Treehouse Dedication

The Youth World team came out to El Refugio for our weekly meeting last Thursday. During that time, we held a dedication for our newly completed treehouse. For those of you who follow our blog, the treehouse was the first project Howard worked on when we arrived in Ecuador three years ago. What an amazing vision and project to see completed, unfortunately the picture's really do not do it justice. As a ministry, this will provide yet another vehicle for teams, retreats and students to use while they are on property. There are a total of four pods where people can climb up and sit and have a quiet time, then underneath there is a net you can crawl down into, which you can see with the picture on the right. There were approximately 35 people from our team who were able to be at the dedication. And for every person there, they came away with a different application. And isn't that fitting because we are all on a spiritual journey and at different points, yet God is able to meet us exactly where we are. The treehouse will provide many opportunities in the future for individuals to express their individual worship in a creative environment.

Paul Reichert, the visionary behind the project wrote these words for the dedication:

I am here

I’m in this place, waiting for you.

I’m waiting like those wise men, following a star like a fool.

I’m waiting like Jonah, covered in the slime and scale of the sea, deep in the belly of darkness hoping for a rescue.

I’m waiting like your mother, pregnant with fear and love.

I’m waiting like our first parents in the stillness of the garden, listening for your footsteps.

I’m waiting like you did on the day I was born and you spoke my name into the world and said that I was good.

What a surprise to find you already here...so quiet...waiting for me.

Happy 16th Birthday Jonathan

I have written three different blogs and decided really all that is important today is that we celebrate Jonathan's life and how he is in the process of becoming a great man. Howard measured him this morning and Jonny-boy finally hit the 6 foot mark!

To be honest the day is difficult because above all else Jonathan loves his family. One time he had a friend over and he was asking this boy if he had brothers and sisters. When Jonathan found out he only had one sister, Jonathan said, "Oh, I'm sorry that's to bad. I have one brother and three sisters and when they are here it is the best". Now, our family has grown to include two son-in-laws, a grandson and step-granddaughter.

Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed. ~Irene Peter

How true this quote is, even though everything is different for Jonathan, really nothing has changed. He still has a family which has grown who love him and even though we're not together physically, you can bet by the end of the day he will have talked with all of them on the phone or heard from them on facebook.

Happy Happy Birthday Jonny-boy!!!

Dios existe!!!

We were able to travel down to the Jungle a few days after Christmas. Kevin and I had not been back to Shell since our visit nine years ago. This was our first family "road trip" and we enjoyed seeing some of the sights along the way. One of our stops was at Rio Verde , which ended up to be a pretty good hike. The waterfall though was worth every step. This sign was hanging along the path we had to take. In response to what we had just witnessed the signs says, "Are you prepared for a surprise? God exists!!!"

"But God made the earth by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdom

and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses." Jeremiah 10:12,13

North/South American Four Generations

Extreme Response hosted their annual Christmas parties here in Ecuador this last week. They ministered to approximately 10,000 people over the course of five days. El Refugio hosted one of the parties which had over 400 people in one afternoon. As always, it is an afternoon of fun and enjoyment. The difference in Ecuador though is everyone, young and old, play the games and participates. I love to watch the people at the Santa booth, everyone wants to get their picture taken. What a treasure for this Ecuadorian family to take home a picture of all four generations.

Really, people are the same in all cultures. Just before we left the states to return to Ecuador we made sure we also had a picture taken of the four generations in our family. Now that I am so far away, what a treasure this picture is to me as well.

This last week I witnessed how easy it is to meet people's needs. Think about the significance that over 10,000 peoples basic needs were met with food and their whimsical needs as well as each child was given a "navidad" (small gift). Of course if you asked the team who came from North America and Canada they would say it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice on their part to make it happen. They were willing to be God's instrument for a time here in Ecuador.

Would you be willing to do the same in your neck of the woods this holiday season? Fill a need whether basic or whimsical and allow God to use you as a blessing to those in need.

Return from Furlough

Howard Jonathan and I have been home now for about ten days. As always, we jumped right back into ministry, work and life. Ecuador is powered by hydroelectricity, we arrived home in the middle of their worse drought in forty years. What this means is everyone is put on a rotating schedule for power outages. Quito city dwellers have their power down from 11-2 each day, while ours has been out every other day from 7-10 in the evening.

As I was walking around the property I was struck by the tree you see in the photo above. As you can tell from the berm, the drought has taken its toll, things are really brown and dry. Yet, in the midst of it, this tree has actually "bloomed". How is it, in the midst of rough circumstances there always seems to be something which, in spite of the times thrive? I have observed this in people we talked too as well. We had an intern here last winter that was probably the most positive person I've met. Her story, however is one of trial, abandoned as an orphan, adopted and moved to an entirely new country and culture and lost a parent to cancer. However, that is not her focus. Her focus is completely on the provision by the hand of God. In spite of circumstances she has actually thrived. While she was here she applied too and was accepted to Seminary. Always pursuing ever thriving.

The first and last lines of my devotion this morning were, "Problems are part of life. They are inescapable woven into the very fabric of this fallen world.....Remember that you are en route to heaven, and let your problems fade in the Light of eternity."(Young, Sarah "Jesus Calling") Can I do that? Can I be a person who thrives "in spite of..."