As you know, I have traveled quite a bit over the years. Some trips have been for personal holiday adventures. And some trips have been for missions related experiences.
Well, this world traveler is about to embark on another overseas trip. This time my global quest will take me to Quito, Ecuador for a missions trip. The country is located on the northwest coast of South America.
I’m quite excited for this trip, as it will be my first official “art & missions” trip that I get to participate in. I’m joining a team of artists from VineArts (the art ministry that I serve in leadership with at Boise Vineyard Christian Fellowship) to travel to Iglesia La Vina church in Quito to help create & facilitate a mural art project. The trip will take place the last week of June this year.
What is “art & missions” you might ask? Well…I suppose it’s a creative way of being “missional” (sending or being sent). In this case, it’s sending creative people to reach out to other creative people to speak the heart of our creative God to people’s hearts in creative ways.
Those of us on the art & missions team will design, prep, and facilitate the painting of several murals to be located in Sunday school rooms and the entrance of the Iglesia La Vina church building. The art will reflect the unique style and voice of the people of Ecuador. We’ll be implementing a paint-by-numbers strategy for the painting of the murals (which includes projecting, tracing, & color-coding outlines, mixing color-coded paint, and then organizing those who will do the painting). The congregation & community of La Vina will be participating in the actual painting process themselves.
During this process, our team will get the opportunity to build relationship with the artists and those who come to help. A huge part of ministry or missions related “work” is about serving others & building relationship. We hope to encourage & empower the artists of Iglesia La Vina & the surrounding community of Quito to allow their creativity to shine forth.
Being “missional” is not only about being sent…but it is also about sending. Which means, YOU are a part of this trip just as much as I am. Pretty cool, huh?!! Would you be willing to commit to praying for me and our VineArts team and for the people in Ecuador that we connect with? We believe God is going to do some amazing things through creativity while we are in Ecuador.
Salsa Sales:
We needed to do some fundraising for our team to help pay for our way down to Ecuador. We had tons of ideas of what we could do to raise money. One of our more successful ideas was making homemade salsa together and selling it at Boise Vineyard (the church we attend that is sending us to Ecuador).
We used 3 recipes (from members of our team), purchased some ingredients, and spent a Saturday afternoon making batches as sample tasters for the next day in between church services. The taste demos of salsa & tortilla chips were a huge hit and we took loads of pre-orders over the next several weeks.
We did 2 nights where we gathered together as a team and cranked out tons of freshly cut and chopped produce, created the 3 salsas, filled jars, and labeled them. It was during these salsa making nights that we were able to bond as a team in a way that was really unique. Our conversations were rich, our laughter was hearty, and our hearts were genuine.
We have now raised all the money we need for the trip. And the salsa sales were a huge part of that success. I think we plan to utilize this yummy money maker in the future!
Shots!:
Though I've traveled overseas many times, this is the first time I've needed to get immunizations for the country I was visiting. I went to the local adult immunization clinic to get my regimen of shots and pills. Ecuador is not a country where shots are required, but there are certain ones that highly recommended. I decided to take the advice of the nurse who ws briefing me and I signed up for the main immunizations that she was recommending.
I received 2 shots of a mix called Twin-Rix which combines Hepatitus A & Hepatitus B. I had to get 3 shots over a month and then 6 months. I also received a shot for Tetanus. And then I was given a packet of 4 pills for Typhoid. Needless to say after needing to raise the essential amount of money required of me to go on the trip (including airline ticket r/t, room & board, and any other expenses accrued by the team) I had to spend around $400 more on immunizations!
We Made It To Ecuador:
With 5 Artists from Boise, Idaho set loose in Quito, Ecuador...the creative and fun factor possibilities were endless! We flew down to South America, first landing in Guyaquil on the coast of Ecuador and then hopping over & up to Quito in the Andes Mountains.
We spent 8 days serving the people of Iglesia La Vina in Quito, painting 8 murals within their building and facilitating an art & worship service for adults and children. It was an amazingly rewarding time for all of us involved.
I'm still trying to process everything...I will do my best to document the events of each day for you and help you to experience the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the feel of Ecuador...stay tuned for more posts...I look forward to you coming along on this South American artistic adventure with me...
Quito:
The city of Quito houses about 2 million people and sits in a valley with mountains and volcanoes surrounding it. It is the capitol of Ecuador and is at an elevation of about 9,500 feet. The city is beautiful with it's multi-colored buildings and rooftop gardens. There is tons of automobile, pedestrian, and even air traffic everywhere. The part of the city that Iglesia La Vina is located in is gripped by high crime and poverty that marks it's streets and buildings. It's in that area that we stayed and spent the majority of our time.
La Iglesia La Vina (before we painted):
Have paintbrushes will travel! We had quite the task load to accomplish inside the facility of Iglesia La Vina. We would need to paint murals in 3 rooms that were utilized for childrens Sunday school, a mural in the stairwell leading up to the childrens' rooms, a mural on the sanctuary backwall, church logos on 3 entryways, and prep 4 canvases for a Sunday morning art & worship service that the congregation and children would be painting on.
The Jungle Room:
The largest room we worked on was what came to be known as the Jungle Room. We created mountainous tropical forest scenes that would be fun for children to view.
We created the murals by a simple color by number process:
1. chalk on designs using photos and outlines as references
2. number the paint colors and then number the areas on the walls corresponding to each color
3. match paint number with chalk number and paint within lines
4. step back and marvel at the completed mural
The Garden Room:
We painted the nursery room like a Garden with flowers, bugs, and clouds. Many of the people from Iglesia La Vina came to help us paint the murals and it made for a fun experience to paint side by side (North Americans and South Americans).
The Sea Room:
The third room we did a mural in was what we called the Sea Room. We created an underwater scene of tropical fish and animals. One couldn't help but sing "Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid when we were painting together.
The Stairwell:
Up the stairwell from the entry of the church to the childrens rooms we created a huge grapevine that twisted upwards to the word Bienvenido (welcome). The plan to attach photos of the children of La Vina from the twirly vines as a way of showcasing their little treasures.
The Church Logos:
Our VineArts Director and Team Leader created the 3 logos for the Iglesia La Vina. One is placed on the garage door that is at the street so passerbys can know which door is the entrance to the church. One is placed just inside the garage, and one is placed right inside the actual church building.
The Sanctuary Backdrop:
It was requested that we do a special wall mural that would become the backdrop of Iglesia La Vina's sanctuary where they hold their Sunday services. The Worship Leader and the Pastor of the church showed us 3 images that they liked and we worked to integrate each image into one harmonious painting for them. By this point in the trip we were joined by 5 other people from the States who had also traveled from Boise, Idaho to serve with Iglesia La Vina (in various other ways). That team of 5 joined us for the backdrop painting and also for touchups on the 4 other murals.
The Art & Worship Service:
I enjoyed all of the painting that we got to do while in Quito...but the most rewarding experience for me didn't have much to do with me painting...it had everything to do with allowing the people of Iglesia La Vina to take ownership of the arts and worship themselves and get involved with us as the Body of Christ worshipping God creatively. Side by side painting the murals...and on Sunday during their morning service.
We prepped 4 canvases ahead of time for them to paint on. We set up painting stations for them (3 in the main sanctuary and 1 in the childrens rooms) while their worship band played music and while their Pastor spoke about listening to God. They were free to paint on the canvases however and whenever they felt led to by the Spirit of God.
For our artist team...we had the glorious honor of stepping aside and watching the Ecuadorians flow free in worship through music and art and the teaching. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I've ever been a part of...to see people so willingly create works from within themselves to the Creator of all. Even the children...especially the children...were unhindered.
At one point, those of us on the team stopped filling waterbuckets and joined in singing the praise songs in Spanish...it was so absolutely incredible to sing loudly to the Lord in another language side by side with people from another country...and know that our hearts were connected. People with people. Hearts with hearts. All to God. That moment is probably my fondest memory of the entire trip.
Art in Quito:
Art is everywhere in Quito. From the museums and galleries, to the art markets on the streets, to the graffiti art on the city walls. Everywhere you go there is big, bold, vibrant colored art expressing the heart and feeling of the modern Ecuadorian people. One of their most famous artists is Guyasamin...and many local artists do copies of his work as souvenirs for tourists. I loved the art in Quito and was very inspired by it.
Food:
Since we were staying in the building of Iglesia La Vina, we cooked most of our own meals (which consisted of cereal, eggs & chorrizo for breakfast, sandwiches and chips with fruit for lunch and spaghetti or pasta meals for dinner). But on occassion we did enjoy going out once in awhile to try the local cuisine....everything from tamales to torte de queso to quimbolinos to fresh fruit to cafe con leche (coffee with milk) to cuy ("kwee"...guinea pig...yep! I ate it!)...we tried it all. Water was extremely important too! The water there is undrinkable (too much bacteria and other parasites in it) so everyone (even locals) purchase bottled purified water to drink. And we had to drink water non-stop! The altitude is so high that it's easy to get dehydrated...so we were constantly hydrating to stay healthy.
Otovalo & Cascada de Pegucha:
We had the privledge to tour outside of the city of Quito a couple of times. One day our VineArts team of 5 were joined by the 5 from the States that made up the SOBA team (School of Biblical Action, part of Vineyard College of Mission) from Boise, Idaho. We took a tourist bus to a town called Otovalo to do some shopping for Ecuadorian textiles. Then we continued on to Cascada de Pegucha, a waterfall in the Andes. It was a wonderful day hiking in nature and enjoying the beauty of Ecuador.
Pululahua Volcano Crater & the Equator:
Ecuador is FULL of volcanos. And there are several in the vacinity of Quito. One of the days that we toured we traveled to the Pululahua Volcano Crater. The volcano is technically still active...but people live in it's crater and farm it's land.
Then we traveled to the actual Equator!!! The middle of the world!!! I got to stand on the line...put one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one foot in the Southern Hemisphere. I've traveled west. I've traveled east. I've traveled north. But this was my first time traveling south...and making it to the equator! What an amazing experience! I felt like a real world explorer!
Creative Impressions:
There are so many creative impressions on my heart about my time in Ecuador...it's difficult to get it out in words. I will try to continue to blog as things come to mind and stories need to be told. For now...I'm glad to at least get these posts out now that document what we were able to accomplish while on our art & missions trip to Quito, Ecuador sent out from Boise Vineyard in Boise, Idaho. It was such an amazing trip...and Quito found it's way into my heart...and I will not be the same.
