Alturas - Heights

We just returned this afternoon from an incredible adventure climbing Iliniza Norte - the 8th highest peak in Ecuador.  A very significant team-bonding moment happened a day before departing for the climb with all the students making the qualifying time of 48 minutes to hike up 1,500' to the top of the mountain on the El Refugio property.  Some of the students were having serious doubts if they would be able to get under the time needed so to see them all make it with the incredible encouragement and teamwork was a time of strength for LIFT 33 - knowing it was all coming from God.  That attitude continued to the summit day when everyone was divided into 5 climbing teams, working their way up from basecamp at 4 a.m. to the refuge (climbing hut) at midpoint to the small rocky peak in the clouds about 5 - 6 hours later. 


We were blessed with gorgeous weather, starting under a clear starry sky then under the warm beam of the rising sun backlighting Cotopaxi and other close peaks nearing 20,000'.  Stunning scenery was slowing the progress of a few groups as they were "compelled" to keep taking once-in-a-lifetime pictures.  This lasted until mid-morning when the valley clouds rose to engulf the mountain. 


Climbing at high altitude is unpredictable in how it affects the physiology of each person.  Five of our women had to turn around when reaching the refuge because of feeling ill and losing coordination.  Each team reached the summit about 20 minutes apart, exchanging high-fives and hugs as they passed each other where teams typically get congested having to share fixed lines for safety when going up and down the final pitches.  There was a lot of emotion as many reached a goal they set 2 1/2 months ago, not knowing if it was really possible. 


We hiked with the Latin students who are Alturas, a the discipleship program of El Refugio, inspired by LIFT three years ago.  It was the first time for some of them to climb a mountain and be in snow.  It was a lot of fun to work together with a number of Ecuadorians, and students from Columbia, Honduras, and Costa Rica - all brothers and sisters in Christ desiring to grow in their faith.  Strength came from the teamwork of each other but even more from God. Praises were being lifted up all throughout the day to our amazing and majestic God and creator by a variety of tongues and nations represented - kind of a foretaste of things to come in the new heaven and new earth.


We finished debriefing the two-week LIFT experience in Ecuador this afternoon and what God has been teaching us.  As we wrap up our time here, the students are packing and having some personal time of reflection and worship.


With the grace of God, LIFT arrives back at Camp Thursday (3/26) morning around 9:45.  LIFT will be hosting a forum about their Ecuador experience on Wednesday, April 15th @ 7:00 p.m. in the Buirkle Center at CAMP-of-the-WOODS.  If you can find the time and make the drive, we would love to see you there to hear from the students about the heights God has brought them and what he is doing in the lives of many in Ecuador.  There will also be some tasty samples of Ecuadorian food to try.


To see the latest photos please visit the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page:


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram


Jim Olsen from El Refugio staff just recently added a post to the El Refugio blog about our time in Oyacachi.  Check it out:


http://www.haciendaelrefugio.com/blog/

Life in the Andes

Hello again from Ecuador.  Our days have been extremely full with activity and no time to get caught up in the office at El Refugio.   Today was full of a work project, debriefing sessions, a fitness hike, food and gear packing, and an evening class.  Tomorrow we have a morning worship session then head back to the mountains. 


We just returned from three days in Oyacachi - a Quechua village at 10,000 feet in the Andes.  The students were busy almost the entire time with doing skits, puppet Bible stories, leading worship, sharing testimonies and preaching at the church in town that has about 300 members out of the 750 people in town.  LIFTers also taught lessons in the public school two of the days.  Any free time they may have had was spent playing with the high energy kids who adopt LIFTers as good friends in just a matter of minutes.  The weeks of planning and preparing earlier in the semester paid off.  We sensed God moving in this small secluded town and left in hopes that seeds were planted, people were encouraged in their faith and that the word shared would not return void.


Only a few days remain before returning to the United States.  The two weeks of ministry have come to a close and now the students will return to part of their normal routine of growing together through another outdoor adventure - this time it is high altitude mountaineering in the world-famous Andes mountains.  Currently the students are making final preparations and packing for the next three days of camping at 13,500 feet and attempting to climb to almost 17,000 feet.  They all had to qualify for this adventure with a fitness hike on El Refugio's property that ascends to over 11,000 feet.  It was a difficult steep hike for 35-45 minutes that pushed a lot of them to their limits, however they all made the qualifying time.  We are so excited that the whole group pushed hard and all will be able to try climbing Illiniza Norte.  There had been a lot of concern because we have had a number of people struggling with G.I. illnesses and some colds - but they all seem to be on the mend and getting stronger. 


Thank you for your prayers while we were in Oyacachi - we could see God working and felt the power of prayer in the fruit we were seeing.  Please pray that the students not be adversely affected by altitude sickness.  They have acclimatized to fairly well to higher altitudes as they have done life in the Andes for the last two weeks.  We are hoping that will be a big help, but it still can be an issue, even for the strongest of them.


Tim

The Refuge: A Place for Growth Through Adventure

El Refugio is the ministry that LIFT partners with in Ecuador.  It is a part of Youth World, which is an extension of International Teams, a long-standing missions organization found in many corners of the world.  Staff from El Refugio set up all the logistics of visiting and helping out the two churches in El Chaco and Oyacachi, both about a 3-hour drive over the mountains from the base at El Refugio.  LIFT started a relationship with these churches five years ago and continues to build relationships with the leaders and people of each church. 


LIFT is one of the groups that come to El Refugio to supply a lot of manpower (and womanpower) and resources to help with big projects that would normally take a lot of time to complete, but can be effectively done in just a few days with the many hands and high energy of the young physically fit students. These work projects improve their facilities and the tools of adventure education (such as the ropes course, the climbing wall, and the adventure mud race course) to better serve the many groups that come to the base. 


People who spend time at El Refugio go through many custom-designed activities and challenges for them to learn to work together better as teams, to grow in character and their love and understanding of God.  The people who come to El Refugio range from church groups or Christian programs from North America to young Christian adults from all over South and Central America, but mostly from the Quito region of Ecuador.  More and more Ecuadorian corporate groups are also taking part in the team-building experiences at El Refugio because of its growing reputation as a leader of adventure education in Latin America.  In 2013 El Refugio hosted the first "summit" meeting of many leaders in adventure education and wilderness camps throughout Latin America to bring together this network of ministries specializing in using the outdoors as a tool to bring the gospel to people.  It was to bring unity, share ideas, increase understanding, and provide vision for these leaders from the many different countries as this type of ministry grows and progresses.


El Refugio continues to lead the way in Latin America with using adventure education as a powerful tool in Christian ministry. To learn more about the multi-faceted ministry of El Refugio check out the website:


http://www.haciendaelrefugio.com/




Also to get a sneak preview of the upcoming 5K adventure mud race, "Todo Lodo" watch this video trailer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r0KRnGrbgU

The Lord of the Rainforest

We just returned from the other side of the Andes mountain range where it rains a lot (almost every day), bringing life to the lush steep mountain slopes covered with a canopy of what seems to be an unlimited variety of trees and giant ferns (up to 50' tall) and grasses (up to 20').  El Chaco (meaning the flat plateau in the valley) is the village that we have visited on our previous 5 trips.  Iglesia de Cristo el Unica Esperanza, (Christ the Only Hope) is a "covenant" church that we support and partner with in ministry to the surrounding communities up and down the Quijos river valley.  Pastor Enrique is an amazing leader and shepard to this fast-growing family in Christ.   


The LIFT team is currently resting, before heading out tomorrow to Oyacachi, because of being tired physically, but very full in the spirit after a very full 5 days in El Chaco.  We shared in 5 different services over 5 days - ministering to and being minstered to as we shared in worship, skits, testimonies, sermons, dances and times of just hanging out or playing soccer and building relationships with our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters.  Five years ago the church conisisted of less than 30 people - most women and young children.  Now it is thriving with a vibrant youth group, strong male leadership and a strong women's ministry - filling to about 100 people on Sunday mornings. God is using Enrique and the spirit-filled members to impact this village of about 7,000 people.


LIFT was greatly blessed by the people on Monday night as the congregation surrounded the team and prayed over them.  It is amazing of how much happens in relationships in such a short span of time with people who are a from a different culture and speak a different language.  The blood of Christ is what bonds us together as family and is such an strength for all Americans - from the northern and southern hemispheres as we grow to appreciate how great our God is and how he is active and alive in the hearts of men and women not just on this side of the world, but all over this globe as his kingdom advances with force against the retreating darkness of this world.  God is light and his love shown in the lives of so many people (including us) once lost and broken is such an inspiration and draws our eyes on Him and Him alone.


Pray for LIFT as we serve at El Refugio tomorrow and on Saturday to continue a lot of manual labor in helping them prepare for their adventure mud race coming up in a few weeks - opening the door to many Ecuadorians who may not know God.  Pray also as we head to the indigenous Quechua village of Oyacachi at 10,000' in the Andes and minister with the church to the youth of that village for 2 1/2 days. 


A few of the students have been struggling with gastrointestinal problems.  It seems to last only a day or two, but is not much fun when dealing with it.  Pray for health for the team as they will be very busy and for making time for solitude with the Lord to be renewed and strengthened spiritually.  The prayers of all of you teaming with us is much needed and appreciated.  Thanks for joining us in all of this.


Be sure to check out the recent pictures on the LIFT Discipleship Program facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram




Tim


 

Photos

I have been having difficulty uploading pictures to this blog site, so photos will be uploaded to the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page.  Be sure to check them out @ :


https://www.facebook.com/liftdiscipleshipprogram

Team Work

LIFT 33 is into its third day in Ecuador.  I apologize for not getting an update in on our day of arrival.  We traveled a total of about 22 hours by vans, plane and bus to make the journey from CAMP-of-the-WOODS to NYC to Panama to Quito, Ecuador then to our base, El Refugio.  Thank you for praying for our journey down - the traveling was smooth, just long with a red-eye flight with all of us catching naps whenever and wherever we could. 


After an evening of orientation to El Refugio (the refuge) and Youth World - the ministry we are partnering, we all hit the bunks for a good night's sleep.  Wednesday morning, we started right out with team-building activities which culminated on the high-ropes course in the forest a few minutes up the mountain from the campus.  Before launching out into two weeks of ministering with the churches and villages we will be visiting it is important that we are united and working well together as a team.  The students were challenged to work together and trust each other in a variety of ways as they were blindfolded then progressed to crossing high above a ravine on very wobbly obstacles (with safety lines of course).


The afternoon consisted of starting the work projects we will be doing when on the base here to help the outreach potential of El Refugio.  The three big projects are to continue to improve the facilities and beauty of the prayer garden and a bouldering wall.  Both of these projects have been ongoing over the years as previous LIFT teams have contributed to the development of these through funds and hours of labor (many hands making the work light for the staff here who struggle to find time to get these done).  The bouldering wall is a continuation of the climbing wall project that LIFT help start 5 years ago. 


The current students are able to benefit from the work of previous LIFTers by getting their first exposure of the semester to outdoor rock climbing on the 40 foot wall.  It is inspiring to see all the LIFT students climbing at night under the lights and having a great time encouraging each other in overcoming their fears and trusting each other - knowing that this wall is used in similar ways with many groups of youth and churches that come to this campus to learn Christian principles and lessons through such a practical hands-on experience.


The other big project the students are working on is new to El Refugio.  They are helping develop a 5K race course through many obstacles of jumping, climbing, sliding, and crawling - mostly through thick slimy mud, but also including some fire and water obstacles and steep mountain running.  The event was inspired by the "Tough Mudder" race series that has become very popular in the states.  It will be called "Todo Lodo" (All Mud).  Love the name!  The race will be in mid-April, hoping to draw over 1,000 competitors, being an outreach to the public of Quito (a city of over 2 million) and open the door for relationship-building and exposure to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Needless to say, the LIFTers are having a lot of fun working hard and serving in helping with all that needs to happen before such a big event comes to this small little campus.  They may even need to take the opportunity to "test" out the course.


LIFT heads out to the village of El Chaco tomorrow (Friday) to team up with the local evangelical church in doing a wide variety of outreaches.  Everyone is doing very well.  No illnesses, just some sore muscles with the work and the fitness training they have been doing in preparing to climb a large mountain at the end of their time here.


Please pray for good health for the team and that the Holy Spirit continue to move in their hearts as they look for opportunities to minister and be ministered to.


Tim

Ecuador 2015 !


LIFT 33 is hours away from loading up the vans and heading south the JFK International airport then boarding the plane to Panama City then to Quito, Ecuador.  We plan on arriving to our base, El Refugio sometime around 3 -4 pm on Tuesday, March 10th.


Here is a brief run-down of our itinerary while in Ecuador:


Tuesday (3/10) - Friday (3/13) @ El Refugio - orientation, classes, work projects


Friday (3/13) - Tuesday (3/17) @ El Chaco village - partnering with local church in ministry and outreaches and work projects, a hike to a huge waterfall, ww rafting on Monday afternoon


Tuesday (3/17) - Wednesday (3/18) - back to El Refugio to repack & do a 1/2 day work project


Wednesday (3/18) - Friday (3/20) - @ Oyacachi (indigenous Quichua village high in the Andes Mountains) - youth ministry & church outreach


Friday (3/20) - Sunday (3/22) - @ El Refugio, laundry, 1/2 day work project, rest, repack


Sunday (3/22) - Tuesday (3/24) - basecamp & climb Illiniza Norte (16,800') on Monday


Tuesday (3/24) - Wednesday (3/25) - return to El Refugio, debriefing sessions, clean & pack


Wednesday (3/25) - Thursday (3/26) - travel back to COTW  (arrive around 9:30-10:00 am)


We will be sending detailed updates and hopefully some pics for you to keep up with what is happening with LIFT 33 as we travel through the amazingly beautiful mountainous country and build relationships with the wonderful people of Ecuadorian culture.  Please remember us in your prayers and that the Lord will be working in and through the LIFT program as we team up with churches and missionaries.


Tim