Despedida (Farewell) to the Hoskins

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Joel & Kim

Chris, Jenny, Breck and Elsa looking at their gift from IPEE

Friends at IPEE (Covenant Church of Ecuador) laying hands on the Hoskins

IPEE friends and missionaries

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”  -C.S. Lewis

On Tuesday of this week, we had a ‘despedida’ or farewell for our very close friends, The Hoskins who left today (Wednesday) to go back to the U.S.  We know that God has amazing plans for them as they begin this new adventure in their lives, but staying behind here in Ecuador is a little hard.

We know that goodbyes are a part of being a missionary.  We also knew that over a year ago when we came, the Hoskins would be leaving before us, but it is quite different when you remember these things in the midst of the goodbye.  I have never liked goodbyes, even when I was young.  Things have not changed for me and I still hate goodbyes.  We will miss our friends dearly.  Please pray for us (especially Kim) during this time, as well as the other missionaries that you know that come to mind.  Although we know as missionaries that we will face these things, that doesn’t make it easier for us.  Pray for missionaries you know in this day, no matter what they are facing.  For us, please pray for comfort and peace during this time as well as a renewed strength in being here in Ecuador, with our lives looking a little different without the Hoskins.  Blessings to you all!

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Update on Pacto Sumaco

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Joel & Kim

Recently, Joel visited the Covenant World Relief in Pacto Sumaco with fellow missionary Mandy Hjelm and Covenant World Relief director David Husby.  David was visiting to see the project and update the folks at Covenant World Relief.  It was awesome to see the project being realized in the community.  The farmers have begun growing their mushrooms and getting close to the stage where they will begin selling them.  Below are some pictures and again if you are interested in learning more about this project or contributing to this project you can do so here: http://www.covchurch.org/relief/projects/cd/ecuador-agriculture/

The Mushrooms of Pacto Sumaco

All of us sitting around the table about ready to enjoy some fried mushrooms

One of the farmers of Sumaco showing off her fine collection of mushrooms

The farmers of Pacto Sumaco. Can you find Waldo - or Dave Husby?

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September Newsletter Released

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Joel & Kim

SEPTEMBER 2011 NEWSLETTER (CLICK HERE)

Our September 2011 Newsletter is available for download (Just click the link above!). You can see what all has been happening with us since our last official update in June.  Also, please note the address for Covenant World Mission has changed. If you are sending checks, please send them to:

Covenant World Mission

Joel & Kim Delp STM Support

8303 W. Higgins Rd.

Chicago, IL 60631-2941

 

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Joel off to Santo Domingo

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Joel & Kim

Joel will be traveling to Santo Domingo this morning, 9/28, through Thursday evening, the 29th.  Please pray for safety in travel and success in his work there.

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When Helping Hurts: Chapter 6

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Joel & Kim

This chapter expands and goes into great detail about the participation level of the community that is being served in the process of determining and implementing a strategy for poverty alleviation.  The authors provide a continuum where they show the various levels of participation.  It begins with “Coercion” where local people submit to predetermined plans developed by outsiders.  A good step in the right direction is “Cooperation” where local people work together with outsiders to determine priorities but the responsibility still remains with outsiders for directing the process.  At the other end of the continuum is “Community Initiated” where local people set their own agenda and mobilize to carry it out without outside initiators and facilitators.  So you can see the vast disparity in these different ways of achieving participation.

One particular aspect to the idea of participation that stuck out to me was the need to talk to everyone in a community that is being served.  It was amazing to see an example where this was done properly and both the men and the women in a poor community were asked to draw a map of the community.  The maps the drew were so different you couldn’t even tell that they were the same community.

In the end, this chapter highlighted an area that had been stressed previously but was very correctly expanded and given more sustenance through examples.  It’s obvious to see the need for the participation of the community that is being served.

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Update on Ruthie

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Joel & Kim

Grandma Delp and Simeon

We wanted to provide a quick update on the health of Earl and Ruthie, Joel’s parents.  Earl is doing very well post-hip replacement surgery.  He is back to doing the things he loves: exercise and playing tennis.  His hip is still not quite a 100% as he still has discomfort at times and doesn’t have full mobility when playing tennis, but all things considered, he’s doing very well.

Unfortunately, the report for Ruthie isn’t quite as positive.  She had been doing quite well in her progress on swallowing.  But of recent, she seems to have hit a plateau where she really hasn’t seen any progress for a while.  And for the swallowing that she is able to do, it is quite forced and with much concentration.  Basically, she is having to think through the process of swallowing as opposed to just be able to swallow normally.  They have determined that some of her muscles in her throat just have not begun working and at this point they have given up on the electrical stimulation treatment.

In under a week she will be going to see a Ear, Nose and Throat specialist who will hopefully be able to give her some more information, but also hopefully he can give a recommendation to a center/clinic that specializes in this exact area of swallowing.  She has been able to swallow quite a bit through her process of concentrating on each swallow and she is hoping that she can do enough so that she doesn’ t need to be on the feeding tube anymore.  But at the same time, they say that they are not seeing any progress in her swallowing so they are not sure what to do just yet.  There may be need for some kind of surgery or procedure to help get the muscles going again.

Please pray that God will be with her through this whole process as it has been very discouraging at times.    Please also pray that she can get her feeding tub out as she would be very encouraged by that.  Finally, please pray that as she goes to see the doctors and such that she would get a good diagnosis and treatment for the problem that currently exists.

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Another Book We Recommend

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Joel & Kim

I (Joel) recently finished a book that I would recommend for you to read, if you haven’t already.  The book is “Too Busy Not To Pray” by Bill Hybels.  This is a very popular book which many have read; I just have not had the “time” to get around to reading it.  But with my recent travels I have been able to catch enough free time to get it read.

The book does a great job of covering the overall reasons to pray, ways to pray, difficulties in prayer, etc., as well as Pastor Hybels sharing at a personal level his development in his prayer life.  I found it to be immensely helpful for me.  I have been very interested in reading it for quite some time because I really identity with the title.  I am definitely a person who keeps himself busy.  I am happiest when I am consumed with the work of ministry and feeling stretched in my time and energy to get everything accomplished.  At the same time, I understand the danger in that.  I know that when I am not taking good, daily time spent with my Lord to connect with Him and be refreshed by His spirit that my energy will run out or if it doesn’t, my sincere Christian attitude and patience will.  Pastor Hybels did an excellent job of explaining who he is and I saw my similarities in him and saw how he has fallen into similar traps.  He provided excellent, easily followed practices to make a daily time of connection with the Lord a part of one’s life.

I have a feeling that I am not the only one that has lived in the U.S. faced-paced culture that has had this problem.  Maybe some of you can identify with what I am saying.  If so and if you haven’t read this book yet, I would recommend giving it a shot.  It is an easy read as Pastor Hybels writes in a way that is not too deep or heavy and one can easily can connect with.  Plus, there are a lot of practical solutions that he provides.  I very much enjoyed this book.

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Camp Committee & Agua Potable Meetings

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Joel & Kim

I just wanted to let you all know how the meetings went over the weekend.  My meeting on Saturday with the Camp Leadership Committee went pretty well with a lot of decisions that will be helpful for the camp going forward.  Though it is true that we had one topic that was especially difficult to deal with and will be continuing to deal with it.
For reasons of confidentiality, I am not going to give any details of the issue, but just ask that you lift up our Committee in prayer as we figure out the best course of action.  I cherish your prayers for this.

The meeting yesterday, Sunday, was with the neighboring community and the Agua Potable (“Fresh Water”) project.  Basically, we were presenting the results from our visit with the organization here in Quito that we had a couple of weeks ago.  In the end, we were presenting two options.  One: to allow the organization to continue with their project and wait and see (and pray!) that they get it completed in a timely fashion.  Two: to continue with doing the project ourselves on our own.  In the end, the community made what I thought was a good decision in deciding to wait a month to decide.  Basically, we need to get the final permission from the local municipality to do the project on our own, so they decided to wait a month until we know about the approval of that permission and we can have more updated information from the organization here in Quito to be able to see how they are progressing.  So, basically, the decision was to wait until we have all the information that we can possibly have before making a decision.  I think it is a good course of action for us to take.

The Town Hall Meeting in the small village (Santa Marianita de Jesus) that is nearby the Camp where we discussed the Agua Potable project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rocha Family had a new addition to the family while I was there. It was pretty cool!

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Meetings, Meetings and More Meetings…

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Joel & Kim

Well, we got back safely from our most recent trip to Santo Domingo later on Wednesday.  It was a good and productive trip for Joel and his work at the camp.  Kim and Simeon enjoyed themselves also besides the moment when Simeon threw up on our way there in the midst of all of the windy curves.  It was quite the sight trying to get him all cleaned up on the side of the road in a small rural town outside of the Santo Domingo area.  We ended up having quite a few curious observers.

For this weekend, Joel and his friend Jonathan will be returning to Santo Domingo, but this time on bus.  They’ll be leaving late in the afternoon on Friday and will be returning late at night on Sunday.  Joel has an important Camp Committee meeting on Saturday which we would appreciate your prayers for as there will be some difficult decisions to make.  And then on Sunday, Joel will be meeting with the community next to the Camp to discuss the options they have for the Agua Potable (“Fresh Water”) project.  Meanwhile, at home, Kim will be beginning her responsibilities at one of our churches in childcare.  Please pray for her as she takes on this new endeavor.

God bless you all in your activities and in church this weekend.

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Off to Santo Domingo

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Joel & Kim

The family will be traveling to Santo Domingo from Sunday, September 11th until Thursday, September 15th.  We will have limited email access during this time.  If you need to get a hold of us, we will respond as soon as we return.  Your prayers for safety in travel are always appreciated.

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