Changing Lives - Extreme Response Christmas

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

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!

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!!!

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

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

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!

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!