Walk Across the _______ To Meet These People...

"Where are you from and which organization are you with?"  

On our travels through Ecuador, we met lots of people from many different countries as well as the states.  Fairly discernable, either we approached the individual, the couple, or the group, or they approached us and that two-part question typically followed the greeting, "Hi."  On a rare occasion, we got caught up in the notion that we were "islands" just out there.  Planted.  All alone. And, the language barrier sometimes made us feel as though we were alone. Perhaps we were just hungry to hear our language, to experience our food, our culture. All of that is part of Culture Shock.  As a result, we naturally navigated toward "like-ness,"  and perhaps those who were fairly discernable did the same.  As a result, we met a lot of people from around the world.. 
Read Bill Hybels' book, Just Walk Across The Room

 Here is a list from memory:

• Lots of people from Texas -  Austin, Houston, Dallas
• Seattle: physical-therapist interns
• Mississippi - dr.
• Alabama - worked in the orphanages
• Canadians - many there with many different organizations
• Utah - doing graduate research in the jungle
• Ft. Smith- Baptist church working in Shell
• Ohio
• Wichita, KS.- dr. with a medical team
• Boston - medical team
• Denver - students                                                      
• Scottsdale - teacher in Riobamba                     
• New York - Deaf group                                              
• Chicago - traveller
• Pennsylvania
• Michigan - pastor
• Portland, OR - church builders
• Scotland
• Ireland
• Australia - volunteer work
• Japan -  volunteer work
• Germany
• England
• Belgium - Spanish immersion students
• Minnesota
• Nicaragua - Christian music composer/singer
• California - dr and family
• Phoenix -medical team
• St. Louis - Wash U. group
• Oklahoma - teacher
• Colorado - teachers
• Kansas - MidAmerica Nazarene University - interns

Our conversations were easy, inviting, and informational.  All of these people had purposely chosen to visit Ecuador.  Some of them traveled alone while some were with friends or small groups.  Some had their own agendas while others had planned and prepared for a long time for a particular assignment. Often, what we thought would be a short conversation, led to coffee and sharing experiences. They were there with medical teams or Samaritan's Purse or Missions Aviation Fellowship or their denomination or just backpacking through South America. We were there as Mission Corps volunteers with the Church of the Nazarene assigned to teach English. More than once, we walked away re-charged and re-energized and grateful that we "stopped."   
   
One simple conversational stop on a street during our second week in Riobamba was the springboard that developed into our circle of American friends who shared coffee, lunch, dinner, cultural information and friendship through the distance of our stay. 


We walked across the room, the street, the store, the kiosk, the yard, the plaza, the bus station, the hotel lobby to meet them.  They walked across the marketplace, the steps, the church foyer, the school yard, the swinging bridge to meet us.
Our lives have been enriched because of the people we met while in Ecuador.  Listening to what they are passionate about and hearing their stories of why they came to Ecuador inspired and encouraged us.  

God determines our steps (Proverbs 16:9b); so, too, He is in charge of our stops. Stop us, Lord!  We always want to meet new people, to learn of their passions, and to recall our purpose.
That bridge from us to them.....from them to us - never let us be afraid to cross it.

Look for your bridge this week....and keep looking up!
     Jim and Linda