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| Very serious little Ecuadorianita |
There is an Ecuadorian tradition where children are given a "navidad" (small toy or candy) before or on Christmas. For the past three years, we have given navidads out with the Cline family on Christmas day. As Christmas approached this year we had two problems, first the Cline family had moved back to the states and second we were out of navidads. Along with this, Howard and I also felt God leading us to distribute food bags to the families who were in need.
We witnessed first hand God provide for both these needs in a huge way. First, Extreme Response donated 60 food bags left over from their Christmas parties. Then, Danielle was part of a group who won a contest and those college students decided to donate the money for toys "navidads" for the children in our local barrio, Ryocucho. She arrived home for Christmas with 2 duffel bags full of toys. Since we had witnessed God showing up in a big way, Jonathan and Danielle decided to go one step further with the navidads and they wrapped over a 100 gifts. On Christmas Eve with Howard driving the camp truck, Danielle, Jonathan, Enrique and I got the privilege to play "Papa Noel".
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| Duffel bag full of "navidads" |
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| Jonathan and Danielle with all the wrapped gifts |
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| "Papa Noel" |
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| Danielle and our favorite local couple |
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| Enrique and his Grandma (he said she is between 90-100 years old) |
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| Jonny-boy |
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| The navidads had ribbons to tell if it was for a girl or a boy |
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| Children who were waiting for us along the road |
