"Rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents" Luke 15:7

Zip Line at El Refugio

     This last weekend El Refugio hosted an Ecuadorian church for a weekend retreat.    After the weekend was over, I asked one of the facilitators how the weekend had gone.  The following is what he related to me...

     The group arrived early Saturday morning, even before they arrived we knew this group had some particular issues they wanted to address.  Really, they were no different from many of the youth in North America, had the same struggles with sex and alcohol.  The leaders wanted to be very proactive in dealing with these issues because they were affecting the group and their behavior.   

     After dinner, Byron who is on staff with El Refugio took the group to the outdoor chapel and preached to them from 1 John 4:13-15.  These verses say, "We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  and we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If, anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God"  Basically he challenged them by asking a couple of questions, "Would they acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God?" and "Did they want God to live in them so they would be in God?".  He then gave them some time to pray and think about what their response would be.

     After some time had passed, Byron and the facilitators proceeded to take the group up to the zip line.  Remember this is at night, no full moon, completely pitch black.  As each person landed on the other side of the valley, they were asked if they wanted to commit or recommit their life to Christ as their personal Savior.  

     22 people from the group said Yes!  Oh and did I mention it was raining?  What was great about this is, many of the young people were crying and their noses were running, but with the rain you couldn't tell.  So they had complete freedom to repent and confess and not worry what the others from the group would think.  

     Santi, the facilitator I talked too said the difference between the group on Saturday compared to Sunday was like night and day.  We know, as believers that is because of what verse 13 says, "because he has given us of his Spirit."  This was a group that had responded to the call of God in their lives and therefore been extravagantly redeemed.

Morning Devotions

One of Howard's goals was to be able to start a Bible Study with the workers here at El Refugio.  As a result of our time at language school, he came back feeling confident enough with his Spanish to be able to do this.  While we were at school, each of us were responsible for a short devotional and then time of prayer.  After seeing this modeled morning after morning, Howard realized rather than a deep inductive study, this actually would be perfect for his time with the guys.  

Starting with the first morning he returned to work,  Howard gathers with the guys, they take turns reading a devotional and then have a time of prayer.  He has been so encouraged by their response,  many times during the day while they are working, something from the devotional will come up and Howard has been able to use this to speak into their lives.  When he first started this time, at the end he would just pray for the day etc. but as time has gone on, the guys have become more comfortable sharing prayer requests and then have even started praying for one another.  

Howie, Holgar, Pedro, Aurelio and Enrique behind

Holgar's turn to read on this particular morning.

Kindergarten Graduation-Ecuadorian Style

Six weeks.  We have been home for six weeks.  In that time El Refugio has hosted three work teams.  A team of almost fifty from Illinois, one of about twenty-five from Wyoming and we currently have a family team here from North Carolina.  Needless to say we have been running a bit crazy.  Danielle and Jonathan have been a huge blessing to Howard and I,  helping wherever we need them too.

Even though we have been crazy busy with work and day to day operations, we have managed to have some very fun times where we were able to celebrate the normal traditions many of us celebrate.

Although we have kids the age of our Program Director Juan Carlos and his wife, Courtney, we have become very good friends with them.  We have loved doing life and ministry with them here in Ecuador, part of that includes attending many of their kids events.  One of those events was their second daughters graduation from kindergarten.  

For Howard and I this happened to be another marker in our journey.  The Cevallos children attend an Ecuadorian school near El Refugio.  Last year when we attended Marlis graduation (oldest daughter) we didn't understand much of the ceremony and what was being said.  I am happy to report that this year, at Lily's graduation it was as if someone had hit the "translate" button and we were given access to the speeches which were made.

Over and over we are so thankful for our time spent at language school and daily reap its benefits.

Danielle, Mary, Lili - the Graduate and Howie

Marli, Lili's big sister and Mary watching the graduation

Lili's class performed a song and she had a solo

Proud Dad and Mom, Juan Carlos and Courtney with Lili, along with Lili's teacher

Howie had "Caleb duty", (Lili's younger brother) I think he actually looks like a body guard

Caleb explaining to Howie why it is okay for him to go play in the fountain :)

God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

Before we returned home to Ecuador, we were able to spend one final weekend with all our kids and grandkids at Pismo Beach.  One thing we have learned by living so far away, is that when we have family time, we are intentional and fully present.  As a family, we simply spent time together, we played, built a campfire, flew some kites and savored every single moment.

People have said to us more than once, "I could never do what you do and leave my kids, family or life."  Unintentionally, they are suggesting the decision to choose the life as missionaries is easy.  That some how we have detached ourselves or simply have a dead, stone cold heart.  They don't mean to imply that, but in reality that is the pink elephant in the conversation.  

Goodbyes are the most difficult thing we have to go through.  Our hearts are split, truly cut in two.  We would love to be near our kids and daily engage in their lives.  We love what we do here in Ecuador. We love the ministry, we love the roles we play in the lives of the people here.  We get to see God do amazing things on a daily basis.  And that is why we are able to do what we do.  God.  Through His power and provision, through the work of His spirit in us, not of our own accord.  

That makes some people nervous.  If I choose to follow God will He "make" me leave my family and serve in a distant land.  The answer quite frankly is, maybe yes, or maybe no.  The point that needs to be understood is "it is worth it."  You can trust God with your heart, more importantly with your life.  So often, we observe people exercise a control over their lives that they simply do not possess.  We have watched our kids grow fiercely independent and even though it's been messy at times, they are figuring out who they are and working out their own salvation.  Our daughters are amazing Moms, tears come to my eyes when I reflect on how completely different they are and yet such good Moms.  They love their children, more importantly, they love their husbands.  We have watched God provide over and over for our kids who are single, and even though as the song says, "Everybody knows it sucks to grow up" they are doing an awesome job of figuring out who they are and what role they need to play within God's plan.  

With all that said, we are now home in Ecuador.  Here we go...below are some pictures from our final weekend with our family.

Do you know how hard it is to get twelve people to all smile at once?

Anchor, our grandson (Bridget and Steve's boy) was in constant motion the entire time

Maemae, our granddaughter (Nicole and Jay's girl) loved the sand

Danielle and Mackenna (Bridget and Steve's daughter) loved the water, even though it was freezing

So, see the cup in Jay's hand? (Nicole's husband)   Well, he had just pranked me.  I won't go into details but suffice it to say,   I  fell hook, line and sinker and all of us laughed 'til it hurt.

Nothing like a day at the beach

Nicole with "baby Larry" as we affectionately call him.   What a beautiful reminder that there is always new life, new beginnings and new seasons.  Instead of mourning the close of our time, we look to the future expectantly.

A family tradition of ours is to "salute the sunset".  God blessed us with a picture perfect sunset.

Now the Real Learning Begins!

Have you ever felt like you have fallen off the grid for a bit?  For the last two months that is what we were able to do and it was such a wonderful experience.  On April first we flew to Guadalajara, Mexico to take an intensive language course in Spanish.  Probably one of the hardest, best things we have ever done.  We had a supporter ask us if we thought seven weeks would really make that big of a difference.  Absolutely.  Now though, the real learning begins as we head back to Ecuador and implement the many things we learned.  Our goal really was quite simple, we wanted to learn how to speak without sounding like cavemen.  I think as time goes on we will see we now have the tools to accomplish our goal.  Our days were filled with grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, interpretation and translation.  Howard and I both had our "a-ha" moments where something became clear which we had clearly muddled up.  We are thankful for the time spent in Guadalajara and for the people who made it possible so we could participate in this language school.

Devotionals started each of our days while we studied at the Harvest Language Center.  This time included our language teachers and all the students who were studying at different levels.  In this picture five different mission organizations are represented.

On Mother's Day our whole group got together and ate at one of our favorite taco stands.  

Jasson, Kim, Kaleb, Noah and Micah Farmer are with UIM Aviation (United Indian Mission) and graciously took us along with them whenever they went sightseeing.  This photo is at Lake Chapala, Mexico

Deb Duncan and our paths crossed very briefly at school, but we were touched by her courage to quit her job in Texas and attend seven months of language school so she would minister in Autlan, Mexico.  As we continue on this journey, we are amazed at the people we meet who have answered the call of God on their lives, in order to impact the kingdom for His glory

Howie just liked this sign when he was out touring the city of Guadalajara, simple message but true.