Jovenes Contra el Cancer

Our church was going to be helping out at an event for the group "Youth Against Cancer", so as a family we went to help.

For the first while it was just setting things up, chairs, tables, signs, etc.. During the event Marlene was helping with the stage coordination and I was walking around taking pictures.

It was an opportunity for each of us to show that Jesus is our Saviour and when we die, we know where our future will be.

It is hard to find someone who hasn't been touched by either losing a friend or loved one to cancer or knowing someone who has had cancer.

Our church is reaching out to these people, to be a support for them.

Interesting signs...

We were walking around our neighbourhood one morning and came across this sign which caused us to break out laughing.

"Peque en la puerta de este lado, gracias."

"Sin at the door on this side. Thanks."

We suspect that they made a spelling error, and the sign should have read "Knock at the door on this side."

Family camp 2014

 We went to family camp this summer and enjoyed a time of relaxing (yes, it is possible at camp) as a family and with other families.

The messages were based on Jesus' sermon on the mount in Matthew 5. It was both encouraging and helpful.

Joshua and Joel enjoyed being able to run around and find all sorts of things to do.

The rule was that when you heard the siren, you had to go to where the siren was. The siren indicated the start of some event or meal times. Well, they were almost always the first in-line for meal times!

Once, because they got to dinner-time before we did, they had gotten food for themselves and us as well! That was really neat!

Going, going, gone!

Another old building on the HCJB campus came down this summer. It had many structural problems and the power distribution wasn't very good either.

We no longer had any use for the space and it made more sense to take it down and use the space for parking.

Joel's restaurant

We went out to the Ronda to celebrate the grand-mother's birthday, back in April. As we were walking down the street, we came across this restaurant.

The empandas reventadas are what you see Joel pointing at. They are basically like an Apple fritter, except with cheese instead of apple and really, REALLY big. The white stuff on top is sugar.

If you just want something light to eat, one will easily work for two people.

The artist within

  

Joshua needed to do some pictures for Art class and he ended up drawing these.

Last fall we purchased the boys two "How-to" books on drawing caricatures. We try to have both Joshua and Joel draw something everyday to help them develop their skills.

They are now at the point where they normally draw things freehand while looking at the book for the character which they want to draw.

Joshua did these freehand and then decorated them with some stick-on's.

I wish I could draw like that!!

Safe driving in Quito

I finally found the perfect example of safe driving here in Quito.

While at first glance, the photo may tend to indicate "un-safe" driving habits, don't be fooled.

I know that going the wrong way up a one-way street, or driving a vehicle without a license plate, or even having someone sitting out front so that if there is an accident they are sure to be hurt may not be safe.

But what IS important is what this person is sitting on...a 500 pound safe.

Military in the future?

Joshua got changed this afternoon, went outside, and when he came back in said that, "Now I'm ready."

I'm not sure what he's ready for, but he loves to get dressed up in military or police uniforms!

Honour Roll for first semester

Joel continues making the Honour Roll in school. This time for the complete first semester. We're proud of how well he's doing in school.

Another eruption?

It certainly looks like another eruption. But looks can be deceiving. The mountain that we could normally see in this direction is Chimborazo and it is snow-covered, but you can't see it from this location. It is actually behind the hill which you just see.

The way the clouds are formed in this photo it certainly looks like a BIG mountain and an erupting one as well. Or, maybe it's just my imagination!

Social sciences fair

Today, Saturday, is the Social Sciences Fair at the boy's school.

Joshua has privilege of getting people entering and leaving the "changes in Latin countries".

Joel was a Chef making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the "nutrition" area.

Unusual sight

This was kind of neat to see. We turned a corner and a taxi pulled out from the curb with the Canadian flag displayed where the license plate normally is. We don't see many Canadian flags here in Quito, so they sort of stand out!

Graduation - Specialization

Tuesday, March 18, Marlene graduated with a title of Specialization in Communications. She put in a lot of work to get here!

We are all very proud of what she has accomplished to get here!

She still has a few months of classes in her second year of the Master/s program and then the job will be to finish the thesis to graduate with a Master's in Communications.

New life

I've had this plant in my office for two years now. Last March, we cut the top off to see how it would grow in another jar. What I wasn't expecting was that this plant would just stop growing...or so it seemed. 

I kept it in water and waited for what would happen. About three months later, a small slit appeared in the stalk near the top. Then about another month later, a small green shoot started to appear. 

Now, ten months later, you can see how far it has come.

It reminds me of the joke about the panda bear wearing a gun, who enters a restaurant and orders a meal. He finishes eating, stands up, pulls out his gun and shoots and then leaves. The waiter asked him what he was doing, and the panda responded, "look it up in an encycolpedia".

So the waiter goes to the library and looks up pandas in the encyclopedia. Sure enough, he found out why, "Panda bears, eats, shoots and leaves".

What's in a name?

After many years of operating as HCJB (in one form or another), the ministry is changing its name. In 1931 Clarence Jones, Reuben Larson and others started station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador. Today, their pioneering spirit and vision lives on as we continue to share the gospel through media and healthcare initiatives around the world.

As of January 22, 2014, HCJB Global is now Reach Beyond. In our continuing efforts to equip partners who care for the spiritual and physical needs of people who have never met Christ, our new tagline is “The Voice and Hands of Jesus. Together.”

Through your faithful effort, you help us “reach beyond” our comfort zones and perceived limitations to take the gospel to the unreached.

Be sure to visit our new website at reachbeyond.org to learn more about the fresh presentation of the vision that Clarence Jones and so many others established in years past. And please be sure to pray that God will continue to multiply our efforts so that His name is declared and glorified among the nations!

Serving our God with you!

Marlene finished her Specialization

Congratulations to Marlene for finishing her Specialization in Communications. This is the first year of the two-year Masters program. This required her to complete her monograph about HCJB.

Now she just needs to finish a thesis and the rest of this year to graduate with her Masters of Communications.

There is still a lot of work ahead, but it's a great encouragement to finish this milestone!