We have an Ecuadorian!!!

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Joel & Kim

Esther_Cedula 001We have us an Ecuadorian in the family!!!!  Yesterday, we were successful in finally getting Esther’s Ecuadorian Birth Certificate!  At the same time, we were then able to get Esther’s Cedula, which is an official identity card that shows that she is an Ecuadorian citizen.  It’s funny but her name in Ecuador is legally Esther Ashby Delp Delp.  Since Ecuadorians have two last names and the last names are the combination of the last names of one’s parents, they just doubled Delp since that is both of our last names.

Thank you all for your prayers and helping us accomplish this seemingly very difficult task!!!!

 

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Update on Birth Certificate

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Joel & Kim

birth-shotUpdate on the Birth Certificate ordeal…. we were able to visit with the team from New London Covenant Church in Minnesota this morning.  It was very nice to greet them and spend a little bit of time with them.  And it was wonderful to receive from them 2 copies of our marriage license that is apostilled!  THANK YOU SO MUCH NEW LONDON ECC AND JERRY AND NORITTA CARTER FOR THEIR HELP WITH THESE DOCUMENTS.

After spending time with them, we went directly over to the Civil Registry to try to get Esther’s Birth Certificate.  When we turned in the paperwork, they said that the marriage license looked good but that it needed to be translated into Spanish also.

So, yet another roadblock.  We have already dropped off one of the copies of the apostilled marriage license at the official translator to get an official translation.  We should be able to get that back tomorrow and then we are going to try again on Wednesday.  Please pray that it works this time.  It’s been a bit distressing for us having a child with no legal identity.

 

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Prayer Requests for this week

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Joel & Kim

birth-shotWe have a couple of really big prayer requests for this week.  Please pray for Joel’s parents, Ruth & Earl Delp, as they have had their share of serious struggles of recent.  Please pray for them and that God’s peace will abound.

Also, we really need to get Esther’s Birth Certificate!!! Yes, you read that correctly.  We still do not have her Ecuadorian Birth Certificate yet.  When we went to go get one for her, we were told that we could not get an accurate one unless we brought with us a copy of our marriage license that is apostilled from the U.S.  An apostille is like an international notary that recognizes that a document is legal for other countries.  We had one of these previously but do not have a current copy of our marriage license that is apostilled.  We tried to do everything we could, including going to the U.S. Embassy, but nothing worked.  In the end, we had to have Kim’s parents help us in getting a new copy of our marriage license apostilled and sent to Ecuador.  Today, a team from New London Covenant Church in Minnesota is bringing  a copy of our apostilled marriage license with them.  We plan to get it from them tomorrow and then work hard this week on getting her birth certificate.  Please pray that we are successful and have a child with a legal identity!

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Looking for land

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Joel & Kim

We had the wonderful opportunity to accompany Rolando Escola, President of FACE, and Jose Tuquerres, Pastor of Iglesia Emanuel (our partner church) in visiting some possible land to purchase for the first home for at risk children in Cayambe.  You can take a look at all three and tell us what you think.  Negotiations are currently in progress.

First Property

First Property

 

 

Land#1-2

 

 

Second Property

Second Property

Land#2-2

 

 

Third Property - First Section

Third Property – First Section

Land#3_PartA-2

 

Third Property - Second Section

Third Property – Second Section

Land#3_PartB-2

 

Simeon enjoyed riding in the car in front of us and watching us from the window

Simeon enjoyed riding in the car in front of us and watching us from the window

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THANK YOU PLEASANT VIEW!!!

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Joel & Kim

PV

 

A big THANK YOU goes out to Pleasant View Mennonite Church of Goshen, IN and the VBS they put on this past week.  They invited us to be a part of it through Skype.  Simeon was able to “attend” the VBS and watched the opening worship and group activities and then each day we had a question and answer time with the kids during the closing session of the day.  It was a lot of fun and really neat to be a part!  In addition to all of this, their mission project for the week was the Santiago Partnership and over $1,600 was raised for the purchase of land for the first home for at risk children.  THANK YOU SO MUCH PLEASANT VIEW MENNONITE CHURCH!!!

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Welcome to the world Esther Ashby Delp

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Joel & Kim
Esther Ashby waving hello to the world seconds after being born

Esther Ashby waving hello to the world seconds after being born

“I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1

It’s been a difficult road for us of late and we have sensed God’s presence along the way, but what better way to see Him clearly but through a miracle right in front of us.

PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!!

Esther Ashby Delp was born at 3:00 p.m. on June 5th, 2014 weighing 6.37 lbs and measuring 18.5 inches. Though the surgery was long and complicated, both Esther and mom are doing well.  Kim is doing extremely well considering the difficulty of the surgery.  Please continue to pray for little Baby Esther as she is not feeding extremely well yet from mom and we are trying to watch to make sure she does not become jaundiced.

Touching Thinking Simeon_wondering Simeon_Excited Simeon_at_camera Mama_Esther Kiss Kim_Simeon2 Kim_Simeon Joel_Simeon Face Eyes2 Eyes Cutie Being Careful

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Quicker than we thought

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Joel & Kim

Newborn

This picture may accurately depict what could be our lives here very soon.

Today, we are flying back to Quito to move into our new apartment and adjust back to life in Ecuador again.  We had been planning that once we get back we can have a little bit of time to unpack our stuff (nothing is unpacked in our new apartment yet), make some last minute purchases for the apartment (curtains anyone???) and take care of some last minute details that are needed like Joel heading out to Guayaquil to turn in our paperwork needed for the container.  That’s what we HAD been planning.

Yesterday, we had our final appointment with our doctor in Indiana to get the approval to head to Ecuador today.  Everything went well with that.  But he also informed us of something that we weren’t planning.  He said that usually in their practice when it is a planned C-Section (what we are having), they usually plan it for the beginning of the 39th week.  The beginning of the 39th week is in 4 days… 4 DAYS!!!!  Holy canoli!!!  4 DAYS!!!  We had been thinking more along the lines of our due date which is June 15th, so this has been a bit of a surprise.

Now, we need to actually meet with our Ecuadorian doctor on Monday as planned but it is obvious that our lives are just about to be rocked by a new little bundle of joy much sooner than we thought.  Your prayers are appreciated today as we travel, as we arrive and get ready very quickly and as the new little one joins the family for mom and him/her.

 

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Puzzzled???

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Joel & Kim

Puzzle2Are you puzzled by where in the world we are???  Well, the way our lives have been all over the map recently, we are too!!!  So, much so recently when Simeon asked “Where are we going?” and we responded “Home,” he then responded “Which one???”

Yes… it is true that we do have two homes in Ecuador and the States and we have been seeing a lot of them both here recently.  On May 12th, we flew back to Indiana to be with Joel’s parents for a little while.  Recently, we as a family decided that Joel’s mom, Ruthie, would stop taking the chemotherapy treatments as they were tearing apart her body and causing even more problems than what the tumors were causing.  When that decision was made, we decided to start Home Hospice care as they could provide excellent care during this time.

With this decision also, we decided to travel to be with them for a little bit before baby #2 arrives and our lives getting even more crazy with the start of the project and life with a new baby in the house.

We have had a nice time with Joel’s parents.  Since stopping the chemotherapy medication, Ruthie has been feeling significantly better and has had a lot more energy and strength.  We have been doing things like fixing the puzzle that you see above which is of Cotopaxi, one of Ecuador’s most famous volcanoes.  We even went miniature golfing one day as Ruthie was feeling up for it and it is one of Simeon’s favorite pastimes.

Today, May 29th, we are traveling back to our new home in Quito, Ecuador.  Yesterday, we received the written authorization from Kim’s doctor in Indiana to travel back to today.  We are excited to return to Ecuador.  However, it is extremely difficult to leave Joel’s parents during this time as there are so many struggles.  Please pray for them and for us as the distance will be felt and will be difficult again.  Ultimately, we ask that you pray for complete healing for Ruthie from the tumors that plague her.

Ruthie and Simeon working on the puzzle together.

Ruthie and Simeon working on the puzzle together.

 

Joel, Grandpa and Simeon getting the bike fixed.

Joel, Grandpa and Simeon getting the bike fixed.

 

 

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How about Kim’s licensing???

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Joel & Kim

logo_ministerio_salud_publica

We are also needing to update you all on the latest on the process of getting Kim’s medical licensing in Ecuador figured out.  On the day that we had left Ecuador, May 12th, Joel had a meeting with the doctor who is the head of the Department of Human Talents in the Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador.  After a lengthy conversation, it was decided that there would be a committee of three people who would review Kim’s case to determine if she is eligible to do her Rural Internship as a doctor or as a Nurse Specialist.  We are awaiting to hear the results of that committee’s decision.  Please be in prayer for it!

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Container news

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Joel & Kim

ConsulateWhile being here in the States, we took the opportunity to work on the remaining issues with the container.  We have reported recently on it but to get you up-to-date, fairly recently we found out that the container was needing to be switched from being a container of both donations and personal belongings (our stuff!) to a container of only donations.  We could basically still send our personal belongings but they would be considered donations to the Covenant Church in Ecuador as far as the container goes.  That isn’t a problem at all, the problem that came with this is the fact that Ecuador does not accept donations of “used clothing” so all of the used clothing needed to be removed.  The problem there, of course, is that we have a lot “used clothing” in our personal belongings to be sent down.  For this reason while being here in the States, Joel decided to travel out to Ohio to get all of our clothes out of the things to be packed on the container.  He was able to do that on Friday, May 16th as well as while he was there, he was able to get all of the paperwork for the container signed, notarized, and apostilled (international notary) by the folks at Coshocton Christian Tabernacle.  Many thanks need to go out to Janae Stevens and Angie Eberhard for their help with all of that.

Then, last Thursday, May 22nd, Joel traveled out to Chicago to visit the office of Ecuadorian Consulate, what you see pictured above.  There he was able to get all of that official paperwork legalized for the country of Ecuador.  So, the paperwork is now all set and ready to go.  Once we return to Ecuador, Joel will just need to deliver this paperwork to the port of Guayaquil where the container will be arriving and then the container can be sent from Ohio, so we are just waiting for this one last step.

In addition, to visiting the Ecuadorian consulate last Thursday, Joel was also able to accomplish one more important thing that day.  As you know, we now have a lot of clothes that need to get down to Ecuador.  Joel got in touch with a friend, Pastor Dan Teefey to see if their church could help us in getting our clothes down to Ecuador.  Dan’s church is Riverside Covenant Church of West Lafayette, IN and they are sending a team of 27 people down to Ecuador this Sunday.  Dan and his church were extremely kind and very willing to help us out of our jam.  They will be bringing 3 50 lb bags of clothes down for us Sunday!  Thank you so much Riverside Covenant Church!!!  Riverside

 

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