We have captured some fun memories of our students performing recently and would like to share them with you.
The songs "10 Mandamientos Boogie / 10 Commandments Boogie" and "Pharaoh, Pharaoh / Faraon Faraon" are both Spanish songs which our students performed at the kids club we did in Porteti (near Gonzanama) in March. Sheryl wrote the Ten commandments song and Johanna set it to music, while Sheryl and the Greenwoods translated the Pharaoh adaptation into Spanish.
10 Mandamientos Boogie.mp3
Faraon, Faraon.mp3
The performance of "So Long, Farewell" was for the going away party for Caroline Chen who was a fellow SIM Loja teammate who went home to Australia at the beginning of April. We prepared this song and dance routine in one day. Not bad huh?
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Homiletics Class
Here is my first practice sermon for my preaching class at Prairie with Dr. David Olson. This sermon is a short reflection on Acts 17:10-12. Enjoy the video!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year's Eve or Old Year's Day?
New Year’s Eve is a cultural experience in Ecuador. First of all, they call it Old Year and their custom of burning the old year in effigy demonstrates this. This year we celebrated New Year’s Eve at a friend’s house in Malacatos, about 45 minutes south of Loja. We arrived in the late afternoon and stayed the night, our first time to stay overnight at an Ecuadorian’s home. After bringing in the New Year in Ecuadorian style, we stayed the next morning and afternoon before heading back to Loja to get some rest. Here’s our reflection of our cultural experiences:
Before arriving, Julio was eager that we arrive, encouraging us to come as early as we could. Upon arrival, there was nothing to do, no plans, just sitting around. Of course to them this was something. But for me, it was hard to just sit. During our time of “sitting around”, we were asked to make a poster to add to the display of “Año Viejo” (old year) effigies to be burned at midnight. Since they were going to burn the mannequin-looking dolls representing the old year. Micah wrote out Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” I made the lettering pretty. We continued to sit and chat.
Julio’s cousin, who helps with youth group, asked Micah to lead a few games that we’ve enjoyed playing at youth group. So we played “signs” and “Moose, Moose” for the next two hours. They were great games to include the deaf mother. She was good! Also, many neighbors stood at a distance and observed our laughter. The family wanted to play more. But it was 11:56PM and Micah said, there’s only 4 minutes until midnight. No one did anything. Just kept sitting around until finally they got out their “Ano Viejo” effigies. The exact time of midnight was not a big deal
So, shortly after midnight we burnt the old year in effigy. But burning wasn’t enough, everyone, or those who could, jumped over them. Yet the evening wasn’t over, we sat down to eat a chicken soup “dinner” after midnight with dessert and coffee. By two it was bed time, so we slipped away to the back of the house.
The next morning we ate a late breakfast by ourselves (others must have eaten before) and then headed down the road to swim in the river. After walking for about 20 minutes, we hitched a ride in the back of a truck passing by. It was a warm day, but the water was cold. When I saw some people washing their newly killed chicken in the river for their cookout, I postponed my entry. Honestly, I didn’t call this much of swimming. The river was moving rapidly. We waded out to a point. And then, one more step and you would be washed away unless quickly and with all your strength you swam across the current. Yikes! I made it though and we rested on the rocks on the other side of the river. One or two more times across was enough before the chill of the water was more than I could take. We started back home, walking through water, meadow, orchard, and along the road. After stopping for a snack at a local “tienda” (store), a taxi finally came by and we quickly jumped on. It would have definitely taken us over an hour of walking. What an adventure.
By early evening, we decided we needed to head back to Loja in order to get home by dark (6:30). The night before we had brought food that we thought was going to be shared, but never saw it again. We were told that the dip for the carrots and celery was “riquismo” (very good). So, upon leaving, we asked for our Tupperware back and received it empty and clean. We walked 45 minutes into town to catch a bus to Loja. After attempting two times to get on a bus we finally made it. They were all crowded with people literally hanging out of the door to make sure they get in. Well, we chose the wrong bus to fight to get on, because after 20 minutes on the road, we got a flat tire. Gratefully, we were going slowly up a hill. The bus driver said that this was typical after New Year’s (the effigies have nails that are left on the streets). Finally we got home, ready for a night’s sleep.
View a video of "Burning the Old Year"
Monday, December 1, 2008
Anthropology at Church in Ecuador
The clock reads 9:50am and Sunday morning worship service is about to start at “Cordero De Dios”. The worship team sets up at the front of a sparsely decorated five by ten meter room on the second story of a typical 400 year old mud block building in downtown Loja, Ecuador. Mismatched paint shows that the auditorium was recently created by removing a wall dividing two smaller rooms. The name of the church is written in Spanish in gold painted Styrofoam letters taped to the front wall. Gold curtains cover one of the two windows, with a makeshift attachment holding it to the wall. Rows of 75 blue plastic chairs are crammed into the room with a narrow isle down the middle. Near the stage is a large speaker, two meters in height, which is more than sufficient to amplify the sound of five microphones, two guitars, a bass and a drum set in this small room. There is a projector connected to a desktop computer which is turned on and ready to project the lyrics of the worship songs on the wall. Everything is ready.
On the side wall of the room is a large tattered red paper heart displaying pictures of several families from the church, which is titled “The Family of God”. Slowly, some of the faces from the heart begin filing into the room. Each person who arrives greets everyone else. Sometimes the greeting takes the form of a wave from a distance, but most often it’s a cheek to cheek kiss from the women and a handshake with a pat on the back from the men.
People are dressed differently based on their positions. The pastor is the best dressed, with a black blazer and slacks. Other male leaders wear button up shirts and slacks. The rest of the men have jeans and t- shirts on. A few older women wear dresses but most of the women are dressed in slacks or even jeans. The teens all have jeans on regardless of their gender. All of the older people wear reading glasses. The choir members wear robes over their other clothes. Everyone is dressed in western attire except for an older Indian woman who is dressed in the indigenous attire of Ecuador including a black hat, a puffy purple skirt, and a grey sweater. Her hat is the only hat in the room. Skin color ranges from a light Spanish tone to a dark Indian tone. Everyone has black hair but all of the men’s hair is shorter than their ears while all of the women’s hair is longer than their shoulders. Every woman wears earrings while none of the men do. Though people are dressed differently, everyone looks well groomed for church.
At 10am, when church was scheduled to start, additional members of the worship team were still arriving and sound checks were still being done. Only six people were seated in the congregation, most of them church leaders. At 10:05am, the music team practiced a song. Then at 10:15am a deacon welcomed everyone to church, all 12 people on stage and the 17 people seated. He read a passage of scripture and invited the congregation to stand while a woman opened the service in prayer. With all still standing, the worship leader took over and again welcomed everyone to church. The first song began at 10:20am, as people continued to arrive. By the end of the second song, there were 35 people in the congregation. The people in the chairs continued to greet the new comers. Younger people looked slightly embarrassed to be arriving late. The deacon who gave the welcome now helped people find seats in the crowded room. Even though a nursery was available, some mothers kept their babies with them. One mother in the center of the church half covered herself with a coat and began nursing her baby.
The sixth and final song ended at 10:40am and 48 people sat down. The deacon returned to the podium and once again welcomed everyone to church. Meanwhile, the power point projector turned from song lyrics to a slide show of announcements. A woman walked through the center isle handing out bulletins and offering Bibles for people to use. Without an official announcement, all the children and teens exited to their Sunday school classes as the pastor walked to the podium. Before the pastor started preaching, he waved and welcomed everyone to church in what was the fourth official welcome of the morning. More people continued to arrive.
The pastor began by reading a passage of scripture, calling attention to the fact that the passage was displayed in a Bible program projected onto the wall at the front of the room. In reality, the Bible text on the wall was so small that no one could read it, but that didn’t stop the computer operator from scrolling along with the verses being read. Most people followed along in their own Bibles instead. The pastor read the sermon text from a modern translation of the Bible. On one occasion, the pastor asked a member of the congregation to read a passage of scripture aloud. The person stood and read from an old Spanish translation which includes verb tenses that are not in common usage anymore, but no one seemed to notice.
The pastor involved the audience as he preached. He routinely paused and waited for the congregation to fill in words from his sermon outline in the bulletin. It was mostly the women who responded. This was consistent with what male and female roles had been during singing. The women in the audience raised their hands and swayed back and forth in worshipful dance, while the men occasionally clapped along but were generally more subdued. Once, during the sermon, a woman even interrupted the pastor to ask a clarifying question. He wasn’t flustered by the interruption but answered her question by quoting a Bible verse from memory.
At the end of his hour long sermon, the pastor reviewed his three points by asking the congregation to say the points along with him. In closing, he asked everyone to stand and pray with him. After the prayer, the pastor told everyone to greet those around them with a hug. The men gave hugs and the women give cheek to cheek kisses as before.
The deacon again took the podium and gave a short reflection on the pastor’s sermon before making announcements. Announcements included the Christmas play, a fund raiser, and a request for volunteers to clean the church building. Next, the deacon passed the microphone to two women to pray and collect the offering. Everyone again stood during the prayer. Then one woman passed an offering basket around while the other woman read more announcements from the bulletin. Several older women put money into the offering basket but asked for change. The usher left the room and returned a few minutes later with folded dollar bills to make change for those who had requested it. Meanwhile, this round of announcements concluded with a group reading of the church motto from the bulletin. The deacon took over again and made more announcements. He talked about trusting God in hard times and announced another fund raiser.
Finally, each of the three children’s Sunday school classes was invited in to say the verse they had memorized. As they finished, the kids ran to find their parents. About 40 children squished into the already crowded seats. At 11:55am, the deacon asked everyone to rise one last time for the benediction and a closing prayer. Then, everyone stacked their chairs, hugged and kissed each other goodbye, and left. Within five minutes the room was empty.
Many insights can be gleaned from my observations at this church service. Three things stood out to me about Ecuadorian culture. First, greetings are valued over punctuality. Next, Ecuadorians see themselves as poor. Finally, men and women are different but equal.
The different values placed on importance of greetings and punctuality was striking. Church started fifteen minutes late, and I don’t think that anyone even expected it to start on time. The fact that only 29 people were at church when the service started, including the worship team, and 65 people at church by the end of the service made being late the norm. The four official welcomes served to mask any tardiness. Everyone was treated equally regardless of when they arrived. In Ecuadorian culture, not greeting someone is rude, but being late is acceptable.
Another recurring theme was the attention drawn to the fact that people in the church are poor. First, people talked about being poor. Before the offering, the deacon gave a pep-talk about how times are hard right now even in the rich United States so it should be no surprise that money is tight in a poor country like Ecuador. Next, people acted poor. Instead of bringing exact change for the offering they ask for refunds. Letting it be known you couldn’t afford to give very much is not shameful. Economically, this method of making change also shows the lack of money in circulation. Finally, food is a typical element of Ecuadorian hospitality which was notably missing. The absence of coffee and snacks served to highlight the sense that the members of the church feel that they are poor and can’t afford to corporately splurge. As a church, the people seem to agree and accept that they are poor.
The way that men and women dressed and acted made gender roles hard to figure out. Almost everything in the service was repeated by both men and women. We had three sets of announcements, four official welcomes, and four public prayers. The repetition seemed almost purposefully intended to demonstrate that everyone can participate in all aspects of the service. Yet, specific guidelines for men and women’s dress were rigidly followed. Long hair and earrings are signs of femininity. Without exception, every woman had long hair and earrings while none of the men did. So, while men and women are allowed to serve in the same ways, they remain different. This is evidence that Ecuadorian Christians have a rich and complex view of men and women created equal but different in the image of God.
By examining people’s actions, their values and attitudes become apparent. However, the real value of ethnographic research is not merely discovery but the chance for application. While all of my observations about Ecuadorian culture were interesting, the information about greetings and punctuality are the most easily applicable. I need to be more patient when people are late because tardiness is the norm. I must also learn to make greeting people one of my highest priorities because failing to do so is insulting. By changing both my expectations and my behavior, I can share God’s grace through my actions in more culturally appropriate ways.
On the side wall of the room is a large tattered red paper heart displaying pictures of several families from the church, which is titled “The Family of God”. Slowly, some of the faces from the heart begin filing into the room. Each person who arrives greets everyone else. Sometimes the greeting takes the form of a wave from a distance, but most often it’s a cheek to cheek kiss from the women and a handshake with a pat on the back from the men.
People are dressed differently based on their positions. The pastor is the best dressed, with a black blazer and slacks. Other male leaders wear button up shirts and slacks. The rest of the men have jeans and t- shirts on. A few older women wear dresses but most of the women are dressed in slacks or even jeans. The teens all have jeans on regardless of their gender. All of the older people wear reading glasses. The choir members wear robes over their other clothes. Everyone is dressed in western attire except for an older Indian woman who is dressed in the indigenous attire of Ecuador including a black hat, a puffy purple skirt, and a grey sweater. Her hat is the only hat in the room. Skin color ranges from a light Spanish tone to a dark Indian tone. Everyone has black hair but all of the men’s hair is shorter than their ears while all of the women’s hair is longer than their shoulders. Every woman wears earrings while none of the men do. Though people are dressed differently, everyone looks well groomed for church.
At 10am, when church was scheduled to start, additional members of the worship team were still arriving and sound checks were still being done. Only six people were seated in the congregation, most of them church leaders. At 10:05am, the music team practiced a song. Then at 10:15am a deacon welcomed everyone to church, all 12 people on stage and the 17 people seated. He read a passage of scripture and invited the congregation to stand while a woman opened the service in prayer. With all still standing, the worship leader took over and again welcomed everyone to church. The first song began at 10:20am, as people continued to arrive. By the end of the second song, there were 35 people in the congregation. The people in the chairs continued to greet the new comers. Younger people looked slightly embarrassed to be arriving late. The deacon who gave the welcome now helped people find seats in the crowded room. Even though a nursery was available, some mothers kept their babies with them. One mother in the center of the church half covered herself with a coat and began nursing her baby.
The sixth and final song ended at 10:40am and 48 people sat down. The deacon returned to the podium and once again welcomed everyone to church. Meanwhile, the power point projector turned from song lyrics to a slide show of announcements. A woman walked through the center isle handing out bulletins and offering Bibles for people to use. Without an official announcement, all the children and teens exited to their Sunday school classes as the pastor walked to the podium. Before the pastor started preaching, he waved and welcomed everyone to church in what was the fourth official welcome of the morning. More people continued to arrive.
The pastor began by reading a passage of scripture, calling attention to the fact that the passage was displayed in a Bible program projected onto the wall at the front of the room. In reality, the Bible text on the wall was so small that no one could read it, but that didn’t stop the computer operator from scrolling along with the verses being read. Most people followed along in their own Bibles instead. The pastor read the sermon text from a modern translation of the Bible. On one occasion, the pastor asked a member of the congregation to read a passage of scripture aloud. The person stood and read from an old Spanish translation which includes verb tenses that are not in common usage anymore, but no one seemed to notice.
The pastor involved the audience as he preached. He routinely paused and waited for the congregation to fill in words from his sermon outline in the bulletin. It was mostly the women who responded. This was consistent with what male and female roles had been during singing. The women in the audience raised their hands and swayed back and forth in worshipful dance, while the men occasionally clapped along but were generally more subdued. Once, during the sermon, a woman even interrupted the pastor to ask a clarifying question. He wasn’t flustered by the interruption but answered her question by quoting a Bible verse from memory.
At the end of his hour long sermon, the pastor reviewed his three points by asking the congregation to say the points along with him. In closing, he asked everyone to stand and pray with him. After the prayer, the pastor told everyone to greet those around them with a hug. The men gave hugs and the women give cheek to cheek kisses as before.
The deacon again took the podium and gave a short reflection on the pastor’s sermon before making announcements. Announcements included the Christmas play, a fund raiser, and a request for volunteers to clean the church building. Next, the deacon passed the microphone to two women to pray and collect the offering. Everyone again stood during the prayer. Then one woman passed an offering basket around while the other woman read more announcements from the bulletin. Several older women put money into the offering basket but asked for change. The usher left the room and returned a few minutes later with folded dollar bills to make change for those who had requested it. Meanwhile, this round of announcements concluded with a group reading of the church motto from the bulletin. The deacon took over again and made more announcements. He talked about trusting God in hard times and announced another fund raiser.
Finally, each of the three children’s Sunday school classes was invited in to say the verse they had memorized. As they finished, the kids ran to find their parents. About 40 children squished into the already crowded seats. At 11:55am, the deacon asked everyone to rise one last time for the benediction and a closing prayer. Then, everyone stacked their chairs, hugged and kissed each other goodbye, and left. Within five minutes the room was empty.
Many insights can be gleaned from my observations at this church service. Three things stood out to me about Ecuadorian culture. First, greetings are valued over punctuality. Next, Ecuadorians see themselves as poor. Finally, men and women are different but equal.
The different values placed on importance of greetings and punctuality was striking. Church started fifteen minutes late, and I don’t think that anyone even expected it to start on time. The fact that only 29 people were at church when the service started, including the worship team, and 65 people at church by the end of the service made being late the norm. The four official welcomes served to mask any tardiness. Everyone was treated equally regardless of when they arrived. In Ecuadorian culture, not greeting someone is rude, but being late is acceptable.
Another recurring theme was the attention drawn to the fact that people in the church are poor. First, people talked about being poor. Before the offering, the deacon gave a pep-talk about how times are hard right now even in the rich United States so it should be no surprise that money is tight in a poor country like Ecuador. Next, people acted poor. Instead of bringing exact change for the offering they ask for refunds. Letting it be known you couldn’t afford to give very much is not shameful. Economically, this method of making change also shows the lack of money in circulation. Finally, food is a typical element of Ecuadorian hospitality which was notably missing. The absence of coffee and snacks served to highlight the sense that the members of the church feel that they are poor and can’t afford to corporately splurge. As a church, the people seem to agree and accept that they are poor.
The way that men and women dressed and acted made gender roles hard to figure out. Almost everything in the service was repeated by both men and women. We had three sets of announcements, four official welcomes, and four public prayers. The repetition seemed almost purposefully intended to demonstrate that everyone can participate in all aspects of the service. Yet, specific guidelines for men and women’s dress were rigidly followed. Long hair and earrings are signs of femininity. Without exception, every woman had long hair and earrings while none of the men did. So, while men and women are allowed to serve in the same ways, they remain different. This is evidence that Ecuadorian Christians have a rich and complex view of men and women created equal but different in the image of God.
By examining people’s actions, their values and attitudes become apparent. However, the real value of ethnographic research is not merely discovery but the chance for application. While all of my observations about Ecuadorian culture were interesting, the information about greetings and punctuality are the most easily applicable. I need to be more patient when people are late because tardiness is the norm. I must also learn to make greeting people one of my highest priorities because failing to do so is insulting. By changing both my expectations and my behavior, I can share God’s grace through my actions in more culturally appropriate ways.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Cultures in Conflict
We arrived to the church for youth group as usual just after 7pm but the church was locked. We made some phone calls and found out that everyone from the church was at the pastor’s house waiting to surprise him with a party for pastor’s appreciation month. Within minutes friends were at church to escort us across town to the pastor’s house by bus. At the pastor’s house we sat in the living room with members of the church for over an hour waiting for the pastor to get home. When he arrived, he was holding an envelope containing a results of a medical test showing that he most likely has hepatitis. Then the party started.
Since we were thought we would be leading youth group, Johanna had her guitar and song sheets with her and was asked to lead a few choruses until the hired musicians arrived. So we passed out song sheets and about 5 of us sang while everyone else chatted. It ended awkwardly for us when the hired musicians arrived and started setting up during our singing. After the musicians were setup, one of the deacons of the church opened us in prayer and we were all given small glasses of raspberry wine to toast the pastor’s health. Then the musicians serenaded the pastor for the next hour with the crowd crying in unison “Vive el pastor!” at appropriate places in the song.
By now it was long after the time youth group normally gets out and we were farther a field than usual. Titus and Stephanie were also visiting us that weekend and were waiting for us to return home. I tried to make as quiet and polite an exit as possible using Titus and Stephanie as our reason for needing to leave early. In Ecuador, arriving late is not impolite in the least, but leaving early is very rude. Rather than being allowed to leave, we were escorted into the kitchen for reasons unbeknownst to us. Once in the kitchen we were told that if we left now at 9:45pm we would miss the dinner which had not yet been served! So we were given plates of chicken, rice, potatoes, and two types of salad. We politely ate our food, said our goodbyes and left thinking what an odd and yet delightful cultural experience. We hope we didn’t offend anyone too greatly, but staying three hours at a party we didn’t even know about was as long as we could spare.
Since we were thought we would be leading youth group, Johanna had her guitar and song sheets with her and was asked to lead a few choruses until the hired musicians arrived. So we passed out song sheets and about 5 of us sang while everyone else chatted. It ended awkwardly for us when the hired musicians arrived and started setting up during our singing. After the musicians were setup, one of the deacons of the church opened us in prayer and we were all given small glasses of raspberry wine to toast the pastor’s health. Then the musicians serenaded the pastor for the next hour with the crowd crying in unison “Vive el pastor!” at appropriate places in the song.
By now it was long after the time youth group normally gets out and we were farther a field than usual. Titus and Stephanie were also visiting us that weekend and were waiting for us to return home. I tried to make as quiet and polite an exit as possible using Titus and Stephanie as our reason for needing to leave early. In Ecuador, arriving late is not impolite in the least, but leaving early is very rude. Rather than being allowed to leave, we were escorted into the kitchen for reasons unbeknownst to us. Once in the kitchen we were told that if we left now at 9:45pm we would miss the dinner which had not yet been served! So we were given plates of chicken, rice, potatoes, and two types of salad. We politely ate our food, said our goodbyes and left thinking what an odd and yet delightful cultural experience. We hope we didn’t offend anyone too greatly, but staying three hours at a party we didn’t even know about was as long as we could spare.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
September Update
Our September update has been posted on our website. Check it out to read about our first month back in Loja, Ecuador. http://micahadamson.googlepages.com
Monday, August 11, 2008
Summer 2008 Update
Check out http://micahadamson.googlepages.com to see what we did this summer. Enjoy! - Micah
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