Weekly Wrap Up from Calacali, Ecuador

Weekly Wrap Up from Calacali, Ecuador

April 27, 2007

Our family has been known to slip and slide on a large black tarp with dish soap and even show up to the snow with plastic bags tied around the kids feet then slipped in their shoes. So when Howard asked for a white pillowcase to wrap around his neck so he could go collect honey from the beehives, I was not one bit surprised. Along with three other workers, they collected about 5 gallons of raw honey. Howard’s job was to be the “smoker”, which meant he stood the best chance of not getting stung by the bees. The whole thing just made me laugh and again illustrates how we ended up here in Ecuador. My husband with his “can do” attitude make him a perfect fit for this job, and really the workers already respond to him with the same sense of purpose.

The funny thing is I knew moving here was a fit for Howard; I wasn’t so sure about myself. And yet, I find myself absolutely loving the people and the country. Only God could put that love in my heart for the people here in Ecuador. I can’t wait until my Spanish is ample to go meet the people in the Barrio near us. As of now, we have a very vigorous waving relationship. There is one older woman who is always sitting on the same tree stump when we head to Quito. At first she wouldn’t wave, but now I’m pretty sure I am her new best friend. We knew coming in, the language would be our toughest obstacle, yet now our motivation is so high, because “we want” to communicate, more specifically, to communicate the life saving message of Jesus Christ.

Bridget headed home this week. Please pray for her as she transitions back to life in L.A. Pray specifically for a place to live, what school to attend next year and that her job will continue to be so accommodating. Finally, could you pray for her health, while she was here she really struggled with both the altitude and whatever “bug” was going around. Tuesday night, Don Victor, the senior member of the workers came to the house to pronounce a blessing on Bridget. Doris was here for my Spanish lesson and Howard asked her to interpret for us, and the really cool thing was, we didn’t need her to interpret, we understood! Then later as we drove back in from dinner, while Andres was opening the gate for us, Marlene’ came out and pronounced a similar blessing. Bridget was only here for less than two months, and yet so many already had welcomed her as part of their extended family.

One thing I forgot to mention last week is we have added another Spanish teacher. Daniel (pronounced Danielle which makes it a little confusing); Doris’ boyfriend is also an English teacher so he started last week for two hours with Howard. This has been good for Howard to “hear” a male voice and also Daniel is “muy tranquilo.” Howard is also a verbal learner, and Daniel spends a lot of time dialoguing with him. This also means Daniella (Danielle pronounced in Spanish) and I spend two hours each with Doris, so our acquisition has already increased.

This morning we got up early to go and get our Censos, which is the equivalent to a green card. We arrived before the office opened to get our numbers. We were one of the first to be called, only to be sent out to get pictures next door. When we arrived back we had to get new numbers and what should have been a quick process ended up taking the whole morning. I told the kids their school today was about government and “red tape!”

We appreciate each of you and are constantly reminded how much we rely on you,

As God is our Refuge, Mary for the Scholl Family