BAPTIST WORKING TOGETHER IN ECUADOR

Last weekend I attended the annual Ecuadorian Baptist Convention in Machala, Ecuador.  I met up with IMB missionary Johnny Maust in Riobamba, and then rode with him the rest of the way.  Johnny has been serving the Lord in Riobamba for 13 years.  

The population of Ecuador is around 15 million people.  The vast majority of the people are nominal Catholics (at best) who mix Catholicism with traditional religious beliefs.  Many Ecuadorians know about the Bible, but relatively few Ecuadorians know the eternal truths found within the Bible.  Like many of the pastors at the convention this past weekend we have a heart to "Reach and Teach" the people of Ecuador these eternal truths.  

Even though Baptist in Ecuador are relatively small in number they have a big heart for God, and a passion to spread His Word.  In the future we will work along side many of these pastors as well as other like minded brothers and sisters in Christ to help grow, strengthen, and reproduce believers in Ecuador.     

IMB missionary Johnny Maust with 2 brothers, both of whom are Pastors in Ecuador.


Kim and I and the children live near Quito, and Riobamba is about 3 hours south of us down the Pan-American Highway.  Riobamba and Quito are in the Andes Mountains.  Ecuador is divided into three parts: (West) the Coastal Region, (Middle) the Andes Mountains, and the (East) part of the Amazon jungle basin.  During our trip we saw a lot of change in the scenery and felt a change in the climate as well. 

Those are banana trees.  They line the highway for hundreds of miles near the coast of Ecuador, especially near Machala.  Ecuador is the number one exporter of bananas in the world.

Many houses in the coastal areas of Ecuador look different than the ones we usually see near Quito. 

It is against the law in Ecuador to drive a motorcycle without a helmet, but there is no laws requiring the passenger(s) to wear one.  Notice the small child in the middle on the left.  I have seen a family of 5 on the same size motorcycle.  

Sunday morning is a big day in many places in Ecuador to sale and buy all kinds of things in the open market.  This lady and her children were headed to the market to sale some items.

This man was taking a little nap before his next customer in the market.  

In Memphis I would have a cup of Starbucks to
go....In Machala, Ecuador this what I got
when I asked for a cup of coffee to go.

Coffe in a bag, but it was good.

Ecuadorian Snow!

Kyle calls it Ecuadorian snow, but in fact it is hail.

In the Andes Mountains of Ecuador there are two season (Summer aka the dry season and Winter aka the rainy season.) Summer starts about March of every year and goes more or less through September.  During the Summer months it rarely rains and it is very sunny.  Though the temperature never gets above 80 degrees it can be pretty hot at over 8,000 feet when the sun is right on top of you.

During the Winter months it typically rains every afternoon, but sometimes it can be rain for several days without stopping.  In the Winter the temperature is in the 70's but it often feels much colder (especially at night) when it rains. So far our time living here has been in the Summer.  However, a month after moving into a different house we were welcomed to the rainy season by  few days of heavy rain and hail.

When the hard rains and hail began to fall we learned our house has numerous leaks in the roof.   Workers came this past weekend and repaired the roof (we hope), but we will find out soon enough when another hard rain falls.  Chalk this up to another great cross-cultural educational experience as we deal with owners and workers to get the needed repairs.

For now we are warm and dry as we work at learning the language and the culture.  We pray soon, with God's grace, we will know the language and the culture well enough that we can help reach, disciple, and train the people, believers, and leaders of Ecuador!

Nickel & Dime Size Hail.

Buy One Chicken Get One Chicken Leg Free...

A free chicken leg!  A deal you cannot refuse.

A few days ago Kim & I were at a local grocery store named "Mega-Maxi" doing some much needed grocery shopping.  Kim went down the meat isle to quickly pick up a few things, but when she returned I noticed she had a grossed out look on her face.  She was holding the chicken pictured above.  I asked her what was the matter and she stated chicken juices got on her when she picked up the chicken because they had attached a free chicken leg to the side.

We laughed about the incident (well I laughed), and it reminded us of a few other unusual or culturally different things in grocery stores here we have learned about since living in Ecuador. 

 1.  When you unload your shopping cart to pay for your items you then just push it to the side in the middle of the isle.

2.  A family of five will strategically place one member of their family in five different checkout lines to see which line turns out to be faster.  When the fasted line becomes obvious the other four members of the family will merge into that line with many more items.  (This one has ruined my short line on more than one occassion, but is a perfectly acceptable practice here.)

3.  There are two different ways people get a receipt.  One is "factura" and the other is "consumer final".  This in particular caused a great deal of confusion for us our first month or so.  You see they would ask, "factura?"  Of-course like any good American male who really does not understand but does not want to look like he does not understand I responded, "si."  At which point the cashier would begin asking me a long series of questions while I stood there dumbfounded thinking I have cash can't I just pay.

We now know to say "consumer final"  and I have mostly stopped saying "si" to questions I do not understand.  Shopping goes much smoother, but there is still an occasional free chicken leg that gets thrown into the mix of things when we least expect it.

September Newsletter

The Savage Sightings

September 2012

For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting.  Praise the Lord!  (Psalm 117:2)

Carolyn, Kyle & Gray having a picnic in our backyard.

Recently we moved to a different house in the same area of the Los Chillos Valley.  The move was brought about when we learned we were being exposed to dangerous gases and fumes. We praise the Lord for providing another house so quickly, and removing us from danger.  Our new house has proven to be a tremendous blessing and it feels like home to everyone.  It is a great reminder of God’s continuous grace and provision for us.

We visited "Old Town Quito."

Updates

Our Spanish comprehension is increasing “poco a poco” – that is “little by little” as we continue our studies.  In context, we can hold basic conversations.  We are excited about our remaining six months of language learning that will bring us to a sufficient level for communication.  We are eager to be able to “reach and teach” here in Ecuador.

At this point it is difficult to communicate with any kind of depth. However, we have been giving out pocket-sized copies of the Gospel of John in Spanish as well as directing them to the church we attend Iglesia Biblica Bautista.  These booklets are a great resource and one of the tools we plan to utilize in the future.  We use the ones pictured below.  If you would like to donate some for us to hand out please contact us via phone or e-mail for more information.  Thank You for your continued prayers and support! 

Please Pray:  Language learning, culture adjustment & opportunities to share God's Word!

Contact Information:  Brad & Kim Savage - savageb@globaloutreach.org - 901-405-4747

Gas - Gas - Gas

“Gas – Gas – Gas” the words I heard while training in the Marines when facing possible exposer to dangerous chemicals or gases.  Though Kim and I and the kids did not have anyone yelling “Gas – Gas – Gas” to warn us of the possible dangers, we did learn recently the house we were living in was exposing us to dangerous gases and fumes.

Another cultural learning opportunity I suppose because everything here runs off of gas – the stove, the water heater, the dryer, etc., and all are things we use on a daily basis.  Like many other things here we are often not sure what is normal and what is not.  However, maybe this one should be placed into the  “DUH” category of not being normal to have the smell of gas in the house, but we had never used propane tanks before.

To make a long story short Kim and I were able to find another house to live in and we moved two weekends ago and are settling in without the aroma of gas in the house.  We thank God that nothing bad happened to anyone and no one seems to have any negative effects from being exposed to the gases and fumes.  

Christmas in June & Birthdays in July!

June & July were months of celebrations and gifts for us.  This month we celebrated Gray's 2nd Birthday on the 23rd and Kyle's 9th Birthday today the 30th.  Aside from our family time of celebration with them, Kyle received a package for his birthday from the BMX Boys Club from Shirley Hills Baptist Church in Warner Robins, GA.  Shirley Hills is the church my(Brad) mother still attends and the church I grew up attending.  It is also the church Kim & I were wed almost 17 years ago.  Needless to say Kyle was very excited to open the package!

Some of the many great things in the gift!

Kyle's BMX Boys T-Shirt!

In June we also received a bunch of wonderful things in a gigantic package from the Sunday School Class of Dennis Wofford from Immanuel Baptist Church in Olive Branch, MS in June.  It was like we were having Christmas in June!

WOW!  What a package!

Christmas in June!

Gray loves orange Tic-Tacs!