More on the Christmas parade

This is where the 'traveling Child' stays when he isn't in a parade or in a special service.

Well, as you can see, the 95% Catholic population has a big influence on the Ecuadorean culture. Aside from enjoying the colorful presentations, it is troubling to see the great lengths people will go to, spending a small fortune to deck out their 'float' or horse, or even baby stroller so they can 'win' a blessing for their home and family. Sometimes they can't get together the cash for a few weeks after Christmas, so these parades go on in a smaller form every weekend until Carnival- which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Many people compare this level of devotion to a statue to what we in the States have experienced. "they don't really pray to the statue, it's just a symbol to help direct our thoughts to God." But in 20 years we have had many conversations, and because of the level of syncretism here, the truth is that many really are praying to one particular statue or image . . . of a saint, or the virgin Mary, or a baby Jesus, or a crucified Jesus. A college student once told us how he and fellow students would have long arguments over which statue, located in different cities in Ecuador, had more power.

It is sad to recognize that in spite of their devotion, they just don't know that Jesus isn't a little baby, or a crucified man- He is the Son of God! He came and died for our sins, so that we can share in His heavenly Kingdom, and we can never do enough good works to 'win' His favor or Salvation. We are so blessed every week seeing the number of new people who come into the church. We pray that He will continue to allow us to serve here and enjoy this great harvest. He is a mighty God who is alive and drawing us all to Himself. Oh, that we can be sensitive to hear and respond.
In I Thessalonians 1:9b-10 Paul is telling the church: "They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead -- Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

El pase del Niño Viajero

I'm starting a new category . . . 'culture' After living here for 20 years, we were finally able to run downtown for a little while to catch the annual parade which takes place on December 24th.

I'm going to translate parts of a couple of articles I found to explain a little of the history.

The parade of the traveling child is a procession with the "Child King" which is more developed in Cuenca than in any other city in Ecuador. It starts before dawn on December 24th and continues until sunset. Multitudes of people participate, representing the important moments that took place surrounding the birth of Jesus, generally riding on distinctly decorated floats made up of various sizes of cars and trucks. (We saw from little homemade cars for one child, being pushed the entire route by an adult family member to huge diesel trucks that could have pulled a double trailer.)

The story begins with a small statue of the baby Jesus which was carved in the year 1823. In 1961 it was owned by the Vicar of the Archdiocese of Cuenca, Miguel Cordero, who carried it with him as he traveled to the Holy Lands, and the statue was blessed by Pope John XXIII at that time. Upon his return to Cuenca, he organized the first procession on the 24th of December with some parishioners who walked with the statue from the church of San Sebastian to the cathedral in the center of Cuenca. Another article stated that the Vicar would carry it around to different churches, and when he entered the people would shout, "Here comes the traveling Child!"

Today thousands of different families, neighbors and other groups join together to walk the route, which now extends well beyond the borders of downtown Cuenca. Some say over 20,000 people participate. The idea is to show their veneration of the baby Jesus, and carry their personal (family) statue so that it will receive a blessing for the rest of the year. Represented in the various groupings are the angel who appeared with the star in Bethlehem, the wise men, the shepherds, the holy family, all sizes of floats and people and children on horseback, groups of dancers from different parts of the country accompanied by a band to play while they dance. Many of the cars and horses are festooned with all kinds of candy, liquors and other drinks, and foods which are then eaten as a picnic after their long walk.

There are lots of pictures here - after all it's a 12 hour event!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We thank you, O God!
We give thanks because you are near.
People everywhere tell of your mighty miracles.

Psalm 75:1
We pray this finds all of our friends and family
enjoying their holidays with a sense of peace and love
that comes through the grace of knowing our Lord Jesus.
We celebrate with you, all He is and all He means to us.

This has been our first Christmas with an empty nest. It has been fun to do all of the traditional things we've always done, but in miniature . . . compared to the typical Italian excess we enjoy when our kids and extended family are around! I put up a little tree, and we cooked all the traditional foods- but two pieces of fish, six shrimp, a four inch casserole of stuffed squid, you can get the idea. John and I have enjoyed a wonderfully peaceful time together this year.

We were invited to celebrate New Year's Eve with our friends- Eddy Lopez, the medical director of our clinic, and his wife Rebekah. They had us and 5 other families over. They have this big beehive wood oven and they have perfected roasting chickens in it. Here is Eddy carving so we can eat. It was a great time of fellowship . . . .

singing, praying, eating, and as always in Ecuador, everyone gets into fire in a big way to celebrate New Year's . Their house is on a hill on the edge of town, and here are some fireworks that we saw going off over Cuenca. It was amazing to see how the sky filled with smoke over about 10 minutes. Soon we'll talk about burning the old man.

Hope you all have an amazing year, that the Lord's sweet care and blessings are evident to each of you every day. He is near! And people everywhere tell of His wonderful miracles.