiences.
- Pray that God will use the conversations held at the dump party and especially for the police
chief, William, who questioned why we were helping the people and wanted to accept Christ.