We had planned that June would be an opportunity to visit the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca is in the South of Ecuador, on the Sierra, and is known for it’s climate which is often described as “Eternal Spring”. For many years Cuenca has been a retirement destination for people from the USA and Europe because of it’s favourable weather and lower cost of living. It is estimated that approximately 10,000 people from the USA live in Cuenca. There is even an area which is popular with US Expats which has become known as Gringolandia.
For a few years I have been in contact via facebook with a small group of Expats who are in the early stages of building an English Speaking Episcopal Mission in Cuenca, and so I was keen to visit them and find out how they are building a new church community. Normally, they hold Evening Prayer services as they do not have a priest. During the lockdowns of the Pandemic they held online services via Youtube.
So, with the permission of the Bishop, on Sunday 5th June I celebrated the Eucharist for the English Mission in the Mission Building they share with the Spanish Speaking Mission “Sagrada Familia”. It was the feast of Pentecost, and so we wore Red, and during the reading from Acts we had people in the congregation read in their own languages as this is actually a very diverse congregation.
