Settling In

It is hard to believe that we already spent our second Sunday in Shell yesterday. We were able to visit a church that is very close to our house. It is commonly known as "The Quechua Church." The Quechua, along with the Shuar, Achuar, and Waorani (former Aucas) are among the most commonly known Native South Americans (or Indians) in Ecuador, although there are others. This church is made up of a large population of Quechua, Shuar and Achuar plus a few Ecuadorians, Columbians, Argentenians, etc. What a mix! We enjoyed the simplicity of this church. Just two guitars and some hymnals and they managed to make some beautiful music for the Lord. Communion was from a shared cup (glad we were in the front) and rather than having one pastor/leader, the service was led by all the elders of the church. Brooklyn did great in Sunday School and had no trouble switching to her Spanish to play with the other kids. We sensed a great deal of love and fellowhsip among the people and they were very friendly and welcoming. We were one of two gringo families there. This was nice for us because it forced us to get to know people and use our Spanish! Sometimes a large group of gringos tends to cause us to return to our comfort zone and just talk to the English-speakers.

By the way, Spanish is a second language for many of these people too! They certainly aren't critcs of our Spanish, although we may tend to learn some bad habits from them! Something surprising - we've been very relieved that most people here can actually say "Sean" correctly because their original language has the shhh sound - Spanish does not, and Sean becomes Chawn or Chown or Jawn.

We're not done visiting churches before we make a final decision on where to plant ourselves. Pray with us that we can find the place God wants us to be and that we can quickly integrate ourselves into a church family here in Shell.