Update on the Medical Clinic
Prayer Request for Visas
We just wanted to offer a prayer request for you all out there to pray for in the next few days. Joel has been working tirelessly on getting our Visas renewed. The great thing is, we are not trying to get the same type of Visa we have had that has to be renewed every 1-2 years. Since the birth of Esther and the fact that she is Ecuadorian, we are able to use her as our sponsor to what is called a Visa de Amparo. This basically means that we can get a permanent type Visa here in Ecuador because of Esther; it will not have to be renewed every 1-2 years. We will get a Cedula which is an official identification card here in Ecuador. Please pray that this process will go smoothly and quickly so that we are able to obtain this type of Visa. Thanks prayer warriors!
Preaching at Emanuel
Joel had the opportunity to preach this past Sunday at Iglesia Emanuel, our partner church in Cayambe, and will be preaching again there this Sunday. He is sharing a two week sermon series with them. Your prayers are appreciated!
A Wonderful Celebration!
Yesterday, we participated in a Parade and Rally called “How Great and Powerful is our God” of all of the Evangelical Churches of the greater Cayambe area. All of the Covenant churches in the area were represented and it was a privilege to be a part of such an exciting event.
Car Re-Registration Complete!!!
Praise the Lord! This past week I (Joel) was able to get our car re-“matriculated.” This is basically the process of re-registering your car every year, which involves some payments to the government as well as checks on the vehicle. Thankfully, this year’s process of getting it matriculated was fairly painless and quick. In year’s past, it has take me weeks and countless hours so I was very thankful. The picture below is this year’s matricula!
Finishing up the Medical Caravan in Lote Cuatro
A week ago we finished up our Medical Caravan in Lote Cuatro in seeing 60 more patients. Thank you to Doug Zoltani and Kara Mulvihill for your help!!!
Welcome Doug!!!
Last night, we welcomed our friend Doug Zoltani (pictured below with his daughter Kimberly) to our home and here in Mission with us as he arrived at the airport from his home in Oregon, OH. Doug is a member of New Harvest Christian Church who is one of our supporting churches and the church who sent down a Vision Team last year and a Work Team in January to work on the Home for At Risk Children. Doug was a part of both of these teams and wanted to come down and help some more, so here he is for two weeks to partner with us in Mission! It is a blessing and a joy to have Doug with us and to have his help!!!
Such a Simple Thing…
Such a simple thing…hydrocortisone cream. We use it frequently for a multitude of reasons. Who would of thought a simple packet of cortisone cream could open my eyes to God’s grace and mercy and TIMING! To set the stage. I had been seeing patients on a Wednesday. I saw a young boy and his mother for what seemed like a fairly simple problem. However, what would help the boy was hydrocortisone cream. I didn’t have any that I could find in the clinic so I wrote a prescription for them to fill at a local pharmacy. When I do this, it is always unclear if patients will be able to fill it or not and I felt bad about this, but there really wasn’t a whole lot I could do because I didn’t have the medicine. I saw other patients and was basically finished for the day except for unpacking a couple of boxes. We had recently received the container and were still going through a lot of the boxes. The last box I opened was a box full of Hydrocortisone cream! At that same moment, the boy I had previously seen and his mother walked by. I was able to give them the medication the boy needed. Is it a simple thing? Of course. I may have dismissed it because it was so simple, but to see how God even worked out something SO small in such a simple way was ONLY His hand at work. So, as simple as it was, it was a reminder how God works together the small things. I’m thankful for the simple things!
Happy Easter from Quito!!
Medical Caravan in Lote Cuatro
Last Friday and Saturday, we conducted a medical caravan in the Quechua Village of Lote Cuatro (up in the mountains outside of Cayambe) in which we saw over 170 patients. It was an incredible blessing for us to have this opportunity to minister. Two of of the Santiago Partnership Board members, Jeff and Kristi Lundblad (as well as their two daughters) were a critical part of the activities. Thank you for your partnership in ministry!