We just wanted to mention a quick prayer request as we know all of you are praying for us on a regular basis. We just have had some discouraging times here recently and want to ask for prayer for encouragement from the Lord as we continue our work here. For purposes of privacy, we don’t want to mention any details and so you know, nothing is of a large magnitude as we still very much love Ecuador, love our work here and love working with IPEE and want to do so in the future. It’s more been several smaller events that have kind of combined to be fairly discouraging for us. We just ask for prayer that during this Christmas season, we will find time to rest and be together as a family and be rejuvenated in the Lord for another year of service.
Back from Santo Domingo
We arrived home in Quito yesterday from our work week at the camp in Santo Domingo. As usual, we had a very nice time. The Camp Committee meeting went very well as we were able to meet with an architect who helped us make several structural decisions as well as do some planning for the layout of the campgrounds and get things set as we move into the construction phase. The painting work week also went very well as we had 5 people come from various parts of the country to help with the painting. We were able to get 4 rooms painted and now we are only lack 3 dormitory rooms to be painted on the inside. We were also able to work together and get field of corn and pumpkins planted. For fun, one night we made homemade pizzas together that were delicious. Here are some photos from the weeks so you can get a glimpse:
One of the volunteer painters who came from Quito.
Kim helping plant corn in one of the fields at the camp.
Traveling — Off to Santo Domingo
We will be traveling to Santo Domingo starting today, Friday, December 2nd, until Saturday, December 10th. We will be slow to respond to emails during this time. God bless!
Thanksgiving 2011 in Quito
We had an awesome time yesterday celebrating Thanksgiving 2011 with our friends in Quito. Yes, we celebrated Thanksgiving a week late because we were traveling last week to Santa Rosa but that didn’t make it any less important and most of the people that were invited, Ecuadorians, didn’t know any difference anyways because they don’t have that holiday here in Ecuador. This was our second year in a row of celebrating Thanksgiving here by inviting the IPEE office support staff to our apartment to share with them in a little bit of our culture from the U.S. In the end, there was a lot of good food, so no one could possibly complain.
Kim worked tirelessly for two days preparing for the big meal, but it was well worth it as everything was delicious!
Simeon tried to help but he just ended up getting covered in flour.
A Thanksgiving meal is not complete without pumpkin pie.
Folks enjoying cider and conversation before the meal.
We shared a little explanation of what Thanksgiving is and had everyone go around the room and say what they are thankful for this year.
Everyone ready to dig in!
Kim with her Spanish teacher and babysitter; they were a huge help and a lot of fun!
Hechos 29
While you all were celebrating with family, friends and turkeys last week, we went off to Santa Rosa, Ecuador to be at Hechos 29, which means Acts 29. It is a bible school and cultural exchange as students from Sweden and Ecuador come together to study God’s word and look into ministry. Joel had the privilege of being one of the teachers in the school’s last week of classes. He taught on the topic of “Called and Sent” as the students were preparing themselves to be sent from their school back to the homes. It was a powerful time as many of the students will be future leaders in the church. We had the opportunity to get to know and counsel Karin (pictured below) who is actually from Chili and is discerning her call to Youth Prison ministry. It was a wonderful time to see and be a part of a great ministry that they have here in Ecuador.
Joel teaching at Hechos. Fellow missionary, Mandy Hjelm, translated for him.
The Evangelical Church of Santa Rosa where Hechos was held.
Students had time scheduled for personal devotions every day.
A picture of the a bunch of the kids at Hechos.
A picture of Kim and Simeon with Karin, a student from Chili who is feeling called to Youth Prison ministry.
The gathering by a river for a baptismal service.
One of the student's from Hechos being baptized by her pastor.
The mission team that went to Hechos with Cheryll Clark on the left and Mandy Hjelm on the right.
Happy Thanksgiving and Off to Santa Rosa
We just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. We hope you all have a fun, food-filled Thanksgiving with many laughs and good times with family and friends!!!
We are off to Santa Rosa (close to El Chaco on the Ecuador map) for Hechos 29. Hechos 29 means “Acts 29” in English. Basically, it is a young-adult interchange with students from Ecuador and Sweden. Its purposes is for biblical/theological instruction for young adults interested in missions or ministry of some sorts. Joel will be speaking on the topic “Called and Sent” which is very fitting for us. We will be leaving this morning (November 21st) and returning Saturday, November 26th. Your prayers for safe travels and clarity in thought and word are very much appreciated.
News from this Weekend
We just wanted to write a quick note and thank you for your prayers for the events of this past weekend. Our Heavenly Father heard your requests and answered them. First off, the sermon seemed to be a big hit on Sunday. Though I was worried about being understood with my bad Spanish, it seems as though that wasn’t even a problem as numerous people came up to me to tell me about all of the things they learned and received from my message. Very cool!
Also, things went very well with the Consejo (“Advisory Council”) of IPEE meeting on Saturday. Basically, they approved that we continue investigating about the project and visit locations that have ministries to children. We’ll be revealing more information about this in coming weeks but just a note to let you all know that things went very well. Everyone was very positive and encouraging about partnering for ministry in the future.
Prayer Requests
This weekend we’ve got a couple of big things that you all can be in prayer for. We have a meeting with the Consejos (the Advisory Councils) on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. We’ll be meeting with them to discuss our long term plans and what we would like to do. It will be a pretty open ended meeting so we are really looking forward to exploring the possibilities of future ministry together.
Also, Joel will be preaching at our church El Salvador this Sunday. Your prayers are also appreciated for that.
Thanksgiving Day Reflection on the Problem of Hunger in the World
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Our First Ecuadorian Wedding
This past weekend we traveled to Santo Domingo for our first Ecuadorian wedding. Flor (whose name translates “flower”), who works in the snack shop at the campgrounds, was getting married and had invited us. It was a wonderful experience as it was a beautiful wedding and a great cultural experience. There are many similarities with weddings here as compared to the States but there are also many differences. It was also neat to see many of our good friends all dressed up as a lot of the Rocha family were involved in the wedding. Here are some pictures so you can get a glimpse:
The beautiful wedding aisle.
After we got there, we found out that for the wedding we'd be using our car to deliver the bride to the end of the aisle. Here's Joel helping her out.
Simeon and Lisseth, the oldest Rocha daughter who was a bridesmaid.
Simeon and Karin, the second to youngest Rocha daughter.
The Rochas, Ruben and Amaparo, looking all snazzy.
Simeon and his partner in crime from Santo Domingo, Rubi, the Rocha's youngest daughter.
Us, happy with good food at the reception.
The Santiago Partnership