Martin Chambers Ecuador Trust

The retreat at Ayangue was good and Fr. Jim and Fr. George, the two guys that were leading us were very good. There was no big psychological thing, which is Jim’s slant, but rather the key idea of the retreat was that all of us need to have a Spiritual Director. Who will care for the carers, who will minister to the ministers? One thing about the retreat was that we had to be accommodated at the nearby hotel – there was not enough room at our own house. So there was a daily walk back and forward between house and hotel – scenery on the way was fantastic! The only bad thing about the retreat week was the amount of additional business meetings that were added on. So when I came back to the city on Friday it was for a busy weekend. On Saturday I had 75 Baptisms split between two sessions. The reason for so many Baptisms is that people get panicky about not having their child baptized before the end of the year. So it was a busy, very busy Church on Saturday morning and afternoon. And I think there might be more this coming weekend. On the other hand I felt a great sense of relief last night as we concluded the Confessions Season. Last night it was the turn of those who will make their First Communion in a couple of weeks – all 250 of them. I started at 6.30pm although we had told them 7pm. And for a while it looked as if myself and Colm Hogan would be there for hours but then the cavalry of Tom Oates and Padre Augusto (Colin’s assistant) came to the rescue and we finished around 9pm. I have now heard the confessions of all the 850 kids that are involved in our catechetical programme!!! A funny incident happened yesterday. I was writing my latest article for the Observer and I had chosen the theme of ‘the water situation’ here. Normally I include several photos that the paper can use as they wish. However, I did not have a photo of the water truck actually filling up at people’s bamboo houses. Then I struck on a great idea: I went up the main road and waited for a water truck to pass (I didn’t have to wait long) and asked if I could accompany them. So we went up hill and down dusty dale them filling up tanks and me taking photos of it all. There was of course banter all the way from the heavy guys but they were quite pleased with the $5 I gave them – money to buy a roast chicken, they said!