Anna's 27th Birthday!!

Anna Esh's 27th Birthday! from Charlie Beck on Vimeo.

the latest...

The thing with living in another country for more than  a few weeks, is that you get used to things that are normally completely abnormal. (see previous post "We're Still Here")

Yesterday, however, we we're shaken back to the abnormalities of third world life. 

Just down the street, in front of Blanca and Raphael's salchipapas (hot dog/french fry) shop, viewing distance from our front porch, at 10:15 in the morning, while Jon and I were shopping for a guest room bed...

...a murder took place. 

The shock you feel reading this can only be multiplied by 100 to equate what Jon and I experienced when we read the news from Charlie's text message...

..."Bro, flippin gnarly. Some guy just got shot 3 times in the head outside of the bakery on the corner. He's dead, so they covered him in newspaper."

Supposedly, what we've learned from the radio, is that the guy had 3 unpaid debts (equals 3 shots). The police have caught the culprit, who after shooting the guy in broad daylight, on a bustling street corner in our barrio, went RUNNING down the street to "get away". No car. No gang. No place to hide. 

After the man lay dying on the sidewalk for minutes, the ambulance arrived. Upon them finding him dead, they covered him in newspaper and drove away. Soon after, the coroner showed up with the police and news cameras to record the event. An hour and a half later, the body was finally removed. 

All the while, the bakery 20 feet away continued to do business, the woman selling watermelon on the corner continued to yell, "Sandia. Vientecinco Centavos..." The neighborhood children continued to run through the streets without ANY adult supervision...

This is life in Barrio San Roque. 

Jon and I walked home from dinner last night. Two blocks from our house, a man stopped us and said..."Ten cuidado. Este barrio es muy peligroso." (Be careful. This neighborhood is very dangerous.) To which we responded..."Nos sabemos. Vivimos agui." (We know. We live here.)

Thank you God, that the murderer is behind bars for at least the next 30 days (the minimum for ANY offense here...even a traffic citation) and that everyone we know is safe. 

We're still here and we're not going any where quite yet. We're safe and know many people in the community. We know that God is protecting us in each day, yet we pray for continued safety and wise eyes and ears as we continue to love on these people and this place. 

As our community processes through this devastation, as we learn to love these people and this place in the midst of our fears, as these men's families grieve their losses, I pray this...

...a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi...

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. 

Where there is hatred, let me sow love. 

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope. 

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek...

To be consoled, as to console.

To be understood, as to understand.

To be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive. 

It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned.

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 

Amen.

Fireworks.

 Almost every night, in any part of town, you can hear the sweet lullaby of fireworks as you doze off. Last night, however, we had the privilege of experiencing them. As Jon, Char, and Seth and I made our way home after dinner at Vista Hermosa, we saw in the distance, bright, colorful fires lighting up the sky. Obviously, they drew us in. We made our way up the block to see what the commotion was. 

The celebration of la Virgin de Merced a la Iglesia de la Virgin de Merced. 

Obviously. 

Who wouldn't want to celebrate the 'birthday' of their church with fireworks?

I only wish we had our camera. My descriptions will do it no justice. But imagine...2 bamboo structures, 40 feet high. Fireworks spinning from the sides, the tops, the insides and spontaneously shooting out the top. At times, an exploding spinning ring would shoot into the sky, only to fall back into the crowd below... cinders and all. 

To top it all off...there was a marching band. 

Just thought I'd share a piece of our nightly entertainment with you. 

...and to think - free admission!

I love Quito.

small stories and prayers

I was taking my "siestita" today and thinking a lot about what's happening here at Casa Victoria. We've had so many exciting events recently (as Jon so wonderfully shared), yet we've also had some very difficult transitional moments. Let me share some of our praises and prayers with you.

* School: Jorge Meza (see previous post) has enrolled in school! This has been a huge prayer of ours, as Jorge is 18 and needs to finish a few more years of high school. He is attending on Saturdays and is currently trying to find a job to help support his mom and 3 siblings. Please continue your prayers for Jorge as he continues to find the Truth about himself through following Jesus.

* Safety: Esteban, Javier, Ricardo, and a few friends from the neighborhood went on a wonderful hike on Saturday. They wanted this time to be a time of reflection, prayer and sharing. Once at the top of the mountain, they met 3 people who were also on a hike. They all sat together for 20 minutes of sharing about the Lord until one of the 'strangers' stood up and shared, "I believe in God too, but I need money." With this, he pulled out a gun and proceeded to rob the guys and friends from CV. This was an incredibly frightening moment (obviously) for everyone involved. Crime is a rampant problem in Quito - it's frustrating, scary, and unbelievable at times. Many places are becoming more and more unsafe. Please pray for all of our safety, and for the hearts of the youth that are so caught up in crime. Just so you know, everyone in safe, no one was hurt, and the landrones only got away with a few cell phones, money, and a camera. Also...Casa Victoria has a great alarm system. We're safe here.

* Christmas: The Eshleman family is coming! YAY! Thanks for everyone who made this possible. It's a incredible blessing.

* Health: For the last 2 months, there has not been a day when everyone in the house has been completely healthy. Join us in prayer for the complete healing of EVERYONE'S health at Casa Victoria. We long to serve this community fully, yet it's difficult in the midst of sickness.

* Furniture: We bought a couch! This is the first couch that Casa Victoria has seen since it's beginning. Through the wonderful donations from friends in Santa Barbara, we were able to purchase an L-shaped couch, chair, ottoman, and table for our living room. We're already breaking it in during movie nights, house meetings, and reading/prayer times. Thank you! Thank you! We're only about 1/5 of the way to furnishing this house completely. If you're interested in donating to the Casa Victoria "Couch Potato" fund, please email us and let us know. We are grateful for ANY help at all. We're still looking to purchase: new mattresses for the guys, a queen bed for the guest room, a new LARGE dining room table, rugs, etc.)

* One on Ones: Jon has been taking the afternoons with each of the guys for one on one time. We're blessed to have a wonderful cafe (Cafeto) down the street from us - a perfect meeting/retreat place. I truly believe that this is one of Jon's greatest gifts from the Lord. He's an amazing listener (lucky me!), and a wise counselor. The guys have been able to open up and share their lives with Jon in incredibly vulnerable ways. I trust that the Lord is using Jon to speak truth into these young men's lives. As we continue to flesh out our purpose here, we continue to be reminded that "loving God and loving our neighbor" covers over any other purpose we might see. Our prayer is that God would continue to soften our hearts to these guys and that we would be able to REALLY love them. Also, because we're still in the language learning process, please pray that God would give Jon ears that can hear, as he tries to dig into the lives of Spanish speakers.

* Cooking: I am right in the midst of an incredible blessing that I didn't know I would experience. At home, Jon and I loved to host friends for meals in our home. I thought I would miss those moments greatly, yet God has provided them here. I am blessed to be able to cook the meals for the guys and friends in the house each day. Breakfast is nothing creative...eggs, fruit, coffee, oatmeal, etc. Lunch, however, is my time. I have taught myself to make homemade mac and cheese for 12 people. I make an Ecuadorian soup called Locro (potato-cheese with avocado). I LOVE to feed people. Food seems to make  everyone SO happy and I love experiencing the JOY that comes with that. At times I think..."Lord, is this what you've brought me here for? To cook and clean? To be "Mama Anita"? What about the community? Am I not supposed to be getting my hands dirty with the rest of community?" Yet, daily, I'm reminded that I'm just supposed to love those I'm with - and if that means cooking yummy meals...then, by all means - take me to the market! I praise the Lord for slowing me down...erasing my schedule...and allowing me to find peace and JOY in the kitchen. (If you have any great recipes to cook for 10 guys...please share!)

* Date Nights: Jon and I make a goal each week to take one night away from the house. This is difficult as we get caught up in the Casa Victoria activities and the  nights escape us. For all you married friends, you know how important it is to take time away to nourish your marriage. Please pray that the Lord would help us carve out some time for this and that our times together would be rich and live-giving. We're coming up on 2 years of marriage on Oct. 28th. Can you believe it? We're just so thankful that God has brought us to Quito together. This truly is a dream come true - and our marriage is growing more than ever. Praise the Lord!

* Reading: I've just started a wonderful book called Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love. (Thanks to the Becks!) I LOVE what the authors have to say about hospitality and LOVE. I marked these few sentences in the book and am making them my prayer this week. 

When we accept, we take an open stance to the other person. It is more than merely piously tolerating them. We stand in the same space and we appreciate who they are, right now at this moment, and affirm the Sacred in them.

We love you all. Thank you for joining us on this journey. It's so much of a blessing to do this alongside our friends. Please continue the emails, notes, Skypes, etc. They continue to encourage us and give us the strength we need. We miss you. 

Love, 

the Eshlemans

We're Still Here!!

What? You didn’t get our last few blogs? They must have somehow been erased. Or perhaps they were never written. Woops...

One thing we have noticed after having been here for over 2 months is that some things that were originally shocking, no long have the same shock value. For instance, for many of you it may be strange to see an 8 year-old walking around town at 10:30 pm selling cigarettes (By the way, you can buy one at a time if you don’t want an entire pack). You might also find it strange to find people selling otter-pops on the bus. Or, you may be frightened to be involved in a bus race! Let me explain. There are probably over a thousand buses here in Quito, all competing for clientele. Thus, it is not uncommon to be traveling down the same road as another bus and end up in a race to get to the next group of people waiting. Bus fare is $0.25, Diesel is $1.03 per gallon...it’s not like these guys are getting rich, yet this is their livelihood.  Sometimes while you in the midst of a race, it feels rather unsafe. Taking corners at 30 miles per hour...it just doesn't feel that secure. All of this to say, things like this have become commonplace for us, and so we sometimes wonder, what would we say this week in the blog? Well, fear not, we found some great material to write about.

So much has happened in the last month here at Casa Victoria and in our own lives. First of all, we have some changes in the house in terms of who lives here at Casa Victoria. Let me break it down for you: Jon & Anna Eshleman, Esteban Jaramillo, Javier Cuchipe, Seth Ludwick, Charlie Beck, and Ricardo Navaraez. As some of you may know, Rigo and Rocio and Rocio’s family have moved out of Casa Victoria and relocated to the northern end of Quito. Rigo is still working here at Casa Victoria finishing up some things and doing maintenance on the house. Anna and I were sad to see Rigo and Rocio and her family leave, but we are thrilled to continue to have a full house with Seth, Charlie, and Ricardo here. So it's just the seven of us here at the house now. If you are female and you are reading this, I am fairly certain that Anna would love for you to come visit. So check tickets to Quito, Ecuador and get down here pronto. (Anna says: Living with 6 guys is hard! I love them all and love to serve them. They make me laugh constantly. But, girl time is ALWAYS desired.)

With the arrival of Charlie and Seth from Santa Barbara and Ricardo from Ecuador, the house has kicked into gear with a new program. With the departure of Rocio, Anna has been very busy with the cooking, shopping, laundry, mom’s club, kids club, and the library. I have been busy implementing the new schedule and spending some quality time with the guys in the house. Everyday consists of at least 2 meals together, a time for prayer and reading, cleaning, cooking, and then alternating days for sports, reconciliation, house maintenance, and neighborhood walks. I have had the privilege of meeting with each of the guys for coffee during the week as well.

We have also had a number of visitors come through the house over the last month. First, we had our new friends Jesse and Cassidy Scherba from Chico come to stay with us. They are a young couple that we were connected with through a mutual friend, Amber Rader. They came to Ecuador for two months to travel and study Spanish (and spend some days of rest at Casa V). They left just a few days ago to head back to the Chico. Next we had Whitney Trump from San Francisco come spend a week with us. Whitney came to us by way of Joel Tarman. Anna really enjoyed having another girl in the house to keep her company. Whitney is studying for her Ph.D. in American Literature at Stanford. (Yeah, we were pretty impressed as well.)  She came to study Spanish and fell in love with Casa Victoria as a result of her time here. She is currently enjoying some time with her father in Buenos Aires. And finally, we hosted three adventurous girls, Jordan, Lalia, and Laura. These three brave girls are on a South American adventure in search of seeing the Gospel lived out. We were connected with them through Charlie’s parents, and they brought great enthusiasm to Casa Victoria. (Plus, Laura's french toast was a major treat!)  Anna and I have been thoroughly blessed by all the visitors that have passed through the house, and our hope is that they have tangibly felt the love of Jesus as a result of their time here.

In other great news, as many of you know, the Eshleman family was having difficulty figuring out how they were going to be together for Christmas. Well, as a result of the email we sent out, in less than 10 minutes the Lord answered our prayers and the funds were provided for us all to be together to celebrate here in Quito! We cannot fully explain how grateful we are to the families that are making this possible for us. It is such a privilege to have so many wonderful friends who take such great care of us.

I must also mention that this last Saturday we had a number of delegates at the house from a corporation called “Ecuador Mi Pais.” This foundation raises money to give to poorer families (especially single moms) who are seeking to provide a good education for their children, but do not have the financial means to do so. We invited all the families and children of those that are receiving scholarships in order that they might express their gratitude. It was a very memorable occasion. 'Ecuador Mi Pais' was very impressed with how we're implementing their program, and we're praying that they will become more involved in this part of the Quito.

So much is happening here at Casa Victoria. So much is happening in our own lives. Anna is battling a terrible stomach infection (yucky parasites!). I am learning to care for her through all of this. We are both learning how to love and live as Jesus would love and live if he had our lives to live. We are so grateful to each one of you and all the prayers and support that you provide for us. We know that this would not be possible without all of you!

Blessing to all of you!

"los Eshlitos"

You Know You're in Quito When...

 (This is especially for those friends who have lived, been to, or hope to come to Quito, Ecuador.)

- multiple children run up to you at one time to shine your shoes (flip flops, converse, green suede vans..)

- Futbol is more important than anything

- If you don't have nausea at least once a week, you must not be eating. 

- If the doors on the bus can still shut, there's still room for more

- Milk and eggs aren't refrigerated

- You can't breathe at an intersection

- You have memorized the names of the Ecovia stops

- $3 for lunch is really expensive

- No vehicle (car, bus, police motorcycle, ambulance, bike) stops for a pedestrian. They do however honk to let you know they're coming.

-You can buy 100 limes for $1 on the corner, the bus, the street...

- You carry your umbrella with you everyday

- You can go from sweating to freezing in 30 minutes

- You can recognize the bus drivers/helpers by their yell (La Marin, La Marin, La Marin!)

- You can get 120 songs on one CD for $1

- New release movies (still in the theater) are $1.50 on a DVD at the store on the corner

- Rice is served at every meal, every day

- The view of the mountains never gets old

- Coca-Cola is the new water - and even tastes better

- Old Town Quito feels like a different country and time period

- Pinguino Ice Cream - they sell Magnum bars!

- $1 for 25 roses

- Old ladies and children are the best pick-pocketers. Watch out!

- Most buses have curtains and tassels - classy.

- KFC is one of the most popular restaurants in Quito

- You have your "own" panaderia, pirated DVD store, movistar man, and tiendita where you know the workers by name

- Halls cough drops are considered candy

- Aji makes everything taste better

- Regaton is played at all hours of the day/night

- Only 80's-90's top 40 music has made it on the radio here

- Even the poorest of the poor have cell phones

- You have never thought white bread could be so tasty!

- There is a different key for EVERY door in your house

- Family dogs always seem to be hanging out on the roof

- You throw your toilet paper in the trash, not the toilet

- You have been involved in a city bus race

- You have witnessed a political protest

- You haggle with Taxis for a mere 50 cents

- You get turned down by taxis because "it's too dangerous there" or they aren't headed that way

- It takes three days for your clothes to dry because they got caught in three rainstorms on the line

- You put popcorn in your soup

- You drink juice with every meal

...I'm sure this list will continue . This just gives you a taste of life in Quito. The quirks are what make this place magical. Come visit. 

We love you! Don't forget to keep in touch! We love the emails and comments and talks on Skype. They keep us going. 

xoxo,

Anna and Jon

Classes, Friends, Doctors, Etc...

Jon and Anna at the "Top of the World"...Quito is below!

Well, it has been a little while since our last blog, so I thought I would get things started. This is Jon writing, just to let you know, so if you're an Anna-blog fan, then you can just skim.

Actually, you need to read this. So much has been happening here at Casa V. and we are excited to share with you just a little bit through our eyes.

Casa Victoria in all its beauty.

Cursos Vacacionales:
First of all, as many of you know, we have been having a vacation school going on here at the house for the last 4 weeks. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday our house floods with about 35 children and 15 volunteers at 8:00am. It is non-stop from the time they set foot in the house to get their breakfast (usually bread and fruit and juice), to the time they leave at around 1:30pm, when their moms come and meet them at our front gate. Our vacation school directors, Maria Jose Iturralde and Ana Lofredo-Rota have been absolutely phenomenal at organizing this amazing program. They run a tight ship here and do a great job of getting everyone involved while maintaining their own sanity at the same time.

Ana Julia teaching the Art Class

My sweet wife Anna teaches English on Wednesday and Friday mornings. She is stellar at this and the kids adore her. On Friday she was taking them through the old "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes" routine. They were eating it up like pancakes. The faster she did the little song, the more fun they had. It's great to hear the laughter of children throughout the house. The kids have also been labeling the house with all the English words they can think of...Cafetero = Coffee Pot, Ventanas = Windows, etc. It's been incredibly helpful to everyone! We're learning Spanish and everyone else is learning English!

New Friends:
We also hosted some new friends from the States for about a week. Anna Livingston-Coe Wagner and Mollie Elena Walker came from Costa Rica to spend a week with us at Casa Victoria. After they travel back to the States, they will leave again in a few weeks to embark on a 2-month trip around the world! First, they wanted to come to Central and South America. Good choice girls! We are so glad they did. Annie is from Maryland and Mollie is from Virginia and they were roommates in college. Having just graduated from James Madison University, they were ready to see more of the world. They were such a blessing to us here. They were very encouraging, always seeking the Lord's will and contributed in so many ways to the community here at Casa Victoria. It was so fun to see them teaching English together to the kids at the vacation school (on their first day in Quito!!). They were so brave. They also helped decorate and furnish(!) our guest room. So, when any of you come visit, you will have Annie and Mollie to thank for the nice plush accommodations.

Annie and Mollie in action! English class is F-U-N!

The TeleferiQo (Gondola) ride to the top of Volcan Pinchincha

Medical Clinic @ CV:
About a week and a half ago on a Friday, we had a couple doctors come to the house to give FREE eye/ear exams, and overall checkups for the kids in our community. I haven't seen the house that busy since the inauguration. There were kids everywhere, moms waiting with their children, and volunteers trying to help out in any way they could. It was pandemonium, but there was a method to the madness. Each child was given a number and each one was able to obtain a free exam from the physicians. What a blessing it was to be able to offer this service to the community. Anna listened in on a few few visits and heard recommendations for nutrition and medicine and other great advice to many (single) moms in the community. This day was a great vision of the potential of Casa Victoria. We had over 30 kids there in the morning for the Summer Vacation School. We had 25 visitors from the United States working on Casa Victoria during the morning. We had over 15 Ecuadorian Volunteers helping out throughout the day. And in the evening we had over 70 children and mothers here for the free medical care. It was great to see Casa Victoria being used so well.

The Casa Victoria waiting room

Spanish School 101:
On Monday, we began the somewhat treacherous journey through intensive, 4 hours a day, 1 teacher-2 students, Spanish school. We're about to embark on our THIRD day and we've already (re)learned the past and future verb tenses. For all you non-Spanish speakers, that's pretty much like trying to learn a language in 2 days. It's SO crazy...yet SO good. It's actually exactly what we need. We've needed a teacher to kick our butts into gear and force us to learn to the language. Our maestro is Mario. He's 36 years old and has been teaching for 15 years. He's a great teacher, fairly patient, and straight forward with what we need to learn. The (second) best part about our school is that it's situated on top of the most quaint cafe "Mango Tree". I (Anna) am especially found of the cinnamon rolls that remind me of my grandpa's. (Note to the Blinkinsop family: these really don't come close, but being in a third world country...I'm pretty sure Papa would be proud. They bring back some great memories.) Wish us luck as we continue through school. As fun as it is, it's a ton of work and our brains are so tired at the end of the day, that we barely have enough strength to make a few grilled cheeses and plop into bed (with our new electric blanket!) and watch a movie.

Prayers and Praisies:

* Cursos Vacionales is over on Friday. It's been a great opportunity to be with the kids and really dig into this community. Please pray that the families that have been connected to CV through this program will continue to be present as we continue to open the doors. We're also really excited to be able to have some more one-on-one time with the guys in the house. Cursos Vacionales has been a huge priority and we're really looking forward to a little quiet time.

* Please pray for one of our guys, Jorge Mesa. Jorge has been living here for over a year now and we're ready to see him continue his journey. We're praying that we find an appropriate high school for him - as he is 18 years old and has yet to complete school. Also, his mom, Jenny is struggling financially. As a single mom, she is supporting two kids in school and has a precious little newborn girl, Genesis. Jorge has been helping her out with the small stipend he receives from Casa Victoria, but what he has is not enough. At this point, she is not working and we're not fully aware of that situation. We're going to encourage her to go back to work, but it's very difficult with a newborn and no family in town. Please pray for this situation, as it is heavy on our hearts and we want to see this family get back on their feet.

* The Library: The CV library is undergoing some major work in order to be ready for the new school year. It's been a difficult journey thus far, as we've had three different librarians that have been consulting for us. It seems like once we get all the books inventoried, a new consultant comes in to tell us we've done it all wrong. Then, it's renumbering 900 books. We're on the 4th round right now. It's a bit frustrating and everyone's on edge. Please pray that we would find more volunteers to help us out in these next few weeks. We can use all the hands we can get!

* Our health. Jon and I have both battled a few stomach bugs and are trying to keep one step ahead of the flu. Pray that God would give us the strength to continue on and a little extra time for rest.

* Living in community demands clear communication. The language barrier doesn't help us, and on top of that, no one in the house is GREAT at communicating clearly. So...obviously, there's a lot of room for misunderstanding, confusion, hurt feelings, frustration, etc. This is probably our biggest struggle at this point. We are praying for God's peace and love to continue to seep in and out of the walls of CV and that that peace and love would then fill our hearts. For out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Amen!?

* Financially - our personal needs are being met. Thank you for the financial support that many of you are providing. What we're looking to do, however, is furnish this big empty house. At this point, we have NO couches or sitting areas to "hang out". This has been a huge burden on our hearts. We really want to be able to build into the lives of these guys, but it's very difficult to do that with no where to sit down and talk/watch a movie/read together/play a game, etc. If you'd like to contribute to the Casa Victoria Fund, please email me at: joneshleman@yahoo.com.

Blessing to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Jon & Anna Eshleman

The view at the top of Volcan Pinchincha. Anyone up for a hike?