Introduction

I'll begin our reflection by gradually adding excerpts from my journal from our first trip to Ecuador. Our Deanery has begun a partnership with the Diocese of Ecuador Central. Partly, this is through our long friendship with Bishop Wilfrido Ramos, who was our Suffragen Bishop in our diocese. Partly this came about because one of our congregations has a Spanish-speaking service, and some of the members are from Ecuador.

This is not just an exercise in gathering resources to help another people and place. We are entering into a different way of doing ministry and imagining ourselves. The lower Naugatuck Valley has a history of troubles and setbacks. What if we were also a people who looked beyond ourselves and shared some of our resilience and determination? What kind of church would we be?