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Dear friends and family,
On August 23rd as our bus wound its way down
the mountain roads, excitement was mounting within me. The vegetation
was turning more jungly, and everything looked so green and damp. I
just wanted to grin! I was returning to Shell, Ecuador after one and a
half years away. (I've heard it said that "Shell grows on a person
like mold." Too true!) A phrase from a Sara Groves song kept repeating
itself in my head. "Going home, I'll meet you at the table..." Of
course the song wasn't referring to Shell, but while visiting my "home
away from home," I would be pointed towards the real meaning of those
words.
It was good to be home in Shell. For the
first week the house of some friends, the Waskoskys, became home
base. Situated in the middle of town, it was the perfect place to feel
a part of the Ecuadorian culture. While Dad worked on the telephone
system, the rest of us spent that time keeping house (fighting off
cockroaches!) and preparing the mission school for
the beginning of classes. When the Waskoskys returned, I
commented on how brave they were to have family after family living in
their home during the summer months. They answered that their
house and everything in it really belong to God, so the
natural thing is to share it with others. We certainly
appreciated their generosity and found it hard to say good-by to the
place.
There was a new house awaiting us over on
the HCJB compound for the second part of our stay. After organizing the
cupboards and setting some things around to decorate the place, it began
to feel like home as well. As time went on, we began to see that we were
in that house for a purpose. It was right near where Dad was working at
the time, and when we needed to be at the hospital for Marlin's
feedings, we were just a couple minute walk away.
At times it was hard to deal with all of the
changes that had taken place in Shell since I'd left. So many people
had moved! Yet it was wonderful to see familiar faces among both the
Ecuadorians and the missionaries, and many of them made our family feel
welcome. Our first night in town there was a supper invitation to one
of the missionary doctor's homes, and there were other people around the
community always ready to stop and say "hi" when our paths
crossed.
Among them was the principal of the school, Margie Grant, and her
husband, Ron. They are part of MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship).
Margie helped us feel a part of life there by finding many jobs for us
to do at the school. Ron gave a wonderful tour of the Nate Saint House
and MAF hanger and was always helping us with travel details. Together
they welcomed us to their home for supper and an evening of visiting and
games.
Meeting at the table... Those words were in
the song that rang through my head when I first got to Shell. Our last
evening in town we met at the pizza place with Fred Schmidt, my "Ecuador
dad" who was back in town giving the other MAF pilots some time off.
The following evening in Quito we visited their new home where his wife,
Desi, and son, Kyle, served us supper. Those evenings of visiting
around the table were special times for me to introduce my Stowman and
Schmidt families to each other and for us to do lots of catching up.
While in Quito the Avant Mission Guest House
served as home base. Darrell and Mandy, long time missionaries to Ecuador,
give so much of themselves to make their guests feel at home. Breakfast
there was always a highlight not only because of the wonderful food but
because it turned into a big party! There were new people to meet and
old acquaintances to renew. We were especially thankful for all of the
people we knew there on our return trip, for it was like a taste of
Shell in the big city.
One of the guests the last night was a young
and bubbly Ecuadorian woman who is working with HCJB on community
development. She told us of her work among the mountain and jungle
people teaching classes on topics such as sanitation and of her work on
drinking water projects. She sees it all as preparation for heaven, she
said, where we'll see all cultures and tongues praising God together.
It was neat to hear someone put that into words. We were able to
observe and be a part of many mission related activities, but this one
thought is what gave all of that work value. It's about pointing people
to the saving grace of our loving God and seeing them receive
forgiveness and hope of eternal life. It's about bringing glory to
God.
On our last Sunday, just hours before
leaving for home, we attended the morning service at English Fellowship
Church. During the time of worship and sharing, Darrell from the
guesthouse stood up and told of attending the wake for a Quichua
believer that had died the previous week. The 60 some year old woman
who had suffered from stomach cancer had her eyes focused upon heaven.
Darrell told the amazing story of her asking her family to pack their
bags to travel to the place she was going to be buried. Her children
refused to do so, but her husband followed her wishes and packed her
bags. After 2 weeks of not getting out of bed, she got up and had her
husband comb her hair and get her dressed. She was ready. At that point her head
dropped, and she was in the presence of her Lord. She was home.
It was hard to say good-bye to Ecuador and
to the little town of Shell set on the edge of the jungle. It was also
hard to say good-bye to so many special friends, but the time came when
we had to board the plane to the US. That's when I remembered more of
the words to Sara Groves' song.
Going home, I'll meet you at the table.
Going home, I'll meet you in the air.
You are never too young to think about
it.
Oh, I cannot wait to be home.
(From "Conversations" by Sara Groves)
Now we are back at our place near Rothsay.
We could say that we are home at last and that our journey is over, but
in many ways neither of those statements is true. All of life is a
journey in which we are looking forward to our home in heaven with
Jesus. (There will be no more good-byes there!) Thank you for praying
for us during this last part of our journey. How can we join you as you
journey along life's road? Are your bags packed, and are you ready? I
hope to see you at the table.
Love,
Maren
PS-- We saw many answers to prayer! There
were no problems with my visa and with getting the telephone supplies
into the country! We also felt the power of your prayers as we went
about our daily responsibilities. God is good!
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