We awoke the next morning not feeling entirely rested, but completely charged and ready to tackle whatever the Lord had for us in Quito, Ambato and along the road in between. Dan came to the guesthouse and walked us down the street, around the corner and through the big metal gate in the big cement wall around the HCJB headquarters. He took us into his office or, at least, into meeting room outside his office, which was more accommodating to a group that numbered about 30 people once we added Dan, Jen and their boys Brady and Keagan.
From there Jen took us on a tour of the facility and explained what is the ministry and heart of HCJB, which stands for, in English, Heralding Christ Jesus Broadcast. The passion of HCJB World Radio is making disciples of Jesus all over the world through mass media and healthcare. The ministry began with a radio broadcast in Ecuador in 1931. Over the last 75 years, the ministry has grown worldwide. Today they have ministries in 100 countries and radio broadcasts in 120 languages and dialects.
If I am not paying enough attention to her, my four-year-old sister will, at times, grab my face in her fat little hands and turn my head so that I can see nothing but her. The Lord did that to me during the tour. I had spent three months before the trip trying to figure out how my love of writing and my heart for South America could be tied into one another. At the same time, I was contemplating whether or not I should return to school and finish my degree and if I did, in what field should I get my degree? The tour that began at Dan’s office continued outside where we could look up a mountain and see the towers HCJB uses to transmit their radio programs all over South America. We walked around a corner of the building containing Dan’s office and stood facing another bigger, longer building with the letters “CCC” hanging on the outside.
It turns out the C.C.C. is a college on the HCJB property that focuses on mass communications—print journalism, broadcasting, etc. It is a three-year program accredited by a school in the US. It is not yet considered a bachelor’s program, but surely my associates degree in Spanish would transfer and I have fifteen additional credit hours that didn’t apply to my AA…surely I could get a BA out of this program that would combine everything I loved. I started to cry, then, and Ava gave me “the glare” that is her way of wordlessly asking if I too see what the Lord is saying. If I remember correctly, I told her to shut up and start praying.
The tour ended across the street at La Hospital Voz Andes, the hospital maintained by HCJB. While there, several of our team members were able to visit and pray with William, a boy who is part of Dawn and Jerry Carnhill’s ministry at the Quito dump. The week before, William had lost his arm in a trash baler at the dump. He was in poor spirits and poor health. I wasn’t one of the group who visited him, but I heard that they were asked by the family of the man sharing a room with William if they would pray for their loved one also. Awesome. The Lord draws people to Himself when we simply obey His command to love those who are hurting and bear one another’s burdens.
Back outside the guesthouse we, along with our luggage, piled onto the bus that was to be our source of transportation for the week and had our first daylight encounter with Rogelio. The members of our team who had been to Ecuador before adored Rogelio and assured the rest of us that we would, too, by the end of our trip. Rogelio’s name, to me, suits him. The name speaks of a jolly little man who loves to smile and lives to serve and that is the very essence of Rogelio’s nature. Our team members were right. We all loved Rogelio as one of our own by the end of the trip.
Rogelio’s bus took us that afternoon from Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, through the mountains and past volcanoes both active and dormant, to the city of Ambato. We stopped along the way in a place called Leather Town. I’m not sure if that is a name known only to the numerous groups from Grace who have passed through or the town’s actual name but it is, nonetheless, an apt description. Leather Town is a community whose main source of economy is, well, leather products of all kinds: shoes, wallets, belts, bags, hats; they have it all. And we bought a lot of it.
From Leather Town, we continued our journey to Ambato and to the hacienda where we would stay for the week. I don’t think any of us really expected what the hacienda had to offer with its indoor pool, handball court, sauna and complete kitchen. It was nice and well kept. It was big enough for us to spread out, to eat and even to find some alone time, but it also offered a few couches and a couple of nooks for pleasant and quiet conversation. It was enough to be our home for the week and more than we had anticipated.
That night our group of misplaced gringos descended upon Jonhattan and Ivonne Constante’s home for dinner. Jonhattan is the pastor of La Primera Iglesia Bautista de Ambato, the First Baptist Church of Ambato and he is the main pastor through which Dan coordinates most of his work in the Ambato area. From the States, Danny communicated with Dan in Quito, who communicated with Jonhattan in Ambato who communicated with the other national pastors in the area. Jonhattan’s heart is clearly for the people of Ecuador. You can see it in his interaction with youth and adult alike. He loves people well and the Lord passionately.
As our first day ended, our beds were a welcomed relief. Well, after we got the mouse poop off the sheets. I lay in bed that night thinking back over my first day in this country I would come to love. It had been a beautiful day full of exploration, travel, sightseeing and getting to know my teammates. As I drifted to sleep, I looked toward the morning with anticipation…and a slight groan as I realized how late it was and how very soon 6:30 would come and our alarm would go off and another adventure would begin.
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