La Esperanza Update

La Esperanza now has full government approval and is doing great, with 16 kids and a new staff member, Beatriz (Bachita). She and her daughter Ruby moved to Cuenca from Loja to work with us. Both of them are a great help. Chio, the mother of the first 8 kids has been amazing. She has the mom anointing and treats each of the 16 like her own. Tia (auntie) Paola is doing a fantastic job administrating and taking care of the kids, with the help of Bachita and Ruby she’ll be able to dedicate more time to planning, fund raising, communications, and general administration. We’re all sad to see Rachel leaving for the summer, she’s been a wonderful help. She moved into the children’s home for the last month and is the official big sister the kids are really going to miss her. The kids were so upset when she said goodbye on her way to the bus station, they all had to have a cup of chamomile tea!(Please come back baby Rach.)

We’re all one big happy family. On father’s day I got 16 gifts that the kids made in Sunday School! Last Saturday we celebrated Daniela’s Quinceañera (15th birthday - coming of age - party). I was honored to be the dad giving a toast and having the first dance with Daniela.

A couple of weeks ago Rachel, Ricky and I decided to take the kids to Baños (the hot springs just outside Cuenca). I was wondering how much it was all going to cost me when I happened to bump into Silvana, the publicity manager from our radio station, and she arranged for us to get free transportation in a brand new tour bus, free passes to Baños and a snack at KFC. The Lord is good. Many thanks to Silvana and Family Radio. The kids had a great time. Being dunked, thrown in the air, taught how to swim and being saved from drowning was a wonderful bonding experience.

Each one of these kids has a heart breaking story. Many of them were abandoned, left to live on the streets, most were physically abused and all of the girls 12 and over have suffered sexual abuse. What a blessing it is to see them responding to the love and care; participating in devotions, singing and serving in the church. Some of the kids have been through other facilities and couldn’t adapt; they’re doing great with us and the authorities have taken notice. There are lots more kids out there who need our help. We want to reach out to as many as we possibly can. Our current facility has been approved for 20 children; we might be able to extend it to 25. Right now the limiting factor is $$$. Would you please join with us? We need and appreciate your prayers and support.

Joel and Karyn's wedding!

It was a lot of work for all involved, but we had a wonderful time, and are so happy to have a new daughter! Enjoy some pictures- we wish you could have all been there. Thanks so much to those who sent their wishes and prayers along to our kiddos.

Joel and Karyn have moved their belongings to Chicago, and will be starting school in June. Karyn at Midwestern University, and Joel at Lewis University. They left their car parked in front of our friends, the Herndons - thanks Karyn and Eric! and are here in Ecuador with us. It's wonderful to have the house full for a little while.

Mission Visits

Whatever I have,
wherever I am,
I can make it through anything
in the One
who makes me who I am.

Phil 4:12b-13 the Message

John enjoying the crowd in El Guabo

Before we left for the States we made a visit to each of the churches that we have planted around the country- and those John covers as part of the national council of Verbo. We were able to visit Gualaquiza, Loja, Vilcabamba, the 3 churches in the province of El Oro; El Guabo, Pasaje and Machala, and Manta. That's a lot of miles the highway!

In Manta we had a special time- John shared about the importance of blessing your children. Above are Cinthia and Darwin, one of the young couples who work with Fabian and Clara, praying for their kids.


We had a series of meetings with the church in Loja (above and below) - seminars for leaders in the mornings, and meetings for the congregation in the evenings. It was wonderful to see the response from the leadership all the way through the congregation.

- - -

The church in Vilcabamba is growing steadily, thanks to the dedication of Alfredo Erizalde, (that's him in the lower right corner in the photo of the Loja congregation) who is going down every week to meet and disciple these young Christians. Above, Mauricio Alvarez, the pastor from Loja, is praying for the group in the small room they rent for their meetings. Below, some of the church members waiting for the January medical team in the municipal building in downtown Vilcabamba.


The greatest blessing for us was to spend time with each of these leaders, individually and as teams, sharing our hearts and concerns for them. They all reassured us that in spite of the normal difficulties of learning to relate as teams and with their congregations, they were convinced that God had them where they were, and they were passionate about pursuing His will for their lives! Just amazing.

Mr. & Mrs. Joel !!!!

Well, this is long over due, but in September Joel talked to Karyn's parents about his interest in marrying her, and asked me to see if I could get an engagement ring made. (There are a lot of people in our church who are in the jewelry business.) He had a crumpled picture taken out of a magazine that Karyn's best friend sent to him up in Alaska, where he worked last summer fishing for salmon. He carried it around in his pocket, and on a clandestine usage of his bosses' computer took a photo- holding the wrinkled scrap in front of the computer's camera. It was quite interesting, but I printed it and took it to a friend.

John and I went to the States for a couple of conferences, and we mailed him the ring. The future mother-in-law is so relieved that the future daughter-in-law liked it! The wedding will be March 19, in Oregon.We are so happy for our baby boy. Karyn is an amazing young woman who came to know Jesus when she was 18 years old. Joel met her when he was attending Corban College in Salem. She was the co-captain of the women's soccer team, and in her bio stated that her goal was to become a missionary jungle nurse. She speaks Spanish well. She has graduated from Corban, and been accepted at Midwestern University in their Physician Assistant program. Joel has applied to nursing schools in the Chicago area, and they will be moving there when Joel finishes up this semester of school in Salem.
We are looking forward to the day when they can come down here and join us - the Lord knows there is plenty to do, and we welcome the opportunity to have our children closer to us. In the mean time, keep them in your prayers. They are a wonderful couple, and we feel so blessed to welcome Karyn into our family.

More on the Christmas parade

This is where the 'traveling Child' stays when he isn't in a parade or in a special service.

Well, as you can see, the 95% Catholic population has a big influence on the Ecuadorean culture. Aside from enjoying the colorful presentations, it is troubling to see the great lengths people will go to, spending a small fortune to deck out their 'float' or horse, or even baby stroller so they can 'win' a blessing for their home and family. Sometimes they can't get together the cash for a few weeks after Christmas, so these parades go on in a smaller form every weekend until Carnival- which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Many people compare this level of devotion to a statue to what we in the States have experienced. "they don't really pray to the statue, it's just a symbol to help direct our thoughts to God." But in 20 years we have had many conversations, and because of the level of syncretism here, the truth is that many really are praying to one particular statue or image . . . of a saint, or the virgin Mary, or a baby Jesus, or a crucified Jesus. A college student once told us how he and fellow students would have long arguments over which statue, located in different cities in Ecuador, had more power.

It is sad to recognize that in spite of their devotion, they just don't know that Jesus isn't a little baby, or a crucified man- He is the Son of God! He came and died for our sins, so that we can share in His heavenly Kingdom, and we can never do enough good works to 'win' His favor or Salvation. We are so blessed every week seeing the number of new people who come into the church. We pray that He will continue to allow us to serve here and enjoy this great harvest. He is a mighty God who is alive and drawing us all to Himself. Oh, that we can be sensitive to hear and respond.
In I Thessalonians 1:9b-10 Paul is telling the church: "They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead -- Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

El pase del Niño Viajero

I'm starting a new category . . . 'culture' After living here for 20 years, we were finally able to run downtown for a little while to catch the annual parade which takes place on December 24th.

I'm going to translate parts of a couple of articles I found to explain a little of the history.

The parade of the traveling child is a procession with the "Child King" which is more developed in Cuenca than in any other city in Ecuador. It starts before dawn on December 24th and continues until sunset. Multitudes of people participate, representing the important moments that took place surrounding the birth of Jesus, generally riding on distinctly decorated floats made up of various sizes of cars and trucks. (We saw from little homemade cars for one child, being pushed the entire route by an adult family member to huge diesel trucks that could have pulled a double trailer.)

The story begins with a small statue of the baby Jesus which was carved in the year 1823. In 1961 it was owned by the Vicar of the Archdiocese of Cuenca, Miguel Cordero, who carried it with him as he traveled to the Holy Lands, and the statue was blessed by Pope John XXIII at that time. Upon his return to Cuenca, he organized the first procession on the 24th of December with some parishioners who walked with the statue from the church of San Sebastian to the cathedral in the center of Cuenca. Another article stated that the Vicar would carry it around to different churches, and when he entered the people would shout, "Here comes the traveling Child!"

Today thousands of different families, neighbors and other groups join together to walk the route, which now extends well beyond the borders of downtown Cuenca. Some say over 20,000 people participate. The idea is to show their veneration of the baby Jesus, and carry their personal (family) statue so that it will receive a blessing for the rest of the year. Represented in the various groupings are the angel who appeared with the star in Bethlehem, the wise men, the shepherds, the holy family, all sizes of floats and people and children on horseback, groups of dancers from different parts of the country accompanied by a band to play while they dance. Many of the cars and horses are festooned with all kinds of candy, liquors and other drinks, and foods which are then eaten as a picnic after their long walk.

There are lots of pictures here - after all it's a 12 hour event!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We thank you, O God!
We give thanks because you are near.
People everywhere tell of your mighty miracles.

Psalm 75:1
We pray this finds all of our friends and family
enjoying their holidays with a sense of peace and love
that comes through the grace of knowing our Lord Jesus.
We celebrate with you, all He is and all He means to us.

This has been our first Christmas with an empty nest. It has been fun to do all of the traditional things we've always done, but in miniature . . . compared to the typical Italian excess we enjoy when our kids and extended family are around! I put up a little tree, and we cooked all the traditional foods- but two pieces of fish, six shrimp, a four inch casserole of stuffed squid, you can get the idea. John and I have enjoyed a wonderfully peaceful time together this year.

We were invited to celebrate New Year's Eve with our friends- Eddy Lopez, the medical director of our clinic, and his wife Rebekah. They had us and 5 other families over. They have this big beehive wood oven and they have perfected roasting chickens in it. Here is Eddy carving so we can eat. It was a great time of fellowship . . . .

singing, praying, eating, and as always in Ecuador, everyone gets into fire in a big way to celebrate New Year's . Their house is on a hill on the edge of town, and here are some fireworks that we saw going off over Cuenca. It was amazing to see how the sky filled with smoke over about 10 minutes. Soon we'll talk about burning the old man.

Hope you all have an amazing year, that the Lord's sweet care and blessings are evident to each of you every day. He is near! And people everywhere tell of His wonderful miracles.

First Service in Verbo Rio

On September 7th we were blessed to attend the first service at our new extension church in Cuenca. We chose a location on the other side of the airport, where we currently have 10 functioning home churches. Everyone in the neighborhood received an invitation to come, enjoy the service, and share a meal together. Here are some pictures- enjoy!