26 December 2010

Merry CHRISTmas!

We pray you have all enjoyed the blessings of being with family and loved ones during the holidays! 
 We give thanks to Jesus for coming to Earth so we could know Him and His love and peace.
We give thanks to Jesus for blessing us with all our family and friends- especially those who have supported us over the years, allowing us to be here in Ecuador! We love you and appreciate you!

La Esperanza Picnic, VBS, and our first baptism!


As time goes on, we are more and more blessed with this ministry. As each new child has come and integrated into the house, we have seen them go from frightened and wary to being an integral part of the laughing pack of kids. We are blessed for the support of our church family, who give time and money to take care of these little ones, and take them on outings and provide them with special memories. We are blessed with the staff that carries out the day to day work of feeding and helping with homework and all the normal daily stuff, with joy and commitment. We are blessed that we find favor with the government, and they are seeking our help to open another home. We are blessed by each of these kids who trust us and are thankful for what we can do for them, physically and spiritually. We are blessed by the support and prayers of those of you who help us with this ministry from far away. Mostly we are blessed that our Lord has allowed this opportunity to serve in His Kingdom, and get to know these precious little ones one on one.

Our first baptism- Daniela,Carla, Rocio, Olga, Franklin, Veronica, and Cristina

VBS with a team from Glorious Presence Church- we had about 25 kids from the neighborhood join us!
John gets to rough house a little with the kids.
Jesica and Jordy blowing bubbles

John explains the rules of a game

Priscila and Nancy tumbling

24 December 2010

WOW- WHAT A YEAR!

2010 has turned out to be one of the busiest years ever! In the 10 weeks that followed our arrival after our last post, we had 4 medical teams and a church team from Atlanta down. Enjoy a few photos from them. You can get an idea of what a short-term medical mission looks like!

While I was busy with all of the above, John was hosting visiting preachers and traveling with them from Cuenca to Quito, to Machala, to Manta, to Bogota, and to Loja. We were packing and unpacking suitcases, sometimes saying hello and good-bye at the door!

I sincerely hope we can keep up with the news better this coming year! I am sorry to have missed the opportunity to keep you posted when the news is fresh. We love and appreciate all those who are supporting us!