Newsletter

Our latest newsletter was sent out yesterday. If you are only on our USPS mailing list but not our email list, you should be getting your soon. If you are not on either list and would like to receive our newsletter, please either leave a comment here with you email address, or email me and I will get it to you ASAP. Thank you guys so much for your support and prayers. That is something we cherish daily and could not do this without you!

Missions Projects

OK, so I have had this idea for about a month now and just never got around to sharing it. Then a few weeks ago I got an email that reminded me so here we go.... I have a few ideas for mission projects if you have a group that needs one. I think both of these ideas are good because your children can get involved.

#1 Collect Childrens DVDs for the Nate Saint Memorial School Library: The mission school here, Nate Saint Memorial School, has a wonderful library, but like most mission schools it doesn't have a lot of resources for new items. The video collection is about 98% VHS and I think only 1 or 2 families have VHS machines. Most of us use our computers to play movies (DVD)anyway. The school has decided to get rid of the VHS collection. That will leave the library with about 5 movies. Your group could collect new or used DVDs for the library (veggie tales, cartoons, ect)

#2 Collect Kids Meal Toys : The hospital always needs small toys for children who have been hospitalized. Your group could collect the wonderful toys (that usually end up on the floor of your car) and send them to children in the hospital. The above picture of of Isabella at a McDonalds in Quito (she was so excited). She still does not understand why we don't have one here in Shell and keeps giving us reasons why we should. I have to say she has a strong arguement.

#3 Collect Haribo Gummy Bears: While this idea has no ministerial value at all, I think this is the best idea because that is exactly what I am craving right now. I can even tell you what aisle they are on at Target if you need any help finding them.

Enjoy the Music

A few weeks ago we had a sending service for some of the hospital staff who are going to Congo for a few months for missions work. Yes, the mission hospital is sending missionaries to another mission field..... that how we do things around here. Drs Eckehart and Klaudia Wolff and Dr. Juan Panchi are going to be in Congo until the end of December. This is part of their sending service which was the hospital band playing. We hope you enjoy this traditional Ecuadorian music.

Update on the Children

Well, the father came into town yesterday and met with the missionaries. He does not want the children and was given a few options for them. Please pray for him and especially for the children (Tatiana and Richard). There is an Achuar couple (same tribe as the father) who may be interested in adopting them. God has a perfect plan for these young lives. Please pray for Dawn and Beirget as they make decisions for the children, for the father that he can come back to the Lord and for a family for these children.

And the Winner Is...... Plus a prayer request

Well, after lots of comments (thank you all very much), we have a winner in our first give-away. Christine Scott is the beautiful necklace. Thanks so much for all of the kind words and encouragement you guys left last week. It helps us feel a little closer to home.

Please pray this week for 2 children they are taking care of at the hospital. Late last week, another missionary who works in the jungle was approached by a man who said he no longer wanted his 2 children ( boy and girl ages 2 & 4). The mother had left shortly after the birth of the boy and there may have been some physical abuse from an aunt. They were both very under-nourished when the missionary brought them in to see Joe on Thursday. The little boy ended up being hospitalized for the entire weekend. Their father is supposed to come into town today to decide for sure if he wants them or not.
Please pray for this situation: that God's will be done, that the father can come to know God through this and that the children will be exactly where God wants them to be. Please also pray for the 2 missionaries, Dawn and Beirget, who are working with this family.
While this is not a "normal" situation, jungle people don't usually just give away their children, it is not "taboo" like it would be for the western world. We have been asking lot of questions wanting a better insight into the thought process and while we will never be able to justify this action, we have a better understanding of the situations and the hard life people lead here. I think that the main issue is that without the knowledge of a Savior or the thought of one God (not multilple, or animism) who is over everything, things like this can happen very easily.

You Know You Live in Ecuador When...... #2

You know you live in Ecuador when you start to haggle with the flower lady when she tells you the 2 dozen roses you want to buy are $5 this week and then feel "jipped" when you walk away having paid $6 for everything.

A New Car

Ok, so this isn't our new car, but I bet it got your attention. We think we finally have gotten the Ecuadorian drivers license stuff under control, and "think" is the operative word here. So we need to begin looking for a new car. Please pray for us. We know that like everything else we have done in preparation for Ecuador, God has just the right car out there for us. Please pray for guidance and wisdom in what kind of vehicle, new or used, how much to spend and when to make the purchase. We are so grateful to our supporters for even making it possible for us to purchase a car this early on and look forward to driving many of you around when you visit!

Bribery

Ok, so I read a few blogs on a regular basis. Some of them are important missionary blogs and some of them are just for fun blogs about SVG files or something crafty, but the one thing I have noticed is that they all have a lot more comments left by readers than our has. So.... I am not above bribery. Recently my sister-in-law had a give-away on her blog, so we are going to start doing the same thing. The counter on our blog is set up to only count first-time-visitors, and the count continues to go up, so I know you guys are out there. About 2 weeks ago, I thought about not blogging anymore because it didn't seem like anyone was reading it, but then I got a few emails from you guys saying you keep up with it, so this is your chance to prove! Each give-away will be something Ecuadorian and if you have any suggestions of things you would like to see on the give-aways, just ask.... just remember I can't send a blow-gun through the mail.

Ok, so what do you have to do to be eliglble to win? Just leave a comment on any of the blogs this week. You can leave a comment by clicking on the "comment" link below any of the posts. I will have one of the kids randomly pick a name on Saturday and then inform the lucky winner. The first item is this beautiful necklace. The pendant is carved from the stone of a vegetable much like an avocado.

This Weekend

Today is an Ecuadorian holiday. 9 de octubre is independence day for Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador. For us, it just means the beginning of a LONG call weekend for Joe. Please keep him in your prayers this weekend as he will start off with many complicated cases that are already in the hospital. One of these involves a family and a shamam (witch doctor) and a kidnapping... very complicated and something we will fill you in on more later, but for now please pray for God's protection, discernment, wisdom and longevity for the long weekend ahead.

Otovallo

While we were in Quito, we took a day trip with some good friends to Otovallo, a small town in the north western part of Ecuador. The first picture of of our friends, Lauri and Mara Nelson. Mara is an experineced "haggler". Otovallo is about 2 hours from Quito and looked completely different than Quito or Pastaza (where we live). The mountains, and terrain reminded us of northern california. It was beautiful. Otovallo is known for its indigenous markets where you can purchase lots textiles, pottery and paintings. We had a lot of fun and many of you will be recieving some of our purchases. While there we bought a tapestry for our wall, a rug for our bedroom and lots of presents. I hope you enjoy the pictures of this beautiful town and its people.

You Know You Live in Ecuador When....

Ok, so the other day Isabella was "cooking" in her room. She was busy making all kinds of good treats for us. When she finally came out with a tray full of food and presented me with a plate, I asked "what is this" She replied, "salchipapas!"
Salchipapas is an Ecuadorian dish that is basically deep-fried hotdogs and frenchfries. It is served almost everywhere and is one of Bella's favorites. I'm sure she would be glad to fix it for you when you visit. Oh, by the way for you FaceBookers, Salchipapas even have their own fan club on FB! How is that for a crazy world?

First Trip to Quito

A week before school started, Joe finally had a few days off and we took our first trip. We went to Quito so spend a few days. This is the bus we traveled in for the 5 hour trip.









This is breakfast on the bus.








This is entertainment on the bus.

This is a nap on the bus.