Cooking Ecuadorian Style

We love living in our new culture here in Cumbaya!! God has truly blessed us with a love for the people, the country, the culture, and the food. We have always been fairly adventurous when it comes to food. One of the foods that we love is ceviche! It is a specialty in this part of the world, and we have started making it in our home.

A man in our church works in Manta, a town on the Pacific Ocean about six hours from here. He brought us several pounds of this very unusual fish from a trip. The family told us it was " muy rico" ( very good); so, we could not wait to try it. We tried sautéing it. Then, we tried frying it. We just were not getting it right. What we did not know is this fish is to be used for ceviche.

The "cooking process" in ceviche is different than others you may have tried, but it is perfectly safe. You marinate the fish in acidic lemon juice and it "cooks" the fish. You can see it happen, and it can actually overcook too.

The magic of ceviche is the combination of flavors and textures with the toppings that you add to your fish. You layer on generous amounts of your favorites of chopped tomatoes, Spanish purple onions, scallions, cilantro, plantain chips, popcorn, and corn nuts.  Ecuadorians have taught us the varieties are endless with additional choices of condiments on top such as hot sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, even mustard.  Each person makes their own little masterpiece. Ceviche also comes in a shrimp version or in a "cho-cho" vegetarian bean version if the fish marinated in lemon juice is really just too much for you. Whichever one you try, they are fantastic! Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!! You really need to come and taste it for yourself.

Enouch Bizcochos for Everyone

It's funny how sometimes things can grow on you. Soon after we moved to Cumbaya in 2009, our neighbors introduced us to a famous treat from the small town of Cayambe.  They brought us a bag of bizcochos which are small rectangular pastries that are buttery but not sweet. When we first tried them, we did not know quite what to expect. But how we have grown to love the tradition and the experience.

Bizcochos are served with a piece of cheese called "queso de hoja" or literally of "sheet of cheese. It is a really creamy mild cheese" like a mozzarella rolled up like a little sleeping bag.  Our family either has coffee or rich creamy hot chocolate with these treats. In the little town, there is a factory that makes reportedly 12,000 a day. There are shops all over the town selling them by the bagful. Our latest favorite way to enjoy these little tasties is to dip them in dulce de leche which is a soft caramel. Delicious!!

Lunch for $2 - Not a bad deal!

Lunch or is the biggest meal of the day here in Ecuador.  Most working people go to a local restaurant on their lunch break and simple order " almuerzo " or the lunch of the day. It will include a fruit juice, a soup, and a typical plate of rice, beans, and a meat. There might be a fruit or pudding type dessert. Our kids love the culture of Ecuador. If you come for a visit, they will be glad to take you for the best almuerzos in town.

A "Courageous" Turnout in Cumbaya!



For the past 3 years we have been praying, "Lord give us this Valley." I “just gotta” share what God is doing!


We asked you to pray this past weekend as we had a showing of "Reto de Valientes" (The video “Courageous” in English) in our urbanization this Saturday. We invited many people. Lukas and I went door-to-door in our urbanization of 180 homes, posted fliers in public places and prayed.

There we 92 men and boys in attendance and a few women snuck in also! We saw 60 first time visitors. We cooked 20 racks of ribs, 25 lbs of potatoes and 5 gallons of coleslaw. We praise the Lord that the next day in our church we had 1 new family from the film and 9 first time visitors in all. Several who attended the video are ones we have been praying for, making contacts and building relationships with over the past 3 years. We praise the Lord for one more touch with the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.

One of the greatest blessings I received was a call on Thursday before the presentation from a police officer in our area. He asked to meet with me at 9 AM to hear of our plans. Someone had given another officer an invitation in Tumbaco, our neighboring town. The officer brought the invitation to the police chief and the chief sent the officer to speak to me. They are asking us to provide 2 more showings of the video to more than 500 officers in our valley…PLUS their families! When each of my children heard that they said… “That’s a lot of ribs!”

In further discussion, he is part of a task force of officers from Quito that want to take the movie to ALL OF THE PRECINTS IN ECUADOR! He is asking for our help! They have plans in the works now for...get this CUENCA and Loja! We currently have 3 partnering churches in Cuenca and 2 missionary families arriving here in Ecuador in July to work in Cuenca. He stated they needed the spiritual connection also! I shared with the officer the need to connect each precinct with a local Bible believing/preaching church for continued follow-up and care with the officers and their families. We talked about my vision for starting a chaplaincy ministry here in Ecuador which we currently do not have. He stated that there is a great need and I suggested we start right here in Tumbaco. He mentioned the officers need help because daily they are faced with prostitution, drugs, and alcoholism and many of them fall.

There is another showing of the movie here in Quito with the Captain of police for the entire country, on July 7. He is trying to get me an invite!

More open doors! I just found out one of my neighbors in the urbanization (180 houses in a walled, guarded community) is the Ministro de Defence of Ecuador! Also found out the Ministro del Interior is a Christian. He is responsible for more than 40,000 police officers in the country. We invited the Ministro of Defense to the movie on Saturday! He did not attend, but he knows we are here!

Revelation 3:8 - "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."

We have no idea how long the door is open, but please pray with us as we serve!

40 Days and 40 Nights!