Farewells, the life of a missionary

I have never been good at goodbyes but it seems like my life has been full of them. When we accepted our calling to Ecuador as missionaries we knew that this would mean that we would have many farewells because such is the life of a missionary. Well our first on this side of the world came this week as we had to say goodbye to one of our really good friends a couple Dan and Emily and their newborn that we had connected with in such deep ways. It has been very sad to do this because it came a lot sooner than we imagined. More are to come at the end of the school year as I say goodbye to my senior girls I disciple and other missionary teachers who are going back on furlough or transferring.

Sharing some of our Easter traditions

The whole plastic eggs, easter baskets and bunny thing hasn't hit Ecuador yet which is good b/c Easter is not commercialized its celebrated pretty much only as a religious holiday. Well we shared some of our non-religious and real of meaning of Easter traditions with some Ecuadorian friends at a picnic.

They were quite amazed at the whole boiling eggs, dyeing them and hiding them tradition. They thought it was quite odd but still joined in the fun. After having them find the eggs we gathered around and shared the Easter story using the Resurrection Eggs that we have used for the past couple of years as a family. They were amazed that there were little treats to discover in each egg as I told the story. It was very fun!

My daughter wants to learn how to pray.....

This past week the Lord gave me an opportunity to lead a mom and her daughter to Christ. I volunteer at a childrens gov't hospital every Wed. We go and give them coloring pages, cookies, balloons and share a bible story. At the end of doing this with one little girl I was getting ready to pack my stuff and walk away when her mom calls me back and says "my daughter want to learn how to pray" as I walked over I am thinking "wow she's ready" this little 10yr old is hungry for more. So I shared the gospel with her and mom and they both said they wanted to give their life to Christ. At the end she said she was rejoicing and I said so is God! Praise God!! If you remember pray for Lizzette that the Lord will heal her little body soon.

Your kids work -at work in Quito, Ecuador!

The school coordinated a day for the teachers to help us with Operaton Brown Bag in making 150 lunches (thanks to all of you kiddos who sent us your art work and $1 to fill the bags) and passing them out. We also had a group of students from a club called Peer Helpers making the sandwiches. The day we gathered to make the lunches was a beautiful sunny day but the day we planned on passing them out it was raining horribly so Mari and the kids ended up staying at home but Ben and about 8 other teachers went out in the rain to pass out the bags in Historic Quito (which has a lot of street kids).

They loaded the lunches in plastic bags and went out in the rain. The 2nd picture is a little boy shoe shining. This is a very common job for little boys to do all over the city to make money. The group stopped and gave him some lunch. The 3rd picture is a guy just sleeping on the sidewalk and the girls put a lunch by him so he could have it when he wakes up. One of the teachers shared that when they handed someone a lunch they said "if you only knew the depth of our hunger and he took the lunch and said a very typical phrase that people say instead of thank you "Dios te page" God pay you. Ben came home and said he didn't know what that meant but just nodded and smiled. We were very thankful as a family that we could pass out so many lunches out at one time. We normally do it by ourselves so we don't get as many passed out so this was a blessing.

Avenue Naciones Unidas Street Video

These are 3 videos of a major street a couple of blocks from our school. I wanted to give you all an idea of the area around our home. The name of the street is Naciones Unidas (United Nations). The videos were taken at about 5:30 p.m., so there was a lot of traffic and noise. We walk down this street very frequently to go to the grocery store or one of the many malls along the way.

This video is at the intersection of Naciones Unidas and Los Shyris (pronounced Shitty's). The park at the corner is Carolina Park, the largest park in Quito. It's easy to find on any map of Quito. We have enjoyed many picnics and jogs in this park.

This is the intersection of the street that goes in front of our school, 10 de Agosto (pronounced Dee-Ace Day A-ghost-o for those of you trying to learn Spanish), and Naciones Unidas. Many major streets here are named after important dates. I think the August 10th is Ecaudor's independence day, but don't quote me on that. You can't see our school in this video, but it's really close. Again, lots of traffic. It has taken Ethan a while to get used to us pulling him across the street so that he doesn't get run over. At first he would pitch a fit because we were making him run across the street. Thankfully, he's gotten much better, although it is still sometimes a struggle. I'm not sure if you can tell, but the sidewalks are not stroller-friendly. We originally brought our double stroller, but quickly realized it is useless here. Thankfully, this little umbrella stroller has been perfect for all of the curbs and bumps. Thank you Reeves for the stroller!

Pledge of Allegiance to the Ecuadorian Flag Ceremony

All over the country of Ecuador 6th graders and 12th graders are required to pledge allegiance to the Ecuadorian flag. If you're not an Ecuadorian but are in this country, you have the option to grab the flag and put a rose in a vase as a sign of respect.

Here's a non- Ecuadorian showing respect.
Ethan was asked to escort some important people to their seat during the ceremony This is a very serious and important event in the lives of Ecuadorian students. They have been practicing for this event for months.

Bens 6th graders after the ceremony

FEBRUARYS HIGHLIGHT: MINISTRY TO THE STREET CHILDREN

Thanks to God we have received about 150 bags for Operation Brown Bag that were colored and decorated from kids in Claxton, GA, Columbia, SC and Ft. Worth, TX. Thanks to all of you kids and adults who made sure these bags made it from your little corner of the world to ours! We got these at the beginning of January so we have lots of work ahead of us in passing these out.

Our family goes out and passes the lunch bags out on our walks to the park or grocery store. I can't explain in words the joy I get from seeing these kids appease their hunger and to see my kids, your kids being used by God. Isn't it awesome that God can use us no matter how small we are!

Ministry Highlight Video

See below for pictures and blog of this month's ministry highlight

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHT: BEN'S 6TH GRADE CLASS

As many of you know, Ben's main student ministry here is teaching Math, Science and Bible to 6th graders.

One of the things Ben loves about teaching is seeing the look on the kids face when they finally get it, when the light comes on. Doing hands-on activities to get them to grasp things is the best way to see that light come on. Here is his class working on their Bubble Project. Another thing that Ben loves about teaching here at Alliance is the freedom he gets to share Christ throughout his classes, in his curriculum, in the hall, at recess, etc..... He has some students who are atheists, come from buddhist homes, catholic and christian. This is such a freedom because he oftens gets challenging questions from these little curious minds as they try to put together what they believe.

Missions is not just for the poor

When you hear the word missions or missionary you may think of a person who leaves to a third world country/overseas to go serve the poor, needy, hurting and unsaved people. But that is not always the case. The heart and driving force behind a missionary is to give people the opportunity to hear about Gods salvation, His love, His forgiveness and their need for a Savior.
As missionaries we are able to share this love and salvation through providing a direct need and being Jesus in the flesh. Which than can look like a person in Tanzania helping bring a water to a village for the first time, or a person in China teaching English, or a person in Kansas leading a small bible study with moms, or a person in Guatemala working in an orphanage helping street children. We missionaries come in many colors, shapes, skills, giftedness and geographic location. So if your reading this and you have Gods salvation, His love, His forgiveness and you believe in Him than we are missionaries.
Our family has the priviledge of being missionaries in Ecuador working with the spiritually and emotionally needy. We have the opportunity to serve international, missionary and Ecuadorian students. A lot of these students need to see Jesus lived out, hear about Jesus and His salvation and His freedom. We also have the opportunity to work with the physically needy at a government hospital for low income families and to work with street children by providing lunches for them. Before this we were missionaries in Ft. Worth being Jesus in the flesh to those around us at school, at work and at home. Discipling and teaching as the opportunities arose.

Please don't let the misconception that to be a missionary you need to be in another country, working with the poor keep you from doing missions right where your at. The opportunities are boundless, really! Pray with me that we may see them and arise to the occasion.

desires of our heart

We spent the last couple of weeks meeting up with friends and family. And also, speaking in churches. Having to share with so many people our ministry it made me think of how gracious the Lord has been to give us the desires of our heart. We had no idea what this school was going to be like and if we would like it. We just knew that this was where the Lord was leading us. Having been here 6mos. I can say that our whole famiy is very happy here.

This little piggy went to the market

This little piggy never made it home.

This is a typical Ecuadorian meal that was served for our Christmas meal