Fishing for lunch

On Boxing Day, we decided to do something different and fish for our lunch. You didn't need to have any talent to catch these guys but it was fun anyway. Joel didn't like the idea of having the fish killed and so didn't want to fish. Joshua caught 2, Grandpa 3, Grandma 2, Marlene 2 and I caught 3 (1 without using bait).

With the 12 fish we caught, they weighed in at 3.8 Kg. The restaurant prepared the fish and of course, when they serve the plate with the fish, it is the whole fish, head and tail included! The trout were very tasty!

Grandma had brought a couple of Gospel tracts about being "Fishers of men" and it was very appropriate to present them to the workers there.

Baptism of Joshua and Joel

We had the joy of seeing both Joshua and Joel be baptized on December 6. Both of them had been asking about baptism for more than a year now. The children's ministry pastor had mentioned that he was giving baptism classes to teach the kids what it means to be baptized and that Joshua and Joel could be a part of it. Both of them have expressed many times over the past couple of years that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour. They both wanted to follow Jesus in obedience by being baptized.

In the service that we normally attend Pastor Conto baptized our boys (and a fair number of other young people). It was a joy to see these young people following Jesus in baptism.

Quito Day

December 4 we celebrated Quito Day (which actually occurs December 6) on the campus of Reach Beyond.

This year they had a competition in sweets and typical foods as well. Delicious!

Joshua was the Chulla Quiteno at school and he did an encore here at the office. The gal from the Region didn't have an escort (Chulla Quiteno) and as Joshua was dressed as one he stood in. The regional office won 2nd place when all the events were added up.

Crash corner

The corner where we now live has its fair share of accidents. I think we just didn't hear them all from where we used to live. But this week a car ran the Stop and collided with a vehicle coming down the hill. After bouncing off of a tree the car coming down the hill was stopped by the gate-posts where we lived. As you can see the posts were built well!

Then just this morning a taxi didn't see a motorcycle coming down the hill. The motorcyclist almost managed to get stopped, but not quite. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

New home

We had begun to look for a new place to live as the apartment we have had for the past year has mold and is quite dark. The darkness was not going to get any better with an 8-floor building going up next door. Marlene spotted this place a mere 1/2 block from where we have been and after looking at it we decided that it would be a good fit for us.

It's a bit smaller but has no mold and is very bright and warm. The rent is a more but we'll be paying less in utilities (both lights and water).

Last weekend we moved the majority of our stuff. Marlene has been doing a terrific job of getting the place organized.

We have the bottom floor in the photo.

The talk...

We were privileged to be able to have an open door to share our ADHD talk with some of the teachers at the school Joshua and Joel attend. It went quite well and a couple of them were wanting to ask us questions. Unfortunately, we had less than one hour so we will need to follow-up with the teachers at a later time.

It truly is amazing how God continues to open paths for us to share with others.

This week we have another opportunity to share with more teachers. Pray with us that it would be a benefit to them.

Tungurahua activity - Orange alert

Due to an increase in activity of the volcano Tungurahua (near Banos, on the way to Shell), the government has increased the alert level to Orange. Currently there are almost continuous explosive eruptions creating ash plumes rising 3 km. An area 10-20 km west of the volcano has received up to 2 mm of ash. Incandescent rocks have also been thrown out of the crater during the explosions.

The flower lady

Marlene with the "Flower lady". This lady is out selling flowers almost every day to support her family and put her children through school.

We buy flowers from her when we can. She shows such a great work-ethic.

Smoking volcano

This morning we got a nice view of Cotopaxi as it was spewing some vapour and ash upto 1.5 Km high. You'll need to put up with my photos as it took me a few seconds to get my camera out to take a picture.

The instruments indicate the the crater is becoming incandescent which indicates that magma is nearing the surface. We could have fresh lava being expelled from the volcano.

The photo at the bottom is from a site which explains the current status of the volcano (in English).

Click here if you want to read about the latest activity.

Conferences

We had the opportunity to share our experience in helping active children with a number of teachers at a public school. It was interesting how God opened the door for this time.

A friend of ours in Vancouver asked us to bring down a couple of things for her sister in Quito. When she came to pick them up, Marlene and her began talking and it turns out she was able to get us into this school to share our experiences.

A number of the teachers expressed their appreciation for our time with them and giving them some ideas to use, not only with the hyper-active children but also for use in conversations with the parents of the children.

We thank God for this opportunity and for other opportunities which are on the horizon.

60 Years

It has been a week of festivities for the Hospital Vozandes Quito (HVQ) as it celebrates 60 years of service to Quito and Ecuador to the glory of God.

During its 60 years, the hospital has gone through several expansions and continues to improve the number of services it offers as well as the quality of service it provides.

One thing that hasn't changed much is the desire to provide spiritual care in addition to physical care. There is still a heart for the patients and families that pass through the doors, to show them the love of Christ.

October 12th there was a formal ceremony of remembrance and thanksgiving for God's faithfulness in the ministry of this hospital.

 

The National Police Band gave a mini-concert for everyone within earshot.

After thanksgiving prayers to God for his protection and provision during the past decades, balloons were released to commemorate the occasion.

Several doctors whom have had instrumental roles in the hospital over the years were on-hand to participate in the celebrations.

Lego Discovery Center

For those of you who like Lego, Lego Discover Center is a cool place to visit. The number and complexity of things which can be built with Lego is limited only by one's imagination.

Joshua and Joel thoroughly enjoyed their time playing with basically "unlimited" amounts of Lego.

There were some really neat models built of Toronto and of course, there was an entire exhibit dedicated to Star Wars.

Watch that first step

The construction next door has given us more light in our apartment because they needed to tear down the wall that was between the two properties. It has left us with less yard space, at least until the new wall goes up with that being estimated for sometime in January. In the meantime, I have less grass to cut!

 

Changes, changes, changes...

We came back to changes in Quito.

One of the first things I noticed going back to the office was, I had to find my office. During the summer the whole administration area of the Latin America Region had moved to another building on campus and I found that my office had all of my things in it, just not in the same order that I had left them. :-) I also needed to have my budgets done this week, and my PC was having fits.

The building next door had been torn down before we moved into our current apartment and we knew that they would be constructing a new building, we just weren't sure when the construction would start. It turns out they started this week! Part of the process involved taking out the wall that was built on the neighbours lot. Of course, when two walls are built together, taking one down usually does some damage to the second one.

Even with adventure and inconvenience, it is still very good to be back home!

They're rich!

Joshua and Joel had the opportunity to pan for gold at Fort Steele. It was an experience they will probably never forget as they both found "gold", well at least "fools gold".

Airport time, yeah!

It seems we've been spending a lot of time in airports lately. Actually, it's because we have and we haven't finished yet. (Waiting in Cranbrook for our flight to Vancouver.)

(OK, I messed up. Now you can see the photo without getting a crick in your neck!)

Meeting the Canadian Office staff

 

After 16 years of serving with Reach Beyond Canada we decided it was time to meet the staff that work so diligently on our behalf. Wow, what a great group of people with a real heart to reach out to those who don't know our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ!

We had a few days with them and left so encouraged to carry on the task of giving everyone the opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Thank you to each of you in the Canadian office!