Village 235

The 235 Welcome Sign

If you traveled 235 kilometers from Quito by train, you would land in one of the most welcoming, joyful communities on the planet. (Unfortunately, the train tracks were washed out in a flood a few years back and have yet to be repaired or replaced.) Naranjilla (or Village 235 as we like to call it) is tucked away into the valley of a postcard worthy mountain range, the Andes.

(To catch you up...Jon and I have had a very busy week and felt like this blog needed a section of it's own. Shortly after the Casa Victoria dedication, 29 of us left for a visit to 235. This was over a week ago now, but as I said...we've been busy little bees.)

With 14 of us squished into one van and 15 into another, we set off on our journey to the beloved 235.

Alicia, the CV founder, fell in love with this village when her dad was in office and she was traveling about campaigning on his behalf. This community is primarily made up of Afro-Ecuadorians. Throughout the history of Ecuador, these people have not received the respect they've deserved...so Alicia and her father, Sixto, set out to make a change. She committed to visiting the village often. She says many times, "I don't come to 'do' necessarily. I just come to 'be' with these people. That's what they really want, just to be told that they really matter." The people in this village ALL know Alicia as "Mama Alicia" and tell stories about how she's loved them and shown them that they do, indeed, matter. One time, during the presidency of Alicia's father, she arrived at 235 by helicopter and landed in the tomato field. The whole village came out to see the helicopter. It goes down in their history as "the time when Mama Alicia came down from the heavens." We all had a good laugh at that one.

The view from the "drop off point" to 235. Can you find the village?

With almost 30 of us dropped off on the side of the road (in the most beautiful middle of nowhere ever!) we began the 1/2 mile hike into the village. It was literally over the river and through the woods...with many grandmothers waiting for us. With us, we brought the groceries needed to make dinner for the village: a full, delicious Mexican meal. Jon and I carried 25lbs of rice in our backpack. As some of the group prepared the meal for 100+ people (with 1 knife!), the rest of us listened to stories from the people in the village, played with the kiddos, or participated in a rip-roaring soccer game (on a cement court on the side of a cliff). We had a blast!! I was way too tempted to bring two little chicas home with me. They immediately capture your heart!

Anna crossing the bridge to 235

Does he capture your heart like he captured mine?

Shortly after the meal, we were welcomed into the one room school in the village to dance. This village (the entire village) has a rhythm like I've never seen! The music was loud, the perfect limbo stick was found, and the party began! The most incredible part of it all was when a couple of the "grandmothers" placed FULL, glass bottles on their heads and started to shake their hips! This is a traditional dance in this village and it was incredible! Many of us gave it a try (with plastic water bottles), but to no avail! These people are SO incredibly special - in more ways than one!

235 by night

Limbo Time!

After a good hour of dancing, we made our way back to the side of the road, along the pitch black trail, to catch our vans and travel to the hostel in Bosque de Paz (the forest of peace). Jon and I slept in a room with another couple, a single guy, and a HUGE spider (who luckily lost its life just prior to our climbing into bed). The hostel is owned by a wonderful french man who fell in love with the area and decided to stay. We were blessed with an incredible breakfast, a hike (for Jon) through the forest where he encountered a magnificent bamboo forest, and a relaxing swing in the hammock overlooking the 'buena vista' (amazing view).

The Bamboo Forest

The "buena vista" from the hammock

On the return to 235 the following day, Jon and I decided to stay behind with the vans and Bart and Linda Tarman. We felt that we needed to take advantage of our time with them and time was running short. So, instead of walking the 1/2 mile to 235, we stopped on the bridge, sat down, and talked through our experiences and expectations thus far. During our talk, we saw encountered 2 surprising visitors: (1) a cow, dragging her 'leash' coming down the path right towards us. Just as we were about to jet across the bridge, she made a sharp right turn into the jungle. She was thirsty!! She had her drink at the river's edge and made her way back up the path. She wanted nothing to do with us. (2) A lovely old man making his way to 235. He lives in a village a little while away, but has his garden in 235. The soil is SO fertile!! We chatted with him for a bit before he made his way, following the cow, back up the path. Just 50 feet away, he stopped and yelled to us to come to him. Thinking he had some exotic plant or insect to show us, we walked up towards him. To our surprise (but not surprising) he had nothing to show us, but instead, something to GIVE us. Out of his pack, he pulled 4 fresh apples (surely his lunch) and gave them to us along with the most joyful smile. This act of generosity is something that we've already experienced many times, from strangers no less! We have so much to learn from the people here. Jon was reading this in 1st John and it really struck him, "Do not love the world nor the things of this world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life , is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." It really makes us think about what is important in this life, and especially when it comes to loving the people here.

Bart and Linda Tarman on the 235 bridge (class 5 rapids below!)

As the 1/2 the team returned to take the 1st trip home, we joined them and crammed back inside the van. We felt lucky to receive the faster of the two drivers and thought..."this 4 hour trip to Quito might only take us 3 hours! Awesome!!"

...

7 hours later, we arrived back at Casa Victoria. There was nothing wrong with the van, the driver, the passengers...This is Ecuador. And sometimes you have to be ready for a 4 hour trip to take 7 hours!

We would love to take you to 235 someday. Hopefully the pictures will give you a small picture into the love that permeates from that place. We had an amazing time and hope to travel back again soon...hopefully on a little faster bus.

...look at how beautiful it is, you know you want to come visit!!

Thank you for joining us on our journey. Forgive us for how long it's taking us to blog...we're still settling in.

There are more adventures to come!! Get ready!

Much love,

Anna and Jon

Prayer Requests:
* Please pray for completely restored health for both of us.
* Pray that God would raise up a laborer to be a director for Casa Victoria (preferably an Ecuadorian who plans to live the rest of their life in Quito)
* Pray for unity amongst all those that work at Casa Victoria
* Pray that God would continue to provide financially for us and for Casa Victoria
* Pray for safety for us, God's protection for us.