Happy Birthday Joseph

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband.  Today is Joe's Birthday!   Please join Sebastiao, Isabella and I as we honor the best husband and father a family could be blessed with.  Thank you Lord for this amazing man.  If you get a chance today, either leave a comment for him here or email him your birthday wishes.

Sebastiao's Update

Just to let you guys know, Sebastiao posted yesterday on his blog.  We have been terrible (read that busy) parents and haven't helped him update it in way, way, way too long.  But as part of his writing assignment this week for home-school, he has written a piece.  We hope to make this a common part of writing assignments, so hop on over there when you get a chance.

Sebastiao The Explorer

Quenaweno y Compasion

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to take another trip into the jungle, this time to a Huaroni community called Quenahueno.  It's located on the Curaray river, not too far from where the 5 missionaries were killed in 1956.  Our purpose was to perform check ups on children that are sponsored through Compassion ministries.  We partnered with Compassion a few years ago and were able to perform the required check ups and it was a great experience for us.  Accompanying me were Dra Paulina Roldan, a third year family practice resident, and Jonas Lopez, an Ecuadorian missionary with Compassion.  We left on a Tuesday and were able to do all that we needed to do in 2 days.

Jonas and I on the banks of the Curaray River

This was out first trip with Compassion ministries this school year.  There are over 40 communities and 1300 kids that need these checkups, so we'll be busy for the foreseeable future.  The plan was to fly in and see the sponsored kids and with the remaining time, also see those adults that wanted an exam and other children who aren't sponsored by Compassion.  Compassion has had a presence in the jungles of Ecuador for decades and really made a difference in the lives of many of these kids.  Jonas, the missionary standing with me, was a sponsored child many years ago.  As you can see from the picture, Quenahueno is a small community and we had no problems getting in or out.





While there, we had a fun time with the kids.  All seemed to be in good health and eager to interact with us to some extent, albeit from a distance.  There was one boy in particular, Omar, who was as quick as a whip.  He helped to unpack our things, carry medicines, and was familiar with many of the bible stories that we discussed.

Omar

Paulina Roldan examining an infant.

Jonas sharing the Word.

Soon it was time to pack up our things and head back to Shell.  Our time in Quenahueno was enjoyed by all.  Next week I head to another Huaroni community which is much bigger, Toñampari, and hope to have more pics to share with you.

Posting Comments

http://boscafelife.wordpress.com/2010/01/page/3/

We love comments-  yes, I'll admit it, I get very excited when I see that there are comments waiting to be read.  Part of the obstacle of writing a blog is getting past the barrier of, "does anyone want to hear what I have to say?"  We love to hear from you and love when  you email us and request to hear more about certain aspects of our lives.
Please be sure that you leave your name with your comments so we know who to love more than everyone else-

Contextual Clues

Remember contextual clues from school?  When you have to figure out the meaning of a word from the information around the word?  Well, most of the time I feel like I live contextual clues.  On a good day, I understand about 75% of what is said to me (either from missing vocabulary on my part or people talking too fast), so I have to put together the other 25% from what I do understand...... Sometimes I am correct and sometimes...... I am very wrong and sometimes I understand but still have questions....

http://www.ialf.edu/dpdf/april05page7.html

Additionally is the cultural aspect- just because I understand the words, doesn't mean I understand.  How many times when you have a conversation at work with your boss or an employee, especially over something very tricky and you think through it and make sure you phrase things just right- use just the right words so that your true meaning is understood.  There are little nuances in any language that say more than just the words spoken.  Currently, I am learning to understand as well as increase my comprehension and read into contextual clues through more than just the words.
 

I (Tracy) have been the laboratory director at the hospital since August and it has been wonderful for my language skills and has really truly shown me just how much I don't understand about the cultural aspect of the work environment.  So.... I will continue to fumble, ask lots of questions and hopefully grown leaps and bounds in an amazingly short period of time (I can dream, can't I) but more importantly through it all, show God's love and grace to those I work with, because after all, the rest is just the details.


Just as long as I don't turn into this person, I think we are going to be alright......

Some Days (and people) are Just Stranger than Others

Have you ever felt this way? I do almost every day.

 

I do almost every day of my life.  There is something to be said for thinking outside the box or better yet, finding another shape all together to be outside of (and yes, I'm aware I ended that sentence with a preposition- sorry about that).  But, that is the beauty of being a child of God.  We were all created in his image, no matter how strange we may seem.

Birthday of a Decade

Sebastiao turned 10 this year.  I asked him to stay out of double digits, but you know how kids listen these days.....  One of the good things about living outside of the country is that you can have multiple birthday parties on multiple continents.  Sebastiao had and early birthday party with my father whose birthday is the 3rd of August, while we were in the states.  Then he had a birthday weekend in Ecuador.  We started off the weekend with lunch on Friday and opened a few presents.  Then we had breakfast with a good friend and opened a few more presents.  We tried to go climb to a waterfall, but the rest of the country decided to celebrate with us, so we just played in the river for a while until I fell in the river submerging our camera.  The next morning we went bird watching (way too early in the morning) and saw some incredible sights.

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Jungle Trip Tomorow

Please pray for Joe tomorrow.  He is flying out to the jungle to do physicals for Compassion Ministries.  The community is Waroni and they will be seeing about 50 children and their families.  Please pray for their safety on the flight, while in the community and more importantly for the love of God to be spread as a result of their trip,  just as Jesus cared for people's physical needs along with their spiritual.