Lessons Along the Way

We obviously answered "yes" to the question of trusting God in this new adventure. I started this blog as soon as we arrived in Ecuador and as I go back and read my entries, over and over I am reminded of how faithful God has been and continues to be on our behalf. The road at times has been very difficult, I can testify though, it is always better to surrender sooner than later. Perhaps these two stories can help you glimpse part of what God has been teaching us as a result of living in Calacali.

We had a family team that came and requested an Ecuadorian family join them and be a part of their team. Juan Carlos knew of a Pastor who was having a hard time and could use a time of encouragement. The pastor and his family of five, spent the time here at El Refugio working along side the team and with Howard. At the end of the time the pastor told Juan Carlos that he wanted to support "Howie" and his family, would it be OK if they gave us some milk. I can't even begin to explain the impact this had on Howard and I. We understood, in order for this family to support us with milk, meant when they did, their family went without. To say we were humbled is an understatement.

Recently Pedro showed up early one morning to give our family a chicken. I put it in the refrigerator but I told Howard I was a little nervous to eat it, not know when it was killed and if it had sat out all night. Just the day before it had been happily pecking away on the road outside his house. We decided to cook the bird and ended up having a wonderful dinner. The next time we saw Pedro we thanked him, he was so happy to be able to do this one thing for us. Again, please understand, the night we had chicken, Pedro's family did not.

This last summer I was in the states for my annual physical. The doctor was interested in my "story" and so in about five minutes tried to summarize why we had become missionaries. She listened very attentively and then asked what was next. Next? I am still trying to come to terms with the lessons from now, how can I think about next? And I told her, the single biggest challenge I face every time I am back with my family and friends is what to do with those lessons God has been teaching me. How do I integrate my life here in Ecuador with the one there. Or quite possibly, those lessons are just for me, to draw me ever closer to my Savior.

Fall Out

Over the course of the next five years, our family dealt with the fall out from that December day. The surgeon had hoped by leaving my dad's eye in, as it healed my dad would have restored vision. Unfortunately this was not the case, and in fact over time the eye started to abscess and cause my dad tremendous pain. Finally the decision was made to remove my dad's eye because it became apparent his vision would never be restored. As a kid I remember traveling to San Fransisco for the surgery and being apart of the process where they literally painted a new eye for him. I remember my dad waking up and them asking him if he needed any pain medication and my dad saying, "Are you kidding, this is the first time in years I have been pain free!"

That surgery was really the turning point and the catalyst for some major changes. First my dad completed his doctorate and soon after that we sold the Almond Ranch. In between all this my sister, Suzie attended a Billy Graham crusade and committed her life to Christ. Through her testimony I also became a follower of Christ and my parents re-dedicated their faith. We found a good church home and got actively involved. In 1976 my dad accepted a new job, we moved to a new town, and began attending a new school. I was not happy. Most of all I was not happy with God.

Because I lacked any kind of "a life" I started swimming AAU. At one of the practices I met a girl who invited me to her youth group which met at 6:16 (dumb I thought). She persisted and finally one Wednesday I went and continued to go back. Through the young youth pastor I was able to come to terms with the predicament of my life and found freedom to serve Jesus with my mind, soul and strength. Over the next four years I met my future husband, who happened to be the brother of the girl who initially invited me to attend her youth group.

We married, had five brilliant kids, and owned a business. Life had its ups and down but for the most part God was very faithful and very real in both our lives. So why did this absolute dislike of change surface when we decided to head to the mission field? As I write this journey down I realize all the good things that happened, from the accident, the "positive fall out". Through my dad's accident our family became committed Christ followers, score one for the King. Over time though, the enemy marred my perception to only view the "negative fall out." The move, the pain, the times of feeling completely at odds with my family and God.

With this revelation I had some decisions to make. Would I be willing to step out in faith and follow God's leading for this major change for our family and trust the fall out would be to His glory or would I allow a false perception of a past event cause us to miss out on the greatest adventure yet?

Split Second

Family picture taken the first Easter after the Accident
(notice the patch my dad wore)

The year was 1970, Simon and Garfunkel topped the charts with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", Nixon was still in the White House and the Vietnam war was nearing its final years. As a nine year old kid, I was enjoying my first day of Christmas vacation by riding around on my blue banana bike taking pictures for a photography project. While I was working on that, my parents had decided to get some work done on our almond ranch. As I rode up into the ranch compound my parents were in the process of jump starting our tractor with our El Camino. My dad sat on the tractor with my mom in the El Camino approximately 50 feet apart at a diagonal. I was sitting on my bike at a 30 degree angle from the diagonal created by the tow strap, approximately 30 feet from them. Little did I know that in a split second everything about my life was about to change.

As my mom revved the engine, and the elastic tow strap stretched and became taut, it actually broke free from the bumper of the El Camino and shot like an arrow across the compound, straight at my father and struck him in the face. I remember sitting on my bike, watching the whole thing, incredulous at what was happening before my eyes. I was frozen as I watched my mom run from the El Camino to my father and take off her mustard yellow jacket and tell him to hold it to his face. There was blood everywhere and that was all she had to give him to try and stop the flow. She helped him off the tractor and walked him to the El Camino. Once she sat him down she ran into the house and called the hospital to say we were coming. I am still frozen on my bike as she runs back out of the house and grabs my hand while we ran to get in the El Camino with my dad. Unfortunately during the preceding 5 minutes my mom had left the ignition on in the El Camino and the battery had died. She then had to get us all out of the El Camino and transfer us to our family station wagon. She put my dad in the back seat with me up front with her. Curiosity is strong in a nine year old child and I tried to look back at my dad and see what had happened to him. I remember my mom grabbing me and putting my head down in her lap and telling me it was best not to look. This was before cell phones and 911, so with only a phone call ahead to the hospital my mom drove the distance from our ranch to Modesto in only 15 minutes, a trip that normally would take us over 30 minutes. I seem to remember a police officer pulling us over and then leading us on but that was 40 years ago and that is the single memory I am not sure of. By the time we got to the hospital my dad had lost so much blood it was impossible for him to move from the car to the wheelchair without assistance. And then as fast as the accident had happened he was gone and my mom and I were left standing there alone.

Fortunately for my dad, a young surgeon was on duty who was just back from Vietnam. We learned later the tow strap had literally wiped the nose off my fathers face and damaged his right eye. The surgeon was able to sew his nose back on and left the eye to see is there would be any possibility for sight which as time proved would not happen. He was in the hospital for much of the Christmas vacation and recovery was slow and painful, due mainly to his eye which over time started to abscess. Funny what you remember even after all this time. The Peterson's coming to get me and staying at their house during which they gave me a "lifesaver book". I remember my Grandma coming in to tell us that more than likely my dad would loose the sight in his right eye.

More than anything I remember my mom's bravery and strength. Many of you know my mom recently went to be with the Lord, that is why this post has taken so long. This single shared experience defined my mother for me. In her later years I don't think many people saw this side of her as if this one single moment changed both of us in a split second.

Psychologically Fit

Once the decision had been made for Howard and I to pursue ministry in Ecuador, we applied to International Teams or ITEAMS, the sending organizations for Youth World in Ecuador. There were a series of things we were required to do and one of them was to establish we were psychologically fit. This meant we had to take four different tests with over a thousand questions, proctored at our church by one of the pastors. After the tests were over I was absolutely sure I didn't want to sleep with my mothers/brothers/sisters/uncle, set things on fire or hear voices which told me to do things contrary to nature. What DID come to light was my deep seated fear of change. After some phone conversations and actually meeting with the psychologist from ITEAMS, I was armed with some homework to figure out why. Over a period of time, through prayer and intercession God brought to light a key event in my life which was the cause of this fear of change.

Journey

For some time I have had it on my heart to share my journey leading up to the decision for us to serve as missionaries with International Teams in Calacali, Ecuador. I write this down because my children and grand children need to know.

Family Room Conversation

In the Spring of 1994, we were hosting a dinner for good friends the Murphy's who serve as missionaries in the Middle East and the Cline's who were heading to serve on the mission field in Quito, Ecuador. I remember Orville (Murphy) asking the Clines this question. Were they ready for a time of sure testing ahead of them, that everything they thought they knew and believed was about to be challenged and turned upside down.

Home in Tehachapi

Ten years later, this was the question going through my mind when Russ (Cline) asked Howard and I if we would be interested in an opening at one of their ministry sites called El Refugio. Russ, Gina, Howard and I were sitting out in Howard's shop talking about the possibility of us becoming missionaries. The job sounded perfect for Howard and the idea of moving to South America sounded exciting yet terrifying. To be honest though, no thank you, I really was not in the mood for a time of testing and to have my whole world turned upside down. Those were my thoughts, what I said was, "Sure let's take the steps to see if this is where God wants us to be and we'll see what happens."

Howard's Update on Projects

The patio in front of the work team house was finished about two weeks ago. Mary is the most excited about this because it will help keep the kitchen and dorm rooms free of dirt. You can barely see a hole in the middle of the patio which will be a fire pit for teams to use to keep warm.

This picture is of the first, of our two towers of the climbing wall. What you see here is one of the climbing routes that Juan Carlos, our Programming Director has designed. We are still in the process of putting up the plywood on the two towers. Once we complete the amphitheater, I will be able to shift all of our workers to concentrate on this project

At the moment the amphitheater is the project we have been working on to complete, so we can start using it by groups. The shot you are looking at here is standing in the canyon, looking back at the entrance. Our next project will be constructing the seating which will be to the right. This also will have a fire pit in the middle for groups to enjoy a fire.

This shot shows the center section of the roofing and the complexity of the supports. What you can't see is on the top we had to manufacture the covers for the corners out of steel, because the cost was to high to buy the pre-made ones. The rectangular light colored openings below the upper roof is where the smoke will be allowed to go out

This shot was taking from near the cuy shed looking into the canyon. As you can see where we placed the amphitheater, you should get a feeling of being secluded on the mountain. Again, it is important to thank the generous supporter who donated all the funds for this project.

As you can see we've been busy and I am happy how things are coming along, Howard

September

The first of September marked the close of our "work team season", and the beginning of our regularly scheduled programming events. Throughout the year El Refugio hosts various churches from all over Ecuador for retreats and different high schools from Quito, September was no exception. We were booked every weekend and during the week as well. With the addition of Israel (pictured above on the far left) our Retreat Coordinator, El Refugio has witnessed an explosion in our reservations.

The programming side of our ministry also welcomed a fall intern by the name of Zach from Massachusetts (pictured above on the far right) who will be helping Juan Carlos for the next three months.

"Aire Libre" our outdoor leadership school was also launched in September. This has been a dream and part of our ministries vision. Our desire is to see the multiplication of Adventure Based Ministry throughout Latin America and "Aire Libre" is a huge component in carrying that vision through. We have three students, (who are pictured above with some of the workers from El Refugio), Saul is from Peru, Vladimir is from Quito and Estaban is from our very own Calacali. Juan Carlos, our Program Director has been their primary teacher, instructing these young men on all the aspects of directing their own ministry one day. This week they will participate in "Wilderness Advanced First Aid Certification". In the following weeks they will learn from Howard how things work on the Operations side of a camp, and participate in two expeditions. Through Aire Libre, El Refugio hopes to place in the hands of each of these young men the tools to start their own Outdoor Adventure Ministry, and through that see lives transformed by the life changing power of Jesus Christ.

Team Newaygo

One week ago today, we said good-bye to our final work team for the summer. We kicked the summer off with Geneva, a high school team, they were followed by two family teams and we finished the summer with a team called "Newaygo". Newaygo was a team made up of various small groups who came from a common area in the Mid-West. They were a great team to end the summer with, simply because they came prepared to do whatever, and that is indeed what they did. I didn't get pictures of the group who cleared trails at the top of the property, but everyday a group of 10-12 headed out to clear trails and repair fence.

Team Newaygo started the work on the patio outside the dorm rooms

They painted as long as the paint held out....

and then when more paint came they painted some more :)

God really was gracious to us through this wonderful group of people. To be honest, by the end of the summer, our energy was running on the low side. Right before the group came, even Howard said he wasn't sure he could go one more round. Then Newaygo arrived and just blessed us over and over again. They were an encouragement to us as we heard how God was using their time here to serve, as a challenge to go back home and in various ways make a difference.

Saying Good-bye

Just as the interns arrive at the beginning of summer, it always follows they have to leave at the end. We had a great group of interns this summer. Good balance between programming and operations, as well as extroverts and introverts. It was our privilege to walk along side them as they each sought individually exactly what God was teaching them and areas He was stretching them in. Dan Coulter, pictured above happened to be from our sending church Grace Chapel. He was such an asset to have on the team we actually tried to get him to prolong his stay. Over and over he demonstrated a servants heart.

Good byes are tough. The first year we were here, I cried after each intern left. Then the next couple of years, put up a protective wall to guard myself from the hurt I knew was coming. I would just pat them on the back, and say in essence "thanks for coming, have a great life". I knew the two extremes were not good, so this year sought a balance. The good byes have been tough but we have been more intentional about each of their despedidas (farewell prayer time). As I hear about what God has been doing in their lives and where they are hoping to go, instead of sadness I actually just feel very excited and happy for them as they start the next phase of their lives. Dios Te Bendiga!

Meanwhile back at El Refugio...

There were two factors which contributed to my trip for two weeks to the states. First, Ken O'Brien very generously donated his fly miles to me and second I had an amazing intern named Lisa-Lynn Kern who was able to run the kitchen for me while I was gone. We actually had a small family team here while I was gone and along with Lisa-Lynn, Howard not only did his job but mine as well.

Howard and Holgar working on the patio in front of the dorm rooms

Howard is at the very top left of the climbing wall checking out the welding which had been done. You can see the two towers and how they plan to connect them at this point. (Click on any picture for a larger image)

Howard on the roof of the amphitheatre, the family team actually cleaned all the wood and got it ready for the roof to be installed

Our intern Dan Coulter and Howard had to sing "I'm a little tea pot" before lunch because they were late. For those of you who know Howard you know this virtually never happens and exactly why I had to capture it in a picture.

Family Update

Thought it would be a good idea to give an update on what is happening in the lives of our children. I now realize I don't have any pictures of Jay or Viviano, Nicole and Bridget's husbands so I will have to work on that next time I visit.

Jonathan loves being an uncle. Fly miles were donated to him so he was able to spend a month spoiling and getting to know his nephew, Anchor. On the 30th of August he will start his Junior year of high school. Hard to believe I know.

Danielle spent the summer working as our Quito Quest intern here at El Refugio. She is getting ready to start her second year at Fresno Pacific where she is a Liberal Arts major with a Spanish minor. My favorite thing to do is watch Danielle interact with Ecuadorians and see how baffled they are at this very "gringa chica" with mad spanish speaking skills.

Kevin is working as a Gallery Assistant for Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects and living in Korea Town near Culver City. How fun for us to see Kevin persevere and get the job perfectly suited for him. I was able to visit the Gallery and meet his boss and the people he works with. I was very impressed and completely out of my element.

Bridget and Viviano and their kids have moved to Sacramento and live near Sacramento City College. This last June she started classes to earn her degree in nursing. Viviano is working for Sara Lee. Of course she is Anchor's mom and "mommy Bridget" to MacKenna, Viviano's daughter. They have a cute duplex where you can see her artistic touches.

Nicole and Jay have moved back to Tollhouse on the family ranch. She is pregnant and due in mid January. Little baby Kimbler gave us a little scare a couple of weeks back and the decision was made for Nicole to quit her job. I told her she now has a little "stress barometer" that will tell her when she is over doing it.

Raising Tower #2 and the Amphitheater

Thanks to our family team from West Over Church in North Carolina we were able to raise our second tower (when the project is complete there will be a total of six towers). You can see also the progress being made on the first tower.
Simply just love this shot. I hope in the future as young people come to El Refugio and experience Ecuador's first outdoor climbing wall, among the Eucalyptus trees they will be mindful of God and all His creation. Many solid, future life lessons just waiting to be learned.
A Second project that Howard and his crew have been working on, is our new Amphitheater. One person very generously donated all the funds for the project. As churches and teams come to El Refugio they will be able to have a place to meet which will be completely private and lend toward a time of spiritual reflection and to debrief before they head back to the states.

Mindo with the Interns

We finally had a day off yesterday, so Howard took all the interns to Mindo for the day. Mindo is about one hour from El Refugio located in the Cloud Forrest. The interns were able to ride the zip lines, thirteen in all and then some of them chose to try the tubing on the river. While they did that, the rest visited the butterfly farm. Howard said it was good just to hear them laughing and having a good time, although the truck ride home was a little chilly:)

Jonathan, Dan, Nate, Kevin, Jonathan, Lisa-Lynn, Danielle and Kevin

2010 Summer Interns

Raising Tower #1 Geneva Style

With the combined efforts of the Geneva Team 2010, summer interns and staff from El Refugio, we were able to raise the first of the three, 40 foot towers for the climbing wall. The most remarkable thing about this was we were able to do so without the use of a crane. Geneva earned the right to name the first tower, we are just waiting to hear the name they have chosen.

(For more information on the climbing wall refer to the past blog entitled "Reduce Reuse Recycle from the April 2010 archive)

Why we do What we do

These were two of my favorite pictures from

VBS. On the left is Katherine, our guard's

daughter. She was so captivated by the bubbles, she was trying to catch them with her mouth. On the right is our "little David". The theme for the VBS was "David and Goliath." This last spring Howard had children from the jungle town of Durano collect over 500 rocks. Our interns then marked the rocks with the words faith, love, hope, courage and trust. The kids then decorated the rocks and made a small sling which they decorated as well. Finally, they made a waistband to hold the sling. You can see in David's left hand the pouch with the rocks. The only concern we had was that the kids would really get into the theme and trying taking down a Goliath or two.

Geneva First Baptist 2010

Geneva First Baptist Church arrived twelve days ago with 51 people, mainly Juniors and Seniors in High School with about 9 adult counselors. This church has been largely responsible over the last 9 years for all of the building projects at El Refugio. What we appreciate about their leadership is they just "get" the idea of "reciprocal" ministry. They come every year and invest in our ministry and at the same time we provide opportunities and programming to invest in their kids lives and spiritual journeys. For twelve days El Refugio just "popped" like popcorn. The kids hauled, chopped, cleared and built many different projects. They also hosted a VBS for the kids in the bario and this year there was a first, they discovered the empanada lady in Calacali who delivers, even at 10:00 at night!

Thank You Geneva

Dios Te Bendiga!

Geneva 2010

Danielle helping with programming

Jonathan helping with VBS

Danielle VBS

Jonathan VBS

Danielle "snack girl"

"Gringos"

For many of you who follow our blog, you will remember when we returned to Ecuador last fall we were under power rationing. This meant that each evening from 7:00pm until 10:00pm the power in our area was cut off. The reason for this was because Ecuador was suffering from a drought and Ecuador is powered by hydro-electricity. The newest thing the government has passed is "Pico y Placa". The sign above illustrates what this means. What does this mean you ask? Well, they decided there were too many cars on the road, so on certain days depending on your license plate, you can not drive in Quito. Our license plate ends in the number "3", so we are not allowed to drive on Tuesdays. That is basically what the sign is saying on the lower left. As with the power rationing, we have to ask ourselves would this ever work in the good 'ole USofA. Can you imagine, the lawsuits? "You can't tell me I can't drive, it's my right", some would say. All we can say is, it is interesting to live in this neck of the woods :)

Quito Quest Hosts 2010

Recently, El Refugio hosted one of the days for training for the Quito Quest hosts. Danielle was able to be a part of the day and get to know the various hosts who will be bringing teams out to El Refugio. I think she would admit that this will be a great job for the summer and challenging as well. There are 15 teams scheduled and for each one she has to give the orientation and host a hot dog and cuye roast. What are cuye you ask? That is for another blog....

Do you have a Llama in your front yard?

Our resident Llama and Alpaca are moved all over the property so they can graze. For the past two months or so they have been stationed in our front yard. Every once in a while, when I am walking home I have one of those surreal moments when I realize I have taken for granted something which is unusual, as usual.

The same can be said for my spiritual journey. I take for granted my salvation through Jesus Christ and completely minimize what He accomplished on the cross for me and those who would choose to believe. Recently, what God has been patiently trying to teach me is to focus on the benefits that are mine because of the cross.

My devotional from "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young, said this, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In Me you have everything you need, both for this life and for the life yet to come." I have been challenged to live in a way that this is something I understand with my head and also with my heart. The devotional, which is written as if Christ himself were talking, goes on to say, "Don't let the impact of the world shatter your thinking or draw you away from focusing on Me. The ultimate challenge is to keep fixing your eyes on Me, no matter what is going on around you. When I am central in your thinking, you are able to view circumstances from My perspective." I need to learn this so desperately to switch from my earthly perspective to a heavenly perspective.

52 Years Walking Around on the Planet

Holgar and Howard working on Casa de Pedro

As Howard said this morning, "Hard to believe I am 52 years old, where does the time go?!" Of course we have now entered the time in our life that each birthday is a celebration because the alternative is...well you know. God has been and continues to be faithful each day of our lives.

In the last six weeks we have had three very different groups. The LiFTERS from New York who started the work on our climbing wall. Leader Mundial where we hosted 32 men from 12 different countries for their annual summit. Then this last weekend we hosted the La Red Convention where 60 youth pastors from Ecuador came for their annual convention. We witnessed first hand where God ministered too and encouraged each group as they met together and sought Him. We also were affirmed as a team that God is using each of us in our specific roles to provide the programming and facilities to accommodate each groups specific needs.

In the midst of all these groups we also hosted the spring Quito Quest Teams. One of those teams requested they do a work project which would benefit one of our workers. Immediately Howard thought of Pedro. A little background first. About three months ago Pedro told Howard he needed to replace his roof. So one weekend he and some of his family removed the old roof (basically sheets of tin). In the process one of the side walls of his house collapsed. Pedro saw this as an opportunity to "extend" his house out by three meters. The next Monday Howard asked him, "You do realize that now your roof is not going to fit because of the increased size?" No, Pedro says, "hadn't thought of that." Howard and the other workers decided to step in and help rebuild the wall and also help Pedro figure out a new roof. They got that accomplished, but the inside of the roof was still not complete. This is about the time the Quito Quest team arrived which was a huge blessing because Pedro was out of funds and I think getting a little weary. The team spent an afternoon working on the inside portion of Pedro's roof. With the inside of the roof finished Pedro and his family now have a roof that will withstand the onset of the rainy season and added insulation for warmth.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

LiFTERS from Camp of the Woods

(PDF sent out to supporters of the ministry of Hacienda El Refugio)

Since Hacienda El Refugio was founded, it has been part of our vision to one day build a climbing wall. That day has come! It is incredible to see how God is bringing a story full circle as this dream begins to take shape.

For decades HCJB, the Voice of the Andes, has been transmitting radio to the world from its antenna farm in Pifo, 15 miles of east of Quito. In 1985 Dr. Ron Cline spearheaded the “World by 2000” challenge (later renamed “World by Radio”), an initiative to provide Christian radio for everyone in a language they could understand. Due to changes in strategy and the construction of a new International Airport nearby, HCJB began the process of dismantling 48 towers in 2006.

When Ron Cline brought his family to Ecuador in 1976, his son Russ was 12, going into 7th Grade. Nearly 20 years later, Russ brought his family to Ecuador to launch Youth World, and in 1999 Youth World began the ministry of Hacienda El Refugio.

In early March we got news that HCJB was selling sections of Radio Antenna at an incredibly low price, $10 a meter!...so we threw our climbing wall engineer for a loop and asked him to completely redesign the structure in time to pour the foundation just a few weeks later! (Thanks for coming through Kim Ramsey!)

Rick Borman, the North American Rep for El Refugio, had been working closely with a group from Camp of the Woods in upstate New York for several months. 14 students came down with the LiFT program to do mission work in some remote areas of Ecuador and to help get the Climbing Wall Project off the ground. LiFT donated $1000 in climbing holds, as well as some funds for construction, and helped pour the foundation for the main section of the wall.

We are especially excited about how the climbing wall will enhance programming at El Refugio. There are very few opportunities to provide this kind of experience in Ecuador, mostly because the condition of the rock in natural settings hasn’t made climbing a big sport in Ecuador, while the few sitesthat do exist are very hard to access and are geared towards more advanced climbers. The Climbing Wall will enable us to provide a rock climbing experience to people who would otherwise never be able to try something like this, and our heart is to use this experience to draw people into deeper intimacy with Christ.

The Project is estimated to cost $15,000, out of $5000 has been raised so far. Our goal is to raise a significant amount of the remaining $10,000 in the coming months so that we can keep this project rolling when our summer work teams hit the ground.

If you are interested in giving to this project you can send donations to:

International Teams 411 West River Rd. Elgin, IL 60123

*please designate the gift to “El Refugio: Climbing Wall”

It never fails to amaze us that we get to be part of what God is doing. Thank you for your prayers and consideration and for joining us in pursuing this vision,

The El Refugio Team

Este y Ese ~ This and That

Nicole has been asking for finished pictures of the house. Once it was determined the house had settled and the lift was successful, Howard decided to add a porch to finish the look of the house . We have really enjoyed a place to sit protected from the rain while Howard barbecues in the evenings.

We are now on the count down to Danielle arriving for the summer. She arrives the 12th of May and will be here through August 4th. She will be our official Quito Quest intern for the summer. Along with our work teams, during the summer we host Quito Quest groups from Youth World. Each group comes to El Refugio for a day to spend some solo time and then a hot dog roast in the evening with s'mores and of course a sample of cuye. Danielle will give the orientation for El Refugio and basically "host" each group for the day.

Since we arrived back last November, Howard, Jonathan and I have been busy completing Spanish classes. Sometimes though, it seems our Spanish actually has gotten worse. The reason for this is with our expanding vocabulary, the chance for error has risen. For example, while working with Angelica I was explaining how everyone who stays in the cabin complains about a bird that pecks on the window every morning at 7:00 am. However, instead of saying "pajaro" which is the word for bird I said "parrilla" which is the word for barbecue. I always know when I have said something crazy, because she looks at me and kinda tilts her head and narrows her eyes, like huh? Finally after some time, we figured out what I had said and what I meant to say, we laughed at the idea of a barbecue actually pecking on the window. Since we were talking about barbecues she says she noticed we barbecue a lot. Angelica asks me what is my favorite food to barbecue. And I say "pecado" and she says do you mean "pescado"? (which means fish). So this time I get out my handy dandy translator which Ralph and Helen gave us years ago and realize I had said my favorite food to barbecue was "sin". Oh yeah, serve me up a good portion of sin can't have enough of that :) Yet again confirming that God has a sense of humor because He called us of all people to be the "missionaries"!