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Monday, December 19, 2011 at 01:08PM During the last few months, we have passed through a time of much conversation, reflection and prayer about our work and life here. It has felt both intense and intentional. Through it, and accompanied by the listening ears and wise counsel of people close to us, we have made a decision to return to the United States in July 2012.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 12:47PM We are entering our sixth year in Ecuador, Claire and Isabel are entering fourth grade and kindergarten, respectively, and it’s hard to believe so much time has gone by.
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 09:08PM Lent 2011
Dear friends and family,
We write to you in the midst of Lent, in the midst of a time of waiting on Jesus’ death and resurrection, the time in which we are reminded that from dust we came, and to dust we shall return.
Friday, December 17, 2010 at 04:46PM Advent 2010
Dear friends and family,
It’s hard to believe that we are already in December and 2011 is right around the corner. But with so much going on we don’t have a lot of time to think about it. But we wanted to write and let you know how we’re doing and what’s going on in Ecuador.
As you know, Chris was ordained on October 2nd, with October 3rd being his last day at Cristo Liberador, the church where we’ve spent the last two years. Bishop Luis Fernando appointed Chris as the vicar at the Cathedral starting October 10th. Cristo Liberador had a wonderful farewell for Chris, with all the grandmothers blessing him as they dressed him in a green chasuble given to him by the Lower Naugatuck Deanery of the Diocese of Connecticut. It was very moving, and we were blessed to have with us David Copley, director of Mission Personnel from the Episcopal Church Center, and our former rector, Michael Povey, who originally led Chris into the discernment process in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So the whole weekend was very special. Since then we have been at the Cathedral, where Chris’s focus is on rebuilding and strengthening the community there. Trish helps lead music, and probably in January will start a Sunday school program for the younger children.
Chris’s work with CLAI continues to go well and took him to Budapest and Geneva in November, where he participated in meetings with the Council of European Churches, the World Council of Churches, and the Ecumenical Water Network. He also coordinated and helped facilitate a workshop on food sovereignty with indigenous church leaders from Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, in Otavalo, Ecuador, for three days in November.
Trish’s work with the refugees continues to go well and be challenging. She has made many connections with other organizations who work with refugees in Quito and has asked them to facilitate workshops throughout these months. She was also interviewed for a radio program which is being sponsored by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees) to help improve the relationship between Colombian refugees and Ecuadorians. The program focused on xenophobia and discrimination and what can be done to improve the ability of Colombian refugees to integrate into life in Ecuador, from the perspective of diminishing the discrimination that refugees all too often face here. She also spent a bit of time preparing grants for different organizations, seeking funding for 2011. And don’t forget to check out the blog about this ministry: www.colombianrefugeeproject.wordpress.com. You can sign up for blog updates and browse and learn more about the work. Trish also helped facilitate a trip for Lower Naugatuck Deanery to visit a church community they’re supporting on the coast, which went very well.
The girls started school in September, now in the same school, which makes things easier for us. Isabel is in pre-kindergarten, and Claire is in 3rd grade. They’re doing very well, and Claire got her first report card today – and has a 95% average! So we’re very proud of her. And Isabel adjusted with no issues from her daycare to this preschool, where she talks about all her friends and all the adventures they have throughout the day.
So please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, especially during December which is packed full of services, events, and times of reflection as we approach Christmas. May this Advent be a time in which we anticipate and prepare for the coming of Jesus, a time in which we are renewed and in which the love and compassion of God is reborn in us.
In peace,
Trish, Chris, Claire, and Isabel Morck
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 12:01PM Dear friends and family,
On Saturday, October 2nd, I was ordained a priest by Bishop Luis Fernando Ruiz at the Cathedral in Quito, accompanied by Bishop Francisco Duque of Colombia and Bishop Alfredo Morante of Ecuador Litoral. Thank you so very much for all of your good thoughts and prayers leading up to and during my ordination. They really have meant a lot to me and to us as a family.
On a more somber note, as most of you know, on Thursday the police, supported by opposition groups, refused to work in protest of a new law. This resulted in a very dangerous situation throughout Ecuador with widespread assaults and looting by a minority. In addition, the police took over the barracks throughout much of the country, blocked off roads, and occupied the Congress, while at the same time some segments of the military occupied and shut down the airports in Quito and Guayaquil. At the primary police station in Quito, the police also assaulted the President and held him hostage for several hours, before he was rescued by a Special Forces unit. All of this to say that, although things have stabilized as a state of emergency has been declared and the military are maintaining order, the overall national situation is tense and uncertain. Please keep Ecuador foremost in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.
Much peace,
Chris
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 10:39AM Dear family and friends, It’s hard to believe that four months have passed since we’ve written you last. So much has happened, and we continue to be thankful for the time and ministry God has blessed us with in Ecuador. Trish had the pleasure of attending now Bishop Ian Douglas’ consecration service in Hartford, Connecticut, in April. She was able to meet with two deaneries in Connecticut with whom the Diocese of Central Ecuador has a relationship, attend the Companionship Diocese Committee meeting of the Diocese of New Jersey, and catch up briefly with friends and companions from Connecticut and our parish, St. James, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 10:38AM Dear friends and family, Life has been busy and full since the New Year. Chris started 2010 hosting and facilitating an intensive study course with graduate students from Yale Divinity School and Harvard, who spent time in Episcopal churches in Quito, forums with CLAI, environmental groups in Quito and Riobamba, and visiting indigenous communities south of Riobamba. It was a first of its kind trip, but went very well and with much success, with hope to be able to facilitate such a group in the future.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 11:19AM Dear friends and family,
As we enter Advent and the time of waiting for the birth of Jesus, we remember you all and thank you once again for all your prayers and support for our life and work here in Ecuador. It was wonderful to see many of you during our brief time in the States, and we wish we could have spent more time with you all!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 06:03PM Dear friends and family,
We concluded a busy summer, the girls are back in school, and we are back to our “normal” routine.
In the beginning of August, after the consecration of the new bishop, we had an excellent trip to Puyo with a short term group from the Seabury Deanery, Connecticut, their third time working and learning with the church, on the Diocesan farm which is being rehabilitated into a retreat center, and visiting Amazonian indigenous communities with whom the priest in Puyo has relationships. The retreat center is just about ready for the Diocese to use and to rent out as income, which is great news and a step towards sustainability.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 05:58PM Dear friends and family,
In the beginning of May the refugee project that Trish coordinates had a visit from Bishop Suffragan Jim Curry of Connecticut. The Diocese of Connecticut donated the money the project is using for the microloan program. We were blessed to spend a Saturday with him, in which we had a Mother’s Day program, a time in which people who have received microloans and benefited from the business administration and finance workshops spoke about how the microloan program has enriched their lives and businesses, and an exhibition of products that the various refugees sell and produce. We were then able to visit two small businesses who have received loans. It was wonderful to have Bishop Curry with us, and it helps those who are being served through the program to know that there are people around the world remembering them, hearing them, and praying for them.