Hello, and best wishes for a good beginning to Lent, and the rest of your activities these days. Time for another update!

I've been in Chontal since early February, and it's been an overall good experience. By that I don't necessarily mean that I plan on staying there long term (undecided), but I've had the chance to see how things are now after some changes, and also to try some new things. Both of these experiences are helping me to think of plans for next steps.

Language

I had originally thought of offering some variety of English support to youth in the community and the school teachers. I visited the school teachers to see how I could help over the course of their last few weeks before the end of the school year. As it turns out, the biggest desire was for vocabulary and pronunciation support. So, I found some resources that already had for the teachers to take advantage of. I also decided to record the pronunciation of the chapters in some of their English textbooks. It took about a whole day's labor. The English textbooks they use are all in English, and the teachers don't know any English. So, they have no idea how to even read anything in the book out loud in class. By having chapter by chapter recordings of everything, they can listen to them and practice them, or just use them in the class as well. After doing those recordings, it seemed that was all I could offer over a few weeks' time - they were grateful.

A young man in the pueblo, Diego, has advanced along in English in his college studies, and he and I do language together fairly frequently, while sitting on the bench outside his house/storefront. I had invited him to join me in offering some English to the youth and kids, and he was willing. But I printed out a questionnaire about English topics and handed them out to a bunch of the kids and youth that I know, to get a feel for what they would want to do for English during the vacation. None of them got back to me! Lol, so, I took that as no one really wants to do English over the vacation. Although I'm sure the parents would try to force them to! But the reality is I want to work with people who have an interior motivation, not those who are working off of exterior motivation. And actually, that questionnaire saved me and others from wasting a lot of time.

Instead, Diego and I will do English conversation on the bench each Wednesday. There are a variety of young adults / college-aged folks who are interested. We'll see who shows up.

It reminds me of my time in Puerto Quito when I realized that I didn't want to teach an English class. I wanted to start an English Club because I wanted to work with kids who had an internal desire to learn. That worked out best then, and I think now as well.

Incidentally, the bench where we sit I've called "El Banco de Chontal". It's caught on. It has a double meaning, the primary meaning being "Chontal Bank". The secondary meaning is "The Chontal Bench". So, it's a play on words that gets a laugh. But there are other benches in Chontal where people will sit and converse for a long time. I call those the "branches" of Chontal Bank. Where you don't find money, but instead dialogue, and all problems are solved! Anyway, we'll do the language activity in the Banco de Chontal.

Young Mothers Workshop

I was glad to be able to do a workshop with the recent young mothers in the pueblo. This year, 3 young women under the age of 19 became mothers. I also invited another who two years ago had her first child at 19. The idea was to offer a workshop to allow them to recall, share, and memorialize their experiences together of becoming a mother. It's something that would be great for the Christmas season or Mother's Day, but I ran out of time when I was there in December and early January, and I won't be around here for Mother's Day.

The workshop follows a similar layout as the immigration workshop I had led up a few years ago. Remembering, sharing, and memorializing the experience of becoming a mother, along the pattern of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as expressed in the Gospel of Luke. Her story includes the conception, the pregnancy, and the birth phases of becoming a mother. So, to include her story as a model, I found a half-hour clip from the movie, Mary Mother of Jesus, to show. We light a candle for her story while we watch the clip, which is a very human expression of Mary and her becoming a mother. Afterwards, each mother opens a gift bag to reveal a candle of their own, and each one has the opportunity to share their own story while everyone listens. They covered from the time of conception through pregnancy to the birth of their child. Each story is different, but you could see all that was in common, too, and how they were glad to share about it all. After that, there's another gift in the bag: a piece of jigsaw puzzle, that all put together to form a small poster that accompanies Mary's candle. It includes a Scripture passage which is the guide for the workshop: "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." (Lk 2:19) Then, it was their turn: they opened the third and last gift in the bag to find a large wooden heart (the carpenter in the village made them.) There were a lot of decorating materials for them to choose from and make a memorial of their own heart, with a spot for their candle.

It was really well liked, and a powerful experience, something very different for them. What made it more interesting was that the mothers were supposed to come alone, without their kids. They had all agreed that was best. But they all came with their kids for one reason or another! So, it was wonderful, but it made the arts and crafts part at the end a little more complicated! But each finished and decorated their hearts, of course with their child's name and the candle in the center. Afterwards, each got a chance to talk about their design, and share their thoughts on the experience of the day. I took about 2.5 hours total.

A good name for the workshop would be "My Rosary Workshop". It's not making rosary beads. It's a good title because the rosary really is the collection of the principal stories of Mary as mother in her heart. It's essentially the stories of her heart and that of the church. And the actual effect of the grace of Christian discipleship is that, like her, we have our own stories of our life with God in our heart - our own "mothering" of the graces of God in our lives - if we only allow them to ferment and come to the surface. In other words, if we keep them, reflecting on them in our hearts. And this action prepares us to go forward in discipleship of Christ with a deeper relationship, so that, more and more, his life emerges in our own.

The Tree of Life Workshop

I mentioned in the last update an interest from a friend in participating in the Tree of Life workshop, which is something I developed and did myself back in 2014. The Tree of Life workshop has a similar format to the Migration and Young Mothers workshops: an opportunity to recall important life stories in the context of a relationship with a scriptural story; to share the stories with others; and to create a memorial honoring and symbolizing the experiences. However, in this secular version of the Tree of Life, I've not included scripture or faith-based references, only references to nature and to my own stories. This workshop - the secular version - is great for people in career transition, or experiencing indecision or confusion in making decisions about work or career plans. With a faith dimension brought in, it can be extended to all of "vocation" and any search for guidance in the journey of life. It's essentially a good fit for the middle of transitions, where one has a sense of leaving something behind, but not sure of what to do next.

In an case, we did the workshop at the beginning of February, as a sort of trial. We both thought it went excellent, and was beneficial to him. He suggested he might know others who might be interested, and last week I did the workshop with a young man who had left college and was trying to clarify next steps for himself. That was a new trial, because the people who had done the workshop (myself and Antonio) were adults in their 40's. This young man was 20, and so the most important question for me was how would the process of remembering work-related stories unfold. You have a lot more under your belt by your 40's! But it worked out really well, and he thought it went excellent and I did as well. So, that gives two experiences that worked out similarly, and gives me some confidence to move forward in offering it to others, especially in a small group (that would be the next test: how about 2 or 3 people at once?) But, in short, I do believe in the effectiveness and value of these workshops, which have an Ignatian aspect, and am glad to see them help people get in touch with their "True You" and find more of their way!

On a final note, the workshop invites a person to return to certain memories in their work life, based on the analogy of the tree: the tree is an image of our life, and just as the rings of growth are salient moments in the tree's history, we too have salient moments that put us in touch with life, with who we really are. And just as the bark protects the life inside the tree, so we have certain lessons from life experiences that show us our own bark - the important ways that we can guard our life path and its growth along the way.

The whole idea is a going back to beginnings and discovering our tree of life - which is a call back to Genesis. In the garden of Eden - Paradise - the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are at the center. What was particularly moving about these two workshops was that we did them on Antonio's private property in Mindo, which is a veritable Paradise! Mindo is a global tourist destination and part of a global natural reserve known for its cloud forest, birds, waterfalls, fruits and plants (including coffee), and other animals and natural attractions. It was like being back in Genesis!

Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:7-9)

Retreat for Chontal Catechists

I've been working on trying to set up a spiritual retreat for up to 4 catechists from Chontal. We did one about 4 years ago and it went well. I'd like to see if we can do it again. It would be at the retreat center in Mindo again (which is in the same town where I've done the Tree of Life workshop). It's close to being organized for the last week of the month, but it's not finalized yet.

It's part of the Lenten theme of coming away into the desert to be alone with God, to encounter Jesus. Based on a simple Ignatian approach, it's an overnight without talks or teachings or preaching - just some general guidelines to help understand the experience, and the opportunity to be open to encounter with Jesus guided by the Gospels. There's plenty of opportunity to share confidentially one-on-one about what's going on in one's faith life.

“I will lead her into the wilderness and speak persuasively to her.”

— Hos 2:16

Food in the Desert Presentation

I've also taken to developing a presentation and sort of workshop on how to read the 4 Gospels in a way to find the food in them for our souls. It will be three sessions for an hour each in Lent. The first is starting March 15 in Chontal. I'm hoping to record it in some way to make it available to others, too, but I don't know how I could do that yet, especially if it includes a workshop element. I'll see how it evolves …

““It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’””

— Mt 4:4

Four Houses: My Own Story

I'm also still trying to finish a presentation that tells my own faith story of how and why I came to Chontal, to share with the people there. I get to know everyone's families and homes and surroundings while I'm here in Ecuador, but they never get to see me and my family and what it's like where I'm from. I've tried over the years to facilitate encounter and bridges that would lead to the possibility of actual visits. Those not having worked out, I'm now thinking of just using media and storytelling to tell people about my history, where I'm from, and why and how I came to Chontal. I hope I have the time and ability to put it all together with so many things going on!

Other Stuff

In general, there is not a good relationship with the church leadership for me here. That's OK, as I wasn't expecting there to be. I could share more in depth, maybe in another post at some point. But it will all factor in to my next steps, and it's a reason I'm looking more into things (both faith-based and not) in Mindo.

But among the daily living there are always different events and goings on. For example, birthday parties of families, including one where the family celebrated my own. The family is one of the families we all helped to recover from the landslides of 2014. One of the daughters turned 15 (a huge birthday in Latin America), so they had a big celebration and invited me, and celebrated my birthday too, which was really nice. It was the only birthday celebration I had, which was a sad thing, not so much for me, but for the state of the community, in that no one offered to celebrate my birthday with me, including the people who I was staying with - who are people at the front of the church, lol! But the family who did celebrate my birthday, funny enough, is the only Evangelical family in town! (The father is Catholic and goes to Mass). But they respect me … Anyway, there was no drinking at the party, but I did play carnaval with a bunch of the kids and youth. What is that? Playing carnaval is to douse each other with water in any way possible: buckets, squirt bazookas, bottles, you name it. (And, for some, spray foam is used, though I don't play that.) It was great to get doused on a hot day!

A side note about carnaval: To do the second Tree of Life workshop, I had to travel from Chontal to Mindo. The morning I woke up, it had been raining torrentially, and I was almost surprised to see the buses running out of Chontal. It's an hour and a half ride to a town called Nanegalito, where I transfer to another bus that would take me directly to the pueblo in Mindo. But when I got to Nanegalito, there were no cars passing. As can often happen in the rain season, there was a landslide up the road that stopped traffic. Now, this was also during the carnaval holiday, which is one of the most traveled in the year. So, between full and delayed buses, I was stuck in Nanegalito for 3 hours. I finally was able to get about a bus that would get me to near Mindo. Then, I took a taxi ride to complete the journey. In all, I was about 4.5 hours late in getting to Mindo. But even worse, it was a wild scene as everyone was playing carnaval - which means water and foam everywhere, and loud music through most of the night. Navigating around and away from all that - and finding a place to stay - was the context of doing the second Tree of Life workshop!

I've also started movie night on Sunday night in Chontal during the vacation (school "summer" vacation is February to early May) for kids and youth. We've seen Moana, which has a great theme of courage and discovering identity while going through adolescence, and A Dog's Purpose (both the first and second one), which has a great theme of staying faithful during life's transitions, and by that allowing them to gradually reveal who we are and what our purpose is.

I've been trying to play some basketball recently, too, although it's almost impossible to find anyone to play against in Chontal that might be a challenge. I really go to shoot and dribble around and get in a good personal workout. Some of the kids come sometimes, too. But it's hard to get in a workout then. But two young girls came by the other day, and we ended up after it all sitting down and praying. It happened like this:

After I went off to another part of the court, the girls occupied themselves on the ground with some rocks and twigs and plants. After a while, they called me over to see what they had made. It was a flat rock with some green plants on it, and two twigs in the form of a cross. They could bring it home, I said. I asked them if they liked to pray, and they said yes. I asked if they spoke to God when they prayed, and they said yes. I then asked them if God spoke to them, and they gave me an odd look, lol! That's very typical, unfortunately, but not always the case (I've heard some amazing responses from kids at times). So I asked them if they wanted to pray by talking and listening to God, and they were excited to do it. So, we sat down on the ground, and we closed our eyes and imagined God and Jesus and Mary, and they had time to say the things they wanted to say - how precious! And then, there was time to stop and wait - did Jesus say anything back? Yes, he did! I'm not going to share what they said, but what a precious time to spend with children. I really feel close to Jesus in those times, as though I've fulfilled what I'm here for. Anyway, we left afterwards, and they asked to do the same thing the next day! So, we'll see about doing it again when I get back to Chontal…

I've also helped a few students here with math and physics. February was the time of "summer school", so there were a few folks who needed a hand.

I've mentioned in past posts about a few families or people struggling. I visit once in a while with Juanito, the deaf mute senior who lives by the river. The family of Rafaela, the young girl who needs a series of surgeries, including open-heart surgery at some point, ran into another road block in their medical care for her, as the hospital postponed Rafaela's appointment by 3 months. So sad. They had arrived at the hospital in Quito and were told that the doctor was out sick for the scheduled appointment, that there were no available doctors, and that they had to make a new appointment for May - 3 months away! All while the girl needs to have medical tests done so that she can then have all her teeth removed, so that she can then have open-heart surgery. Such is the delay in the public hospitals. I keep in contact to see how the family is, and what is next.

The family that lives across from them is Jimmi and Maria and their 3 kids. Maria has had severe feminine pain for over 5 months, and had delays in her own appointments and testings. Various folks in the community have come to visit and offer different types of support. I've been in touch, and I knew the critical results from a biopsy were due the other day. I stopped by that day - Jimmi had gone to Quito to pick up the results. So I visited the next day, and the results were positive for cancer. Maria had been unable to sleep for months, and only over the last month was able to find some rest with medication. It's a sad and not atypical story of only having access to the public hospitals, living at a distance, and having voices that promote superstition and fatalism in your ear and head instead of taking initiative for real investigation. In any case, her son was going to receive his first holy communion the next day, and she had earlier resolved not to go because it was in the next village over and the whole effort to go through it all would be too much. Having heard that, I wondered: hadn't anybody offered to make accommodations for her? Like someone to take her specially at least for a time? They hadn't heard anything. So, I decided to look into borrowing the priest's car to pick her up and bring her to the first communion Mass to be present while her son receives communion at least, and then bring her back. There were about 24 kids in the celebration, and about 10 were from Chontal. So, at the next mass, I went to ask the priest, and came across the seminarian who's in the parish for a while. His words were, "Oh, they don't have to go, someone like you can go in their place." Lol - seminary formation! (He's not on my favorite list, as you can probably tell.) When I got to the priest, he acted surprised to know about it, and was very much in agreement with me, offering the car. Anyways, the sad part is that no one - no one - in the village, neither the religious ed instructors, nor the kids receiving communion or their parents, nor the family I live with who have a truck - no one thought to give the woman a 10-minute ride so she could be at her son's first communion. Everyone knew she was sick and couldn't get around too well. But the holy people of the rosary group who rope people into reciting a lot of prayers and making promises they can't keep, the catechists who sit up front and take over the readings and activities and edge everyone else out, the seminarian and the priest who like to manipulate their offices and coerce people into participating - no one thought about the actual families. This is why I don't get along with the church leadership here.

Anyway, I did ask the guy I live with, with the truck, and he said yes he'll do it. So instead of using the priest's car, that’s what we did. We arrived with perfect timing right at the Our Father, and it was great to see that young woman walk up to the front with her husband to a very front row seat, to see her son receive his first communion and to receive herself, and to get all the moments she wanted, a day after finding out that the large bulge she's had on her uterus for the past 4 months and giving her debilitating pain is actually cancer. Her plans had been to skip the first communion and instead make it to his confirmation 3 years later. Now, who knows if she will have that time in the future. Now was the time.

Odds and Ends

Here's a giant beetle, pretty cool. It doesn't bite or sting. In fact I was surprised how easily you can handle it without any worry at all. Brandon was proud to have found it, and keeps it as a pet!