Update on Kids Club

Violeta giving a Gospel presentation that she learned in her Evangelism Explosion class.

The whole Kids Club listened very attentively!


Franklin asking Waverly about how he can accept Christ as his Saviour.


Pamela is proud of her attendance certificate

Antoni is happy with his bag of goodies!


Anita can barely carry her bag of groceries!


We had our last Kids Club with the high schoolers in attendance last week on May 14. The high schoolers were very sad to be saying goodbye to the children that they have worked with all year.

Two of the high school girls shared a special presentation that they had learned in their Evangelism Explosion class. I think it was the quietest the room has ever been - all the children and adults in the room were listening very attentively as they watched Waverly and Violeta share the gospel using a object drawing.

And the best part was watching five of the children leave the room afterwards (and miss craft time) to ask how they could receive Christ into their hearts and to see the high schoolers pray with them as they accepted Christ into their heart.

As the children left they received a Bible coloring book, a box of crayons, a cheese sandwich, and a heavy bag of groceries. We thank those who donated to the Kids Club ministry in order to make these gifts possible.

This week on Weds we will be having a special dinner to honor our high school students who have worked so hard this year at the Kids Club. Then we will start our summer session of Kids Club on June 18! Followed by a week of a special Vacation Bible School with a team from the states. Pray for us as we have lots of planning to do!

Road Trip

The first part of May we had a four-day holiday weekend, so we decided to pack up the car and take Nathan on his first road trip. We went to the town of Tulcan, located about 4 - 6 hours (depending on the road, traffic and how many times you stop) from Quito. Santi's mom lives in Tulcan and this is also where Santi grew up.

Nathan did wonderfully on the trip - he played or slept in his car seat (all except for the last 1/2 hour when it obvious he had been sitting too long). He loved visiting his Grandma Emma and also meeting his Uncle Hernan and his wife.

We also enjoyed the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside - the scenery during the drive through the Andes Mountains is just incredible. Hopefully you enjoy the photos (all taken from the car as we were driving along).

With Grandma Emma


It's cold in Tulcan


Meeting Uncle Hernan and his wife


Entrance way to Santi's family's home - the open patio in the middle of the house


Notice the ceramic tiled rooftop



And the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside!


A small town nestled in the moutains


Farming on the mountainside



And one lane of the highway was closed off in the town of Chota as they were drying out red beans

Photos from Mother's Day

First there was the earthquake at 6:30 am. And then the Mariachis arrived at 9:00 am to serenade the moms in our condominium!
Then it was on to the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly) for a special Mother's Day Service!


Our friend, Esther, shared the testimony of her mom's life.


Clara had been honored as a very special Mom!


Out to lunch with Mike and Carol . . . .

Paul & Susan . . .


And Esther . . .

Nathan loved all the attention!

It has been a very special day indeed!

Happy Mother's Day!

I can say that my very first Mother's Day started out with a bang! At 6:30 am, I had just fed Nathan and was changing his diaper when there was a loud noise and the house started to shake! Yes, we had an earthquake! I was a bit scared as it was probably one of the stronger ones I have felt while living here. Santi came to check on Nathan and me - we were fine. I was a bit shaken (no pun intended).

I checked on-line and the earthquake registered a 3.8 on the Richter scale. Apparently there was another earthquake yesterday in the province of Cotopaxi about 2 hours south of here. We may be feeling more earthquakes these days as they tend to come in waves.

Back to my first Mother's Day. It started out with an earthquake. Then around 9:00 am, I started hearing the Mariachi band in our condominium compound . . . someone had arranged for the Mariachi's to come and serenade all the moms in our condominium. And we were all handed a rose and a little gift by the president of our association and his wife. When I took Nathan out to see the action, he was very excited and thought it was great!

Then we headed out to the Hogar Betania (The Bethany Home for the Elderly) for a Mother's Day service there. Our missionary friend from HCJB, Esther Neufeld, came and shared a special testimony of how her mom was born in Russia to a Germany immigrant family, they later had to escape to China (due to the communists) and then finally ended up in Paraguay in a Germany colony there. Esther is the youngest of 10 children and shared about how her mom raised them all to know God and obey Him. Due to her heritage, Esther speaks several languages fluently - German, Spanish and English (she probably speaks more that I'm not aware of). Esther produces German radio programs that go out on HCJB's shortwave to German families living throughout Latin America.

We had a wonderful time at the Hogar - handing out candies to everyone and wishing the ladies a very Happy Mother's Day. One of our favorite ladies, Clara, had been honored yesterday as a "Special Mom" and she proudly wore her banner.

Our good friends, Paul & Susan Fernane, also joined us today along with our regular Hogar crew, Mike & Carol Bishop. After the Hogar, we all went out for lunch to one of our favorite spots - Crepes & Waffles for a yummy meal. I can say that I have been treated very well on my first Mother's Day and it's been special to spend it with my family!

I hope you enjoy the photos from this special day!

Bathtime!

Sleepyhead

Dump Kids Club

I haven't been able to write on our blog this week. I'm not sure where the time has gone. It was great to be back at the Kids Club at the dump last week! Many of the children came running up to me with hugs and welcomed me back.

And it was impressive to see how well the high school students are doing. They ran the whole club without much help from any of the leaders! This was so exciting to see as our goal throughout the year is the mentor the students and help them grown and develop. And with just two more weeks to go (today and next week), it was thrilling to see this process working so well!

Continue to pray for the club during the summer months. We will be kicking off the club the first of June. It will be challenging for us as I don't have as much time as I used to to prepare the crafts and Bible story and so on. And we don't have our usual high school group to help. But we are committed to keeping the club going through the summer months. So pray for us.

We also usually have teams from various organizations (HCJB Global, Extreme Response, Youth World and other missions) here in Quito who come and help throughout the summer months. Please pray that our schedule will be filled with teams - this is also a big help!

Above are a few photos from my time at the club last week. It was fun to see a smile on Dyana's face! You'll also see her older sister, Diana (somehow those two names are pronunciated differently!). And one photo of Rubi, our high school student, listening to the memory verses at her table. . . the children have learned the Romans Road this year! And they were given plastic dinner plates that they decorated to take home!

And to end my post today - just a reminder of what the dump looks like. The room we use is located in the back where you see the windows/door. BUT . . . . soon I will be sharing GOOD NEWS with you about a new location for the Kids Club!