October 2007

Dear family and friends,

We wanted to write before Chris made his trip to the Diocese of Massachusetts for appointments and the Diocesan convention, all part of his postulancy process. We have been busy as the new school year started for Claire, a seminary extension class started for Chris, and Isabel this month started a few mornings a week in a daycare so Trish could focus a little more on work with CLAI, the Diocese, and the Colombian refugee community center that she is working on with Cesar and Paty, Mennonite Colombian pastors here in Quito.

Thanks to the purchase of a pickup truck last month we have had more flexibility in traveling to visit congregations that are not in Quito and more overall opportunity to continue the work that we are doing. At the end of September we were invited to spend the day in Hechaleche, or La Hondonada, a community a few hours south of Quito, to attend the service of the indigenous congregation there, where there were two baptisms, and then attend the blessing of a new house and the party which followed. A busy day with lots of food! The following weekend Chris spent Saturday and Sunday in the same area, one hour north of Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador (and one of the highest in the world). For two days he attended church services, meetings with various church members, spending time with a new congregation meeting in a home, and visiting several communities, some which have Episcopal churches and some which don’t, with the priest who serves them. This one priest presides over six or more services each weekend. He is extremely dedicated to the people in these communities and was pleased to have Chris along with him for the weekend. He looks forward to the whole family visiting next time.

Trish has been busy getting the diocesan library in order, ready for the Theological Education Program students and the clergy to be able to borrow books. If you have books (preferably in Spanish!) that you would like to donate to the library, please let Trish know and we can figure out how to get them down here. She has also been working at starting up a small community center for Colombian refugees, in coordination with Paty and Cesar, mentioned above. This has so far mostly been grant writing to fund the center, learning from Paty, Cesar, and others involved in refugee work in Quito, and meeting refugees at the Mennonite church.

Claire and Isabel are great. Claire is enjoying Kindergarten as we look for an appropriate school for her next year, since the one she’s in only goes through Kindergarten. Isabel is in daycare four mornings a week, operated by a woman who attends the English speaking Episcopal/Lutheran congregation (http://www.stnicholashouseofdreams.info/home). The website is included here because the purpose of the daycare is to fund a ministry for street children. So it is a wonderful project, and we’re glad Isabel can be a part of it! We were concerned that she wouldn’t take too well to daycare, being as attached as she is to Trish, but from day one she has been excited to go, and is very comfortable and independent there. Now if she could bring some of that home….  We also had a wonderful visit with our good friends, Rob and Becky, from the Boston area. We took a real vacation and enjoyed time in the Quilotoa Circuit, an area south of Quito, at a delightful eco-lodge.

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, and support throughout this first year in Ecuador.  They are invaluable!

Much peace,
Trish, Chris, Claire, and Isabel

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Iglesia Episcopal del Ecuador
F. Sarmiento N39-54 y Portete
Quito
Ecuador