2007 Ecuador Mission Trip

For His Children

Quito and Latacunga, Ecuador

September 22 – October 6, 2007

This report contains two parts. First is an overview of what we did. It is not meant to capture all events, just those that were key. Second are a series of comments by various the team members of the two most memorable things that happened or that touched their hearts. The events and people definitely tugged strongly at each member’s heart.

Overview

Our team began meeting about six months prior to the trip to begin to build relationships with one another. We reviewed the country’s history – social, political, economic, cultural, religious, etc. to prepare us somewhat for the brief time we would be living in a different culture. The goals were to develop a smooth functioning team, sensitivity to the people we would encounter, assignment of specific tasks each member (cooks, grocery shoppers, group photographer, secretary, etc.). We had team-building exercises, brief training in Spanish, review of detailed information about what to expect upon arrival, what to be cautious about, the currency, tipping, traveling, the weather, clothes to wear, etc. We had received considerable information on these and other subjects from Clark Vaughn, who, together with his wife, Melinda, direct the orphanage. We had also received information from Dean Rosnau, a board member of For His Children (FHC) who lives in June Lake, California and has led a number of groups to the orphanage.

Based on requests from the Vaughn’s, we asked for clothes, blankets, new tennis shoes and children’s medicine from the congregation. The response was fabulous! All together we transported about almost 500 pounds gifts – to FHC from Glenkirk - with love.

We left Glenkirk at 3 AM in the rain (!!) to catch our flight from LAX at 6:15 AM. All went well. Our bags were clearly marked to make them visible to all (thanks to Debbie Belt for the colorful ladybug labels). Our trip from LAX to Quito via Miami on American Airlines went well. The most exciting time was gathering our baggage at Quito’s rather small, cramped baggage claim area. After a while, only one bag was still missing until Shelly’s eagle eye spotted a ladybug at the bottom of a baggage cart that was being moved toward customs check-out. With Herculean strength she pulled the bag from the bottom of the stack and we were on our way.

The orphanage is nestled away in a compound surrounded by eight-foot high concrete walls and monitored by a guard during the day. He (Alfredo) opens and closes the gate for recognizable cars and people. The orphanage is actually in two walled parcels located on opposite sides of the road in a nice neighborhood in northern Quito. About 25 babies and toddlers are housed on one side, which is also where Clark and Melinda have their home (above the babies and smaller toddlers) (Casa de Vaughn). Nearby is another large home (Casa de Harlow) that has children from about 2-5 years old, as well as the Guest House above it where we stayed. Across the street is Casa de Fe where there are older children who have greater special needs and are more difficult to place in adoption.

The children are cared for 24 hours a day by remarkable teams of “tias”, or “aunts”. The tia teams work 24 hours straight, take two days off, and then return for another 24 hour stint. Each team always has the same group of children (babies plus small toddlers, larger toddlers, and older, special needs children). This gives the children a sense of continuity and security by always seeing familiar faces. The tias are truly amazing. In the morning they get the little guys up and dressed. The toddlers soon learn to feed and dress themselves (except for putting on their nappies), make their beds, sit obediently and quietly at their little tables awaiting the morning meal prepared by the tias. Next is play time often outside if it is not raining. (The weather in Quito is remarkably moderate – 55 to70 degrees; the primary change is a sunny season versus a rainy season.) After playtime they are fed again and put to bed for an afternoon nap. While they sleep, the tias are busily doing laundry, cooking, scrubbing floors and furniture (which glisten with cleanliness). When they awake from their naps it is time for a bit more play time, then dinner, into their PJ’s and off to bed. The children are remarkably good about adhering to the routine and rules. American kids would not be able to match them! Once they are in bed and sleeping, the tias continue to clean, fold laundry, prepare food, etc. Seldom do the tias rest unless all the work is done for the day and the children are quietly sleeping. In those quiet instances they will unfold a small mattress, lay it outside the children’s nursery rooms, and sleep just outside their doorways, always ready for any need that arises during the night. Watching them interact with the children quickly shows how much they love them, and vice versa.

When we arrived, four new babies had just entered the orphanage. The babies were especially demanding, as babies often are. The tias were literally running up and down the hallways, trying to attend to all the children and get the work done. Our team quickly filled in the gaps by helping with the little ones, dressing them, feeding them, playing with them, and just generally loving them, as well as doing the same with the other older children. The children are absolutely irresistible, so spending time with them was a true joy. They are heart-stealers with beautiful little round heads, lots of dark hair, big brown eyes, and wonderful little smiles.

Our days normally began after breakfast by breaking into small groups, each to attend a different children’s home There were also work projects (painting this, fixing that, etc.). Our “sub”teams tended to rotate among the different children’s houses and projects from day to day, although there were some team members who seemed to monopolize the babies more than others, but we will name no names. By far the most difficult children to care for were the older children in Casa de Fe. They often face a future without adoption because their disabilities are so significant – cerebral palsy, spinal bifida, possibly also fetal alcohol syndrome and personality disorders, Downs syndrome, etc. One child has been with FHC for 14 years.

The team’s work days were often broken by the children’s early afternoon naptimes. During those few hours, team members did either devotions, wrote in their trip journals, or took short naps.

Periodically we also went shopping at Supermaxi for our groceries and to Kiwi??? for work supplies. We normally traveled to and from by taxi. The Supermaxi is much like Vons or Ralphs, but smaller and with some foods that are definitely different than we are accustomed to. Prices were reasonable, particularly vegetables.

Probably two-thirds of the children are perfectly normal. They are often at FHC for a variety of reasons – 1) unwed mothers (still quite a stigma in a strongly Catholic-dominated society), 2) too many children – cannot cope financially or otherwise, 3) birth defects (in addition to the more severe forms mentioned above, children have cleft pallets, displaced hips, heart valve problems, etc). Ecuadorians seem to want only want the “perfect” children adopted by Ecuadorian nationals. The other children with the various defects are eligible for international adoption. Some of the defects are relatively easy to overcome with surgery – cleft pallets, leaking heart valves and hip displacement. FHC is normally able to arrange for these surgeries, so the imperfect often become perfect, but the stigma still remains, so they are only available for international adoption. Unfortunately, the adoption process in Quito is horribly slow. For the entire 2 million population, only four judges are available to declare that a child is officially abandoned and available for adoption. The adoption courts are jammed with cases, so it may be 2 to 3 years before this declaration is made and the adoption process can proceed. By this time the children are less adoptable (because they are older), and they have also bonded to their FHC family of “brothers and sisters”, and “tias”. When adoption actually occurs, it can be a heart-wrenching experience for these little children, pulling away from the familiar to go to the unfamiliar. Another hurdle to the process is the frequent changes in adoption officials. Ecuador has had 105 governments in the last 150 years! Each time a new leader takes power, much of the bureaucracy is changed and replaced by people familiar to the new leader but not necessarily qualified for the work (political cronyism),. The result is that FHC has to establish relationships with the new officials and “train” them. It is a painfully slow and inefficient situation that puts the children at risk.

On our first Friday morning we had a special shopping experience, going to an open market to shop for vegetables and fruit for the children. We were each allotted $6, given two lists, both in Spanish, one for fruit and one for vegetables. The names were often undecipherable, so we were trying to price-shop for things for which we were not clear what they were. We asked vendors for help. We gestured, asked questions. They responded, but we often did not clearly understand. It was great fun, and it was also an amazing place. Everything possible for food was sold in stalls set up for the day – fruit, vegetables, live chickens in gunny sacks with holes to allow their heads to poke out, live hamsters, fresh milk from goats, hanging beef, hogs and sheep, plucked chickens, stacks of fresh fish, fire wood, etc. Nothing was priced and since we stuck out like sore thumbs, the prices quoted were definitely higher than prices quoted to locals. We bartered. They bartered back. Prices constantly changed, or quantities changed, or the cash returned as change was “off” a little. It was really a fun hour of trying to complete our shopping lists within the limits of our budgets. And the people were very friendly.

Quito is a town of about 2 million people. It is built in and up the sides of a valley running north-south. The northern portion is the older, nicer part of the city. The southern part is newer and often consists of houses jammed together without roads or normal amenities. Squatters frequently lived in the southern area, building homes totally not to code. In total the city was much cleaner than say, Mexico City. Also, at 9,300 feet, the climate was definitely more enjoyable with cooler temperatures and cleaner air. One night we took a tour of Old Town. It has the old government buildings, churches, plazas, homes with beautiful flower-covered balconies. The larger public buildings were cleanly painted and beautifully lit with flood lights. It was memorable.

Another adventure was visiting HCJB (Heralding Christ Jesus’ Blessings), a long-established Christian radio station that beams its message across to many Latin American countries. Our tour guide, Doug Weber and his wife were originally members of Church of the Open Door in Glendora! They have lived in Quito and worked for HCJB for 14 years. The station’s equipment is amazingly up-to-date. We saw them making radio broadcasts that would appeal to younger people, and classrooms for students of broadcasting.

We also went across the street to see HCJB’s hospital that offers a full line of care to tens of thousands of Ecuadorians each year for much lower fees than they would pay at government hospitals that provide care at lower standards and for greater cost. The hospital also has a communicable disease research unit that is noted for the quality of its work. Our tour leader was Dr. Wally Swanson, who has a truly remarkable story that we were blessed to hear.

The Swanson’s (Wally and Helen) live on the same compound as FHC, just down the hill from the orphanage. For some unknown reason, our team was the first of many teams that have visited FHC to invite the Swanson’s for dinner and hear their remarkable stories as long-standing missionaries in Ecuador. Both are near 80. Both lost their spouses some years ago and then married about five years ago. Dr. Swanson’s story was probably the most interesting, as he told us how he was called into medical mission from humble beginnings in the Midwest and served in Ecuador for almost 50 years. He was practicing at the time five Wyliffe missionaries were speared to death by a vicious Amazon Indian tribe they were trying to befriend, to learn their language and then translate the Bible into their tongue. He told us of his work battling a polio outbreak among these same Indians about 12 years later. It was through this work and the work of one of the wives of a slain missionary that this tribe and a neighboring warlike tribe were brought out of the darkness of a life focused on killing and into the saving light of Jesus Christ. It was truly a moving story. A film, titled “The End of the Spear” was recently made by a son of one of the missionaries who was killed. Dr. Swanson also had a slide show that was somewhat more accurate, but both were really captivating. The Swanson’s are very humble Christian servants who to this day continue to serve the Lord in different ways.

We spent one day visiting popular tourist villages noted for their handicrafts – Otavalo and Cotacahci. One is noted for its woven goods, the other for its leather craft. We also visited Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World), a nearby town located directly on the equator. The earth’s magnetic fields converging along the equator cause very interesting phenomena, which we witnessed.

On our Sundays we attended the English Fellowship Church, which is comprised mainly of various English-speaking missionaries and middle to upper class Ecuadorians who are believers who want worship and improve their English.

The beginning of our second week we traveled 80 miles south to the province of Latacunga, where FHC has its second orphanage. It rents a large private home near a rural community called Salcedo, but is now beginning construction of a 10,000 square foot orphanage. It has purchased the land and built a new eight foot high cement wall (to keep squatters out). The new site is located in a very quaint rural setting.

The temporary rented home, located immediately adjacent to the Pan American Highway, is very spacious, with a large sala (living room), play room, kitchen and small office downstairs. Upstairs are four bedrooms that have been converted into nurseries. The house is home to about 25 beautiful children. The love and care they receive by FHC staff is truly a miracle given they were abandoned children who otherwise quite possibly would not have lived. As we entered the sala, there was a table, empty except for a woven basket that held a stack of brightly colored little felt hats the children wear. We were told to expect they would be shy because they did not often see strangers, but God worked in them so that within about 10 minutes most of the barriers were broken down and we began to play with them, feed them, and generally just love them and be loved in return. Their home fits the rural setting, with a field at the back that had once had field corn, but now has a sheep and a black cow. They also have chicken pens with chickens clucking about in the penned yard. Unlike the Quito orphanage, which is about 800 feet higher and in a drier climate with fairly sparse vegetation, the Latacunga home has grass and abundant melt water from neighboring snow-capped peaks.

In addition to caring for the children, one of our tasks was to visit the new building site where a cistern was being installed. With shovels, wheel barrows and our muscles, we moved a large pile of earth away from the cistern (about 10 feet wide, 20 feet long and 10 feet deep). We also moved gravel to a cement mixer to help with the pouring of cement for the floor of the structure. Once completed, the new 10,000 square foot orphanage will house 40 children on the bottom floor. The top floor will be available for work teams and the permanent help. The total project cost will probably come to about $300 - $350,000 dollars (interestingly, Ecuador adopted the US currency as its own currency, so there is no exchange rate issue to deal with). This is not an insignificant amount of money, but it only represents about $30 - $35 per square foot for construction cost! It would hard to build a child’s playhouse here for that amount.

While at the Latacunga orphanage, we stayed in a rather nice hotel in Salcedo that overlooked a lovely plaza surrounded by a beautiful church and some governmental buildings. The daily rate was $15! We frequently ate our meals there, which were very tasty and also remarkably inexpensive. We also experienced an Ecuadorian equivalent of Poppa John’s with pizza delivery provided by small motorbikes with insulated boxes mounted on the back fenders for the pizza. Although we did not use the delivery service (we ate at the restaurant), the food was good and also remarkably inexpensive.

After several days at Latacunga, we returned to Quito and resumed our work with the orphanage there.

On the second Wednesday of our stay, we attended a night service at the Spotlight service of the English Fellowship Church. The attendees were primarily Ecuadorians who want to practice their conversational Spanish. After a short sermon/story, we were broken down into three groups depending on our understanding of Spanish and their level of English proficiency. There were questions developed around the sermon topic. It provided us with an opportunity to bring in the Gospel as we worked with our groups to answer the questions. It was followed by a brief social time.

On Saturday, October 6th, we returned home, leaving behind our hearts for wonderful little children and bringing home wonderful memories we will keep forever.

The trip cost about $1000 per person. Airfares and medical insurance, which accounted for the primary expense, were remarkably lower than originally estimated; however, with the price of oil now bouncing close to $100 per barrel and expected to rise even more, it will be interesting to see what sort of fares we will get next summer.

Our two summer trips in 2008 will cover two 9-day periods Saturday, July 12 – Sunday, July 20 and Sunday, July 20 to Saturday, July 28. Departure will be early in the morning; return will be early in the evening. Total flight time is about 12 hours with layover time included.

The following are comments by various members of the Team – what touched them most.

Margie Hall: I am impressed with the quality of care the children receive and with how nice the facility is. The children cared for by For His Children are so blessed to have been placed there instead of in a state orphanage. Despite their heavy work loads and long hours, the tias are kind, loving, and patient with the children. Because the children are so well kept and happy, you can tell the tias take pride in what they do. Our hearts go out to the children because they do not yet have a “forever family”, but in so many ways they are better off than many children in Ecuador. I would strongly support a recommendation for Glenkirk to partner with For His Children so they can continue to serve the orphan population of Ecuador.

Meeting with Dr. Wally and Helen was a memorable experience. To hear their real life stories about the joys and hardships of being missionaries was very interesting. They are both amazing people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to fulfilling the Great Commission. Being able to watch the movie “The End of the Spear” in a house built by Steve Saint, one of the Wycliffe missionaries who was killed by Amazon Indians and lived in by his wife Racheal, while Dr. Wally gave an on-going commentary was a very moving experience. Dr. Wally and Helen were truly and unexpected bonus to our mission trip.

Ginny Wiedmann: It is hard to pinpoint one event that was outstanding, as so much was fun and rewarding. It was the time spends with the babies in Casa Vaughn that brought me so much joy. There were four newborns who loved to be held and fed. The “tias” or aunties who do all the work, cooking, cleaning, bathing, loving and playing were wonderful. It was terrific to be able to do some of their work, and have such a good time doing it. I loved it when the children saw us, smiled and put their arms up to be held. The four little conspirators, Marie Antonio, Andrea, Noemi and Evelyn have totally captured my heart. They are all beautiful children who crave individual attention, but love each other, tease each other and are forming such strong bonds among themselves that it will be a hard transition when they meet their forever families.

I loved the time with Carlito in Casa de Fe (House of Faith). He has a beautiful smile which he uses freely. He loves to be pushed in his wheelchair, especially over the bumpy brick path. He even appeared to enjoy my singing and like to have his face and arms stroked.

Another, rather unexpected joy was the time spent at the Wednesday night Spotlight service held at the English Fellowship Church. This is an outreach program to the Ecuadorian community who want to practice speaking English. The attendance was much larger than I had anticipated. There were 3 different groups, beginners, intermediate and advanced. I was placed with the middle group and found the group of four very easy to talk with and very appreciative.

Luanne Jaime: Working with the children in the infant house on an almost daily basis allowed me the opportunity to form close, if only temporary, bonds with some beautiful children. They were open to us and, after an initial sizing up of us, lifted their arms up to be held and cuddled every time we entered the house. I fell totally in love with little Julia Alicia (11/2 months old) and when I put her to bed in her bassinette on the last Friday night thought my heart would break. Some of the children in the infant house had physical, emotional or developmental problems. They were still happy and loving and obviously well taken care of. One of the most impacting moments was to see Ian smile toward the end of our visit. During our time there he had been in the hospital and when he returned to FHC was on oxygen. He was not a happy child! When he came off the oxygen two days before we left his smile lit up the room. It reminded me that in spite of adversity, God will always take care of the orphans and will send people – like us – to show them the love of Christ.

Another memorable part of the trip was our exposure to Dr. Wally and his wife. Their incredible wealth of information and experience with the radio station and the hospital as well as with the missionaries and their families who were involved with the killings of the five missionaries in the Ecuadorian jungle brought a new understanding to a story I have heard many times. To hear those stories from people who lived through the events or who knew those who did made a real impression on me. Then to find out that Dr. Wally did not usually spend that much time with the mission teams who came through FHC made me understand just how special our time with him had been.

The Spotlight service at the church was also a real adventure. I was with an advanced group (because my Spanish is not so good!) and in my group were one economist, two English professors at the University, one R.N., and one broadcaster with HCJB who did a biblical doctrines broadcast throughout Latin America . They were all extremely well educated professionals coming to this little church to improve their English language skills. It was a privilege to meet with them and have the opportunity to understand Ecuador a little better through their eyes.

Barbara Sykes: Highlights of my experience in Quito, Ecuador would include the wonderful opportunity to work at the For His Children Orphanage and to visit the HCJB radio station and hospital.

Working with the children and observing the care and love these children receive by the entire staff including doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologist, tias and the Vaughns was a wonderful blessing. The organizational structure and the facilities seemed outstanding to me an outsider. I hope that a partnership can be established between Glenkirk and the orphanage. What a wonderful opportunity for Glenkirk teams to be able to share in this wonderful ministry physically as well as financially.

I so appreciated being able to visit HCJB radio station as I have a close friend who was a missionary there for many years. As part of that connection we made contact with Dr. Wally Swanson and his wife Helen who also knew my missionary friend. Dr Wally shared with us history regarding the massacre of the five missionaries and the movie The End of the Spear. It was such a blessing to me to meet, hear and see these two missionary’s still in action at their age and the wealth of experiences they have had over the years. Being able to tour the HCJB hospital with Dr. Wally as tour guide and see that ministry was another wonderful experience.

Many memories from this trip, more than I can share, will remain with me as God blessed me abundantly.

John Wiedmann: I would ditto all the comments above and add a few more. One experience which I alone could appreciate was leading a group of 8 women! God should give me a hero’s award for endurance. Actually, they were all pretty well behaved and responsive except when it came time to end a few shopping trips. We were allotted specific amounts of time to do our shopping because either Clark or Melinda had schedules to keep (they were our drivers). No names will be mentioned, but there were definitely some Nordstrom shoppers in our group who would probably still be shopping if they had money or if I had not corralled and coerced them with verbal threats if they were not back at the van by the assigned time. It was an interesting adventure.

On a more serious note, one thing I came to appreciate was a comment made to the Global Impact Mission Committee in October 2006 when we were visited by a board member of For His Children. He has led numerous groups to the orphanage and told us what we could expect to be doing. He ended his description by saying, “You just need to love the children”. It was not really clear to me precisely what that meant – until I experienced the children first-hand. They are God’s BEAUTIFUL creations. They out-loved us and stole our hearts completely and forever. You just wanted to bring them home, but, alas, that was not to be. In the end there is a piece of my heart that is missing because they stole it, but it’s OK because they left their love in the remainder of my heart. All I had to do was “just love the children”. It was an experience I will cherish forever. God’s love is amazing - and endless. It changes a person forever.

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