Yes, Santi is home again!!!!

I'm afraid that I have been very remiss in updating everyone on our blog! And some of you have emailed wondering if Santi got back from his trip to Australia okay!

I'm happy to report that Santi and his co-worker Brent returned to Quito as planned on Feb. 22! All their travels went very well and they had a great trip! The returning part is probably the hardest as their bodies struggled to adjust back to the time here in Quito (after traveling across 16 time zones and spending over 25 hours in planes!).

They say it takes a day for each time zone you go through and I'd say that it did indeed take Santi about 2 weeks to get back into the groove of things here in Quito.

Nathan and I were overjoyed to see him again and be together as a family!

God really helped Brent and Santi as they traveled. They knew many people were praying for them. One example of God's provision came upon their arrival to Melbourne - their first entry into Australia. They were going through the immigrations line when the official asked them for their yellow fever vaccination cards! That came as a shock to both of them as there was nothing in the paperwork that indicated that they would need this to enter Australia!

So they were taken to a "holding room" to wait until another official could talk to them. Both of them were worried - to be turned away for a yellow fever vaccination would be difficult after all the money and time and effort that was spent on making this trip happen!

Well, Santi was sitting there and a latin looking official called him over . . . .turns out that the immigrations officer was from Chile and spoke Spanish (which was like music to Santi's ears). The guy asked Santi why he was there and Santi explained that he and his friend Brent are missionaries with HCJB World Radio - "oh" said the official, "I have listened to HCJB many times!" Well, that was even more music to Santi's ears.

The official asked why he was in the holding room and Santi explained that they had not realized that they needed a yellow fever vaccination card . . . . . the official said, no problem, we'll work this out and before they knew it, they were moving their way on to customs!

Isn't it cool that God brought just the right immigrations officer to talk to Santi just at the right time!?!?!? Both Santi and Brent breathed a sigh of relief!

They then spent a few days in Melbourne where they were able to make personal contacts with the HCJB Global staff there at HCJB's Australian office. Santi has worked with several of these people over email, so it was nice to put a face with a name and get to know them better.

Then they traveled on to Brisbane where the CVC Summit was to be held. No doubt about it, they had a lovely place to stay - right on the ocean on Australia's Sun Coast! No complaints in the accommodations department.

During the Summit, they made connections with radio producers and staff from all over the world - from the sounds of it, English was the second language for most of the people in attendance. They learned about the software and how it is a huge tool for radio stations to keep track of their listeneners and do follow-up - this is one of the most important aspects of Christian radio - in order to use it as an evangelistic tool!

Please pray for Brent and Santi as they are now working on the software to make it apply to HCJB's radio and it's partners around the world. They are also working on a presentation of the project for mission leadership to show how this tool can be valuable as radio stations reach out to their listeners.

I will post photos one of these days soon! Santi was able to do some fun things too like go to the famous Australian Zoo! Thank you again for praying! Also, some of you have sent in funds for the cost of this trip! That is so much appreciated! Funds are still needed, but more than 1/2 of the trip has been covered! THANK YOU!!! If you would still like to help in this way, please contact us!