The Arteaga Family

Ten on Tuesday

2011-03-22T07:56:00.002-05:00

1) It's rainy and cloudy and chilly today in Quito. I even noticed some fog this morning when we got up. It seems like it rained all night too (but I was sleeping, so I'm not sure).

2) It's good to have Santi back from the coast! Ten days is way too long to not have our husband and daddy around!

3) The two german shepherd dogs (actually puppies still - they will be one in May) on our property do some funny things - including trying to dig up grub worms (strange grubby looking bugs that live under the ground). They also wrestle with each other and growl at each other a lot - I guess that's normal for brothers, right?

4) HCJB recently had it's "spiritual emphasis" days - Jim Allen spoke on grace . . . .I was reminded to show lots of grace to those around me (cars who cut me off, cashiers who make errors, my kids, etc.) . . . .after all, I have been given a huge measure of grace by Jesus!

5) Santi is in the midst of a major change-over in the computer system at HCJB . . . . they are changing everything from Novell to something else (but I can't remember what is it). . . . he's working long hours - pray for him and the whole ISD team.

6) Extreme Response has hosted four teams this month. One team of high school students from Hawaii went to the Philippines to work with a ministry for street people. Santi was just with a team from PA who helped build a school in Pedernales - a coastal town here. And we have a team here in Quito from Omaha, Nebraska, who is helping build classrooms for a local school/church. And finally, we had a team from Canada working on another school project in a very poor neighborhood (Trujillo) near Lima, Peru. We love seeing God do amazing things through these teams!

7) Nathan and Isa actually played together quite nicely this morning. Yesterday, they fought like cats and dogs. Maybe it's all the good sleep they got last night? Maybe they just decided to like each other for a change. Who knows? Hard to read the minds of toddlers! I do wonder how they learn to be so awful sometimes though!

8) I need to do a post on my time in Pacoche, a coastal town where we did the 4-day ministry trip with our high school group. In the meantime, check out my photos on Facebook as I posted a ton of photos. I also need to share about Santi's time in Pedernales with the team from Calvary Church, PA.

9) Lots of cool events coming up in the next few weeks - our good friends, the Wendels, will be coming for a visit. Leader Mundial will host a leadership summit here in Quito for businessmen and ministry partners from around the world! We'll get to see people we haven't seen in a long time!

10) Nathan is pretty much obsessed with Buzz Lightyear right now.

thank you for your prayers!

2011-03-16T14:39:00.006-05:00

(Here's a photo of my shattered car window - read the story below!)

Today, I was reminded once again in a big way of how important our prayer team is to us! We are so grateful for the many people who are committed to praying for us individually, for our family and for our ministries! God is hearing your prayers!!!!

This morning, I was driving my usual 20 - 30 minute drive towards the offices of HCJB and Extreme Response. I planned to drop Nathan and Isa off at the little day care they go to and then go on to the HCJB offices for their first day of spiritual emphasis time with Jim Allen.

I was waiting at a stop light, minding my own business when all of a sudden the front passenger side window shattered! I couldn't figure out what happened as I hadn't seen anything (I actually thought that a rock hit it somehow) . . . but looking in my rearview mirror I saw a man dressed in a black gym suit running away! And it didn't take long for me to realize that someone had attempted to rob us! And there I was sitting in my car, with Nathan and Isa in the back seat in their car seats and my purse and computer sitting in the front seat where I always put it! (you can bet that I will now be putting those items on the floor in the least visible place!)

But God protected us in a big way! Many things to be grateful for:

1) the original owner of my car had put protective laminate sheets on all the windows for just this very thing. this is actually a pretty common occurrence in Quito - in fact, I know of at least three missionary ladies that this has happened to and their purses were snatched right through the window!

2) Praise God for that protective laminate!!!!

3) Praise God that none of us were hurt. I was actually quite shaken up once I realized what had and what could have happened. I've been kind of nervous all week long anyways as Santi is on the coast with a team from PA, working on a project there and I don't really like being home with the kids by myself! But I praise God for His protection (and for all your prayers!)

4) The window was shattered but not broken in so I didn't have to worry about having an open window while driving the rest of the way to the office.

5) ER staff members, Dan Maloy and Nick Carnill, helped me get my stuff (i.e. kids stuff, car seats, etc.) transferred to Santi's car (which was conveniently sitting at ER while Santi is out of town this week). And helped me get my car to the shop so that we can get the window replaced.

6) And I'm grateful that we do indeed have another car that I can use while mine gets fixed.

This is actually the second time within a month that a robbery attempt has been made on my car (which my car really is not a very nice car, but somehow it must be attractive to thieves). About a month ago, someone tried to steal the $3,500 computer that runs my car, but only got away with a $900 sensor! Again, God protected us from any harm!

So . . . the window is being replaced as I type this and you can bet that I asked for them to put another piece of laminate on the window! Turns out the laminate costs just as much as the window - but that doesn't matter - the security is worth it!

So to sum things up - we are blessed by your faithfulness in prayer for us! Please keep it up!!! We need your prayers!

1) Pray for us as Santi doesn't return home until Friday evening with the team.

2) Pray for safety for the team as they work in hot conditions on the coast (check out Santi's Facebook page for some photos of what they are doing!)

3) Pray for traveling mercies for the team as they travel to Quito on Friday

4) Pray for Nathan as he has been talking quite a bit about the "malo" (bad guy) who hit our window and mommy's broken car. Pray that I will transmit God's peace to him so that he's not upset any more!

Again - thank you!

Five on Friday!

2011-03-04T06:39:00.004-06:00

I've decided to do a "Five on Friday" series - hopefully this will help me remember to post on our blog at least once a week! So here's my first installment!

1. As you can see in the above photos, Nathan and Isa are working on their skills for playing Ticket to Ride - one of our favorite games! They will be experts by the time they are old enough to play with mommy and daddy!

2. Ruth will be leaving tomorrow morning with our high school group to fly to the coastal city of Manta. . . .from there we have an hour bus ride to a small fishing village called Pacoche. There our group of 25 people (students and leaders) will provide a Kids Bible Club over the long weekend (it's Carnaval weekend here - Monday and Tuesday are holidays). We are expecting around 150 children and moms to show up to the four clubs we will be giving. We're doing a series on The Whole Armor of God and the children will be memorizing the passage from Ephesians 6:10 - 18. Our high school students are very excited about the trip and have done a great job preparing the Bible verses, songs and crafts. They even made a more-than-life-sized soldier for the various pieces of armor. Lots of fun! Santi will be staying home with Nathan and Isabella (his mom is going to come and help too!).

3. Ruth returns from the coast on Tuesday and Santi leaves the following day to drive to the coastal town of Pedernales, where he will spend 10 days with a team from Calvary Church (PA) working on a school construction project with a local church there. Pray that God will stretch the $3,000 in project funds a long way as they try to get as much done as possible! Please pray for this team from March 9 - 19!

4. It's been raining a lot here in Quito - almost every night, all night long, in fact! We're enjoying the cooler temperatures and green grass and our outside plants are growing! And we certainly can't complain - it's not the snow that everyone up north has been experiencing this winter!

5. We are grateful that a robbery attempt on Ruth's car wasn't 100% successful last week! We were at our missionary small group meeting at another friend's home and our car was parked out front along with several others. The robbers were trying to rob that "computer" that basically runs the car - something that is worth at least $3,500 here. They somehow unwired the car alarm (which is why we didn't notice anything going on), and managed to get under the hood and were working on cutting away all the electronics when something (or someone) must have interrupted them. They did get away with a sensor/wires which came out to be a $900 job, but thankfully they left the more expensive items! We are grateful for several things (trying to find the positive in this!): we weren't hurt in the robbery, our car was functional enough to drive down to the HCJB parking lot and then drive to the Chevy dealer down the street the next morning, and that they didn't damage any other things in the car (i.e. windows, alarm system, hood, wiring, etc.).

HCJB Radio Ministry in Action!

2011-02-22T07:49:00.002-06:00

God uses radio ministry around the world to reach people for Him! We are more and more aware of this as Santi continues providing technical support for the HCJB Global radio staff in Quito.

To read more about HCJB Global Voice and what God is doing in radio ministry, please click HERE!

Mid - February Update

2011-02-16T07:47:00.003-06:00

We are grateful to all of you for praying for us this year! We certainly need it with all the activities and life happenings going on . . . . here's a little update for you today!

Santi is home sick in bed today - we figured it was better that he didn't spread his germs around at the office and perhaps a day of rest will help his body recover more quickly.

Ruth is enjoying getting into the office about four times a week - just two hours or so each time, but it feels good to be more involved. Mostly she has been working on monthly calendars and updates for our staff around the world. And coordinating the crafts for the weekly Kids Club at the dump.

And then we are working on details and preparations for the annual ministry trip with our high school group. This year, our trip will be March 5 - 8. We will travel to a small coastal down called Pacoche (near Manta) and do a Kids Club for approximately 150 children in this community. This is our fourth year going to this village and it's amazing to see how the local church has grown as a result of this Kids Club which is now running on a regular basis every Tuesday afternoon . . . . and another one on Sunday morning with 100 regular attendees! Can you believe that? I'm looking forward to sharing photos after the trip. Santi will be staying home to take care of Nathan & Isabella while I go with the group.

Santi continues to stay busy with technical support for HCJB's radio staff. He enjoys his work as he is able to use his computer skills while also helping people out! He has joined me this year on Wednesday afternoon at the Kids Club at the dump and we have enjoyed doing that ministry together.

Nathan and Isabella are growing up! Nathan is now three and talks all the time. He likes to report to daddy all the things that mommy did during the day! He keeps me on my toes, that's for sure! Isabella is a happy little girl - usually waking up with a smile and she's happiest doing whatever her brother is doing at the time. (that is, if he lets her!). Our normal activities include going to play group at another missionary's house on Wednesday mornings, using water color paints (Nathan does well with this, Isa is still trying to figure it out), playing with PlayDoh, and watching Veggie Tales. They sure keep mommy busy!

We continue to go to the Hogar Betania on Sunday. One dear lady, Rosa, recently passed away. She suffered for a long time after a stroke that she had a couple of years ago. We know that she loved Jesus and is in heaven enjoying seeing Him face to face.

Well, Isa is awake now, so I must close. Thank you for all your prayers, love, concern, words of encouragement and faithful monthly support! We are very grateful!

If you want to see more family photos, be sure to befriend us on Facebook!

Changing Lives - Extreme Response Christmas

2011-02-04T13:32:00.000-06:00

We have talked often about how exciting it is in December when we participate in Extreme Response's Christmas Outreach in Ecuador! It's a huge privilege. Many of you pray, give and even come! We want to thank you for being a part of changing lives, one by one.

Here is a glimpse of what it's like . . . .

Another Changed Life

2011-02-01T06:41:00.003-06:00

One of our Extreme Response board members, Tim Fausch, is writing a series about Changed Lives . . . how lives around the world are being changed through Extreme Response. Sometimes it's our own lives, those of us who come to serve and minister, that are being changed. And other times, it's the lives of those we want to help.

Here is a photo from our recent Dump Christmas party in December of Santi and a man by the name of John Mason, who lives here in Quito with his family. He is works in a very demanding job but he still wanted his family to be involved in reaching out and their lives have been changed because of it . . . . . to read more of his story, please click HERE!

January is gone!

2011-01-31T10:50:00.002-06:00

well, January is basically behind us! We spent most of the month trying to get back into our regular schedules after the busy month of December.

In December, we helped with the Extreme Response Christmas parties. Santi stayed busy for a week with the HCJB Global Radio Sharathon (Misión Compartida - Shared Mission). Then there are the usual Christmas parties - at home, at the office, with our high school group, with the Kids Club at the dump. Then some time with family and friends to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And don't forget that December 25 is also our son's birthday - which was a fun day of celebration too! And then, of course, there was the ringing in of the New Year on December 31!

So January often turns out to be a time to recuperate and settle back into some kind of routine. And it seems like we battled a lot of viruses this month. One weekend had all four of us down with fevers, aching bodies and runny noses. Then recently Nathan was sick for almost a week with a stomach virus. This included a 24 hour stay in the hospital with an IV due to dehydration. NOT FUN! But we are grateful for everyone's prayers and he's now back to his usual (busy and active) three-year old self!

Ruth even had a visit to a dentist for a toothache one week. Santi visited the eye doctor due to red and irritated eyes. And we took a trip to the coastal city of Guayaquil for an appointment at the US consulate there to work on Santi's US visa! (which he was granted - Praise the Lord!)

And, Santi continued with his work at HCJB Global Hands - providing technical support for the radio staff. Ruth returned to the Extreme Response office on a more regular basis - about two hours a day while Nathan and Isabella spend some time at a nearby day care. The Kids Club started up again (after the holiday break) at the dump. And we were able to provide Sunday services for the elderly at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly).

Keep checking back for updates - I hope to post some photos from recent days and share more about what God is doing here in Quito through HCJB Global and Extreme Response! We appreciate your prayers, giving and words of encouragement. Without them, we would be unable to continue here, doing what God has called us to do!

Nathan is now 3!!!

2010-12-27T11:05:00.003-06:00

Where did the time go!?!? Our little boy is now three years old! We had tons of fun celebrating his birthday on Saturday, December 25! Our little Christmas baby is now a boy. I just took a little trip down memory lane - looking at older photos of Nathan! God really did work a miracle in our lives and I'm reminded of it every year at Christmas! Thank you, Jesus! So . . . . here's Nathan! To see more photos from his birthday party, please click HERE!

Censo Sunday

2010-12-14T19:50:00.003-06:00

And then right after Ruth's birthday, we had "Censo Sunday" - a once in every 10 years day here in Ecuador. This year, the unique thing was that everyone in the whole country (yes, everyone!) had to stay put from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wherever you were at 7 a.m. (hopefully at home), you had to stay there until the census was over at 5 p.m. So churches didn't have services, stores were closed, buses weren't run, there weren't any taxes.

Only those employed in places like hospitals were able to move about. And the census takers were thousands of young people from all over the country who were required to go to several homes and do a long survey!

So what does one do on a census Sunday? Well, first of all, our three guests (Ana, Julie and Nanette - see previous post) were actually glad to have a "down day" to just hang out and do basically nothing - but oh yes, we did have a few things on our list:

1) sleep in

2) eat "locro de papas" - an ecuadorian dish - potato soup

3) watch movies and eat popcorn

4) somehow keep the kids entertained

5) make 4 batches of sugar cookies for the ER Christmas Outreach at the Hogar Betania on the following Wednesday

6) make chili for other guests arriving the next day

7) play games

8) have a fire in the fireplace

9) talk and chat and catch up as only us women know to do

10) and wait for the census taker to show up (which he finally did right around 4:45 p.m.)!

And the picture above is of Santi with the census taker, answering a bunch of questions (and apparently Isa thought it was pretty funny - can you see her big smile!?). I'm so glad my husband was here to take care of it! I probably wouldn't have had the patience for all the questions!

Celebrating Ruth's Birthday - Nov 27

2010-12-13T08:30:00.003-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving brought special guests from the US - Ana, Julie and Nanette - good friends from the Indianapolis area. They came down a few days early to hang out with us before participating in the week-long Extreme Response Christmas Outreach

On Saturday, November 27, we celebrated Ruth's birthday in a big way - starting with a little service at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly - see photo below) due to the fact that we could not go on Sunday as we normally do (more on that in another post).

Then we had empanadas (turnovers) and fruit for lunch (see photos of the girls waiting for the empanadas),

After lunch we headed to the art park to see some beautiful ecuadorian art and made some special purchases for all of us (forgot to take photos though)

And for supper, it was on to our favorite restaurant - Crepes and Waffles. We finished out the day with a two hour ride on a "chiva bus" - a special holiday/event bus that is open on all sides and has music (see photos below). We enjoyed driving through down town colonial Quito and seeing all the old churches and buildings lit up at night! What a great way to celebrate!

To see more photos of our special chiva bus ride, click HERE.

us girls on the chiva bus!

Looking good on the chiva bus in downtown Quito!

Standing in front of the San Francisco Church - oldest church in Quito!

The girls waiting for our empanadas for lunch!

The service at the Hogar Betania, with Ana sharing, earlier in the day!

An International Thanksgiving!

2010-12-12T07:36:00.000-06:00

It seems like our lives go in waves and we seem to be in one of them right now! The events over the past few weeks have kept us busy, but overwhelmed with God's goodness! I hope to add a series of posts these next few days that will help you get caught up on our lives!

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving Dinner at our home with several other friends in our home. The guest list included an Ecuadorian couple - Sandy & Edi (expecting their first baby any day now), a Swiss family (missionaries with HCJB with three children, Tomas works with Santi in the computer department) and a family from the US (the Dawsons - also missionaries with HCJB with three children too). It was definitely an international occasion. We were so busy with the turkey that we forgot to take photos, but fun was had by all with 8 children in the house busily playing and all of us enjoying some pumpkin pie!

Fun with the kids

2010-11-20T07:21:00.005-06:00

Last Saturday was a busy day with a visit to a park in the center of Quito - El Ejido - we often call it the "Art Park" because on the weekends there are a lot of artists who display their work for sale. We had a guest from the states with us, so we thought it would be fun to take her there so that she could do some shopping. Little did we know that the park now has lots of fun things for kids to do - Nathan and Isa had a great time playing on the playground equipment (which was the perfect distraction wile our friend Christy did her souvenir shopping!). Later in the day, we went to the Harvest Festival at the school and Nathan played a few games, but his favorite was racing cars! He loved it! And Nathan's hair now looks a lot better since his bad haircut two weeks ago and he no longer is sporting a band-aid on his chin!

Drawer Fun!

2010-11-19T11:59:00.003-06:00

I couldn't resist taking these photos of Isabella the other day while she was having fun playing in one of the kitchen drawers . . . it's usually full of games and toys for her and Nathan to play with, but she found it more fun to take everything out and try to get in herself!

Papallacta Hot Pools

2010-11-08T13:52:00.004-06:00

Some gracious friends came and stayed with Nathan and Isabella for a night so that Santi and I could get away for our anniversary. We had a wonderful time (and both of us thought we should do it more often!).

We stayed one night up at the Termas de Papallacta - a beautiful resort high up in the Andes Mountains that features natural hot springs. We enjoyed our own private pool right outside our cabin. The views of Antisana - a snow-capped volcano - were spectacular as we relaxed in the hot pools. And it was fun to take a hike up the mountain side to see some of God's creation. Here are a few photos of our time away.

Here was the view outside our cabin door at dusk.

Can you see the snow-capped mountain in the background?

Mt. Antisana still showing it's snowy glory in the morning.

We found some llamas during our morning hike.

This was a fun organic garden - featuring mint among many other things.

Everything grows up in the mountains - even beautiful flowers!

There is no such thing as a tree line here at the equator

(even though we were at 10,000 feet altitude).

We stopped into a little museum along the way and

saw this big huge feather from Ecuador's national bird - the condor.

Celebrating Four Years!

2010-10-28T10:03:00.004-05:00

Today we celebrate our 4th anniversary. I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and see how our lives have changed!

Here we are on our wedding day, October 28, 2006! We were blessed to get married at a hosteria just outside of Quito that had such a gorgeous setting! And it helps that roses are super cheap in Ecuador - we had lots of roses!

Our first anniversary, October 2007 - waiting for Nathan to arrive (he was born Dec 25, 2007)

Our family keeps growing - here we are in October of 2008!

And then along came little Isabella. This is October 2009!

And here we are today! October 28, 2010! We have been truly blessed during these four years. God has been good to us. We look forward to many more years together!

Tidbits

2010-10-27T09:57:00.002-05:00

Our life seems to be full of tidbits lately! Here are a few of them:

1) We are still waiting to hear from the US Consulate in Guayaquil (a coastal city here) about Santi's next appointment for his US visa which will allow him to travel freely between the US and Ecuador (his current visa expires in February).

2) we still have some paperwork and appointments to get done before the above appointment - pray that we will get it all done. Santi will need to get a copy of his police record (or lack thereof - LOL) from the police headquarters here in Quito. He also needs to do a medical exam with a doctor appointed by the US embassy for these visas. We are also waiting for some paperwork from the US.

3) Ruth has been spending lots of time at the dentist lately - as in about two appointments a week for the past two months. Lots to get fixed after not going for about 3 years (yes, I know, this is shameful! chalk it up to never having time between being pregnant and having babies the last three years! I promise I will never wait that long again!).

4) Tomorrow, we celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary! Lots of great memories and hopefully many more to come. God has been good to us!

5) The Kids Club at the dump on Wednesday afternoons has been going well. We seem to be having lower attendance this year (but it will surely pick up by Christmas time). But those who come are doing great - learning the Bible stories and the memory verses.

6) Santi and I just attended a two-night marriage seminar hosted by HCJB. It was great to get some good tips and ideas for us as a couple! And it was great to have a couple of evenings out.

7) This coming weekend begins a three-day holiday - which including the weekend is actually five days long! Yahoo! So Santi has off of work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Sunday, after the service at the Bethany Home for the Elderly, we hope to take a little mini-vacation to Shell - the jungle where HCJB has a hospital and visit the sites there. We plan to return to Quito on Tuesday. We are hoping for some good family fun.

8) Santi is busy at work getting ready for HCJB's Annual Radio Sharathon, coming up in December! There is much to prepare and less people to help due to staff cut-backs at HCJB. Please pray for wisdom and time to get everything ready.

9) and the Extreme Response office is busy getting things ready for the upcoming annual Christmas Outreach to various poor communities in and around Quito. We look forward to working with the 50 volunteers coming from the US and Canada! We are so blessed to be a part of this outreach every year - such a wonderful way to start off the holiday season!

10) Isabella is now walking everywhere and Nathan seems to think it's his duty to pick on his little sister all the time! This keeps mom very busy (some days I feel like a referee). Nathan has great conversations now too - it's fun to hear him talk more and more.

Thanks for all your prayers for us! God is so good to us and we are reminded daily to be THANKFUL! We can't wait for the month of November to celebrate THANKFULNESS!

Soccer 2010

2010-10-20T09:40:00.005-05:00

The computer department at HCJB in Quito was invited to participate in a soccer tournament with other communications businesses in Quito. They were invited by the communications area of the Ecuadorian military.

So this past Saturday was the inauguration ceremony on one of the military bases here in Quito. It was interesting to be there and see all the formality and watch the various teams gather together. Various communications companies were represented including Porta (cell phone), TV Cable (cable company), Telconet (internet), among others. The ceremony was very formal with all the teams marching in.

It was fun to be there - Nathan enjoyed playing a little soccer with daddy too! :-) (somehow I didn't get any photos of Isa!).

The HCJB team lost their first game (against the hosts - the military team!). But they are still in it - so we'll have soccer games to attend the next few weekends!

To see more photos, please click HERE!

Appointment at the US Embassy - Quito

2010-10-12T08:52:00.002-05:00

Please pray for us today as we have our appointment at the US embassy today to apply for a US visa for Santi. From what we understand, we will be turning in most of our paperwork along with proof that we are married and a family. After today's appointment, our paperwork will be analyzed by a special department in the US and then hopefully we will have another appointment soon with the US consulate in Guayaquil (a city on the coast of Ecuador).

Please pray that all our paperwork in order (we have spent two months trying to gather it all) and that all will go smoothly. Needless to say, it's important for us and our family.

Thank you!

Family Photo

2010-10-10T21:56:00.002-05:00

We were all dressed up today for church so we thought a family photo might be nice. Becky, the Extreme Response short-term worker living with us for a few months, was kind enough to help us out - which is truly no small task with two little children!

Crisis in Quito

2010-10-01T14:17:00.003-05:00

Many of you have been praying for us since the uprising by police yesterday here in Ecuador. The faction of the police were protesting a law put into place that would lower their benefits provided by the government.

We appreciate your prayers for our safety and that the situation would be over soon. God certainly answered your prayers as Santi was almost held up at gun point while at a gas station near our house - he was trying to fill his car with gas before arriving at home and the gas station was taken over by a band of 4 - 5 thieves. Thankfully, the attendant hadn't started filling his car with gas yet, so Santi was able to just start his car and get out of there as quickly as possible! We are very grateful. Without a police presence in the city, looting and robbery was of concern.

Today, you cannot tell that there was a prolonged late-night firefight last night between the military and the police in a violent operation to rescue Ecuador's president from the National Police Hospital, where he was being held by disaffected policemen. He was safely rescued, under fire, and about 10:00pm he appeared and spoke briefly at the Presidential Palace in Quito's Independence Plaza. All of this was televised on Ecuadorian national TV stations.

Today, so far as we can tell around here, all is calm. News reports say that the National Police have returned to their duties, after the resignation of their commander. Businesses are open; taxis and buses are running as usual. Schools are closed, but will most likely re-open Monday.

During 14 years here in Ecuador, I've experienced several similar events, each one unique, some resulting in a sudden change of government. This one, sadly, cost the lives of two policemen and resulted in injuries to other police and military persons. Yet it ended quickly. The current government continues; President Correa is still the president. He is considering dissolving the congress, and has declared the National Police will be "purged", so there will be repercussions. But every day life has returned to near-normal.

Continue to pray for the country of Ecuador and the people here. We praise God for his protection!

CSO Retreat

2010-09-23T21:02:00.005-05:00

Thank you for praying for our CSO retreat this past weekend with our high school group. We had 100% attendance and it was a great time to get to know our new group for this year. We enjoy quite a multi-cultural group that includes Koreans, Ecuadorians and some North Americans. For some English and Spanish are a second or third language.

All of the students came with a heart to learn and to serve. God used the devotionals to speak to all of us about our commitment to "Tell the Story" of the Good News of Jesus Christ this year to the Kids Club and Moms Club. We spent time working together to plan for our groups this coming year - the Bible Stories (based on a series on Experiencing the Life of Christ), the memory verses (this year we're going to memorize Matthew 5:1 - 12, The Beatitudes), and the crafts. The students who will help with the mom's club also met together.

And there was lots of fun and laughter too - special "skits" with unusual props, our traditional game of "I have never . . . ", team building activities and time to just hang out! We are grateful for such a great group of students to work with this year. And we appreciate our adult leadership team who puts in many hours helping to prepare for the Kids Club.

Pray for our group this year. There are some students who do not know Christ as their personal Savior. Our prayer is that through the time in the Kids Club they would come to have a relationship with Him.

We had our first club this past Wednesday. Attendance was a bit low due to a rainstorm that passed through Quito during the same time as the Kids Club, but we still enjoyed re-connected with the children and moms who did come.

Here are some photos from the retreat:

Our whole group at the Papallacta Guest House

A puzzle piece made by one of our students during team-building time (we need all the pieces of the puzzle to work together). I really appreciated the poem that he wrote - it sums up our Wednesday afternoons at the dump so well!

Looking at our finished puzzle - each piece made by one of our students - and praying that we will all work together this year!

We have some great artists in our group!

A Good Samaritan skit . . . .

David participating in another skit - the Feeding of the 5,000

Another retreat tradition - playing Jenkins Hands Up (don't ask!)

Happy 1st Birthday to Isabella!

2010-09-22T09:01:00.002-05:00

Isa has been in our lives for a year now and has brought us so much joy, happiness, and delight! We are so blessed to have two sweet children.

During her birthday week, Isa has learned to stand up and is working on doing some walking on her own too. She now has six teeth (four uppers and two on the bottom). She says "mama" and "dada" and is generally a happy baby. She adores her brother, Nathan and wants to see him as soon as she wakes up in the morning or after her nap. Happy Birthday, dear little Isabella!

Here's a reminder of how much she has grown up in one year!

Nathan's Snowman

2010-09-19T23:25:00.004-05:00

The other morning while I was baking in the kitchen, Nathan was playing with Play Doh at the counter. I asked him what he was making and he told me it was a snowman and then he asked me to open the cupboard to get some eyes.

I was confused (I know, my normal state of mind) but opened the cupboard anyway. Well, that particular cupboard is the one that I pretty much stuff just about anything into (recipe books, random papers, dominoes, flashlights, bubbles, crafts from Nathan’s day care, phone books, coloring books, crayons – seriously, there’s all sorts of stuff in there!). So I really wasn’t sure if I was going to find any eyes in there or not . . . but Nathan was insisting . . . so I opened the door and sure enough, there were some eyes staring me in the face . . . on one of Nathan’s crafts from his day care that I’ve been hanging onto (because it’s too cute to throw away!).

So I pulled the eyes off (don’t worry – I saved them to glue on again), and handed them to Nathan and he proceeded to take about five minutes to get the eyes in just the right place. I just love the look of concentration in this series of photos! Oh and I’m not sure that he has ever seen a snowman in real life, but he knew to make three balls and put them on top of each other – have no idea where he got that from (we do talk about snowmen from time to time in his picture books –maybe he got the idea from that).

Happy 1st Birthday Isa!

2010-09-19T14:21:00.003-05:00

Last night we had a little birthday party for Isabella’s 1^st birthday (she turns 1 on Wednesday). We invited the Dawson family and celebrated Isaiah’s 4^th birthday as well. It was tons of fun!

Waffles for Breakfast . . .

2010-09-17T08:00:00.003-05:00

So we usually have waffles for breakfast on Saturdays, but since we will be gone to the retreat this weekend, I decided to make waffles this morning for Nathan and Isa - they seemed to enjoy them!

Packing our bags . . .

2010-09-17T06:54:00.002-05:00

. . . for the CSO retreat this weekend! Our high school is set to go - we have 19 great students this year who are ready to dig in and get started with the Kids Club at the dump on Wednesday afternoons. This weekend, we head to the mountains - up to Papallacta where HCJB formally had a hydro-electric plant. We are still able to use the large guest house there and it's perfect for our group - 24 beds and we have 24 people!

We have lots of activities planned - including team building games, planning for the Kids Club, great food, skits and some music and devotionals. Pray for us this weekend that we all would seek God and grow together in Him. I'm looking forward to having a chance to get to know our students better - we have a few repeats from last year (we had a lot of Seniors who graduated last year), but lots of new students. And they are from all over the world - Ecuador, the US, Asia . . . .quite the multi-cultural group!

Nathan and Isabella are staying back in Quito at home with Santi's mom who is coming to help us out for the weekend . . . we are grateful that she's able to help.

What is a CSO group?

2010-09-08T07:37:00.006-05:00

One of the things we enjoy most here is the Wednesday afternoon Kids Club at the dump and we're excited that we're getting back to it this month. And we can't wait to meet our new high school students who will be a part of our Extreme Response CSO this year!

What is a CSO group, you might ask?

Well, today all of the CSO (Christian Service Outreach) opportunities will be presented to the high school students at Alliance Academy International. These are volunteer groups that do various service activities after school, usually on Wednesday afternoon. There are a total of 10 groups. For example, one group goes to the local children's hospital to visit the children and give them gifts and share about Jesus. Another group helps with Pan de Vida - a ministry to street people, providing them with a hot meal and other programs. There's a group dedicated to painting murals with a Christian message on the walls in the neighborhood. A couple of years ago, this group painted a beautiful mural depicting the story of Creation on the wall that surrounds the HCJB property in Quito. The Guardian group mentors middle school students. One group spends time praying during their lunch hour for persecuted Christians around the world.

And our Extreme Response CSO group plans and provides the Kids Club for the children at the dump every Wednesday afternoon. As you can see, the groups are varied and God is providing lots of avenues for these high schoolers to be involved in ministry!

We are asking that you please pray for the students today as they listen to the presentations by the various CSO groups and make decisions as to where they will be involved this year. This is a non-required extra-curricular activity for the students and it seems that there is almost 100% participation every year! The opportunities are huge!

And as you pray - please keep our CSO group in mind along with the following events:

1) Weds Sept 15 - 1st meeting, orientation at the dump

2) Fri/Sat Sept 17 and 18 - overnight retreat in Papallacta to do team building activities with our new group and to plan for this year's Kids Club

3) Weds Sept 22 - 1st Kids Club at the dump, starting our Bible story series on Experiencing the Life of Christ. Pray too for the moms who will come and be a part of their own Mom's Club.

Starting up again . . .

2010-09-07T08:54:00.002-05:00

It's rather embarrassing that our last post on this blog was back in April! We have lots to catch up on - including tidbits about our time in the US from May 13 to July 20. Hopefully, we will add some posts which will show some highlights and photos from our time in the US. For the moment, we can say that we so enjoyed visiting family, friends and our supporting churches and the time went by way too quickly!

We returned to Quito on July 20 and jumped right back into things. We are grateful that both Nathan and Isabella did well traveling (relatively speaking - depends on if you really enjoy traveling with a 2 1/2 year old active little boy and a growing baby who changed a lot during the 2 and 1/2 months we were in the states!). We are also glad that they both adjusted quickly to our life back in Quito.

Once back in Quito:

1) we adjusted to the altitude again - even Santi (who has lived in at over 9,000 ft altitude his whole life) noticed the difference this time.

2) we unpacked 7 suitcases and one car seat (for Isabella) - full of things that were given to us while we were in the US (thank you, everyone) - clothes for Nathan and Isabella, tools for Santi to use (on Ruth's to-do list for the house! smiles), fruit snacks for Nathan and goldfish for Isa, and well . . . .let's face it - items we picked up during several Walmart runs!

3) we enjoyed getting back into our ministry and work . . . . Santi returned to the Information Systems office at HCJB and picked up the slack during the next month while most of his co-workers were still on Home Ministry Assignments in their home countries. Ruth has been coordinating details to start up the Kids Club at the dump again (1st club will be on September 22) and all the preparations to accept a new group of high schoolers to help with the club.

4) Isabella worked on cutting her four top teeth (looking quite pretty, if I might add) and learning to go up and down the stairs (it took her about a day to figure this out and she would literally spend hours going up and down if we let her). Otherwise, she's just a happy, smiley baby who loves to be around people - it's hard to be grumpy around her as she always has a smile on her face!

5) and Nathan gave up his pacifier (or "mimi" as he liked to call it) and is learning not to harass his sister too much! The giving up the pacifier was actually not as hard as we expected - he did pretty well with it and is now talking up a storm (now that he doesn't have something in his mouth all the time!). He's talking in both Spanish and English and we're amazed at his comprehension in either language.

6) we also have been to the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly) several times on Sunday morning (and one time during the week with a team that was here) . . . . . and we are impressed more than ever with the importance of sharing with these dear, elderly, needy people. We ask God for wisdom as to how to help them. One of our latest projects is looking for funds to re-pave the patio where they sit and hang out during the day. The ground is very un-even making it difficult for them to walk or roll around in their wheel-chairs. If you'd like to help with this project financially please let us know - send us an email or contact us on Facebook.

That's the latest from the Arteaga family - we will soon share more photos and high lights from our time in the US - so keep checking back! We are grateful for all your prayers and encouragement and all the wonderful visits we enjoyed while in the US. WE APPRECIATE YOU!

Blessings from Quito . . . .

Letting go . . .

2010-04-29T22:41:00.004-05:00

My husband just ran out to the airport tonight to pick up from friends coming from Indianapolis so I thought I'd sit down and write a new post on our blog. Chris & April will be staying with us for a week, looking at Extreme Response and missions and seeking how God would have them be involved as missionaries here. We're excited to have them be with us and can't wait to see how God will work in their lives.

So anyways while I'm waiting for them to arrive, I thought I'd share a quick post that I've been thinking about . . . I have had Nathan's baby clothes all packed away in storage ever since I started that wonderful process of sorting his clothes as he grows. It was always fun to see him start wearing the next size but it was also a bit nostalgic packing away the clothes that were too small for him. Some of them came with great memories of special days together, others were special because of the person who gave them to us. And well, let's face it, its a bit sentimental when it belongs to your first born.

So the clothes have been packed away for a year now . . . . just sitting in the closet, collecting dust. I would think of them from time to time, pondering what to do with them. It seemed silly to keep 18 months worth of baby clothes . . . to what end? But I (or maybe I should say "we" as my husband was even more sentimental about them that I was) just wasn't quite ready to get rid of them. And what was I going to do? keep all his clothes forever . . . until he turns 18? And then what? So I started praying about what God would have me to do with them. And then another missionary couple got pregnant. And found out they were having a boy . . . .so I called her one day to see if she was up to receiving some used baby boy clothes.

She was thrilled! And I was too - here was the answer to my prayer. So a couple of weeks ago, I loaded up 2 large garbage bags and one box of baby clothes into my car and went to meet Lori to hand them over to her. I thought I was okay with this . . . no more baby Nathan's clothes in the house. . . . well, just as I was getting the things out of my car to put into Lori's car, this wave of nostalgia came over me and I just wasn't quite ready to let go . . . . so silly me, what did I do? I grabbed a couple of his newborn sleepers and hung on to them and quickly handed the rest of the items over to her. I told Lori to go through the items and keep whatever she wanted and to give me back whatever she didn't want . . . thinking that maybe I'd find another friend who could use them. Lori said thank you and we went on our way.

But the story doesn't end there.

The next day, Lori left a message on my phone, asking me if it would be okay to pass the few items she didn't want on to their ministry, Pan de Vida. Quick side note - Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) is a ministry to street people here in Quito and they do amazing things (you can check out their website here). Lori & her husband, Oscar, are missionaries with Extreme Response and they head up the Pan de Vida ministry.

Anyways, she was asking me if they could just pass the unwanted clothes on to Pan de Vida. I didn't call her back right away with an answer as God was still working in my heart to just let go. In the afternoon, I finally called her back and said that yes, it'd be fine to take the last items in a box over to Pan de Vida.

Well, a few days later, she called me back and was so excited to share a testimony to me of how God used those "unwanted clothes". It turns out that it was her husband, Oscar, who suggested taking the clothes to Pan de Vida and all day long he just felt it was important to know right away if I was willing to donate them to Pan de Vida. . . . .and he kept asking her if I had gotten back to her with an answer yet. And she kept telling him to be patient, that I'd get back to them when I was able, but for some reason, he felt it was urgent to know. Thankfully, I did get back to them by the afternoon.

The next day, Oscar had dropped the items off at Pan de Vida and it was also the same day as their feeding program where they feed almost 100 street people. At the end of the event, one of the workers was sitting with two new ladies who had never come before. They each had a baby with them. And they had been praying that God would somehow provide some clothing for their baby. And the Pan de Vida worker was sitting there with them praying and talking to them, when Oscar stopped by to ask what they needed. We all know now why that one last box of baby clothes was so important and why it was so important for it to be at Pan de Vida THAT day . . . . Oscar was able to show them the box of clothes and they cried with joy at what was there . . . clothes for their babies - the very thing they had been praying for!

This was a huge lesson for me on letting go . . . . and on the joy of giving. So often we just aren't ready to let go of whatever that prized possession might be in our life. . . . but the freedom that comes when we do let go is amazing and the joy that comes in knowing that you helped someone else out in the process is also amazing. These "prized possessions" aren't necessarily material things - they can be talents or gifts or sharing of ourselves in different ways. I do know that the next time God is nudging me to "just let go" - I'm going to listen to Him much more quickly!

In my mind's eye, I can just see the two ladies and their little babies with Nathan's clothes on them . . . . and that is a blessing that I will never forget! Who knows, maybe someday, I'll even see them on the street in Quito . . . and recognize them because of Nathan's clothes . . . and have the opportunity to help them out even more.

April Photos on Facebook

2010-04-28T08:57:00.004-05:00

We have posted some photos from this month in an album on Facebook. If you'd like to see them, please click here.

a lot going in the Arteaga home . . .

2010-04-27T20:46:00.002-05:00

We stay busy - no doubt about it.

Nathan is doing new things all the time and trying to stay out of trouble. His latest thing is to walk around counting things in Spanish . . . the only problem is that he often says "uno, tres, cuatro . . .", skipping the number 2! We're pretty sure he'll figure it out at some point. But he does know the number 2 as he will tell you that he's "two" if you ask him how old he is! Another thing he likes to do is carry around a banana and/or apple (he likes to eat them eventually too). We're not sure why he likes them, but we figure this is just one little stage for him for now.

Isabella has mastered the art of crawling and is finding all sorts of interesting things at ground level. She's also working hard to cut her two bottom teeth - chewing on everything she can get her hands on. . . making the combination with learning to crawl interesting as she's finding new things to chew on!

We've had colds off and on this month. Ruth and Isabella still have runny noses. Hopefully we will be finished with the runny noses in time for our trip to the US on May 13! Yes, the time is rapidly approaching for us to begin our 10 week Home Ministry Assignment in the US. We are looking forward to connecting with friends, family and churches there. It will be a busy time traveling with two little ones, but the renewed connections will be worth it.

Santi had a birthday this month too! It was fun to celebrate several times - once with a date night out together, another time with our small group, and a third time with a lunch at HCJB with the Information Systems department. His birthday has been well celebrated!

We are looking forward to the visit of some friends from Indiana this week, Chris & April Fresh. They are coming with their youngest son, Mason (one of five boys!). They will be here for a week, taking a look at Extreme Response and our ministries here in Ecuador, and seeing what God might have for them as full-time missionaries. We look forward to having them stay with us and are praying that God will clearly direct them as they look into missions.

And Ruth is also helping to organize two baby showers . . . .one for Lori Aguirre. Lori and her husband direct one of our partner ministries, Pan de Vida (Bread of Life - a ministry to people living on the street). They are expecting their first son in July. And the other is for Teri Newburn, Ruth's good friend and co-coordinator of the Kids Club at the Zambiza dump. Teri teaches high school math at Alliance Academy. They are expecting their first boy the first of June.

And then it will be time to pack and do the last minute things needed for our trip! We have all our passports (Nathan and Isa both have two), visas, paperwork and other important things taken care of. . . .but we still have to figure out suitcases, packing for two kids and whatever else we might need! Thank goodness, we will be arriving to the "Land of Walmart" where it will be easier to pick up anything we might need!

Pray for us in these final weeks before we leave on May 13 as Santi has projects to finish up at work. He also needs to find replacements for some of his work while he is gone. We also need to finalize the organization of our presentations for churches while we are in the US. There are so many interesting things to share, that sometimes it's hard to narrow it down and decide on what is the most important. Plus, we also want to be sensitive to God's leading and what He would want us to share with our churches and supporters who have been a part of what God is doing here. Pray that God would direct us to what He wants!

Easter fun . . . .

2010-04-02T22:46:00.004-05:00

It's been a fun-filled Easter weekend already - with a play date with our friends the Dawsons yesterday and then with Santi's family over for a traditional fanesca meal today.

Fanesca is a soup made during Semana Santa (Holy Week) that has 12 grains in it (to represent the 12 disciples). Most people also add things like fish, avocado, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs and little fried plantain pieces. It's a great time to get the whole family together. We also added the North American tradition of coloring Easter eggs!

We are looking forward to celebrating Easter Sunday and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior at our Spanish church this coming Sunday.

For more fun photos of the past couple of days, please click HERE.

Handful of Hope in Haiti

2010-03-30T11:46:00.003-05:00

Packed with prayer and care at the HCJB Global Technology Center, 100 small solar-powered, fixed-tuned radios are now in Haitians’ hands, thanks to members of a medical emergency response team from Ecuador now seeing patients in the Caribbean nation.

The SonSet® radios, pre-tuned to local Christian radio outlets, are working well, said Hermann Schirmacher, a German engineer who is leading the nine-person team from HCJB Global Hands in Ecuador. “At least two of the four pre-tuned frequencies usually come in very well,” he explained.

The sets were brought from the U.S. by fellow engineer, New Zealander Alex Weir, even as the medical professionals had arrived with Schirmacher from Ecuador on Saturday, March 20.

To read the rest of the story, please click HERE.

And to see MANY MORE PHOTOS, please click HERE.

Field Trip

2010-03-29T15:26:00.005-05:00

A little while ago, Nathan went his first field trip with the kids from the little day care that he attends about 9 hours a week. The day care is called House of Dreams (in English, no less) and is a great place for Nathan to play, learn and develop his social skills while I try to get a few things done at the Extreme Response office or run errands or just do whatever else needs to be done!

Anyways, the kids all went to a "finca" (little farm), located very near to the actual equator line - about 15 minutes north of the city. Because of where our house is located, it was easier for me to take Nathan directly to the finca rather than meet the group at the day care. And I was glad that I went as it was so much fun to see the little kids running around, looking at ducks, turtles, rabbits and birds and just having a great time. Here are a few photos from the outing . . .

This is Nathan and Bettina - the daughter of one of our missionary friends from Switzerland - they were checking out the ducks!

I just love this photos of all the kids climbing the fence so that they can see - I'll let you all guess at who was the first to climb up!?!?!

Nathan was really fascinated with the turtle and talked about it for days.

Getting a group photo with lots of little kids is not the easiest thing!

Then, climbing the trees became the next fun thing to do!

Family Yard Day

2010-03-23T09:44:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, we worked outside as a family - trying to clean up our yard some and just do all those odds and ends that need to be done. We've tried to do this before, but it always seems like Nathan gets bored really quickly and starts getting in the way, or wants to go inside or just wants to play.

But this time, we really enjoyed a couple of hours outside as a family, with Nathan helping to rake and pick up the cut grass. He later got distracted with all the seeds from the eucalyptus trees we have around and started collecting those (which was totally fine as it kept him "busy" for quite a while). In the meantime, Isabella just hung out in her infant seat in the stroller, happily staring at the trees and the skies (which Nathan ever would have done at her age).

It was fun to be together as a family and also get some work done! The yard looks extra nice today after a nice rain last night.

More info on the HCJB Team in Haiti

2010-03-23T08:56:00.002-05:00

A second team of HCJB Global healthcare workers plans to travel from Ecuador to Haiti on March 20 to assist victims of the Jan. 12 devastating earthquake, even as team leader Hermann Schirmacher is exploring mission training possibilities there. The first team of physicians worked alongside Samaritan’s Purse Jan. 15-24 at the Baptist Haiti Mission (BHM) Hospital in Port-au Prince.

“When the first team came, there was a lot of chaos and trauma, especially during the first few days,” said Melissa Strickland, communications liaison at Samaritan’s Purse. “What we’re seeing now is mostly infections, diseases and things like that.”

Flying north from Quito, the nine-member team will again work with Samaritan’s Purse and BHM for two weeks. Team members include five medical doctors, two nurses and two engineers.

To read more . . . please click HERE.

Isabella is 6 months old today!

2010-03-22T10:08:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe that 6 months have gone by since Isabella joined our family. . . . and she's hit several milestones: rolling over, scooting around (not quite crawling), almost sitting up, cooing and laughing and most recently, eating solids (rice and oat cereal and bananas - this week we're going to start on avocados). She truly is so much more calm than Nathan ever was . . . .yesterday we spent the afternoon as a family working out in the yard and she happily played in her stroller, looking at the trees and the sky and never cried once! Nathan would never have been content to do that. We are grateful for the gift of little Isabella in our lives!

And here's a little reminder of our sweet Isabella when she was born!

Haiti Relief

2010-03-20T10:05:00.003-05:00

HCJB Global is sending a 2nd team of doctors, nurses and other staff to Haiti today. They will be there until April 3, doing relief work at the Baptist Haiti Mission Hospital (where the 1st team went). Please pray for this team as they travel today and for God to use them while in Haiti.

Click here for more information on the Baptist Haiti Mission Hospital.

As I have more updates, I will post them here.

Changing lives for the Kingdom . . .

2010-03-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

Angel Tapia tells of seeing God work in big ways and small since he decided to follow Christ while a patient at Hospital Vozandes, HCJB Global's hospital in Quito.

There was the day he needed bus fare for the trip into Quito for a checkup. But Angel’s wife, Patricia, wanted to buy a chicken for lunch. Seemingly a small matter … and even smaller when you consider that Angel was near death when he came under the care of missionaries Dr. Dick Douce and nurse Rita Whaley.

Please click here to read the entire story.

Wednesday is Kids Club day at the Dump . . .

2010-03-17T20:47:00.003-05:00

. . . . and that was where you would have found me this afternoon - hanging out with a great group of high school students who do almost the entire club by themselves . . . . we start with lining the kids up outside the dump, walking into the Extreme Response day care center together (which is where we hold our Kids Club now - a huge improvement from years past when we held it in a run-down, rat-infested building). The children work on "activity sheets" once they are seated at the tables - these sheets are anything from practicing the English word green, to matching things or whatever. It gives them a chance to settle down a bit while we get things going for the club.

Then the students jump right in with songs, a Bible story (we just finished up the series on how Jesus healed the paralytic with the high school students acting out the story), memory verses (the children just finished memorizing Psalms 23 - today we started Mark 10:38), and a craft and coloring page.

As the children leave the club, they receive a cheese sandwich!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that our high school comes from Alliance Academy here in Quito. And we have quite a mix of nationalities - students from the US, Korea and Ecuador. It's fun to watch them all interact! We are also seeing the students grow in leading the songs, memory verses, etc. . . . a great thing to see!

Every Wednesday is definitely a pick-me-up as it's great to get out of the house, and doing something for others. Most of the children who come to the club, live around the Quito dump and their families are somehow involved in the "recycling" process - digging through trash looking for things to be sold for recycling (they also look for food and things that they can use for their huts/homes). Today, I was enjoying watching Ana and Karla - they are sisters who have come from the very beginning (probably 5 years now) and we have known them for a while now. Ana was just a baby when she started coming and Karla (not very big herself) would bring Ana on her back. They now have a little brother that they bring with them - his name is Nixon. He's two! Last week, I asked Ana where they are living now and she said we're hiding in a place down the hill and we have no electricity or water . . . we never know the difference we are going to make in these little ones' lives.

Ana is the girl on the right, in the purple striped shirt, in the first photo above.

Thanks for praying for us on Wednesday afternoons! To see more photos of the Kids Club, please click here.

keeping up with my end of the bargain. . .

2010-03-16T12:06:00.008-05:00

. . . . and writing another post with some photos of our lives the past few days.

Here is Isabella enjoying some play time in mommy's office at Extreme Response. We spend a couple of hours here almost every day while Nathan is playing with his friends at a small day care around the corner.

Here is what Nathan has been spending his time doing lately - this was a rare moment that he actually sat down for quite a while (like 15 minutes or so and with some success - yahoo!). And I couldn't resist a couple of photos (he will probably hate me when he's 18). He also managed to find the sticker supply and use it abundantly! I'm also very grateful for the portable DVD player and basket of books to keep him entertained during these wonderful moments (sigh - hopefully the season of our lives will be over soon!).

Last night, we enjoyed having Dwight and Susie Lind over for dinner. They are HCJB missionaries at WRN - a radio network along the US/Mexican border. Susie also used to work in the offices in Colorado Springs and she and I planned HCJB Ecuador Tours together for many years (via email and phone). We figured out that this was the first time we had actually met here in Quito. Isa was glad to have another "grandma" to spoil her a bit (Nathan was in a rare BAD mood and wanted nothing of photos).

On Sunday, we went to the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly) where we held the Sunday morning services with singing and a devotional. Nathan loves to help hand out the "pancitos" (little breads) at the end of the service (and he usually eats one himself - and walks around saying "pan").

This is Isa doing her favorite thing in her crib - PLAYING! She enjoys it almost too much and forgets to sleep sometimes during the night - mommy has decided to pretty much ignore her and go back to sleep when she decides to play at 3 a.m.!

trying to keep up with it all . . .

2010-03-13T20:32:00.004-06:00

As you all can tell from the lack of new posts, our blog somehow isn't making it to my priority list these days! The funny thing is, I write posts for our blogs all the time as I go throughout my day - the only problem is that I'm not sitting at my computer and by the time I am sitting at my computer, my mind is in a fog and I can't seem to remember what I thought about all day long . . . . I think it has something to do with trying to keep up with a 2 year old and a 6 month old.

But we love hearing from so many of you and we know that you're checking the blog from time to time. . . . so I will try to keep up with my end of the bargain and be more faithful at posting.

Nathan is a busy two year old (okay, he's always been a busy boy, but something about being two has made him even busier!). He is learning new vocabulary daily and repeats words that we say all the time. I sometimes feel like there is an echo in the house. He seems to be bi-lingual so far - understanding whatever we say in either English or Spanish. He likes to count to ten (mostly in Spanish) and his favorite word lately is "banana" - said with an accent on the very first syllable - which is funny considering that this is not how you say it in either language. I guess he had to add his own twist to the word.

We are also in throes of potty training with Nathan - some days are good, others are just plain bad. I keep reminding myself that this is a process and a season and it will end some day (hopefully before I pull out all my hair).

Isabella will be 6 months old on March 22. She is the sweetest little girl you have ever seen. I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom . . . she truly is really happy and smiley most of the time and isn't very demanding at all. We are working with starting her on rice cereal and she's doing great (as you can see by the photo below). The craziest thing that she does is waking up in the middle of the night to play in her crib. . . . she just plays, coos, giggles, and chews on her thumb. She doesn't cry, she's not hungry, she doesn't want out. She's just awake. She'll do this for about 1 - 2 hours and then eventually go back to bed. It's starting to drive mom crazy and we keep praying that she will grow out of this stage real soon!

Santi and I are busy with the details and preparations for our trip to the US on May 13 to visit supporting churches, friends and family. We look forward to the time visiting and sharing about what God is doing here in Ecuador. (we don't look forward to traveling with two little kids - sorry - just have to be honest about that!). We will be in California, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, with all our weekends booked at our supporting churches - thank you everyone for allowing us to share!

It will be the first time in 14 years that Ruth has been in the US for the 4th of July! It'll be fun to see a real fireworks show! And Santi is excited about the possibility of visiting Cedar Point in OH with one of our friends (Ruth will not be joining him as she does not share his love of roller coasters!).

Here are some photos from recent days:

Nathan giving his sister a piggy-back ride

Isabella's first try at cereal! I think she likes it!

Nathan isn't always this gentle with Isabella

My silly boy with his baker's hat made at day care!

Play with cars . . . a boy's favorite past-time!

Hope for Haiti . . . .

2010-02-10T22:46:00.001-06:00

Please watch this video that our co-worker, Martin Harrison, put together after his return from Haiti. . . .he was part of the HCJB Global disaster relief team that went to Haiti right after the earthquake.

HCJB Global is sending emergency response teams to Haiti to bring life-saving medical care and safe drinking water. In the midst of disaster people are finding hope as they turn to the living God.

Colts Game!

2010-02-07T18:45:00.003-06:00

I guess there's question as to who we are cheering for in this year's Superbowl! GO COLTS!

Dr. Steve Nelson's Update as he was leaving Haiti . . .

2010-01-27T08:26:00.002-06:00

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Nelson [mailto:snelson@hcjb.org.ec]
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:28 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Sent from home ... Quito

Day 11 Jan 25, 2010

We have been listening to generators for the whole time we have been in Haiti … at least during the hours that we were working. I don’t know when the lights will get turned on in Haiti again, but they aren't yet.
The Haiti International airport is no exception. We got the disappointing news yesterday that the only time we could get out of Haiti would be Monday (today) or Saturday … our flight to Ecuador was scheduled for Friday … and we all have a full week planned next week in Ecuador so after a little bit of whining and scrambling around to see if we could get another flight, we decided to come out today. We are back in the airport … full of generators … waiting for the flight back to Florida.

We are back to a place where perhaps the news about Haiti isn’t getting old yet, but even this small step towards normalcy seems strange today.
We are going to miss our Haitian friends … both the patients in the hospital and the ones who worked right along-side us the whole 10 days.
With many of these fellow workers we didn’t even manage to exchange much in the way of words … just gestures and smiles and I was a lot closer to teaching them to say “good morning” then they were in the effort to get me to say “bon jour” correctly.

You were praying for a new way to get patients up to the hospital last time and while we were hoping for something slightly more comfortable than a truck, it was indeed a truck we settled for. They came four at a time – closed femur fractures most of them – receiving 11 new patients for surgery that next day. Five came the following day as we finished up some of the cases that had been here since the beginning but that we had put on hold until we had the hardware to do things right. We did rounds this morning and then headed off down here to the airport. Word was four more closed femurs were on their way to the hospital. This pace could go on for weeks as hospitals unload those cases they can’t handle in house. Samaritans purse is committed to the long haul here and four more new medical people are on their way in to arrive this afternoon.
They will replace our orthopedic surgeon and anesthesiologist that are moving out with us. Pray for more Family Practice docs and nurses as we spread our patients out onto the lists and “plates” of those general medical folks who stayed behind.

I went through the wards and said goodbye to my patients last night.
Brave little kids with amputations and fractured limbs and pelvis … the most hurting ones squeezed out a smile anyway, while the one’s that were feeling better had a glowing one fixed on their beautiful faces already.
Not-so-brave Phoebe with her fractured but now repaired femur, didn’t want to give up her bed last night pleading that she still “didn’t feel well”. We explained that there were some people who felt worse … and wedged her out. She was happily camped on the floor a half hour later and wobbled off on crutches this morning. She always wanted to be pray before dressings changes … “our pleasure Ma’am”.

We didn’t get the stories of these folks … except here and there … there just wasn’t time (nor translators). Still, stories we read later will
fit correctly/sadly with the faces and folks we remember. One amazing
thing about being here is we haven’t seen the news about what is going on here … the big picture that is. “The forest for the trees” I guess.
The Billy Graham people told us this morning that amidst all this pain and chaos, amidst all this suffering and loss, about 70 people got a good look at the loving, compelling face and person of Jesus and decided to follow him. Some of those 70 might get to see Him face to face in heaven soon. There are lots of complications to come. We lost two young men this week to pulmonary emboli after successfully treating
their injuries. More will follow so it’s a joy to add these 70 to the
equation regarding why this is sooo “worth it”.

We are now in an airplane headed to Ft. Lauderdale. It will probably be this evening before I get this out. People will be talking basketball and super-bowl … or is that over already? My oh my what a change this will be.

Thank you for praying.

update from Haiti

2010-01-22T19:42:00.001-06:00

This email just arrived to my inbox from Dr. Steve Nelson - part of the relief team from HCJB Global who is in Haiti right now . . . please continue to pray!

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Nelson [mailto:snelson@hcjb.org.ec]
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 8:02 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Day 8/11 == 8 for us, 11 for the dear Haitians

I'm listening to beautiful Haitian music roll up from the hills below us. Amazing ... the people in Indonesia were singing the night after the earthquake too. It both soothes and brings tears through the day in the hospital too as we move from ward to ward. Seems everybody in Haiti knows how to sing ... ahhhh .. Africa, right?

A certain semblance of order has begun to show itself at the Haiti Mission Hospital ... long days, welcome reinforcements and a increasingly steady supply of materials have allowed us to get through nearly 100 surgery cases and most of the patients that crowded the
floors and hallways of the hospital when we arrived. The last surgery
for today will probably be done by 8PM ... a welcome change from the midnight schedules we kept the first few days ... especially for our anesthesiologists who are obligatorily invited to ALL surgeries.

Still ... it's an eerie and surreal sort of calm because we know the town that borders the bay of Port au Prince that we can see from our compound still teems with untreated and in some cases unfound victims of this incredible tragedy. We are trying to open lines of transport from those areas of the city and from those hospitals where their surgeries have been limited to amputations .. limited by the sheer numbers of patients ... limited by no electricity, no equipment, no sterilization.
Meanwhile those that need surgical interventions other than amputations lay outside unattended, many dying of infections before they are ever seen.

Samaritans Purse will try to continue to equip and man this hospital and figure out ways to get patients here. In some ways ... and of course relatively speaking ... it is paradise here ... cool in the evenings, high enough to be above the malaria zone, and safe from the increasing unrest in the center. We could proabably handle 20 or more new cases a day figuring that 90% of them would have to go to surgery. We just need to figure out how to get them here. Ten trucks over a road that rocks and rolls for an hour an a half when things are open ... six if not. Or
... two helicopters and ten minutes. Come on military!! Many of those
patients after surgery and a few days of observation could go home and come back later for follow up procedures which would open beds (or
floors) for more transfers. This pattern could go on for a long time ...
it appears Samaritans Purse is comitted for the long haul.

Pray we make the right decisions for the most people. Pray for the Billy Graham Evangelism team that is here trying to make sure each person has a chance to hear eternal life-providing Good News before and during our attempts to restore life and health in this realm. We are averaging about one death a day (two today)so there is lots of sorrow and tears to deal with too.

Thanks for holding us all up so strong and tender with your prayers.

Steve

Report from Medical Team in Haiti

2010-01-21T10:06:00.000-06:00

Sheila Leech gives a report about the ministry of the HCJB Global Emergency Response Medical team at the Baptist Haiti Mission Hospital.

Getting drinkable water to Haiti

2010-01-21T10:02:00.002-06:00

Here is a video of HCJB Global's missionary, Martin Harrison, working on the water filtration system at the Baptist Haiti Mission hospital.

Haiti Relief

2010-01-18T10:41:00.003-06:00

It's such a privilege to be part to two organizations who are doing all they can to help with disaster relief in Haiti . . . . please pray for the leadership at HCJB and Extreme Response as they seek to use our resources in the best way we can.

Extreme Response has sent a representative from Quito - Jean David was scheduled to fly from Quito to Haiti yesterday. We have not heard if he arrived or not. The current plan is that he will assist with the distribution of aid alongside the Ecuadorian military. He is a Haitian pastor, who lives here in Quito. Another ER rep, Dr. Scott Keller is planning to join the HCJB global medical team on January 28th. For regular updates please click here.

HCJB Global has a medical/relief team who is also in Haiti at this time. They are working with the Haiti Baptist Mission hospital. Members of the HCJB Global team include Ecuadorian surgeon Leonardo Febres, German surgeon Eckehart Wolff, U.S. anesthesiologist Paul Barton, U.S. family physicians Steve Nelson and Marcos Nelson, Harrison and International Healthcare Director Sheila Leech, a British nurse who heads the group. Most have assisted after previous disasters elsewhere such as in quake zones of Indonesia and Pakistan, Lebanon after war, and flooded areas of Mexico and Ecuador. For regular updates please click here.

I have also been putting updates on our Facebook page along with other links/blogs that will give you first-hand news from people living in Haiti. Extreme Response has two partners in Haiti. They are Lemuel Ministries and House of Hope.

Please click here for the Lemuel Ministries blog.

And please click here for the House of Hope updates.

I find that both these ministries are a much better way to stay tuned in to what really is going on in Haiti and how God is working. And both blogs give us specific ways to pray!

I have many more things to post on this blog - I'm very behind on staying in touch. I apologize - can I blame my two adorable children!?!?! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

Misión Compartida

2009-12-07T20:15:00.003-06:00

This coming weekend (Dec 10 - 13) Radio HCJB will host our annual radio-thon fund-raiser called "Misión Compartida" (or Shared Mission).

Last year over $260,000 came in from local listeners in Quito and Guayaquil. During Misión Compartida we also host thousands of listeners who visit the our radio station in order to donate or meet their favorite radio personalities. This is the most significant "touch" we have each year with our listeners.

Santi will be working very long hours during the radio-thon. Please pray for him as he has been very busy with the team here for the Extreme Response Christmas parties Dec 1 - 8 (they return to the US and Canada early tomorrow morning) and on Thursday, the radio-thon begins. He will be providing technical support for the HCJB radio staff, receiving the donations via telephone, email and individuals who come to the station. He will also be helping with the website and keeping it updated as dontations come in.

And please be in prayer for the radio teams who will be hosting this great event.

I know I keep saying that I will post photos soon - I will do so - I promise (probably during the radio-thon during the long evenings here at home while Santi is working)!

a little tidbit from Ecuador

2009-12-05T09:00:00.002-06:00

somehow blogging doesn't make it to the top of my list of things to do each day - instead I find myself keeping up with Isabella's feedings, changing diapers, doing a little bit of toilet training with Nathan and just trying to keep up with life in general!

But . . . . just because I haven't been blogging, it doesn't mean that life has been boring - it's been anything but that!

The end of October, we had the privilege of receiving a team from PA, Calvary Church, who provided funds and lots of hard labor to help with the construction of a little church in a little community high up on Mt. Pichincha over-looking Quito. The community is called La Paz and the church is a plant from our own church, El Inca. This is the fifth church plant out of our church and we are proud to be part of what God is doing in La Paz. AND we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the team members from Calvary Church. What a blessing they were to us!

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving celebration on Thanksgiving Day with several families at our home. So fun to enjoy time together. Geoff & Tammy Kooistra came with their three children - Geoff is head of the radio ministry at HCJB Global and is one of Santi's bosses. Ruth knows them from about 12 years ago when they first arrived and she was their "big sister" - she also enjoyed babysitting their children when they were younger. Tim & Amy Dawson came with their three little ones. . . . ages 5, 3 and 2. Lots of playmates for Nathan. Tim works in HCJB Radio (doing radio training) and Amy is a medical doctor. Mike & Carol Bishop are good friends from Extreme Response. And Jeremy and Teresa Hing, Extreme Response missionaries still doing deputation in the US, came down to Ecuador early to get ready for the ER Christmas parties. And finally, we invited one of Santi's college friends, Beto and his wife, Ysenia who is from Russa. They have a little girl who just turned one. We were blessed to share our home and hearts with all of these people. And so much to be THANKFUL for.

And we are really thankful for the Christmas parties going on this week! As most of you know, Extreme Response is hosting a team of 70+ people from the US and Canada who have come to Ecuador to help provide a week-long celebration of Jesus in 8 communities. Today is the party at the Quito dump - over 2,500 people came to enjoy games, fun, music, crafts, photos with Santa and a Christmas message. Here on earth, we will never the impact these parties are having for eternity.

Nathan and Isabella are both doing well - Isabella is 2 1/2 months. Where has the time gone! She is growing and always has a smile for anyone who pays attention to her. A very sweet little lady, indeed. Nathan seems to have adjusted to his new sister and is working on not pinching her and learning to give her kisses! He is also starting to potty train (aleluja!) and his vocabulary is growing (favorite word right now - apple). He is also a joy to have around (most of the time!). We are blessed with two beautiful children.

I hope to post some photos later on this weekend! Thank you for your patience in hearing from us! And we do appreciate your prayers for us! We are looking forward to what God is going to do in this holiday season and into 2010!

Blessings from the Arteaga Family!

more photos . . .

2009-11-17T21:50:00.001-06:00

okay - I've been really bad about posting on our blog! I guess I'm realizing how busy life is with two little ones in the house! there's lots to update you all on, but for now, we have some recent photos posted in an album in Facebook - if you'd like to take a look, please click here!

And I promise that sometime soon I will post a better update! We appreciate your prayers for us and your encouragement to us.

Pray for the upcoming Extreme Response Christmas Parties, December 1- 8. Over 70 people from the US and Canada are coming to share the love of Jesus in seven very poor communities in this week-long event. Pray for changed lives because of Jesus!!!

new photos

2009-10-13T22:33:00.003-05:00

it's been a busy few weeks, getting used to having a new little one in the house. soon I will post about our adventures in parenthood. in the meantime, if you'd like to see new photos, please click here.

Isabella Sophia has arrived!

2009-09-25T09:41:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends and Family -

Isabella Sophia arrived on Tuesday, September 22 at 2:25 p.m. via c-section. Both mom and baby are healthy and are now home recuperating and trying to rest.

She weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 49 cm long (probably around 19 inches). She has dark hair like her daddy and light skin like her mommy. She's sleeping and eating well and doing all the other things new born babies should do (which really isn't much!).

Nathan likes to touch her feet and then giggle. At first, he cried when he saw mommy and Isabella, but now he's enjoying the novelty of having a baby in the house (for the most part!). He's going to be a good big brother. Santi has some time off from the office and is a great help in taking care of all of us!

We are very grateful to have a healthy baby girl and feel very blessed. We thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement and notes during this time. . . . we still need to take the time to read through all of them, but we do appreciate them. We apologize for not posting the news earlier but we weren't able to connect to the wireless at the hospital!

Feeling very blessed -
The Arteaga Family

Moving along . . .

2009-09-20T11:10:00.002-05:00

Where did the past month go? Kids are back in school (all schools started on Sept 7 here in the mountains of Ecuador), from what I hear, some trees are even starting to turn colors up in the US and fall is just around the corner.

We have a few things going on here too:
1) C-section for Isabella's birth is still scheduled for Tuesday! We can hardly wait. We need to be at the hospital at 11 a.m. and surgery is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. We appreciate your prayers. All has been going well at our appointments and Ruth is trying to take it as easy as possible.

2) with school starting, we have a new group of high school students who will be coordinating the Kids Club at the dump. We accepted a great group of 18 students - representing a number of different nationalities/countries. We are excited what God has in store for them this year. Ruth will be taking a break during the first semester, but hopes to get back into the swing of things soon.

3) As part of taking that break, Ruth's goal was to have all the crafts lined up for the first semester (all 18 weeks of them!). She is very grateful for a group of ladies who came from Nebraska on a short-term team this summer who organized most of those crafts for her. What a HUGE blessing!

4) Santi has various projects lined up in the computer department at HCJB. They will be upgrading all the HCJB computers for the radio and hospital (400 or so) to a new system, newer version of Microsoft Office, among other things (Santi tried to explain it all to me, but I either don't remember it well, or just didn't understand but you get the idea - lots of work!)

5) We are helping to host a short-term team from Calvary Church in PA the last week of October. Santi will be helping every day at the construction site. The team is coming through Extreme Response and will be adding on to a small church building in a very poor community called La Paz. This church was started by the church we attend regularly (El Inca). They need more space and have a small plot of land to expand on. We hope that this church building will help. This is about the sixth daughter church that our church has started in the past 10 years or so. What a blessing to be a part of a church that is reaching out.

6) We are also gearing up for the Annual Christmas Outreach with Extreme Response . . . .this year it will be December 1 - 8. There's still room on the team if you want to come and help. We are expecting around 70 volunteers from various places in the US and Canada to come and help with this week-long outreach to poor communities. It's a wonderful way to start the holiday season! And we look forward to a number supporting churches and individuals coming on this team!

We appreciate everyone's emails, prayers, words of encouragement and excitement about Isabella's arrival. We will post info and photos as soon as possible! We are so grateful for modern technology that allows us to do that.

In the meantime, we continue to move along . . . waiting anxiously for Tuesday!

Good report at the doctor's today . . .

2009-08-20T16:03:00.002-05:00

. . . all is going well with the expected arrival of Baby #2 - Isabella Sophia. The doctor said this pregnancy has gone really well and things are . . . well, just perfect! We were so blessed to hear those words! It looks like we have around 4 more weeks to go . . . with a c-section planned for around Sept 22. We appreciate everyone's encouragement and prayers. We're getting Isabella's room ready and trying to prepare Nathan as best as we can. And we are excited, of course!

Family from the dump gets a new home!

2009-08-11T09:21:00.003-05:00

I have not been very good at keeping up on our blog this summer. Let's just say that trying to survive pregnancy and keeping up with Nathan our 19 month old has been enough activity for me these days! Never-the-less, there has been much activity - keeping up with our two summer missionaries (who returned to the states a week ago) and participating with the Kids Club at the dump (last one for the summer is tomorrow with a team from the states) and helping in various ways with Extreme Response teams who have come down this summer to help with various projects! And we even were able to have a VBS for the kids club at the dump through a team that came at the very last minute (see my previous post). We have had a fun and rewarding summer.

One special team just left this morning - a group of people from Omaha, Nebraska. They did so many incredible things during their week here in Quito. They visited the elderly at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly) and had a fun-filled afternoon with them. They worked on the construction of a new home (and outfitted it) for a family at the dump. And a group of ladies who stayed back to prepare meals also prepared over 12 crafts for me for the upcoming school year of Kids Club at the dump! They have no idea what a HUGE help that was for me, knowing that soon I will have another little one at home and my participation at the Kids Club will be limited for a while. So having a stack of crafts, all ready to go for this next semester is a wonderful encouragement to me! Thanks ladies!

Anyways - back to the title of this post . . . . the family from the dump gets a new home . . . .here are a couple of photos from that project and also a link to the article at Extreme Response's website! Hopefully this will be as much of a blessing to you as it is to us . . . we never cease to be amazed at how God works in lives through short-term teams and all that can be accomplished as each of us choose to follow Him! TO READ THE ARTICLE AND SEE MORE PHOTOS PLEASE CLICK HERE

Last minute answer to prayer! (VBS at the dump)

2009-07-28T22:09:00.004-05:00

Seriously, where does the time go!?! I just looked at our blog and realized that it's been over a month since we have posted an update! Sorry about that (it feels like I just updated it yesterday!).

This has been an exciting week as God has answered a big prayer! Each year, we pray for a team to come and help do a Vacation Bible School (or week-long Kids Club) out at the dump. The regular children at our weekly Kids Club come so faithfully during the summer months and they bring so many friends and relatives (our attendance jumps from around 40 - 50 to over 80 during the summer). Because of this, each year we like to do a special week of clubs for them if at all possible.

Extreme Response had several teams lined up for this summer who possibly could do the VBS. And one team was even scheduled to do it this week. But they had to cancel and the other teams just never worked out for various reasons. So that was disappointing, but we just kept waiting, hoping that God would work out a plan for us.

And just last week, on Tuesday, we received a call from a missionary with another organization who had a team arriving this past Saturday, ready to do a full-blown VBS for approx 80 kids and would it be possible for them to do the VBS at the dump!?!?! Needless to say, we said YES!!! It turns out that the original site for their VBS had to be closed down due to an incidence of the swine flu (not that we're happy that that happened).

So this week, the kids are learning Bible stories, verses, new songs and having a great time doing crafts and games. They are even having some yummy snacks (frozen yogurt today! never thought of having that one!). All the kids told me that they were having a great time.

We are so grateful to this wonderful group of ladies from Texas who have come and shared with our kids at the dump. And I guess God does have a sense of humor - He waited until the last minute to answer my prayer (for those of you who really know me, you know that I tend to wait until the last minute on things I need to get done!).

2009-06-25T09:41:00.002-05:00

Life has settled into the summer routine. Many friends and co-workers have left for the US for their Home Ministry Assignments (HMA's) and we miss them, but this is typical during the summer around here.

And we're enjoying our two summer missionaries, Tyler and James, who are staying with us for the summer. We get to hear about their adventures - Tyler up at the hydroelectric plant in Papallacta and James in the Emergency Room at HCJB's hospital here in Quito! We enjoy hearing about the things they learn and experience on a daily basis. They recently spent a number of days in Shell, visiting HCJB's jungle hospital. A great experience for these college students.

The summer session of the Kids Club at the dump is well under way. We're doing a series on Daniel from the Old Testament. The kids are learning their Bible verses (very well actually) and learning more about how these stories can be practical in their lives. Next week we have a special team from Michigan who comes every year to do a special Kids Club. We look forward to seeing what they have for us. I was looking around at the kids yesterday in the Kids Club and wondering how much of an effect the Kids Club is actually having on their lives . . . . some of the older kids have been with us for years - they just keep coming back. I prayed that God would allow the Kids Club to make a difference in their lives in some way . . . . perhaps a way that we'll never know about . . . maybe keeping them off the street when they hit their teen years, or attending church regularly, or preventing them from turning to a life of stealing or doing drugs. We just never know, do we?!?!

Nathan is 18 months old today! Hard to believe. He seems to grow and learn new things daily. And is getting harder and harder to keep up with. He loves dogs and goes crazy when he sees them. He kisses the ultrasound photo of his new baby sister on the fridge and calls her "neña" (Ecuadorian for "sister"). He is very liberal in giving out hugs too. He's cutting four (yes, four) teeth right now . . . . does it ever end!? And he loves playing soccer (well, his form of it) with daddy!

Ruth is doing well - also growing daily it seems. Baby #2 is coming along nicely. Just a few more months to go - hopefully Ruth's energy and clothes will survive the next couple of months until baby is born! It's starting to become a challenge to find a comfortable sleeping position. Thankfully there is an end in sight (and then the real fun begins, right!?).

Santi is staying busy with work at HCJB. There seems to never be an end of projects that he is working on. He needs wisdom to prioritize and know what is most important to get done. So much of his work is technical support that helps those in the radio ministry to keep broadcasting. Please pray as we are so aware of God's word going out through radio and reaching many people that we probably will never know about until we get to heaven.

He's also now participating in the summer soccer/basketball tournaments that HCJB sponsors for all the various departments. He usually manages to get some sort of injury while playing, but so far he's been safe from injury - let's hope it stays that way!

Ruth is winding down her English class - just four more weeks to go. Pray that the students will keep working hard until the end and that Ruth will catch up with grading papers (a constant challenge for her as it's her least favorite part of the class!).

We thank everyone for their continued prayers and encouragement. We so enjoy hearing from you too - thanks for writing! You can also find us on Facebook. www.facebook.com/rutharteaga.

Blessings today!

Photo Updates . . .

2009-06-16T09:38:00.003-05:00

Here are some photos from some recent events!

Mother's Day at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the elderly). . . .
For more photos, please click here.

Last Kid's Club at the dump with the high schoolers . . .
To see more photos, please click here.

Recent photos of Nathan . . . please click here.

Sleeping . . .

2009-06-05T21:24:00.003-05:00

. . . I couldn't resist posting this one either . . . a boy after my own heart . . .he loves sleep almost as much as I do and makes sure that he's comfortable with all his favorite things around him!

It doesn't get much better than this . . .

2009-06-05T20:29:00.002-05:00

. . . little boy sleeping, Elmo and a puppy dog!

It's going to be a girl!!

2009-06-05T07:52:00.002-05:00

We had a 22 week ultrasound yesterday and were very excited to see baby #2. She's going to be a feisty one - didn't stop moving the whole time the doctor was doing the ultrasound! All is going very well from what the doctor could see. She's about 22 cm (9 inches or so) and weighs .456 kilos. Her movements have definitely picked up in the past week or so (or rather, mom is feeling them more and more). We thank everyone for their continued prayers as we wait 4 more months for this little one to arrive!

Where did May go?

2009-05-29T09:25:00.003-05:00

All of a sudden May is gone and the summer is upon us! We're looking forward to some great things this summer - including having two summer missionaries staying with us. James is a pre-med student from Northwestern College (MN) and he will be serving at HCJB Global's Hospital Vozandes. Tyler is an engineering student from Clemson University (SC) and he will be serving in EcoLuz, HCJB Global's Hydro-electric Department. We are excited to have them with us.

Nathan is growing a lot - it seems like all his pants are getting shorter quickly these days. Ruth is also growing with baby #2! And Santi is staying busy with projects at work (and at home - seems like the "honey-do" list never ends). But we have found time to go to the park and do some fun things as well.

Snow in Quito?

2009-05-04T20:25:00.005-05:00

We've been having some strange weather in Quito lately with 2 major rain storms over the weekend. But imagine my surprise to run into snow on the way home from HCJB this afternoon! It was definitely a unique scene when you are living at the equator - and if I didn't have photos to prove it, I might not even believe that there was so much snow on the ground! It was only a small section of the highway and apparently the weight of the snow took down a few power lines as well as a sign for the Case company at that section of the highway. It was interesting to say the least . . . . I just happened to have my camera with me and got a few photos of the snow.

Here are some more photos of the snow that we had on the north side of Quito today - these were in the El Comercio newspaper on-line. Click here to see the photos from El Comercio.

Training of Trainers . . . .

2009-05-02T10:04:00.004-05:00

One of Santi's main responsibilities at HCJB Global is to provide technical support for their radio staff here in Quito and around the world. And part of our radio ministry in Latin America includes radio training - a service to radio stations in various parts of Latin America, providing support in the areas of production and technology. . . a huge benefit for many of these small, struggling ministries with very few resources of their own.

Last week, Santi had the privilege of being involved in a seminar at HCJB called "Training of Trainers" - a time together with HCJB radio staff to work on becoming better trainers in the area of radio.

According to one of the facilitators of the seminar, Allen Graham, "We had a great group of coworkers from the production, technical and support sides of HCJB. There was great interaction by all the participants and many commented how they will also be able to use these principles in their church ministries as well as in HCJB training events."

Santi really enjoyed the time with his co-workers as they worked through training principles. Pray for Santi as he seeks better ways to help the radio staff through technical support and also for the radio training department as they go out to train others to do more Christian radio throughout Latin America!

Global Leadership Summit

2009-04-28T10:00:00.002-05:00

One of the organizations here in Quito, Leader Mundial, puts together a Global Leadership Summit here in Quito each year.

This year, 36 leaders, partners and coaches are gathering here in Quito, Ecuador for their 3rd Annual Leadership Summit. The Community is made up of 3 kinds of people:

*Leaders: These are strategically placed leaders around the world that lead or manage organizations that are impacting their city, country and region for the Kingdom.

*Partners: These are people that come alongside these leaders, providing the financial resources for the leaders to participate, as well as coming to share their life, experience and passion.

*Coaches: These are people that simply help the leaders & partners to process, to grow, to apply the things they learn and to become more effective leaders.

The 4-day event consists of training, networking, building community & relationships, seeing a little of Ecuador and being challenged in our personal and organizational leadership.

The Summit is happening this week and we are so excited to have many of our Extreme Response partners here for the Summit. Some of the participants include:

Joshua Benavides from Youth Mobilization in the Philippines. Jonhattan Constante from Ambato, Ecuador. Dan Maloy from the Extreme Response office in Quito. Rich Brown from Inca Link (Ecuador and Peru). Pierre Roux from ATAIM in South Africa. And Patrick Crowster from Woodstock Baptist Church also in South Africa. There are others participating as well.

And what a privilege for us to have all these people here in one place as they learn and grow together. And so many people who represent sacrifice in ministry. I think of Pierre who is an Army Chaplain in the South Africa Army, and he also runs a ministry there called ATAIM, using short-term teams to impact projects and partners who work with people in very needy situations (think of dump communities or AIDS orphans, etc.).

And then there's Claudia and Patrick Crowster . . . . who both gave up well-paying jobs to pastor an inner city church among drug lords and thieves to make an impact in that community - which they are doing so very well through the church and an education program. I will have the privilege of translating for Claudia on Thursday as she shares her testimony with the women who dig through the garbage at the Quito City Dump - please pray for us that it would be a time of ministry to these women and that God would give us the words to say.

I could keep going as the list and information is great, but I think you get the idea. And what a blessing to have partners who come from the US, providing the funds for this event as well as sharing their personal experience. Anyways, if you want to read more, please visit the Leader Mundial site by clicking HERE. And you'll see some faces that you can pray for (visit their blog as they post info from this week's activities).

More fun news!

2009-04-22T09:31:00.002-05:00

Santi and I are happy to announce that we are expecting Baby Arteaga #2!!! We are excited and thrilled and are looking forward to his/her arrival day sometime around October 1. Nathan doesn't have a clue yet, but we're reminding him daily that he's soon going to have a little sibling. We're sure he'll catch on shortly after the baby is born!

So far, everything has gone well with the pregnancy (with none of the issues that Ruth had early on with Nathan) . . . . only lots of tiredness and morning sickness! Please pray for us in the next five months as we prepare for a new little one in our home and that the baby would be born healthy. We are grateful to God for this gift!

Easter Fun

2009-04-17T09:14:00.004-05:00

Easter is a bit different here in Ecuador - mostly because we don't have the newness and fun-time of spring and all the "new life" that brings (thinking of the North American ideas of Easter bunny, Easter eggs, and all that cute stuff).

It's always interesting to explain all the North American "stuff" to my English class when Easter comes around - why the Easter bunny, coloring eggs, cute little baby animals, etc. Ecuador doesn't have four distinct seasons, so the concept of Spring is a rather new and unknown idea for my students - the flowers blooming (flowers bloom all year round here), grass turning green again (grass is always green here), trees budding out (trees never lose their leaves and bud again here), a new growing season (things grow year round here) . . . .

But the cool thing is that as we talk about this symbols of Spring and Easter in my class, we are reminded once again of the New Life we have in Christ - the true meaning of the celebration of Easter!

And in speaking of New Life - it was a joy on Easter Sunday to see three of the elderly residents at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly) raise their hands to receive Christ as their Saviour! Santi decided to include an opportunity for salvation at the end of his message and 2 new ladies raised their hand to say a prayer of salvation along with another man, Luis Alfonso, who has been there for a while! Needless to say, this was a joyful time for all us! I don't have photos of the two new ladies, but here's a photo of Luis Alfonso.

Please pray for these three people as we help them to grow in their relationship with Christ!

And at home, we also started a tradition of coloring Easter eggs, with some guests we had for lunch! It seems that the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids! This was the first time that Santi had colored Easter eggs (this is definitely a north american tradition) and Nathan really wasn't quite sure what to do with the eggs. We had fun!

A typical Ecuadorian tradition during "Semana Santa" (or Holy Week) is to eat Fanesca. This is a special soup/chowder made with a number of ingredients, including 12 grains (to represent the 12 disciples of Jesus). It also has potatoes and pumpkin in it. Often it is garnished with boiled eggs, a sprig of parsley and some plantain chips. Some people like to put salted cod in it as well (due to the concept of not eating red meat the week before Easter). Anyways - everyone has their own recipe and the taste can vary in different parts of the country. We had the priviledge of being invited to some Ecuadorian friends' home for a "fanesca meal" on Palm Sunday - it was delicious (although I can usually only eat about one portion as it's very filling with all those grains and stuff in it!). Here's a photo of our bowl of fanesca!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday with friends and family and are enjoying springtime. . . . all the flowers popping out and green grass and hopefully warmer temperatures! If you'd like to see more of our Easter photos, please click HERE.

First Kiss!

2009-04-06T08:06:00.002-05:00

So at 15 months, Nathan had his first kiss! We were at the home of some Ecuadorian friends yesterday to enjoy some fanesca (more about that later) and they have a little girl, Nicole, who is 3 months older than Nathan! Well . . . . let's just say they had a fun time playing together (as you can see from the photos!).

Nathan is a growing 15 month old - his 1st year molars are almost all the way in and he's walking, talking, jabbering, and learning new things every day - he keeps mom and dad pretty busy most of the time! If you want to see some more photos from this year, click HERE.

What would you like to be?

2009-03-12T10:10:00.001-05:00

check out this latest video from HCJB Global. We are so grateful to all of you who are a part of our support team . . . you are being the Voice and Hands of Jesus in a global way. Your partnership with us is vital! THANK YOU!!!

Yes, Santi is home again!!!!

2009-03-11T09:31:00.004-05:00

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!

Pray for Santi as he travels . . .

2009-02-09T20:05:00.002-06:00

We appreciate your prayers as Santi leaves tomorrow (Feb 10) to travel to Australia with his co-worker, Brent. They go first to Melbourne, Australia to visit HCJB's World Office there. We are very aware of the fires they have had and the danger and destruction. We are praying that God will provide safety for Brent and Santi and the other HCJB staff members who are in Melbourne.

Then Brent and Santi head to the Sun Coast of Australia, landing in Brisbane. This is where the week-long summit, hosted by CVC Network (a Christian media organization), will be held. They will be trained on a special software developed by CVC, which helps radio stations such as HCJB to more effectively provide listener follow-up. The cool thing is that the software is being given to HCJB free of charge by CVC; however, they required that Santi and Brent attend the training.

They are looking forward to implementing the software upon their return to Ecuador.

We thank you for your prayers while they travel and spend time in intensive training. Pray also for the HCJB staff in Melbourne during this difficult time.

We so appreciate your prayers and encouragement to us - it means a lot!

Finally a February Update!

2009-02-02T08:56:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I have posted anything. I'm not sure where the month of January went to, but it's now gone! I think we spent most of the month recovering from the busy holidays! But we seem to be on track again now.

Some highlights for you:
1) Nathan is now a walking 13 month old! He prefers walking over crawling and is doing a great job with it.

2) Ruth is staying busy with Nathan (even more so now), the Kids Club at the dump on Wednesday afternoon, and teaching English on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also works on various projects for Extreme Response from home. One of her main projects in January was gathering 2008 Ministry Reports from ER's partners from around the world. These reports were compiled and given to the ER board that just met in Atlanta. What a blessing to be a part of how God is working in lives around the world! There aren't words to explain it.

3) Santi has been working diligently in the Information Systems Department at HCJB. It seems like there is never an end to the projects that he has. Thankfully, he enjoys computers and working with people, so it's a great combination for him.

4) Santi is still taking the trip to Australia with his co-worker Brent Weeks, this month (Feb. 10 - 22). Please pray as they prepare. They were able to work their ticket to include a vital visit to HCJB's radio station/office in Melbourne. Santi will have a chance to meet many of the people that he works with via "email" - he helps to manage the FTP site which sends many Christian programs around the world via satellite. It will be great for Santi to make these connections and have a better idea of how things work there in the Australian office.

Then they will travel to Brisbane for the week-long summit on the new software that they will be implementing for HCJB Radio. . . . a software that will help with listener follow-up and hopefully, ultimately bring more people to Christ.

5) Finances for the trip - several people have asked about the finances for the trip and if all of them have come in. Funds are still needed for the trip. Both men have committed to raising the funds needed for the trip since HCJB (like many organizations right now) is without budget funds for this trip (due to a shortage of donations). I usually don't like to use this blog to raise funds, but since so many have asked about this, I've decided to include this information.

If you're interested in helping with the funding for the trip ($3,000 still needed), please send your donation to:
HCJB Global - Receipting
1065 Garden of the Gods Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

Make checks payable to: HCJB Global. Please note that it is for ACCOUNT #371810 (for the RDS Summit). If you'd like more information about this, please let us know.

We thank you for your prayers and continued encouragement to us as a family! Without you all, it would be difficult for us to continue here, ministering with HCJB Global and Extreme Response International!

I will post more information and photos soon!
Blessings!

And look at what he's doing now!

2009-01-08T08:47:00.005-06:00

And here is one more video just for fun!

Nathan's first artwork

2009-01-08T08:42:00.002-06:00

I couldn't resist posting some of Nathan's artwork from the little day care that he goes to a few hours a week. I think he had some help with it though!

Nathan turned 1 on December 25!

2009-01-08T08:26:00.005-06:00

I'm way behind on posting on our blog. Probably the highlight of our holidays was celebrating Nathan's first birthday. Yep - he turned one on December 25th! We had at our celebration at home the night of the 24th and then had another cake and candle at the Kooistra home (missionary friends of our here in Quito) on the 25th.

We almost got him to blow out his candle (rather than grab for it!). Maybe by next year, he will perfect the art of blowing out the candles!

For a trip down memory lane, I've included a photo from when he was born (see below). We praise God for giving us a healthy growing boy in what could have been a very different situation. Thank you for praying for us during this first year! We are so grateful for so many friends and family who stood behind us at the beginning of 2008, while we went down that rocky road of wondering if our baby boy was going to be okay. God has a plan for Nathan and we're so glad that we're a part of it.

If you'd like to see more birthday photos, please click he re.

Merry Christmas Everyone . . .

2008-12-24T09:30:00.003-06:00

We hope that you enjoy the holiday with family and friends! There is nothing like celebrating God's love to us - in sending His Son to be our Savior! May your days be filled with love, laughter and thankfulness.

The Christmas Parties December 3 - 7, 2008

2008-12-16T08:16:00.003-06:00

I haven't had time to post more photos from our five days of Christmas parties the first week of December. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this video of the parties - you'll see lots of our volunteers who came from the US and Canada to help us out! We are so grateful to them and it was a wonderful week - the best way to start out the holiday season! Enjoy! If you prefer to watch the video on YouTube, click here.

Misión Compartida - Shared Mission

2008-12-15T08:59:00.003-06:00

During this holiday season, gifts and presents are often on our mind, as well as remembering, that most wonderful gift of all - the born of Jesus here on earth! And sometimes, it's good to remember the unusual gifts as well.

This past Thursday through Saturday, HCJB Global's FM radio station here in Quito (and the one on the coast in Guayaquil) celebrated "Mision Compartida" (Shared Mission). The idea of these three days is to to strengthen the relationship between our radio ministry with their listeners and to raise funds for the coming year's budget in order to keep our FM station on the air.

As we ask our listeners to donate to the radio ministry, we often get very unusual gifts. Nathan and I passed by the HCJB compound several times to visit daddy (who was providing technical support to the radio staff as they received donations from the 100's of visitors who came that day. And we noticed a number of unusual gifts by the donors (gifts that are received and then sold again to raise additional funds). The gifts included several chickens, three guinea pigs (which is a delicacy here in Ecuador - they aren't pets here! sorry! they went for $3.00 each), 500 baby chickens - sold at 20 cents each - we thought about buying a couple for Nathan as he seemed to love them, but he just about killed one by grabbing it by the head and throat so we decided to wait until he's a bit older! Oh and then there were strawberries! I was pleasantly surprised Saturday evening when Santi came home with a bunch of export-quality strawberries for us! YUM!

Anyways - Misión Compartida (Shared Mission) is a wonderful time when our radio staff (Santi included) is encouraged by the response from our listeners - a chance to hear about how God uses radio to work in their lives and an opportunity to see God work as funds are raised to keep FM on the air. Last I heard, approximately $140,000 was raised over the three days! What a blessing to see our listeners giving sacrificially to keep Christian radio going in Quito.

Live radio programming going on during the 3-day event. . . .

Receiving donations from a listener who came to visit the station

The tent for children - facepainting, music and games! This was a hit!

The tent where items brought in by the donors were sold to raise additional funds

The Quichua tent where more items were brought in by the indigenous community to be sold.

First Hair Cut

2008-12-13T06:35:00.003-06:00

Nathan's hair was hanging in his eyes so it was time . . . . time to bite the bullet and take him in for his first hair cut. And he did surprisingly well! It helped that he was sitting in a cool car!

Christmas at the Hogar

2008-12-06T09:09:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday we went out with about 45 of the team members from the US and Canada to celebrate Christmas at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the elderly). . . . what a special afternoon that was. . . .

Lots of games, coloring, crafts, nail painting, and even tattoes (the ladies loved the tattoes of the butterflies!). And we can't forget the photo with Santa!

And then we provided an extra special meal for them of chicken, rice and a salad. They gobbled it up! And ended with a Christmas cake for dessert.

I think my favorite time was when the group sang Christmas carols to the elderly as they were enjoying their Christmas meal . . . . it felt like all of heaven's angels were right there in the room with us! In spite of all the sad things - the elderly who can't care for themselves, no family members to be found, typical nursing home smells, - there was joy as we watched the residents enjoy their chicken and listen to the caroling . . . . what a blessing!

To enjoy some photos from this event, please click here . . . .

Christmas Parties!

2008-11-30T07:44:00.002-06:00

It's been a busy few days - between Thanksgiving and birthday celebrations and guests arriving from the states, we haven't have much time to write anything on our blog!

And we're getting ready for the Annual Extreme Response Christmas party events here in Ecuador! Seventy-five people are arriving from the US to help us with five days of parties in various communities! We are so excited to see what God will do during these days.

As you probably already know, Extreme Response hosts Christmas parties for a number of our partners and projects around the world. These parties are thrown for poor people who have never had the opportunity to just enjoy a day away from the difficult lives that they live. Children receive gifts, adults receive basic food items to take home and everyone has a chance to play some games, do crafts and enjoy a snack or meal prepared for them.

Many have never heard the reason why Christmas is celebrated nor have they had the opportunity to hear about Jesus coming as a baby to bring us salvation. These parties open the door to share the Gospel! Extreme Response and teams from the US, working alongside our partners, will host parties in Ecuador, South Africa, Ivory Coast, The Philippines, Nepal and India.

In Ecuador, from December 3 to December 7, we will host parties in eight different locations. Pray for the ER staff as there are many details to take care of and pray for the team of 75 coming to help us out this year! These parties could not happen without the willing team members who come to help and who also bring POUNDS of supplies, games, toys, and gifts for these parties!

May this be a wonderful time to ring in the season of celebrating Christ's birth!

There is hope for every man . . . .

2008-11-20T12:51:00.003-06:00

. . . the start of the chorus of a song by the Christian group, Casting Crowns ("Every Man"). As I was listening to it in the car on the way home from the dump yesterday tears were just streaming down my face. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to walk away from the Wednesday afternoon activities at the dump an unchanged person. . . . God is just doing way too much out there!

I'm thinking mostly of Ivan Chango . . . a man who was once broken and bound by the chains of alcoholism, a man who was often in a drunken stupor at the dump, a man who ran the "mafia" of dump miners (those who dig through the garbage to find anything valuable), a man who beat his kids and wife.

But as the song says:

There is hope for every man
a solid place where we can stand
in this dry and weary land
There is hope for every man
There is Love that never dies
There is peace in troubled times
Will we help them understand?
Jesus is hope for every man

I couldn't help but think about the only thing that made a difference in Ivan's life - JESUS! Let me explain. . .

Two weeks ago I was standing outside the door to the Day Care Center watching the kids come in for the Kids Club and a man came up to me - I barely recognized him as he was all clean shaven, dressed nicely and had a smile on his face! Could this be the Ivan Chango that I used to know - the one who was always unbathed, drunk and unable to say a decent word?

But then I remembered that his nephew, Mateo, used to come to the Kids Club, along with his sister, Margarita. So I asked him about Mateo and Margarita. And that got a great conversation started - one that changed my life and gave me hope once again that yes, these needy people at the dump can change - only through the power of God's Word.

Ivan said - "Do you want to see the great gift that Pastor Jose (our director of dump ministries) gave me?" Of course, I said yes. Very proudly, he pulled off his backpack, unzipped it and pulled out the only thing inside - a large print, black Bible! He quickly started showing me the various passages that he had been reading - all of Exodus 20 was highlighted and marked up. He had several passages in John highlighted as well. He said that he just "can't get enough of God's Word!" That knowing Jesus has changed his life completely! And that Fridays are his favorite day now as he and 24 other members of his family have a Bible study out at the dump with Pastor Jose and his wife Teresa and that God's Word is changing his family too!

With tears in my eyes, I asked him if I could take a picture of him with his Bible. He said sure, but that he wanted his wife María to be there too - so he called her over. Here are the photos taken that day - 2 weeks ago when all doubt was erased from my mind that God and His Word can make a difference on someone's life . . . if you're doubting today - maybe you don't have hope for tomorrow, maybe things just aren't going your way, maybe sin has a hold on you. Remember that there is a man named Ivan at the garbage dump in Quito who was in the depths of filth and sin, more than any of us could imagine, but God pulled him out through many years of faithful ministry to these people and showed him that yes, "There is hope for every man. . . ."

Pray for the Bible study going on each Friday with Ivan and his family. Jose has explained to me that many of them don't know how to read so we're trying to find CD's with scripture on them so that they can hear the Word. Another neat connection with this is that Vicki, a fellow adult sponsor for the Kids Club has a special ministry where she teaches church leaders like Pastor Jose to teach the Bible to people who can't read - a special method that works well. So we're trying to connect Vicki and Jose and some others to work on this. And Vicki has Bible stories on CD as well that she's going to help us with! What a blessing that God already had Vicki in place as one of our adult sponsors so that she could be here to help with this project. We are truly blessed.

Thursday Evening Outreach at the DUMP!

2008-11-13T22:51:00.002-06:00

Tonight I got to leave Nathan home with a baby sitter and head out to the dump to help with the Thursday Night Outreach for the workers who dig through the garbage every night. . . .all night long.

It was a great experience. I drove to the dump and met Jose and his wife, Teresa there . . . .along with their kids. Jose and Teresa are Extreme Response's directors of the dump ministries. Mike Bishop and Dan Maloy (Extreme Response staffers) came too - loaded down with the supplies needed to make hot chocolate and ham & cheese sandwiches.

We had a great time in the kitchen at the Day Care, heating up the hot chocolate and putting together the sandwiches. . . . a good time to work and fellowship together!

We then headed out to a large shed/maintenance building there at the dump and set up our goods, waiting for the workers to come up for their break. . . . and they were so excited to get a hot cup of chocolate (it's really chilly tonight) and a sandwich. We enjoyed meeting them and having a chance to share with them.

Some weeks, Jose has shared the Gospel with them and talked to them about knowing Christ as their personal Savior - several times people have made professions of faith.

Pray for this on-going ministry . . . we keep seeking ways to show Jesus' love to these needy people (not just physically, but spiritually!). We try to do the Evening Outreach every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month. We currently don't have funds to do this outreach (we have all been pitching in to make it possible) . . . if you'd like to become involved with this outreach, please let me know.

You can see more photos by clicking HERE.

Wednesday Afternoons . . . .

2008-11-12T09:41:00.004-06:00

. . . . are getting crazy! We can hardly believe how much the Kids Club at the Quito dump has grown and developed and there is so much exciting news to share! Every week, I come back from Kids Club so excited about what God is doing and I intend to do a post here and then I seem to get distracted by daily life - so here we go!

Last Weds as I watched everything going on around me, I prayed in thanksgiving and awe to God for such an incredible journey . . . . what started out as a simple little kids club for children who lived near the dump several years ago has now turned into a full-grown ministry, involving so many people - youth, other missionaries, Ecuadorians, etc. God is working in lives and you are all a part of this through your prayers, encouragement and giving!

Here's a synopsis. First, we have the Kids Club . . . this is mostly run by a group of 18 high schoolers from Alliance Academy - this year we have Koreans, Ecuadorians and North Americans in our group. We also have a staff of adult sponsors - all respresenting four different mission organizations. We typically have 40 - 50 children come to the Kids Club. . . .they include children from the neighborhood as well as the children in the Extreme Response Day Care Center at the dump.

We have noticed in approvement in everyone's attitude as we have changed locations this year to the Day Care Center at the dump - we have electricity, bathrooms and a clean place to hold the Kids Club (compared to the run-down shack we have been using for several years).

Then we have the MOM'S CLUB! This was started last year, but only ran sporadically. This year, it's a weekly thing! And it's GROWING! Last week we had 12 people sitting around the one table (time for another table). We have three high school girls who do the preparation and presentation each week - we are very proud of them. The music group (again, high schoolers) comes in and shares worship music. There's a time for prayer and prayer requests. Moms are inviting their friends and relatives. It's growing and lives are being changed! We are amazed.

Then we have a SIGN LANGUAGE class. This was recently started because of a handsome little boy by the name of Jeramy - he and his sister attend Extreme Response's day care center. He is deaf, but that doesn't seem to stop him at all! He's smart and intelligent and keeps us all on our toes. One of our adult leaders mentioned that there is a missionary in her mission who knows sign language and maybe it would be good for her to come and communicate with Jeramy. Well, she did come and before we knew it, she was doing a Sign Language class with Jeramy's mom and dad. What an incredible opportunity to reach this family!

Soon we may start a DAD'S CLUB! You'll notice in the photo above of the mom's club that there is one dad sitting there - the men have shown interest in what is going on at the Day Care Center on Wednesday afternoon. . . .pray with us about this possibility! We're starting to run out of room . . . . but God is working in hearts and lives.

We covet your prayers on Wednesday afternoons . . . there is so much need, opportunity and ministry available to us that we need the eyes, ears and hands of Jesus to reach out to this community of dump workers and their families.

PRAY FOR US ON WEDNESDAY!

Meeting Fatima

2008-10-29T09:35:00.003-05:00

Thank you for praying for my friendship with Fatima, the girl whose little boy died of complications from CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) in early September. She promised she would call me the next time she came to Quito and so I wasn't surprised to get her phone call this past Saturday! She was on her way to Quito from her home-town of Ambato (about 2 hours south of here).

So we made plans to meet for cafecito and a chance to chat. I packed up Nathan into the car, with lots of questions in my mind and wondering how I was going to reach out to this young girl who had already learned so many life lessons . . . . well, God had already paved the way and it turned out that we had no problems talking and chatted away like old friends.

She had lots of questions about our experience with Nathan and we talked about how important it is to have God in our lives - through both the good times and the bad. She's back to work now and trying to put her life back together after her loss. . . . and with much optism and enthusiasm, she's looking forward. She still has difficult days and thinks often of little Mattias - who only lived for 4 days (I erroneously mentioned 11 days in my last post about Fatima). But she realizes that raising Mattias by herself would have been a difficult job and that Mattias is now in a better place.

We said our goodbyes with promises to stay in touch and invitations to each others homes. I am excited to see what God will do with this new relationship - it's an amazing world as God brings people into our lives unexpectedly. I pray that I will make the best of this opportunity and point the way to Him through my actions and words. Thank you for praying for this meeting! And continue to pray for Fatima - she is seeking and looking . . . .

Update on my mom . . .

2008-10-24T20:27:00.002-05:00

. . . thank you for your continued prayers for my mom. I talked to my parents this evening and she is DOING BETTER! Isn't that great news?!?!? She has a ways to go, but she has gone a couple of days without any back pain at all - which is a huge step. She met her physical therapist today and will be starting sessions on Monday. Pray that the sessions will help her back. It appears that her anxiety and fears are lessening as well - a result of prayer! Thank you!

Nathan is growing up!

2008-10-23T10:17:00.004-05:00

Nathan will be 10 months old on Saturday! It seems like he's changing daily. His favorite activities are going up and down the stairs (does it quite well, I might add) and growling like a lion and eating Cheerios. He also loves to be tickled by his dad and lights up whenever he enters a room full of people - he is extremely social! He also absolutely loves bath time. He crawls, climbs, pulls himself up, almost stands by himself and is cruising along furniture like crazy.

He has figured out how every door and cupboard works in our house and is fascinated by anything that blinks, has a light or is shiny. We have to hide cameras, remote controls and cell phones from him. He has eaten dirt and tried to eat a June bug (or something similar here - kind of looks like a small beetle). He also manages to keep the kitchen floor pretty clean of any crumbs that have fallen.

He has four teeth now (two bottom, two top), with two more popping through (the two next to his top front teeth) and an additional two right behind those ones (the "I" teeth - the ones that everyone tells me are the worse - I'm praying that everyone is wrong!).

If you want to see more photos click here!

Thank you for praying . . .

2008-10-21T20:15:00.002-05:00

I talked to my parents this afternoon and they had received the results of the MRI on my mom's back. We are grateful that the results were good and that there is no problem. The doctor did recommend that mom start some physical therapy for her back to help strengthen it and to help with the pain. So dad is working on getting her in to a physical therapist close to where they live. We are so happy that nothing showed up on her back. However, she is still being bothered by pain. We are hoping that the physical therapy will help with this. And please continue to pray that the anxiety meds that she is on will finally kick in and help her with the fear and anxiety she is still experiencing. We know that God can work a miracle in her life and that she can be better soon.

We thank you for your notes of encouragement.
Blessings!

Continue to Pray

2008-10-18T17:21:00.003-05:00

Here is a photo of Nathan with my mom when we visited them in September. Her cane turned out to be a good teething tool for Nathan! Smiles!

Thanks everyone for your kind notes and emails about my mom. I forgot to mention that her name is Eula and she's 81 years old. It is hard to be away right now, not being able to help much. But praying is the best we can do in any situation!

SO . . . thanks for your continued prayers. Please pray for peace and freedom from the fear and anxiety. She's also having a tremendous amount of pain in her back. The MRI went well yesterday, but we won't know results for a week or so.

They'd still like to travel to FL on Nov. 15. We pray that it will be possible

Thanks again and blessings.

Prayer request for my mom

2008-10-16T21:11:00.002-05:00

Many of you know my mom and probably would like to pray for her (and for those who don't know her, we'd love to have you uphold her in prayer too). She is suffering from severe anxiety and fear at this time. It's very difficult for both her and my dad as he having to do most everything around the house, plus take care of her (this has been going on for a few weeks now). She started some new medication for the anxiety about 2 weeks ago and we're still waiting for it to kick in.

She is also experiencing a great deal of back pain - we think it is related to the nerve issues; however, tomorrow she will be having an MRI done to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with her back.

She was crying on the phone this afternoon as she so badly wants to travel to FL again this year to spend winter there, but under her current circumstances, it would be very difficult for her to travel. They do have plans for November 15. Please pray for healing and rest and relief from the anxiety and fear. And for strength for my dad.

And I do want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Aunt Elva (mom's sister) who turns 91 tomorrow!

Fatima and other items . . .

2008-10-14T09:32:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone - I know that I have been really terrible at posting. Is the fact that I have a very active 9 month old (almost 10 months) baby boy running around a good enough excuse? It seems like there's never a quiet moment when I can get some desk work done! And therefore, my lack of taking time to post on our blog.

But it's been great to hear from so many of you and to know that you're still there praying for us!

I do want to mention that Santi passed his oral exam for his English class last (and thus passed the 5th level). Congratulations, honey! The classes are increasingly getting harder. I seriously am not sure that I have ever even thought about some of the grammar stuff that he's having to learn and I actually like English grammar (yea, I know I'm weird). His oral exam last night was to talk for five minutes about the importance of recycling. Thankfully we found an article on the internet that was just perfect for it! And he passed with flying colors! So we were excited last night. He has a break for about a week and will then start Level 6! I hope I still know enough English grammar to be able to help him out. And we do need to be speaking more English at home so that he can put into practice all that he is learning.

Many of you have asked about Fatima. The girl who called me out of the blue a couple of months ago because she was pregnant with a baby who would be born with the same CDH complications that Nathan was born with. Our pediatrician connected her to me. Her baby was born the day we left for the states, so I didn't have an opportunity to be there with her. I finally called her last week to see how things were going.

I was very sad to learn that her little boy, Mattias, passed away in the NICU at Metropolitano about 10 days after he was born. They did do the same surgery on him that they did on Nathan - but when they opened him up they found many more complications - including his stomach and liver being up in his lung cavity along with a tumor on his kidney. He just wasn't strong enough to make it through the surgery and recover.

We both cried tears of sadness as we talked on the phone. And a rush of emotions came over me - both for Fatima and her little boy that she only got to know a very short time and also for my family - knowing that Nathan's life could be so different than it is now. I often am weary trying to keep up with him (I kid you not, he is extremely active and never stops moving when he's awake - he also moves in his sleep!). But I'm also grateful for his activity knowing that things could be so much different for him. God has truly brought Nathan's life to be for a reason and we pray every day that we would be faithful in bringing Nathan up to know God's purpose for his life and to live his life to the fullest!

I also was reminded of our time in the NICU just a short time ago - when Nathan was so little and helpless and how God and the prayers of His people sustained us. And Santi and I had each other. I so felt for Fatima, knowing that she was basically on her own during all this time.

She is now back at her home in Ambato and was starting back at her work in an office for a agricultural company (they grow roses - probably the very same ones that are exported to the US). She will be coming to Quito in the next couple of weeks and she promised that she would call me so that we could finally meet and get together for a cup of coffee. She is also anxious to meet our little "gordito" as she calls Nathan. Please pray for this meeting - I'm a little nervous about it as my emotions are still raw and also knowing what to say to her - here I am with my little boy all healed from his birth defects while she's still grieving for the loss of hers. I'm asking God to give me wisdom and just the words to say. Please pray with me on this.

Galo and Marianita and María

2008-10-05T09:35:00.003-05:00

I have started posting entries about the various residents that we have come to know at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly). My last post introduced you to Samuel and Hugo.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to three more residents: Galo, Marianita and María

GALO: Galo was born in Quito and has lived in Quito all his life. He worked for the Municipal of Quito for 32 years before retiring. He worked as a machine operator. He has lived at the Hogar for 5 years. He never married, but does have some sisters. They only come to visit him once a month when they come to pay his pension at the Hogar. His left side is paralyzed due to a bout of thrombosis. Galo is a quiet man who keeps to himself. He's also very kind and sweet.

MARIANITA: Marianita has only been at the Hogar for one year. We love her smile and her great attitude and she's always a good participant in the services on Sunday. She is only 59 years old, but you would never be able to tell that by her very crippled body which she is hardly able to move. When Marianita was 41 years old, she came down with rheumatoid arthritis that completely cripped her body. Her spirit and mind is bright though and it is a delight to talk with her. She has two daughters and a total of 8 grandchildren. Her husband passed away many years ago.
MARÍA: María is a Quichua (indigenous indian) lady who came to the Hogar a couple of years ago. We don't know much about her, other than she is always crying and begging us to take her back to her home in Quinche (apparently the town where she lived). She is sometimes hard to understand, probably because she most likely talks in Quichua (her native language). She gets around with a walker and mostly spends time by herself. From what we can see, she hasn't made any friends at the Hogar.

And finally I couldn't resist including this photo of Nathan with our good missionary friend, Helen Broach Swanson. She has lived in Ecuador for a very long time and often comes and helps us at the Hogar on Sunday. We love and appreciate Helen. She's a dear!

Prayer Requests for this week

2008-09-25T09:44:00.002-05:00

1) pray for Santi as he will be attending a "Spiritual Retreat" day on Friday with other HCJB Global staff - missionaries and nationals. Pray that it will be a good time of spiritual refreshment for all attending.

2) Pray for Ruth as she will be going to the annual Extreme Response CSO retreat with our new group of high school students. We have an enthusiastic group of 18 students this year who will be organizing and doing the Kids Club out at the dump on Wednesdays. Pray for this retreat this Friday and Saturday - that we would enjoy getting to know one another and also have some good time of team-building and training. (and pray for Santi who will be staying home with Nathan!)

3) Pray for Santi as he has to travel to Tulcan (his home town about 4 hours from Quito) on Sunday in order to vote - this Sunday is the national vote on the new constitution that has been written by the new President of Ecuador, Correa (and a bunch of assembly members). Santi needs safety in travel and pray for the voting on Sunday - the new constitution is very socialistic in nature and brings concerns to many of us.

4) Pray for the service on Sunday at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly). Ruth & Nathan will be going without Santi. Our friends Mike & Carol are back from several weeks in the states and our other friend Helen Broach-Swanson will be there with us.

5) Pray for the new English class that Ruth will be teaching next week. Placement tests will be done on Monday and class will start on Weds.

It's been hectic!

2008-09-25T09:31:00.003-05:00

The last few weeks have brought a couple of surprises our way and hence the lack of posts on our blog this month! We apologize for the "silence" - so many of you take the time to read our blog and pray for us and we are grateful for your interest and prayers.

The first surprise is that we MOVED! We moved to another house on September 3. We found out we were moving mid-August so we didn't have much time to pack things up by September 3. We made an offer on the house of our very good friends, Jerry & Dawn Carnill and they accepted our offer!

Due to a complicated renter situation, they asked us if we would move in the 1st of September rather than in January as originally planned. So we hurried up and packed up our things and moved! We had tons of help from many friends here and all things considered, the move went smoothly.

We have always loved Jerry & Dawn's house and we are enjoying settling into more space and a wonderful big yard (waiting for Nathan to get big enough to go outside and play). Please pray that our other house will sell quickly so that we can pay the Carnill's as planned. As I mentioned, we expected to have until January to do all these things - sell our house, pack our things and move. But God had other plans and here we are now in the "Carnill house" (it will still be the "Carnill house" for a while!).

The second big surprise of the month is that on Sept 6 (yes, just three days after our move) we traveled to the US to finally present Nathan to family and friends! This was a last minute trip that was made possible by some special donations. We are so grateful for this opportunity to be able to have Nathan meet his "gringo" family.

We apologize that we were not able to get in touch with everyone, nor travel as much as we normally would. Understandably, it's quite different traveling with a 8 month old and trying to get him to take naps and eat like he should while meeting people and staying in new places. So we had to keep the travels/visits to a minimum. Hopefully on our next trip we will be able to get in touch with more of you!

Santi had to return to Quito on Sept 14 due to work and the class he's taking. Ruth bravely stayed in the states a week longer and just returned with Nathan this week! She probably won't be trying the long travel day by herself with Nathan again! And she gained a new appreciation for Santi and all that he does to help with Nathan!

So we are now back in Quito - trying to find time to settle into our new home and get back into work and ministry. We apologize for the lack of posts - but we're back on track now! And you'll be hearing more from us and seeing some photos from this month!

Thanks for praying for us!

Hugo Alberto and Samuel

2008-08-31T21:33:00.003-05:00

We'd like to introduce you to some of the residents at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly). All of the residents have such incredible stories and so much to share. Whenever we ask them about themselves, it seems like they want to talk forever. It is probably because they hardly ever have any one spend time just talking with them and they are so glad when someone takes an interest in them.

HUGO ALBERTO
Dr. Hugo Alberto was born in 1926. He just turned 88 years old on August 10 (which happens to be a national holiday here in Ecuador, so it's difficult to forget his birthday). He graduated from dental school in 1956 and spent over 26 years working in the Ecuadorian Air Force as a dentist. A year ago, he was baptized (there on the home's property) as a profession of his faith in Jesus and says that he's ready to go to heaven. Santi and he have become good buddies and he's always asking if Santi can help him walk in and out of the meeting room where we hold our services (he uses a walker/wheelchair combination most of the time). He has a brother who is still living but rarely comes to visit him.

SAMUEL

And Samuel is also a special person at the Hogar. We tried to ask various things about himself, but about the only thing he wanted to share with us is that he has been at the Hogar Betania from the time it was founded - the Hogar recently celebrated it's 25th anniversary so Samuel has been there for a long time . . . we aren't quite sure why he has been there so long nor what all his difficulties are, but we do know that he comes to the service very faithfully every Sunday and usually has a hug and a smile for all of us! He also arrives all dressed up in a suit and tie.

Today, Ennie and Tommy helped us out with both the music and preaching - it has been great to have their help over the summer months! THANK YOU, TOMMY & ENNIE!

Cruisin' Nathan

2008-08-30T10:01:00.004-05:00

Nathan has reached the "cruising stage" - it wasn't enough for him to be crawling . . . he's now standing up, pulling himself up on things, trying to walk and basically getting into everything. He's also managed to climb up the stairs a couple of times! His new favorite thing is to stand up in his crib. . . which can be a bit distracting during nap time. He loves bath time too.

He had his 8 month checkup yesterday with Dr. Fernando - his doctors continue to be amazed at his progress - he is above average on the growth chart - weighing in at 19 lbs. 8 oz. And he's now 72 cm tall. The doctors can no longer hear the heart murmur that he had - so they are pretty sure that the small hole he had in his heart has now closed up and they are no longer concerned about his left lung. We continue to be very grateful for all the blessings that God has given us and for the miracle that God worked in Nathan's life and for so many of you who prayed and are praying for Nathan.

Here are a few photos of Nathan's recent activities -

Family Get Together In Colonial Quito

2008-08-29T20:23:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday, we enjoyed a family "get-together" with Santi's family - all of his uncles and aunts were there. It was fun to see everyone and catch up with his cousins. We took a couple of photos of our dessert because it was so unique - we were just expecting a basic bowl of ice cream - imagine our surprise when it came out served on dry ice! Everyone enjoyed it!

The restaurant was located in Colonial Quito - right on the plaza where the Presidential Palace is along with a church and the municipal building. The President of Ecuador typically eats his lunch in the same restaurant. I didn't take any photos outside that night (as it was raining), but I have included a couple of photos of Colonial Quito from another occasion to give you an idea of the beauty of downtown Quito.

Photo of the church on the plaza

One of the streets that is just off the plaza

Our dessert! YUM!

Santi's uncle and aunt enjoying dessert!

Santi's mom with her ice cream!