Micah Adamson

Video and Audio Clips

2009-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

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!

Homiletics Class

2009-03-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

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!

New Year's Eve or Old Year's Day?

2009-01-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

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"

Anthropology at Church in Ecuador

2008-12-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

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.

Cultures in Conflict

2008-11-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

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.

September Update

2008-10-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

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

Summer 2008 Update

2008-08-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Check out http://micahadamson.googlepages.com to see what we did this summer. Enjoy! - Micah

Summer Speaking "Tour"

2008-06-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last night Micah began his summer speaking “tour”. Maricopa Community Church is hosting three days of Teen Nights with the theme “Think About It”. So as we enjoy family time in Arizona, Micah is also the main speaker for these teens challenging them to think about Christ and all Christ has done for us. Micah is excited to also preach at church this Sunday here in Maricopa.

The fun isn’t over yet. When we arrive to Washington, Micah will preach our four Sundays there at New Heights. He looks forward to preaching a series on Philippians. He’s doing what he loves doing and was doing in Loja, sharing the gospel. Two weeks before leaving Loja for the summer, Micah preached at our church there in Spanish. Here is the link to listen to the sermon. Enjoy!

http://www.newheightschristianchurch.org/sermons/2008-06-01MicahActs16SpanishSermon.mp3

Making Lefsa

2008-06-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Micah and I spent our first stop in the US with our grandparents in Minnesota. We had a wonderful time with family. The Folden relatives had a picnic get together organized by my grandma Ivie Folden. We spent time with Micah's grandparents talking and going to the lake. Yet, it was my time with my grandma that really stands out for me.

Sunday morning we had the privilege of seeing how my grandma spends her time. Walking across the street to the assisted living home, we gathered for a worship service with people from her retirement home as well as the elderly people from the assisted living home. Meeting her friends and the woman she babysat back in the day was a pleasure. I know that when I'm that old it will be unlikely I will be able to introduce my grandkids to those I used to babysit. My grandmother has many connections. And it amazes me. I'm glad I can now visualize where my grandma worships God.

Another memorable time during our short stay in Minnesota was making lefsa with my grandma. While Micah fixed her computer, we rolled the pastry thin and fried the lefsa to perfection! Oh, are they good. Spread some butter, sprinkle the sugar and roll up the potato dessert for a satisfying tasty bite of Norwegian tradition. Now I need to make it again soon so I won't loose the knowledge my grandmother imparted upon me. Thanks Grandma for the lesson!

Home For Vacation

2008-06-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

After eight hours on a bus from Loja to Guayaquil, seven hours in the Guayaquil airport, 15 hours flying and waiting, we made it to our first destination in the US. We are excited to be home in the States for six weeks before we return to Loja, Ecuador. Currently, I'm really excited to be done traveling for another week before we hop onto another plane headed to Washington.

Like usual, I have many goals for our "vacation". Resting, reading, researching, writing, planning, family time, getting up on things, etc. However, I'm learning I need to make small realistic goals I can actually accomplish. So this summer, we'll start with one goal a day. That way I feel like I accomplished something...and what a good feeling that will be. And today has already been a good day...I made a post on our blog after five months of silence.

We miss them

2008-02-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

Titus and Stephanie and Sofia finally made their way to Guayaquil and have been there now for a few weeks. They are excited to have made it to their final missionary destination. We are happy for them, but we miss them. We miss the lunch time meals, talks and discussions about missions, and playing with our niece, Sofia. Titus and Stephanie took the driving course here in Loja before heading out. During this time, we had the privilege of watching Sofia. We had many house of quality aunt/uncle and niece bonding time. On walks, we would find flowers and cows. If we couldn’t find the cows, we would “moo” really loud hoping they were come to our call. It never worked. We are grateful for this time with our family as, even though we are still in the same country, we continue to live miles apart.

I just love this picture of Micah and Sofia making smoothies!!!

Christmas Pictures!

2008-01-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

We are Moving

2008-01-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

At the end of January, we say goodbye to the apartment we have been house-sitting and hello to the next home we will house-sit. We are not sad to move away from all the noise we have encountered while living here. Let me tell you that we’ve had some pretty loud nights. Yet, we have been very grateful for this place to stay. As we prepare to move to the SIM Director’s house, we continue to be grateful for this additional place to stay through June while living in Loja. We are enjoying our house-sitting tour. Hopefully, we will be able to continue house-sitting next year.

Cooking with Oswaldo

2008-01-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

I believe I have already expressed my initial regret at the differences between Ecuadorian food and Bolivian food; however, I am learning to enjoy Ecuadorian food and I am even learning to cook some. Our friend Oswaldo comes over every week or two and cooks with me. The first thing we made was fried Yucca which I missed from Bolivia. They eat yucca (manioc root) here in Ecuador which is an 18 inch long tuber that tastes somewhat like a potato. In the US we only use it to make tapioca pudding and root beer. Ecuadorians mostly boil it instead of frying it like they did in Bolivia. But no one in South America makes root beer out of it, which makes me sad. Since making fried yucca, Oswaldo has taught me to make yucca patties by boiling and mashing the yucca and filling it with cheese before frying it.

The next starchy food we made was a stretch for me as Lisa and Scotty can attest. We fried bananas… And I liked it! I didn’t like fried bananas before this recipe. In fact I disliked them enough to have a shirt made while I lived in Bolivia proclaiming my love for yucca and my dislike of fried bananas. But even more miraculous than enjoying fried bananas, is that we melted cheese on the top of the fried bananas and I found that I liked the cheese!

I have eaten cheese all three continents that I have visited and was surprised at how different it is from place to place. I am always tempted by South American cheese because I miss North American cheese so much, but after eating it I am usually disappointed. South American cheese reminds me of the type of product you would get in return from doing a deal with the devil. It looks good from a distance but the moment you get near enough to it, it smells rancid. I don’t think that my descriptions do it justice. You will have to come visit us to see what I mean.

On the outside chance that you have access to South American cheese and green bananas, I have included recipes for my favorite two dishes prepared with them. If you can’t get South American cheese, mozzarella works as a tasty substitute (unfortunately Ecuadorian mozzarella doesn’t melt). Green bananas are known as plantains in the US and are available at many grocery stores and lots of specialty stores such as Valley Harvest or Trader Joes.

Répe (Potato and Banana soup with cheese)

2 green bananas

2 medium potatoes

2 cups of water

4 oz cheese

¼ cup fresh cilantro

Salt and Pepper

1 avocado

Peal, cube, and boil the potatoes.
Peal and cube the bananas and add them to the boiling water.
When the potatoes and bananas are soft, mash them into the water.
Grate the cheese into the soup and wait for it to melt.
Add the cilantro and turn the soup off.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Top with slices of fresh avocado and cilantro.

As long as you are eating cooked bananas and rancid cheese, why not try making patacones (or majaditos as they are called in Panama)?

Patacones (Twice fried bananas toped with cheese)

2 green bananas

4 oz cheese

Salt

Peal and cut the bananas into 1 inch long sections.
Fry both ends of the banana chunks in a pan with vegetable oil.
Remove the bananas from the pan.
Salt the bananas on both ends.
Smash them flat using a mug.
Fry them again.
Top with cheese and cover pan until cheese melts.
Serve with Ketchup, Mayonnaise, or Hot sauce as you like.

Garbage, Garbage, Garbage

2008-01-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

I didn’t believe it would happen even when we were warned. After many diligent nights retrieving our trash can from the street just as the garbage truck passed by, we waited too long. The garbage truck comes by each night to pick up garbage. Is it green tonight or black? We always ask each other as the colored cans are picked on alternate days. Green is for, we think, compost material, while black is for all other trash. Each evening we wait to hear the garbage truck coming, much like an ice cream truck. Click here to hear download the garbage truck song on MP3! Once they come close enough, we drag our can out onto the sidewalk. Now, you are supposed to quickly rescue your can immediately after the garbage men empty it. From the first day, we were told that if you are too slow, your trash can we will be stolen. And so, one night, we waited too long. The moment we remembered we needed to fetch our garbage can, it was gone!

Why would someone do that? Take our trash can? For the next few weeks we secretly put our bags of trash into the trash cans of our neighbors. Not a big problem. Others take their trash to public trash cans on the streets. We thought we would have to do this for the remainder of our stay in this apartment and then pay for the lost garbage can. Last week, we were heading out of the house for church, when I opened up the door and there was our black garbage can! How did it get here? Not just outside our gate, but right next to our front door. Insider work….either someone from our apartment building found it, or it was them who needed our garbage can for awhile. We are grateful to have it back…!

Keeping it clean!

2008-01-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

Loja is proud of their clean city. However, if it weren’t for the green men and the orange men, this place would be a garbage pit. Every day, we see green men landscaping public gardens while the orange men sweep the streets. With this help, it makes it convenient to toss your garbage onto the streets.

Sunday

2007-12-26T20:49:00.000-08:00

I have been playing the guitar at youth group each Friday and getting some good practice. After two week of no instruments at church on Sundays, I was asked by one of the Sunday school teachers if I would play. Sure, I said. With two of the adolescents from youth group, we planned to practice on Saturday. Saturday came and one didn’t show up and the other was still in Christmas play rehearsal. So, Micah and I just practiced at the church. We’ll come early and practice. Sunday morning arrived and the four of us did practice. However, they only knew three Christmas songs from our eight options. So we sang those plus two other worship songs. Of course, the guy you usually plays the guitar showed up to church and joined us. Then, we thought everyone was going to have the words. The pastor informed us there weren’t enough for everyone and so didn’t pass any of them out. In the end, we led worship with what we had.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Listening to Christmas songs, we realize that regardless of how many songs sing about snow, we won’t have snow for our Christmas. More than that, with the weather not drastically different from when we arrived in September, Christmas really isn’t about the weather conditions. Rather, Christmas is about who we are remembering. And whether you are in ice cold Minnesota, rainy Washington (we hear there's snow!), warm sunny Arizona, or even rainy-one-moment-and-warm-sunny-the-next Loja, Ecuador, we pray you we reflect on the true meaning of Christmas; that “God sent His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

We're busy cooking for a Thanksgiving feast with other Americans as well as other missionaries from many countries along with local Ecuadorians. It should be a great time! Pictures to come...after the celebration!

Are you Hungry?

2007-11-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

Eventually we'll post a picture of pig skin cooked in sauce and one of guinea pig to continue to whet your appetite. Both are Ecuadorian delicacies.

Well, are you hungry?

THOUGHT SO!

Our Tienda

2007-11-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

We enjoy buying fresh fruits and vegetables from the tienda (little store) next door to our house. Very convenient. She carries delicious apples and ripe bananas, carrots and peppers, and a whole lot more. We purchase our filtered water from her, $1.25 for 20 liters. She also sells eggs, 8 cents each or 11 for a dollar. After doing the math, we prefer to buy 10… for 80 cents.

The Sounds of Loja

2007-10-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

Loja is the music capital of Ecuador. Students study at music conservatories and concerts are held in the many plazas. However, the sounds of Loja have nothing to do with talent. Every time I hear sounds that typify Loja, I exclaim, “Oh, the sounds of Loja.” It could be the truck broadcasting the same short melody each morning and afternoon alerting everyone to the fact he has water and natural gas to sell. Or it could be in the evenings when the garbage truck comes by. Each evening there is once again a new melody transmitted from the garbage truck making sure you know when to put out our garbage can and when to pick it up to ensure it doesn’t get stolen.

The sounds of Loja are dogs barking all through the day and night. They are cars honking, not in frustration, but to warn another driving they are passing or that they have the right-a-way at the intersection.

The sounds of Loja are political parties driving by in decorating trucks with music blasting from loud speakers placed on top of their vehicle.

The sounds of Loja are fireworks going off at anytime of the day. There doesn’t need to be a reason to light them off, though sometimes there is. When we first arrived, beautiful fireworks scattered the sky and loud booms woke us up in the wee morning hours. The Virgin Mary, a small doll, was visiting Loja. The colors in the sky at night were to honor this doll while the booms in the morning intended to wake her up. Don’t they know even dolls and people need some sleep?

“Oh, the sounds of Loja!” ~Johanna

Messages from friends

2007-09-30T22:06:00.001-07:00

We are so happy that we have been hearing from people and have even talked with a few friends on Skype. Check for us around 10:30pm or 6:30am or e-mail us and tell us when you would like to talk. Alison Bain made a cool stencil of us that I wanted to share. Thanks Alison!

We Finally Have Internet Access!!!

2007-09-26T20:08:00.001-07:00

Have you ever tried living for a week without Internet access? How about 3 weeks? How about no Internet access or other means of contact with any of your friends? We did, and we didn't like it! We ordered Internet access more than two weeks ago and the equipment finally arrived from the far side of the country yesterday. We got the fastest Internet connection available in all of Ecuador. We get between 100kbs and 400kbs. Which is just fine with us since we only get 600MB of total Internet use per month, except between 11pm and 7am when it's free! (So look for us on Skype around 11pm or 6am EST.)

Since we haven't been able to use the Internet the following blog posts are journal entries from the last few weeks. They may not be in order or make much sense to you but enjoy them anyway. For a more official report of our adventures on a monthly basis read our website at http://micahadamson.googlepages.com/

Praise God with us for communication! Pray that we are able to make connections here and share Jesus with the people of Loja as well as with the missionary kids we get to spend time with every day. Chau for now!

-Micah

Earthquake!

2007-09-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

11:43pm
I don't think any of you will even have heard about our recent earthquake. We were online at the time so we wrote a note to a few people telling them we were okay incase they heard about it. But it only made a back page of CNN with list of earthquakes in the last week. It was a 5.9 which shook our house for about 30 seconds. Just long enough to get to the doorway and look onto our street before it stopped. All the neighbors were out in their doorways. A few car alarms went off and all the dogs in the city barked but we didn't have any damage and I don't know of anyone else who did either. The unique thing about this earthquake was that we were almost directly over the epicenter which was 10 miles North of us. We found the coordinates of the quake on google maps. 3.882°S, 79.171°W which is near a town called Jimbilla.
An Ecuadorian friend said that normally earthquakes feel like waves passing under you but this one felt like circular motion instead. I wonder if that is because we were so close to being on top of it. Another missionary said that this wasn't the longest earthquake he has felt here but that it was the strongest. May God protect us. Praise God that no one was hurt.
Check http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/ to find the latest greatest earthquakes!

The church in Loja

2007-09-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

When I went to arrange for our Internet connection yesterday, a Lady at the Internet company asked what the foundation "Operation Hope" does exactly. I was surprised that an organization that has been in Loja for 10 years would be so unknown because Loja is a farely small town of only about 100,000-150,000 people, but then all evangelical Christians make up about only 1% of the population. I tried to articulate that we were doing medical ministry both here and out in the province, that we were teaching English, and that we were Evangelical Christians.

The current situation of the evangelical church in Ecuador isn't that different from the state of the church in the US except that they are facing their challenges as a 1% minority that is often persecuted. Biblical illiteracy is just as high here in Ecuador as in the US. Few evangelical pulpits are teaching from the Bible at all, preferring to minister only to felt needs rather than starting there and moving on to real spiritual needs. Even those who do teach from the Bible tend to use it morally preaching against the evils of dancing, smoking, and drinking instead of focusing on Christ and giving him the supremacy that the scriptures naturally give him and asking people to live righteously as a response to his sacrifice for us. We have been told that if you ask the average Ecuadorian what an evangelical is, they will tell you that they are moralists. Not that they are known for following their rules, just having a lot of rules.

The solution for the Ecuadorian evangelical church seems to be the same as for any church anywhere: They need to focus on Christ, treat the Bible as authoritative, and trust God to save them rather than relying on adherence to their own set of rules.

The Catholic church here in Loja (and out in the country side especially) has only stopped preaching within the last 5 years that evangelical Christians should be persecuted. The priest who encouraged the boycott of evangelical's businesses in Gonzonama as well as encouraging more extreme types of persecution is now the priest of the church in the plaza across from the SIM outreach café. I want to meet him and see what he thinks the points of disagreement are between Catholics and evangelicals. I would like to do a lot of asking this question of people in general. It seems that evangelicals and Catholics (as well as the average Ecuadorian youth who doesn't go to church at all) don't really know what the Christian faith is about at all. More on this later...

-Micah

New Things

2007-09-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

We have been in Loja for almost a week now and we are beginning to settle in. There are many things that still seem strange to us, but having lived outside of the United States before, and even having lived in South America before, there are some things that I don't find different enough. May things I had expected to be the same as Bolivia are actually more similar to the US. I feel silly for telling Johanna to leave her hair dryer at home now that I know that Ecuador uses 110 volt electricity just like we do in the US. The distinct smell of floor polish and South American cleaning solutions hitting my nose in the airport made me feel at home. But even though the trucks that sell water and gas play a tune over their loud speakers that sounds like the first 6 notes of "Be it ever so hum-ble there's no place like home" it doesn't make them sound any less strange. (We will have to record this song and post it on our website.)

The taste of tree ripened bananas again for the first time in 2 years has done my heart well. But the apparent lack of similarity between Ecuadorian cooking and Bolivian cooking has left me sad. Various missionaries have fed us at least one meal a day so far and although they have joked about different Ecuadorian dishes no one has fed us any Ecuadorian food yet, and no one has admitted to liking it. I finally bought some fry bread from a street vender yesterday as my first Ecuadorian food. It was good and very much what I had expected so maybe the missionaries here just don't appreciate Ecuadorian food. The SIM team here is about 50% Australian, so maybe that is the problem. It will be fun to get to know and get picked on by the second most patriotic country on earth.

-Micah

Romans 11

2007-09-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about Romans 11 and what true Israel is in regard to this topic of what the church is. I want to diagram the olive trees and see what they options are for "all Israel". It seems to me that there are two olive trees in Paul's metaphor. A wild one (the world or gentiles) and a cultivated one (God's tree or Israel) and to be a part of God's tree is to be saved. In the end gentiles and Israelite olive branches that have been cut of are treated the same. They are lost and the only solution is for them to be grafted into the one Israelite olive tree and so in that tree, "all Israel" will be saved. I e-mailed Rob Pierce about this and he had some good things to say. Maybe I'll share it some time. Romans 11 also sheds light on Romans 12:1-2 as we see sap running into us to renew us and conform us to Christ as we grow on his tree.

-Micah

We made it to Loja

2007-09-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

We made it safely to Loja after only 62 hours of travel, and miracle of miracles we only missed 3 out of 4 of our flights! We got a free night at a hotel in Los Angeles, California and another free night in a hotel in Panama City courtesy of Copa Airlines. We are settling in a bit and getting used to the city, the altitude, and our house. We have now eaten a meal with every other SIM missionary in all of Loja except for the other new family that arrived the day before we did (on the same flight we were supposed to have arrived on 48 hours earlier.)

Our delayed arrival to Loja also means that we missed Mouge by one day. Mouge is a Bolivian Spanish teacher and friend of mine from Cochabamaba. She was in town teaching a class to the Spanish teachers who will be teaching us Spanish. That was sad to have missed her but other than that no harm done by our delays.

-Micah and Johanna

Made it to Ecuador

2007-09-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

September 6, 2007

We are here in Ecuador and made it through customs and emigration without any problems! We made it as far as Quito along with all of our luggage! We are scheduled to complete the rest of our journey to Loja on Friday morning. We only lost 2 hours to time zones instead of 3 like we expected. So by the time we arrive in Loja our "24 hour" journey will turn out to only be "62 hours ". We are hanging out with the Greenwoods and staying at the HCJB guest house. Just wanted to let you all know and thank you for your prayers!

-Micah and Johanna

Sleepy Scribblings in the Sky

2007-09-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

7:40pm

As I sit crammed into a United Airlines flight we almost didn't make it onto, 14 hours after waking up this morning and less than 2 hours into what promises to be at least a 24 hour journey from Seattle, Washington to Loja, Ecuador; I am contemplating a return to a coffee addiction that I haven't practiced while in the United States, but I have decided to take up writing run-on sentences as a new vice instead.

The night is falling over northern California outside the plane, and as it does, the United States fades into the distance for Johanna and I. We have faced some final challenges to following Christ in the United States through a stressful check in process during an emotional farewell. I hope that I held my temper well enough as the United Airlines employee moved us from the first class line they had erroneously sent us to. They made us wait in that line for 15 minutes before moving us to the end of the low class line at the far end of the 100 foot long counter. All this happened less than an hour before our flight took off. The one time I really had to hold my tongue was when the manager on duty not only told us we were in the wrong line but he also argued that no one had told us to stand in that line. My pride told me to stand my ground for truth, justice, and the American way, but the manager told me to move and with a cross as the symbol of Christ who I serve around my neck for all to see, I decided to follow Christ's example and give up some of my rights.

God provided for us so that even with a burst can of shaving cream in our carry on bag, we still made it through the security check point in time to walk directly onto our flight without all the tedious lounging around at the gate that one normally has to put up with. (If you ever want to repeat this shaving cream trick just pull the rubber stopper from the bottom of a can of shaving cream.)

Once on the plane, I got one last chance to avert my eyes or see women undress on American television courtesy of NBC on United. (Not that this won't be a challenge in Ecuador as well.) I was reminded again of the fact that we represent Christ where ever we are. Our actions should honor Christ at all times, but I especially hope that I don't shame him publicly. (God answer this plea with help from your spirit. Thank you Jesus for the example you set and the forgiveness you purchased.)

I don't think that being a missionary should really so different from being a Christian anywhere except perhaps that going into another culture we will stand out even more and so our lives must be that much more careful so as not to bring shame to Christ by our actions. (I guess people won't be staring so much this time in South America now that I don't have such a long beard.)

Well Johanna is sleeping and I think I would like to relax and listen to "The Man Who was Thursday" by GK Chesterton as performed by the Mercury Players with Orson Wells. I found it online as an MP3 last night while I was reading about this strange GK Chesterton play that deals with the problem of evil in the world in much the same way as the book of Job. Evil exists and we can fight it even though it hurts, but in overcoming evil we can have the peace of God. God's explanation to Job was to point to the creation and ask, "Do you even understand creation? If you don't understand that, how can you question my actions?" I am excited to hear it. I didn't even know that it existed as a radio drama much less that it was aired only 2 months before the infamous broadcast of the "War of the Worlds".

Well there is a stream of consciousness blog entry for you. Not sure if I will clean it up, or even post it, but it was fun to write.

-Micah

Hello World

2007-06-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

Ecuador here we come! Please pray that we will be able to rent our house by the end of July and that 12 more families will support us at an average of $50 per month by the end of August.