Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Fix Your Eyes: December 11, 2005
Last weekend was graduation at the seminary where I will be working in a few months. The theme for the evening was “Fix your eyes on Jesus.” This theme from Hebrews 12 is important for new ministers—and new missionaries as well—because it’s easy to get slightly off target.
In our daily routine, Sherri and I drop Mary and Landon off at school on our way to language school. The traffic here is muy loco (very crazy). I’ve been told that there are ten times more cars on the road in Quito than there were five years ago. Also, there are more taxis in Quito than there are in New York City. Most drivers are first generation drivers and do not have the experience or knowledge of proper road etiquette necessary to satisfy my driving disposition--although driving for Domino’s pizza turns out to be good missionary training.
Here motorcycles follow the rules of the road when it is convenient. Often times after a lot of considerable maneuvering and passing of cars, I’m in the lead at a red light. Then a motorcycle winds its way between cars and pulls in front of me. They act like the dotted white line that divides the lanes is actually the motorcycle line. If that isn’t frustrating enough, most of the motorcycles have engines barely larger than a moped, so when the light turns green, I have to wait while the cars in the other lane (that I had worked so hard to pass) pass me.
By the way, I’ve seen motorcycles driving on the sidewalks. Several times I’ve seen a family of four on a 150cc motorcycle: dad driving, little boy in front holding the handlebars, mom in back with a baby between mom and dad. However, one of my favorite road observations was an elderly man on a bicycle. He appeared to be around 60 years old. He had his lawn business somehow tied on the back, including a shovel, other hand tools, and a lawn mower!
With the increase in the number of cars, there has not been an increase in the infrastructure to handle the cars. There is one area called the “Labrador” where the cars in four lanes have about twenty-five yards to merge into four other lanes. The two middle lanes go across a very narrow bridge. The left lane goes down and merges onto another road. The right lane goes to the airport. Often times during rush hour a car will be in the far left lane and try to get into the right airport lane. Actually, a car from any lane can go anywhere—and they often do. There are no observable rules for this merger, but it does help to have a Ford Explorer with a cattle grill on the front. But my vehicle is about one-fourth the size of the buses, and these just go wherever they want. However, if I can get my bumper in front of the bus’s bumper, then they usually back away. Landon has a phrase he likes to say while we’re going through the Labrador, “Dad’s takin’ on the buses!”
One morning when we were running late and I was a little more forceful than usual in going through the Labrador, Sherri said to me, “Honey, you’re here to convert people to Christ, not to convert the driving habits of the Ecuadorians.” She knows me very well. My eyes were on my own desire to get where I wanted. I certainly wasn’t seeing the people from a spiritual point of view.
In our daily routine, Sherri and I drop Mary and Landon off at school on our way to language school. The traffic here is muy loco (very crazy). I’ve been told that there are ten times more cars on the road in Quito than there were five years ago. Also, there are more taxis in Quito than there are in New York City. Most drivers are first generation drivers and do not have the experience or knowledge of proper road etiquette necessary to satisfy my driving disposition--although driving for Domino’s pizza turns out to be good missionary training.
Here motorcycles follow the rules of the road when it is convenient. Often times after a lot of considerable maneuvering and passing of cars, I’m in the lead at a red light. Then a motorcycle winds its way between cars and pulls in front of me. They act like the dotted white line that divides the lanes is actually the motorcycle line. If that isn’t frustrating enough, most of the motorcycles have engines barely larger than a moped, so when the light turns green, I have to wait while the cars in the other lane (that I had worked so hard to pass) pass me.
By the way, I’ve seen motorcycles driving on the sidewalks. Several times I’ve seen a family of four on a 150cc motorcycle: dad driving, little boy in front holding the handlebars, mom in back with a baby between mom and dad. However, one of my favorite road observations was an elderly man on a bicycle. He appeared to be around 60 years old. He had his lawn business somehow tied on the back, including a shovel, other hand tools, and a lawn mower!
With the increase in the number of cars, there has not been an increase in the infrastructure to handle the cars. There is one area called the “Labrador” where the cars in four lanes have about twenty-five yards to merge into four other lanes. The two middle lanes go across a very narrow bridge. The left lane goes down and merges onto another road. The right lane goes to the airport. Often times during rush hour a car will be in the far left lane and try to get into the right airport lane. Actually, a car from any lane can go anywhere—and they often do. There are no observable rules for this merger, but it does help to have a Ford Explorer with a cattle grill on the front. But my vehicle is about one-fourth the size of the buses, and these just go wherever they want. However, if I can get my bumper in front of the bus’s bumper, then they usually back away. Landon has a phrase he likes to say while we’re going through the Labrador, “Dad’s takin’ on the buses!”
One morning when we were running late and I was a little more forceful than usual in going through the Labrador, Sherri said to me, “Honey, you’re here to convert people to Christ, not to convert the driving habits of the Ecuadorians.” She knows me very well. My eyes were on my own desire to get where I wanted. I certainly wasn’t seeing the people from a spiritual point of view.
// posted by North Andean Field @ 4:48 PM 
