3rd Grade

Again this year, we were blessed to have school pictures taken by our wonderful friends Andi and Chad Irwin who are serving here in Shell with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Above is our amazingly handsome son.
This is our entire school, first through eight grade and all of our teachers. Yes, I know there seem to be a LOT of teachers for only 23 students, but some of us only teach half a day. Now we just need to have Bella's pictures taken.

Happy Birthday to Me

How amazingly we are blessed. For weeks now we have been praying for a car to drive while we are in the states. We were about to send out an email to everyone on our list asking if anyone had an "extra" vehicle we could use for at least part of the summer. Then last night we received a call making it all come together. My parents bought me a car for my 38th birthday! Yep, the amazing couple who are already so supportive, are providing us with transportation for the entire summer- Now, I'm sure it has more to do with the grandchildren than the child, but that's alright, I'll take it- (I'm just joking Mom!). So thank you, Mom and Dad!

In the last few weeks, we have been blessed with a house to use in the Waco area (thanks to Nancy Yarbro) and the Austin area (thanks to First Baptist Church Round Rock). Now, we just need to get things finished up here and get on the plane. While we love our life here and have no plans of leaving it, we are excited beyond words to get to go home for a few months.

Update on Rosa

I had the pleasure of seeing Rosa a few weeks ago. We blogged about Rosa in July of 2009 and following are the links for those blog entries: http://joeandtracyinecuador.blogspot.com/2009/07/mordida-de-serpiente.html and http://joeandtracyinecuador.blogspot.com/2009/07/update-on-rosa.html.

As you may remember, Rosa is a girl from a Shuar community several hours from here. She was living in her jungle community when she was bitten by a poisonous snake on her leg. Her family had taken her to another hospital where she continued to get worse. After several days, she was brought to our hospital, Hospital Vozandes del Oriente, and we admitted her for a much-needed lower leg amputation. She slowly recovered and was later discharged. She was supposed to come for follow up visits but never returned. That was over a year ago. We all wondered what may have happened to her.

Our orthopedic surgeon happened to be in a nearby town when he recognized Rosa's father and asked him how Rosa was. Apparently, she was doing quite well and only a 10 minute drive from here. She was back in school but still using crutches to get around. On a rainy Sunday, Sebastiao and I drove out to see her and her family and snapped this picture. The other picture is the one I took just after being admitted. Since that day, Rosa, with the help of one of our surgeon's has been to Quito and now has a new leg. I haven't had a chance to see her but I understand that she's thrilled. The prosthetic leg and visits have been pretty costly so if anyone feels led to contribute any money that could go towards paying for treatment, please email us at jmartin@hcjb.org.ec.

Many of you had emailed me over the course of the last year wanting an update on Rosa. What a joy it is to be able to relate this story to you and show how faithful our God is!
Blessings
Joe and Tracy

Strange Things I Would Have Definetly Bet Against (If I were a Gambling Woman)

Well, I have been a little less "blog-friendly" lately because I have a new job. After Thanksgiving our sweet friend, fellow missionary and the 5th and 6th grade teacher, Randy Umble had to leave Shell due to serious kidney problems. Several people filled in for a few days at at time, but I really felt that I should volunteer to substitute for a week (yeah, I know not a long term commitment, but its 5th and 6th graders- how scary is that!). God was definitely in the decision, because I absolutely loved it.
Unfortunalty, Randy had to return to the states for more treatments and a possible kidney transplant and so, long story short, I am now teaching 5th and 6th graders until we leave in May. I will also be teaching next year- no one is more surprised than I am, but teaching is one of the most creative things I have ever done. Research is still my passion, but that requires days at a time in the jungle and with the kids and school, that isn't realistic right now, so, I am very excited about my new venture.
Please pray for Randy and his family as they deal with being away from home and a possible organ transplant.

We Are Coming Home.... Well for a Visit at Least

Sorry for the amazingly long break since the last post. I will post later as to all the changes in our lives and work, but we just wanted to let everyone know we have been approved to come home for Home Missionary Assignment (furlough). We will be leaving Ecuador in early May for about 3 months! YEAH! It will have been 2 WHOLE years since the kids and I have been in the land of, "Good and Plenty," and we are excited. Joe has had a few trips to the states for training on the hospital's new ultrasound machine, but without the family, how much fun could that have been...... we like to think none. So, if there is anything from Ecuador you would like, now is the time to put in your requests.
Please pray that the Lord will provide a home for us during our time in the states as well as a car. We have a few leads, but would really appreciate a place of our own to relax and enjoy some family time after visiting with friends and family.

Nate Saint Memorial School Needs You (If your a teacher...)

TEACHERS NEEDED!
Nate Saint Memorial School, a small K-8 school for missionaries’ children in Shell, Ecuador, needs teachers for the 2011-2012 school year. We usually have a staff of five teachers and average 25-35 students. Each teacher is responsible for all course work for two grades. We require that our teachers are credentialed, and raise their own support. If you feel called to serve missionary children please contact Margie Grant at rgrant@maf.org for more information.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Yes, Joe returned from Haiti the week of Christmas- Praise God! Sorry we haven't blogged much since then, but things were a little crazy. For those of you who haven't received this yet, here is our newest (November, but sent out in December in between internet outages) Newsletter.