That afternoon, we returned to Jonhattan’s church where someone had set up a projector and screen so we could watch the Ecuador-Poland World Cup game. This was only the second time the Ecuador team had ever played in the World Cup so the whole country stopped to watch. In fact, earlier in the week, an Ecuadorian congressman had decided to go to Germany to watch the game. The people of Ecuador got mad because he would be skipping out on a vote. There were almost small riots in Quito as the congressman battled with the people. The outcome: shut the country down at noon so the people can watch the game and the congressman can go to Germany. And that’s what happened.
Because the country was closed, the school was as well; Jonhattan opened up the church for the students to come watch the game and to give us another opportunity to build relationships with them. There were a few kids there at the very beginning of the game, but they ended up leaving so it was most of our group and the group of people from Jonhattan’s church who had worked with us all week at the Montalvo school. It was fun to have time just to hang out with them. The day before the game, Jonhattan had bought us all knock-off Ecuador jerseys that are bright yellow with blue and red accents. The church, the afternoon of the game, was full of gringos and Ecuadorians alike proudly wearing their brand new soccer jerseys. Ecuador beat Poland 2-0. It was their first World Cup victory ever so the country, and the church, was in a celebratory uproar.
We left the church right after the game and drove over to the coffee house run by Ivan, a Campus Crusade missionary we had met earlier in the week. At the coffee house we left a team of eight to turn the room into an inviting place for high school and college aged kids to just hang out and hear the gospel. The rest of the team walked down the street to the mall. Because we were a group of gringos wearing Ecuador jerseys, people were hanging out of their car windows to yell to us and cheer for their home team’s win.
I was so frustrated then. I enjoyed the game, but I didn’t want to have left the Montalvo school to watch a soccer game and go to the mall. My attitude was bad, and I knew it. One of the blessings of having Ava on the trip was that that was all I had to tell her and I knew she would be praying. Danny and I walked to the mall together and talked about how we would shop together with the intention of finding something Ecuador-ish to take back as a thank you gift for the Tree House and to remind them to continue praying for the kids at the school in Montalvo. We didn’t find anything for the Tree House, but we did find a coffee shop with real coffee. What Terecita had for us every morning was very, very welcomed, but it was also instant. When Danny and I stopped at the coffee shop, I knew that I couldn’t return to the coffee house where Ava was working without some for her. She made me laugh when I handed her the cup and her whole face lit up.
When the whole team met back at the coffee house, the painting team wasn’t done yet so we left them there and returned to Jonhattan’s church for dinner and a prayer meeting. The meeting was, again, up in the sanctuary of the church. Every church we worked at during the week sent a representative so Fernando and Angelica were there with Diego and Maria. Hernan and Jenni came, too. Diego and Maria sat with Ava and I as Jonhattan preached. When he finished, the leaders of the churches had us again stand at the front of the church as the women presented us with gifts. Our guys were given a mug and piece of pottery and our women were given a plate from Hernan’s church and a piece of pottery.
When we were again seated, we were given bracelets made by Miriam, a seventeen-year-old girl from the Montalvo church. The bracelets are spiral wire with red, yellow and blue beads, in honor of Ecuador winning the game. I’m not sure at what point I started crying. I think maybe it was when Danny cried while hugging Miriam. At any rate, I was crying when Hernan got to our pew to give bracelets to Ava and I. Because I was crying, he put my bracelet on, hugged me, and then sat through the rest of the service with one arm around my shoulders and held my hand.
Danny, then, stood and said a few words of thanks for their hospitality and the gifts before we were again called to the front so the nationals could pray for us. They had never seen a group of believers circle around someone to pray for him or her before that week and were eager to practice this new element of prayer. I knew this was the last opportunity I would have to be with Jenni so I again made my way across the room to be near her.
Jonhattan and Angelica prayed that night as I stood holding Jenni’s hand. During the prayer, she took off her scarf and put it around my neck. She held me then, and wept as she prayed for my team and I. My heart broke for this woman with whom it had so connected. After the prayer, I removed the necklace I had worn all week. I gave her the simple silver chain and explained that the charm was the Hebrew letter for life from John 14:6 and that I wanted her to have it because the life of Jesus radiates through her smile. We both cried a lot then. We talked some and I got her email address so that we could keep in touch and I could continue to pray for her.
As I said goodbye to her that last time, it was difficult to let go and walk away. We were both crying when I told her that I didn’t want to leave her there without a mentor. Her response was to ask if I would mentor her. Wow. I’m not equipped for that. It struck me again how blessed I am to have Ava and it hurt to know that this amazing, godly woman longed for this relationship that I have that is so precious to me. My life is different because the Lord blessed me with Ava and on that last night in Ambato, I again prayed that He would give Jenni an Ava.
We spent some time after the service saying goodbye to our friends and exchanging gifts. Terecita, the sweet lady who cooked for us, gave each of the ladies a little blue bracelet and some of her old friends little ceramic chefs to take home. I noticed that Chance was standing over by himself so I walked over and hugged him. We cried together and decided that this saying goodbye and leaving part is terrible. Ben was sitting alone to so I went to check on him. He was sitting alone because he was feeling less than stellar. He said he would be fine so I left him alone.
We left the church soon after and returned to the hacienda. For the first time that week, all the amenities of the hacienda were open. There were people in the pool, sauna and the hot tub. A few of the girls from the church had asked if they could come over and have a real American sleepover so Ester, Maribel and a couple younger girls were there, too. Jonhattan and Ivonne came over to spend time with us on our last night.
I was able to sit and talk with Ivonne for a while that night. It was, really, the first time I had had an opportunity to talk with her since I had sat with her family at dinner earlier in the week. During that Monday night dinner she and I had gone through all the cursory questions that you answer when meeting someone in South America: “Is this your first time in Ecuador?” and “Do you like it here?” I explained to her that night that I had been to Peru twice in the last few years and Brazil when I was a teenager. She remembered that first conversation and as she and I sat alone on the floor of the hacienda, her first statement to me was, “Peru has your heart, doesn’t it?” It was encouraging to me that she could see my love for Peru and South America just from that short conversation.
We talked about the differences I had seen in Peru and Ecuador and the ministries there. And we talked of the decision that I now had to make. We talked some, too, of me finishing school and how her recommendation is that I do finish school, but only if I go to the seminary in Texas that Jonhattan had attended or Word of Life Argentina. I enjoyed the conversation, too, because we are both bilingual enough that most of the conversation was in Spanish, but when I got confused she could switch to English. I left that conversation realizing how much I had thoroughly enjoyed the people in Ecuador and very much appreciating the heart and smile of Ivonne Constante.
Later on that evening, I was sitting on the couch talking with Ava, Dan and some other people when someone came out and said that Ben was really sick. Dan went to check on him, then came back out and said we needed to pray for him. Ava and I waited up for a while to see if he was getting any better. Apparently at one point, he was so ill that he passed out in the bathroom and fell on the floor. Dan and the guys in Ben’s room prayed with him and then and Dan had Ester prepare a hydration drink for him. He was able to keep that down and went to sleep so Ava and I went to bed praying that he would be healthy again in the morning.
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