Surreal

If I had to describe last weeks government upheaval in one word it would be: SURREAL.  Your going through all the motions of evacuation, fear, anxiety and your hearing outside your window the sounds of "war" yet it still seems like in any minute you will wake up from this nightmare.

I must confess that my morning started with a very bad attitude towards the culture differences we face on a daily basis. As I was out and about in the city getting errands done I was continously reminded of these things that so annoy me.  Little did I know how petty they would be in a couple of hours.  As I normally do I set out to pick up Aiden from pre-school but there was something not normal about my drive over, I just couldn't put my finger on it.  People were out in the street everyone with a panicked look on their face and it seemed like everyone was running "home".  Once I got to Aiden's school they briefly shared that something happened to the president and we needed to get home soon.  Still confused I now new enough to also wear that panicked and worried look on my face.  Maria who watches Aiden on the days I work was waiting for me at home and told me there was a strike on the street and that something was happening to the president.  I told her to go home because things may get worse and I would hate for her to be stuck here away from her family at this time.  Ben calls me and says "the school is in lock down mode and I want you to come down here. I need to go."  Once again all these bits of pieces of information are only feeding my anxiety.  I get to school and everyone has a serious, horror stricken face.  I try to smile as I walk with Aiden so he won't ask me whats wrong.  I go and get Ethan out of class and then I go find Ben.  Ethan is full of questions and I try to find ways to explain to a 6yr old what is going on.  As I try to explain I find myself holding back my emotions in order to be strong for them.  Finally, I see Ben and I feel relieved.  I wanted to get the kids home because I felt like we would be safer there but that meant Ben would have to walk home after all his kids were picked up.  Feeling torn between my "mother bear" instincts and the need to stay together, we stayed until every child from his class was picked up. 
As we waited at school we heard reports about the situation outside: police and miltary have seized the airport, looters and thieves are out taking advantage of the situation, people have already gotten robbed on our street, the president was taken hostage and much more. 
Ben was finally released from his teacher duties and we packed about 6 other teachers and our family in the car so that no one had to walk home in this unsafe situation.  Ben rode in the car holding his handy dandy ax he keeps in the car.   The streets seemed bare and we saw no sign of looters or thieves. We made it home safe! For the next 7hrs we kept the news on to keep abreast of the situation. Our family gathered to pray for the country, the president and our safety.  Though I am sure the boys didn't totallly comprehend I think they sensed that something wasn't right and they chimed in with their sweet innocent prayers for this country and the president. 
Trying to keep calm and normal in our home for the sake of our children was relatively easy until night came and the "war" against the military and police began.  I sat there watching the tv screen recalling all those horror movies where there is gov't upheaval and I thought here we are living it.  The news showed shots of looters, empty stores that had been robbed, people breaking into places. The shooting was only a couple of miles away so we could hear it all, what we saw on tv echoed in the street into the windows of our home causing me to feel somewhat uneasy.  I just kept thinking what if this doesn't end soon, I am pregnant, our boys are so young, the airport has been seized we can't even leave, how long will our food last.... I had countless horrifying thoughts not having experienced this before in any form or fashion my imagination ran wild.  I just kept praying and was thankful that we felt somewhat safe at home and that we had internet and phone connections so that we could communicate with friends and family in this time.
At 10:30 p.m. the president was rescued and though the shooting between military and police didn't seize I felt comfortable enough to put my mind and imagination to rest for the night. 
Morning came and the mayor came on the news and in a very calm way said "we will proceed with this day as any other normal Friday, the police are back to work and businesses are up and running".  We still felt a bit uneasy so we layed low and didn't do much or go out. Since then things have settled though the U.S. Embassy sent an advisory letting us know that this country was still in the "state of exception" until Oct. 8th and to take precautionary measures as we go out and about.  As we spoke with seasoned veteran missionaries they said they couldn't recall a time the school was evacuated or a time that a strike led to shooting between armed forces and police or that the airport was seized.  They said this was the first time they felt the most present danger because usually it was strike and people were upset and transportation would close down but they never felt the effects of it. 
This was just a recalling of events from my perspective: an unseasoned to the third world, pregnant, missionary woman.  I am sure Bens perspective would be very different and a lot shorter than mine:).

The battle of the Sexes!

We were told 2 months ago that we were the lucky parents of a girl so to our delight we began to prepare for a little Tuten girl in our family.  I made girly, girl bedding and we were already receiving packages with adorable girl clothes from friends and family back in the states.  About 2 wks ago I went for another ultrasound and the Dr. said "the babies legs are crossed but it looks like a BOY".  Needing some kind of clarity I headed over for another ultrasound yesterday and the Dr. said "It's a boy!".  So the boys once again continue to out number on both sides of our families.  So there you have it " A BOY!"

The Never Ending Saga of our House is coming to an END

As I think about this situation its bizarre but a great reminder of our Gods soveriegnty and provision. Here are some of the details and people involved:  We have the famous spokesperson, host and auto expert: Barbara Terry who has signed a contract on our house and moved in her mother into our home to rent the house.  We also have a well known Fort Worth realtor Robbie Renfro who also has made a name for himself in his field of business. This realtor was representing Mrs. Terry.  The Tutens, missionaries who are trying to sell or rent their home so that they can continue their work in S. America at peace. And some random subleasers caught in the middle of a scam. 
In a matter of seconds our whole renters/sellers situation got chaotic.  We were baffled and confused why these two very successful people mentioned above would do this.  We received an email notifying us that our renter left our house (Barbara Terrys mother) and they subleased it using this reputable realtor Mr. Renfro whom should of known better.  Well if thats not bad enough we were also dealing with evictions because they weren't paying us our rent due even though they had already collected the rent from the subleasers. Oh it gets crazier, then were notified that they have put our house on the market for sale and said they were the owners of our home once again using this realtor who was very aware that it was OUR home.  Craziness, huh! In the eviction process we had the right to remove the subleasers from our home since they were considered "trespassers" though they paid rent and signed a contract just not to the rightful owners.  We decided that they were innocent bystanders and that we would not remove them from our home.  They are now out of our house and thanks to God did not destroy our home. 
To this day we have no idea why these apparently successful people would come together to do this to us.  Why us? Why our home? Why? Why? Why?  After consulting our God, our property manager, our realtor, a lawyer we decided to not sue or pursue. 
The best thing for us was to cut all ties with Ms. Terry and her mother and free ourselves of all this drama because in end it was only causing us stress and we were losing money.  Before we did cut all ties I wrote Mrs. Terry to inform her that she was hurting not just a name on a contract but a family. That this home is not a retirement fund for us but on the contrary the rent we collect doesn't even cover all of our mortgage. Also, asking  her to please be honest with us on her intentions with our home and that if she wanted out of the sell and lease contract there are appropriate avenues on accomplishing this. To my surprise she did write back and she wanted to make things better by keeping her contract and paying our rent through Dec and then buying the house.  These were the initial terms of the contract. But once again this was to good to be true at the end she once again didn't keep her word in any form or fashion. 
Both our lease and sell contract with Barbara Terry and her mother was now in default.  Leaving us out of September rent and with an empty home to rent or lease once again.  Ms. Terry, her mother and Mr. Renfro go on living their lives as normal not realizing the damage they have done to our family. And in some way that is frustrating but I trust that God will take care of all this dishonesty and damage.  I learned that though we have every right to pursue justice sometimes its better to just let it go for His Name Sake.  This all started in June and now October is rolling around and its not prime time for moving or selling. Only reminding us that God is bigger than the dishonesty and damage that was done to us.   So here we go moving forward trusting God to take care of us financially and to quickly fill our home with good honest tenants or buyers. Please pray the same for us!
UPDATE AS OF 9/24
Spoke to soon. We thought it were done but at this point Ms. Barbara Terry and/or her mother have not signed the release of contract form, therefore, still legally binding us to this contract.  Which means we can't sell or rent the home to anyone else.  She is at her 7 day limit and we have not rec'd the contract signed which now leaves us with no choice but to bring in a lawyer.
UPDATE AS OF 9/27
We emailed Ms. Barbara Terry and her mother again on Saturday to let them know we would be following through with legal action if the release of contract form was not signed.  We are at our wits end and feeling really frustrated that she is dragging this out and envisioning our home sitting empty for another month with no tenants to pay the mortgage.
At 2p.m. we received the form signed.  YES, WE ARE FREE!  THANK YOU GOD for sparing us the overwhelming process of going to court.  IT'S OVER! 

Boy or Girl? That is the question

We are still trying to figure out the sex of our baby.  We were told at one ultrasound that it was a girl and then the next ultrasound we were told it was a boy.  So we will be making an appnt for a 3rd opinion next week.  One thing they all agree on is we have a healthy baby!  Mari has already made the baby bedding and some people have already sent GIRL stuff. So we will see what the Lord blesses us with.

Are you a Christian? Why or Why not?

Reaching students for Christ is our vision, purpose statement.  Well every year it looks a little different but with some of the basics that don't change which are: discipleship, teaching and counseling. 
-Ben asked his class this: "Are you a Christian? Why or why not?" One student said "no, because I don't go to church".  Ben plans on meeting with him over lunch to share with him some Truths on this.
-Mari started the school year with a presentation for elementary students on "Appropriate Touch and Respect"
-Tonight Mari will go to a bible study her and two other women started to support and encourage each other and younger missionary wives.  Mari is excited about this opportunity!
- Ben will initiate once a week his lunch time to eat lunch with a different student.
- Mari will be meeting with the 6th grade moms once a month and the 6th grade girls once a month.
Were trying to keep it low key this school semester since Mari will be giving birth to our 3rd child but sometimes the need outweighs our desires:).

Back to School Jungle Party take 2

One of our ministries as a family here is hosting.   We invited Ethans class over to a Back to School Jungle gathering at our house.  It was a great time meeting new parents and his classmates.  In the past we have had parents just drop off their little ones but this year parents came and even brought extended family with them. 

Our boys

Many of you last year joined us in prayer for our oldest Ethan because of all the emotional issues he was dealing with.  It was a hard year him and for us as we tried to walk alongside of him and support him.  I mentioned before that we decided to hold Ethan back in Kinder due to these issues.  So here is his 1st day of school with his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ortiz.  We find change, triggers Ethans anxiety so we were prepared for the first week of school to be filled with lots of chewing on clothes, blinking and possibly behavior issues.  We were so excited to see that none of that was a problem.  Praise the Lord!!! 

Aiden our 3yr old is doing wonderful.  Quite the chatterbox he is turning out to be.  His little comments about life and his day keep us smiling.  He goes to pre-k and loves it!

Not A Coincidence

Tuesdays are the days the Tutens are not allowed to use their vehicle.  So we either walk or depending on how pregnant Mari feels we take a taxi.  Ben and Ethan have a 8 min walk down hill to school in the morning and Mari and Aiden have a 30 min. walk uphill to get Aiden to school.  This particular morning Mari was in a hurry and didn't think she could hike up the hill and back, so she took a taxi.  An experience she always tries to avoid because usually the taxi guy tries to over charge her and she won't have it and they end up in a debate. 
Mari was impressed with how cordial the driver was so she asked him to wait for her outside of Aiden school to take her down and back up to our home.  On the way down the traffic was horrendous and as you know time is money in a taxi.  Mari debated whether she wanted to fork up the extra $1 for having to wait in this traffic or if she should get out the taxi and just walk up the hill to the house.  Alas, she got out of the taxi and started her walk in heels and big belly up the hill.  As she walked the taxi she was in passed her up and she moaned.  A few seconds later she heard a very loud crash but couldn't see what the commotion was as she got closer she realized it was her taxi that had just gotten hit.  It was hit pretty badly knocking it over into the median and the hit came on the side Mari would have been sitting in.  As she walked passed it sad for the driver it hit her that she could of been in that taxi possibly badly injured.  Unable to hold her tears in she cried as she walked thanking God for protecting her and the baby and getting her out of that taxi. 
Not a coincidence!

Enjoying the culture before we put them to WORK!

This is where the ladies get to stay at this year.Here's Debbie coming out of the house. They really didn't sleep here:).This museum at the Equator is interactive and you get to do lots of cool things to experiment some of the amazing centrifucal forces at work at 0 Latitude.  Sharon amongst others like myself:) conquered the extremely hard egg balance.  It really is hard.  We received a certificate that stated we were Egg Masters at the end of our tour.

Quito 2010 Ladies Summer Team

The ladies had some delays in their flights but alas, they made it in last night at 10ish and arrived "home" at 11:30p.m.  I am sure they slept well last night! 

We are headed to Mitdad del Mundo (Middle of the World) which is the Equator.  Had an amazing time at church this morning in our more "latin jovial" way of worship.  Nothing like what they are used to at MMBC. 

I am sure you will see pictures and hear more from the ladies blog when they have a minute to blog. 

Looking back.... Pressing forward. Two years completed!

I just happened to find a prayer card picture of our family that we made the summer of '08 when we first embarked on this journey (last picture in the row above).  I was so amazed to see how little our boys were.  Aiden was just learning to walk and talk.  Now he is running, jumping, speaking in two languages and in pre-school.  Ethan was only 4 and so little.  Now he is 6yrs old, finished his first year of Kinder and growing. (First 2 pic. are recent this year)   We had no idea what life was like here in Quito if they had clothing stores, how accessible they were etc...  We bought some clothes for the boys that were 1 or 2 sizes too big just in case.  I was just cleaning out their closet and saw how much our boys have grown quickly leaving that clothes behind. 
There are many missionaries who embark this similar journey not knowing where they are going but knowing that God is with them.  Many missionaries get to their location and ministry and are miserable there but having sold everything, raised support and made a time commitment- they just stick to it.  We are so blessed to be able to say that this has not been our experience.  Yes, of course we have had our share of hardships but nothing that would make us want to pack our bags and leave or count the days til our commitment is over.  This place of ministry has been a great fit for our family.  Our school is considered one of the top schools here in Quito even though its a missionary school.  So Ethan is getting a wonderful education, Aiden was offered a scholarship at an excellent preschool, Ben loves his job teaching 6th graders, mentoring and discipling students who have never heard the gospel, to be able to reach out to street children as a family and I love the variety of work in my counseling position. 
Our constant struggle is looking back at our life, family and friends that we left in the states but the Lord gives us strength to press forward and to be content in the present.  We count our blessings as we look back at 2 great years of ministry completed here in Quito.  You are part of those blessings we count because as you know it would not have been possible without you.

Driving Restrictions, Electricity Restrictions, Schedule restrictions - Whats next?

Ecuador just began a new form of traffic control "Pico Placa"  Through out the week certain lic. plate #'s are restricted from driving.  If caught driving on those days you are fined, your car is taken from you ......  I still have not gotten used to this new law in our life so I completely forgot that it was Tues. and I couldn't drive.  I only had a 5min drive down to work and thankfully there were no cops out patroling. I would have hated to get fined and our car taken away for a 5min drive.  I think this restriction is here to stay. 

For what seemed like an eternity we had electricity rations.  It probably lasted for 5 months but throughout the day certain neighborhoods would have power outages for 4-5hrs at a time.  Some neighborhoods had it happen twice a day.  This restriction was much harder to deal with for our family.  Though it did provide some opportunities for creative entertaining and dining in the evenings.  We set up a tent and had marshmallows one evening, we would play games by candle light and then after a month of it we were out of ideas.  Maybe this was the time we got pregnant, just kidding.  I know that there are many missionaries out there who have to live w/o normal electricity in their lives and we are thankful ours was only a temporary solution to water shortage in this country.

The Ministry of Education which is in control of public and private education in this country has made it really hard on our school to function as we normally do with our school schedule.  They have made us modify our school calendar making the year forever long and shortening our Christmas break to start the 23rd of Dec.  This makes it hard on missionaries as I am sure nationals.  For missionaries it effects our furloughs, our support raising time and much more.  Our school is required to abide so here we go ending school on June 25th and starting up mid August.  Thankfully we are not traveling this summer but it makes for a short summer when your trying to visit supporters, family and get some rest time in there.  I am sure before long we will all get used to this schedule its just always hard at the beginning of unpleasant changes.