Surely, my time here has not been what I expected prior to my arrival. As you know, my expectation was to arrive in Ecuador and hit the ground running. I expected to visit a number of soccer schools, assess where their needs were and begin working with the coaches to develop a comprehensive coaching, outreach, discipleship program.

Instead of hitting the ground running, I simply hit the ground and stood still....relatively speaking. Shortly after my arrival I was summoned to a meeting with the sports outreach (si se puede panas - known here as PANAS) leadership team. It was at this meeting that I quickly found out that in fact all of the soccer schools had ceased to exist, were on break, had lost it's coaching staff, etc. This was not what I expected to find within the first month of my arrival in Ecuador. To cap this off, the leadership of the, "Covenant Youth Workers in Ecuador" (JPE) has been in some relative disarray. The leadership team is comprised of a Coordinator who serves in somewhat of a pastoral/ administrative role, as well as a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.

This year, the coordinator left for the US to learn English and then go to seminary. This might not seem like that big of a deal but said coordinator was the do it all for the group and when he left no one else really knew what needed to be done. In addition, the secretary had left for Sweden for three months in order to be a part of a mission training school called Acts 29. The treasurer was reported MIA which I later found out was related to him feeling excluded by the rest of the cabinet. The president had a relatively critical personal issue and was forced to resign. If you are keeping with the math, that leaves us with a VP who like all the others is a volunteer in said capacity but has a full time job that is his priority. So, needless to say, when I arrived there was little to no leadership,

In response to the void, the denominational leadership here in Ecuador has asked a former President to step in as interim coordinator to help JPE close out the year and I have been asked to assist in this process. We are in the process of re-defining the hierarchical structure of JPE as well as developing strategies for the future. The general assembly will gather at the end of January to vote on our proposed changes and to elect the new officers. Please keep me and JPE in your prayers as we attempt to move forward in a way that is practical, effective and honoring of the Lord and the work here in Ecuador among the youth.

Meanwhile, I finally broke down and renewed my Ecuadorian drivers license this week. I spent most of the day at the DMV running from one desk to the other attempting to get my paperwork sorted out. My original DL was from 1991 and had long since expired. I can't say I was surprised when they couldn't locate any record for my DL in their computers so I had to visit a "data" office in order to bring my information up to date before I could take the "very easy" test and then take my photo and get my DL. While I am not a big fan of sitting in govt buildings to get paperwork taken care of, I did meed a young police officer who was there to take his written motorcycle test. We quickly became friends. After I aced my test I was told I would need to wait for an hour while the "camera" people at lunch so I asked my new friend Jacob to lunch. During lunch Jacob asked me about my job and my life here in Ecuador and after a few minutes of reflection mentioned his need to seek and connect with the Lord. Being a police officer and a fraternity of corruption I told him that there was no way he could ever connect with God. I then got up, stormed off and smiled for the photos with my self righteous indignation.

Of course I kid, I didn't smile for the photo....and didn't really storm off. I did however invite him to join me for Church. I'm hoping that he can come with me on Sunday.

So please pray for Jacob. I don't yet know much of his story but I ask that the Lord with reveal himself to Jacob and shower him with his love and grace.

Also continue to pray for my friend Earl. I've been in touch with him lately via facebook and he has mentioned his health issues. I'm very concerned for my brother and his poor diet as well as the impending winter and all that it brings. Pray also for the rest of the homeless and their wellbeing during the cold difficult winter.

Finally, continue to pray for me as I look for my place and charge here in Ecuador.

Blessings and Season's greetings.

Thank you for your prayers for Ecuador. Last night after nearly 16 hours being held hostage, President Correa was rescued by Ecuador's armed forces. Early in the morning yesterday, Correa went to the presidential palace to answer police concerns over a new law that he and congress passed cutting bonuses in the public sector. This essentially meant that the police would not be receiving their unmerited annual bonuses. Despite Correa's presidency having raised the minimum wage of a police officer from $200 a month to $750, the police were unhappy and sequestered Correa and went on strike. By noon yesterday all of the schools in the city had sent their students home and vandals, bandits and criminals took to the streets to take advantage of a city void of a police force. There was mass looting in grocery stores, malls and even some banks were robbed. By 2:00 in the afternoon the city was a ghost town with only a hand full of cars and people on the street, all shops and stores locked up and closed for the day.

For the greater part of the day there was a stalemate between the national police force holding Correa captive and his cabinet which refused to overturn the new law. During the time, the military began to mobilize into the city of Quito, take over the airport and position themselves near the Police hospital Correa was being kept in. Simultaneously, various bands of the rogue police officers made their way to television stations as well as the "antena farm" at the top of Pichincha (mountain de-marking the western border of the city) to attempt to cut news feeds. The picture you see is of a military helicopter circling the antena farm looking for those policemen trying to sabotage the news feeds.

As the sun started to set the tension on the news channels grew as did the sounds of gunshots that echoed off of Pichincha. By about 8:30pm the military forces had positioned themselves around the perimeter of the hospital and the firefight began. Glued to the television my roommates, a few friends and I watched the battle unfold as the stoccato of gunfire resounded through the valley. Finally at about 10:30 pm the television showed a rush of military escorts pulling Correa out of the hospital and into safety after which he was immediately escorted to the presidential palace where he spoke to the mass that had been gathered in vigil during the day. His firey speech to the crowd was impassioned with his resolve that the country would continue to move forward, justice would prevail and the forces that seek to derail democracy would be dealt with.

Today, all seems to be back to normal. There are cars on the street, shops are open and police officers are patrolling the city. This doesn't end this way though. There are many heads that will roll and there will be backlash. Correa's statement today claimed that there will be no forgiveness for those involved in this attempted coup.

Please continue to pray for this country and its leadership. I believe this to be an incredible opportunity for the country's leaders to clean up a lot of the corruption that exists within the police department as long as there is a genuine desire on behalf of the politicians to bring about change.

Please continue also pray for the missionaries that are in Ecuador as rumors of US involvement in the insurrection circulate and could possibly cause some animosity towards us.

Blessings, thank you for your prayers.

Please pray for Ecuador. Today at 7:00 am the national police force stormed the capital building and congressional hall. They are upset that the president passed a bill that eliminates their bonuses. These are fairly high and unreasonable bonuses that are very taxing on the country's economy.

Because there is no police force, criminals have been running rampant through the city, robbing banks, ransacking shopping malls and destroying grocery stores. Today is the first day of the riots and hopefully they will be resolved swiftly but until then we have been asked to stay in our homes...I hope I have enough food in the fridge.

Thank you for your prayers.

I don't usually write this often but when life gives you adventure in repetition you have to take advantage of it.

When I first arrived and was issued the "mission" car that I have been driving, I was told that my day for "Pico y Placa" (PYP) was wednesday. Ok Quick review on what Pico Y Placa is...

The last number on a car's license plate determines the day of the week that the rule or system applies to that car. For example, if your plates end in a 1 or a 2 you may not drive your car during rush hour or 7:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 7:30pm on Monday. If your plates en in 3 or 4 the same applies for Tuesday - etc all the way to Friday which limits plates 9 and 0. This is done in an attempt to alleviate some of the congestion on the city streets....back to my story.

So I was told that I was not allowed to drive during rush hour on Wednesdays. I accepted what I was told, didn't pay attention to my license plate and have been driving around under that assumption for the past couple of weeks. I've driven during rush hour on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and I've been a good little boy and had the car parked during rush hour on Wednesday.

So Tuesday of this week I was running a few errands and stopped by the Alliance Academy to help Dave Gardeen get a router working in his office. After working on that for a while I decided to head home and was going to drive another friend to their place on my way. I joyfully pulled out of the Alliance lot and onto one of the main roads heading to my house. The first traffic light I encountered was green so I zipped right through the intersection but noticed an officer standing on the corner who pointed at me and whistled.

Now, whistles in Ecuador can mean many things. Traffic cops use them to direct traffic. People that watch cars on the street use them to help you in and out of parking spots. Other people use the whistles to get your attention in hopes that you will buy their product or enter into their store. At any rate, I tend to notice them with relative disinterest. Tuesday however, for some reason I felt that the whistle was for me.

As I continued down the road I noticed another police officer pull off of the curb on his motorcycle and begin following me. It didn't take long for him to catch up and ask me to pull over. I fought my urge to put the peddle to the metal and become a missionary on the lam and I pulled over. When he pulled up beside me he simply stated that I had PYP and that my car was going to be impounded. Noticing the "security seals" still on the car he quickly pointed out that I had been impounded before and assumed that it was for the same offense. I weakly tried to tell him the Delp story but decided it wasn't as important as dealing with the issue at hand.

I pleaded with the police officer explaining that while I had in fact committed the infraction, it had really not been my fault but the fault of the people who had told me I was fine to drive on a Tuesday. I asked him to help me out and just let me go a few more blocks to my house where I could park the car and not be a burden on society or it's streets ...until at least 7:30 that evening. The officer took my DL and registration, told me he would see what he could do and that I should park at a nearby pharmacy.

After waiting for about 30 minutes at the pharmacy my new found friend showed up and told me that he was going to help me out but that in return I should help him out as well. 35 years of Latin American context means I know what is happening....let the corruption begin. I played dumb and simply asked him what he meant. Looking around to make sure that no one was paying attention to our dealings he explained to me that the law stated that my car needed to be impounded and that I would be fined $80 for my transgression. He asked me if I wanted to deal with said consequence. I naturally said no, I would rather not pay $80 and have to go through the whole process to get my car out of jail. He repeated his desire to "help" me and wanted to know what I was willing to do in return. I again played dumb and simply acted like I didn't know what he was talking about, asking him what he meant. Once more, my buddy explained the consequences to my sin and then sought my own solution to the problem to which my response was again pure and unadulterated gringo ignorance.

We played this little game a few more times until he finally realized that I was too dense to understand the intricacies of subtle communication and he flat out asked me to give him a fraction of the $80 in return for not impounding my car and not being charged the fine. Aha! now I understand...he wants a bribe... I think he was probably shocked when I explained that I couldn't do that. I smiled at him, let him know that I wasn't angry at him and that I fully understood his need to pull me over and the consequence of my vile actions. I even told him that I was ok with my car being impounded and of my need to pay the fine. I was simply hoping that he would show me some mercy and grace as I was new to the system and my grievance was one born of ignorance.

With a somewhat stunned look on his face he handed me my documents and told me to make sure I didn't move the car from the pharmacy parking lot until after 7:30 and he let me go. I shook his hand, told him that I hoped we would have a chance to meet under different circumstances in the future and I walked the rest of the way home.

I think we can all learn a lesson from this story. Don't trust your colleagues to know your license plate number...check for yourself.

More to come in the near future. I travel to Guayaquil (port city) tomorrow. I'll be spending some time seeing the work there as well as meeting with the director of the Youth Workers for the country to iron out some of my roles within the programs.

Please continue to pray for me as I get more and more settled and begin to travel about the country seeing the various works that I will be involved in.

Blessings

Well, It's been a little over two weeks since I arrived in Quito and it's already been a fun adventure.

A couple of days before I arrived I got a message from my roommate in Ecuador saying that the house had been broken into and that all of his things had been stolen. I wasn't sure what to make of it as I had left most of my belongings here in the house while I roamed the USA raising support. Fortunately, when Joey was here earlier this summer he had packed all of my things in suitcases and bags and boxes and put them in the back closet...

When I arrived I was greeted by a mangled front gate and a broken latch on my front door as well as a roommate who was in the midst of packing his bags to move out of the house and back with his parents. This seemed to be the last straw as Chris has been robbed multiple times in the last couple of years. His business was robbed two times at gun point, he has been mugged, his car was stolen and then our house was broken into. Please keep Chris in your prayers.

Now, Quito is a relatively small city. At about 25 miles in length and 3 miles in width, there is relatively little road space to accomodate the cars, busses, motorcycles, and taxis that transport the almost three million people that live here. Because of this the city has adopted a system called "Pico y Placa". The last number on a car's license plate determines the day of the week that the rule or system applies to that car. For example, if your plates end in a 1 or a 2 you may not drive your car during rush hour or 7:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 7:30pm on Monday. If your plates en in 3 or 4 the same applies for Tuesday - etc all the way to Friday which limits plates 9 and 0.

If you happen to be driving illegally during your PICO Y PLACA (PYP) time, you will be fined $80 for the first offense, $120 for the second, etc. All this to say, you do not want to get caught driving during that time.

So, the other day Joel and Kim Delp (New Missionaries with me here in Quito) had a pediatrician's appointment for their son Simeon but were also on their PYP day so I offered to trade cars with them. I wasn't planning on going anywhere so they could take the car that I use and I would park their's at my house and we could trade at bible study in the morning. Later that evening I received a panicked call from Joel who had come out of the doctor's office to a parking space void of the pre-present automobile.

As I have never really owned a car in Ecuador before I wasn't sure what the protocol was but we figured out that he had probably been illegally parked and the car had been towed. After confirming our suspicions, Joel caught a ride with another one of our missionaries out to the impound lot and was able to into the car and remove some of his things but the office to pay for it's release was closed so the story jumps to the following morning.

Void of a car, the Delps asked me if I would be willing to pick them up on the way to Bible study (Tuesday morn). I reluctantly said I would but before arriving at the church offices we decided that perhaps I should run Joel to pay for the release of the car and go get the car...apparently it's not a good idea to leave the car in the impound lot for very long as things might turn up missing.

After dropping Kim and Simeon off at the offices, Joel and I drove to one side of the city where we stood in line, paid the fine and were back on our way to the other side of the city where the impound lot is located. Now if you are ever in Quito and have a car towed this piece is key. You need to have a copy of your registration as well as your passport as well as the proof that the impound fee has been paid and you need this all in duplicate or you will be sent to the nearest version of Kinkos to make those copies. (there are none nearby). Joel wisely had already made his copies beforehand and besides having to run from one side of town to the other, the experience proved to be relatively painless, aside from the $120 fee that had to be paid for the indiscretion.

Upon receiving the car I determined two things, 1. I don't have any desire to pay $120 to get my car out of the impound. 2. Leaving the car for a longer period of time is really not a problem. I determined the second after noticing the security measures that are used to ensure that my automobile is not entered after the tow truck has determined that it's resting location is inappropriate and it must be removed. Please take note of the image at the left hand side of the page. What you see there is a picture of the car door with a "security" sticker placed over the edge of where the door opens. The sticker clearly states that it is a seal of security. Please not that if the seal is broken the product is no longer under warranty. I was pleased to see that only the driver door "SEAL" was broken and that indeed my city map and seat belt clip had not been taken from the car.

The silver lining to this relatively dark cloud is this, It's been a week since I got the car back and some of my most enthusiastic efforts have fallen short of cleanly removing any of the stickers from the car which means that the "Seal of Security" system perhaps isn't as "funny" or "ludicrous" as it might seem at first glance.