Why we ended up here {ITEC Ecuador}

Spending a good chunk of time immersed in a Spanish speaking culture has been high on our list for a couple years now. Though my husband is Cuban, he did not learn spanish at home. We both have a desire to be fluent in spanish and a strong desire for our children to learn the language while they are young. We thought our initial Spanish immersion experience would be in Spain, then it changed to Colombia, but shortly before our South American adventure began, we found our expertise could be of use in Ecuador, assisting an organization that was already dear to our hearts.

ITEC Ecuador trains indigenous Christ-followers to meet the physical needs of their community as a door opener for the gospel. They provide basic medical training for community health workers deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle. They teach people to use an iPad to record and edit a compelling video documenting the ways that the lives of themselves and those around them have changed as a result of their relationship with Jesus. This way they can easily share the gospel with others who speak the same language while avoiding the language and cultural barriers that many face when trying to share the gospel to people outside of their own culture. I was shocked to see how many people in very remote areas such as the jungles of Ecuador and the plains of Kenya, have smart phones and use them to watch and share videos.

ITEC is now self-funded by AeroFOR, an organization run by the same people thru which they build and sell airplanes and canoes, offer air transportation and are contracted to operate medivac services for sick and injured people deep in the jungle. Without this service, an injured person may have to endure a lengthy hike and/or canoe ride upstream to where a car can finally transport them to a hospital, a journey that can take days. It's been incredible to see the impact they have on those who depend on them to save the lives of people who would otherwise not make it to a hospital in time.

One of the 40ft canoes in production.

A completed canoe

A beautiful RV-10 nearing completion.

ITEC Ecuador produced and performed a musical, The Prince of Egypt, to a packed house in Puyo, a much larger city 10 minutes away. The two hour long musical told the story of Moses and the Israelites' exodus to a packed venue of about 400 guests. 200 custom costumes were created for this one night only show. It was a lovely way to bring to life the story of God's power and provision.

The story of ITEC really begins back in 1956 when 5 missionaries left this very same airstrip in Shell, never to return. They were killed by the people they had hoped to befriend. You can read about it HERE. Today, a yellow Piper airplane sits atop an oil drilling well in Shell's central park as a reminder of the history of the area.

With Galo's translation assistance, Daddy was able to share the miracle that happened when God saved his life during a deployment. Despite 17 broken bones plus lots of other injuries, he is here with us today, by the grace of God, the one and only true God who desires a relationship with each one of us. If you haven't yet experienced a real relationship with God, drop me a message and I'll be happy to share his and my own experiences with you. 

I recently finished reading Walking God's Trail, a book written by Steve and Ginny Saint sharing some of the ways that God has revealed himself in their lives. If you have ever wondered if God is real and if he cares about the details of our lives, this is a must read.

2019 {Year in Review}

2019 was an incredible year of new experiences for us. We spent five months living in Ecuador, one month in Colombia, then ended the year with a roadtrip from Florida to Ohio and Tennessee. While living in Shell, Ecuador, on the edge of the Amazon, we experienced earthquakes, and learned when you hear a "train", you run for cover, because that is the sound of serious rainfall headed your way! Asher and Journey attended an actual school for the first time ever, which of course was in Spanish! This freed up Daddy and I to be able to volunteer at ITEC Ecuador, helping with anything from cleaning to accounting to building canoes and airplanes! At school the kids learned to play futbol, and found you don't have to speak the same language to be friends. 

We spent time in the "ring of fire". Rode a tram 10,000ft up a volcano where we then explored on horseback, enjoyed lunch from the rim of one of only two inhabited volcano craters in the world.

We explored Cotopaxi National Park by car, on foot and on horseback and experienced blizzard conditions when we tried to hike up the snow-covered mountain.

In Mindo's cloud forest, we rode a cable car over a deep valley then hiked a popular trail past 7 waterfalls. I saw a Cock-of-the-Rock and a Long-Wattled Umbrellabird. 

Nicole and I spent a week birding like mad from the cloud forest, to the paramo of Cayambe Coca, to the Amazon jungle tallying 380 species of birds, while staying in numerous interesting places, meeting incredible people and improving my spanish. 

We spent four days in the Amazon learning what life is like for the Waodani people. We met Mincaye and Kimo, men who killed our friend's grandfather. The bigger shock is that same friend actually introduced us to these men who are now totally changed Christ-followers. We saw firsthand the power of redemption, forgiveness and true love. I watched Mincaye, hunched in his old age, walk barefoot thru the jungle holding the hand of his bride. If you only knew how she became his, you'd understand why I still get emotional thinking back to this memory. 

With the Waodani we planted crops (plantain and yucca) and ate monkey, piranha, wild boar and chontacuro (palm grubs- Asher) in the jungle. We experienced culture shock when we arrived, and again when we traded jungle life for a high-rise in Medellin. A visit to Comuna 13, one of the most dangerous locations at one time, gave us a new perspective on life and how much can change in a short time, both for the bad and the good. 

Back in the states, I had the pleasure of attending Night to Shine with my buddy, Lisa. We milked a cow for the first time at the Fugate homestead. The Obrien's showed us around Chattanooga and treated us to the aquarium. Daddy finally bought another Jeep Wrangler and began outfitting it for overlanding. 

In Florida the kids took classes in Batik art, archery, volleyball and tried indoor skydiving for the first time! They witnessed the birth of 8 puppies and observed their development and helped with their care. They also learned thru fostering that saying goodbye is hard, but it's still worth doing. Numerous trips to Tallahassee and Sarasota gave us time to spend with family. In Ohio we visited Chrissy & Shaun, toured Shawshank (Mansfield Penitentiary) and attended J's annual Halloween bash. When we left Ohio we had no way of knowing it would be two years before we'd be able to return (upcoming covid pandemic). 

At home in Ecuador

Our first week in Shell was spent with Galo, his wife and their three children. Before we arrived my children were very nervous about communicating with kids in Spanish. To their delight, their oldest son knows quite a bit of English. By the end of the night all five kids were running and playing together and sad to say goodnight. They took great care of us by showing us around Shell and feeding us delicious food until our house was ready for us.

 Here is the house we rented in a compound with great neighbors and their six dogs! It was huge- five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen and laundry room. A hide-and-seeker's dream. With all that room you'd think we'd spread out a bit, but no. We closed off the extra three rooms and the kids shared a room as always. Twins that are best friends can't be separated!

View from the front (above) and back (below)

The house is one of 10 residences inside a fenced compound behind a mission-built hospital. The homes were built to house the hospital staff, however after a hospital opened in the next town, this hospital was closed and later reopened as a clinic.

Most people in Shell have a locking fence securing their home and bars on the windows. Initially Journey thought there were a LOT of jails in Ecuador. Ha!

4 of the 6 dogs of the compound. 

On a clear day (which is rare) two volcanos can be seen from our house. This perfectly cone-shaped one is Vulcan Sangay, a 17,158ft active volcano that we witnessed sending up puffs of smoke at times.

(Our house on the left, clinic in the background and Sangay in the distance)

The other volcano, El Altar, is the most rugged mountain I have seen. At 17,451ft, it is always snow-capped and is a real treat when the cloud curtain rises to reveal its beauty.

Having a playground in the backyard was a wonderful bonus.
My children enjoyed playing with our neighbors who were close in age. 

It rains pretty much everyday, often multiple times a day, and sometimes for an entire day. It's not the kind of rain I've known in the US, this feels as though the sky opens up and just pours out from the heavens. When you're outside and hear a train coming, you better hope you're less than 30 seconds from shelter, because that's not a train!

This is a photo from our patio looking thru rain at our neighbor's house.

Some of the most beautiful rainbows appear afterwards.

Cultural Curiosities

A short collection of cultural differences you should know before visiting Ecuador.

Adios is only for final goodbyes (moving away, death). Say Ciao instead.

Never point or wave, use your chin to indicate a direction if necessary.

Never use the single finger "come here" motion (NEVER). Instead do a palm out, fingers down scoop towards you.

When indicating height- for an animal, hold your hand at the appropriate height with your palm down. For a person, the palm should be sideways.


Terms: As we traveled we realized some words were used only in Ecuador and not in Colombia, or even more specifically in Shell, but not in other parts of Ecuador. This is quite interesting, but it seems quite similar to the pop vs soda vs coke type situations we have in the United States.

Mande- polite way to say "What?" when someone calls your name. Or your child gives you the ole "Mom, Mommy, Mama, Maaaamaaaa....." bit. However we learned it's not used in other parts of Ecuador, but is used in Mexico and not at all used in Spain. 

Funda- a bag

I'll add more as I remember them.

Views from Ecuador's Pan-American Highway

The five hour drive from Quito to our new home in Shell, Ecuador was simply fantastic. I was in awe of the beautiful mountains and towering volcanos to which clouds would cling. We drove past innumerable waterfalls, thru tunnels that rain (a bit disconcerting), and patchwork quilt farmland that scaled the steep mountainsides. (Please excuse the photo quality as these were all taken thru the car's window without slowing.)

 We stopped at a cafe with a sweeping view of the valley below. The cafe is also a bonsai tree farm and one of their trees is a miniature orange tree with actual grape-sized oranges growing on it! Wild!

We stopped briefly to gaze at this 240ft waterfall in Rio Verde known as Pailon Del Diablo (Devil's Cauldron). A month later we walked the hanging bridges and rock stairs along these falls.

And five hours after leaving Quito, we arrived in Shell, a small town along the edge of the
Amazon jungle, and our new home for the next five months.

Taking the Teleferico to Vulcan Pichincha

The #1 thing on my list in Quito was to take the Teleferico (cable car) up Pichincha Volcano. Because of the volcano's high elevation (16,000ft at the peak) we waited til our 4th day when our bodies had time to adjust to Quito's 10,000ft elevation. The teleferico, one of the highest lifts in the world, drops you off at 13,000ft. The view overlooking Quito from the top of the teleferico is quite impressive.

Hiking at this elevation was both amazing and absolutely breathtaking, literally. For those struggling with the low oxygen levels, the shop at the top of the teleferico sells canisters of oxygen along with coffee, sodas and snacks. 

Spectacled bears live in the area, however we were not lucky enough to see one.

After our short but very exhausting hike, we opted to take horses further up the volcano. 

Riding thru this gorgeous setting is one of our favorite memories of Ecuador.

Finally we left the horses and headed for the most exciting swing on which we've ever swung.

Swinging 14,000 ft above Quito is really cool, but not as precarious as it appears.

Of course we had to stop to greet the alpacas.

I met this very skilled artist at the base of the teleferico. He began collecting feathers while walking trails as a child, but didn't begin painting for another decade. He paints beautiful landscapes, scenes and very accurate representations of specific birds. He often paints a portrait of a specific species of bird on it's own feather. Many of the tiniest details require the use of a magnifying glass during the painting process. I ended up buying a couple of his works of art and I love them!