Continue to Pray

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

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 . . .

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

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

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!

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

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!