December 2009

A Look Back...

• November 13th: Our school held a Poetry Night. It was a huge success!
• November 26th: I was able to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal for David and his dad. I loved sharing some of my culture with them.
• November 27th: The MAF missionary community shared a progressive Thanksgiving dinner. We loved sharing food and just spending time together with our MAF family here in Shell.
• December 5th: David and I were blessed to attend the wedding of his cousin in a nearby city. It was great to see David's family that live away and we don't get a chance to visit very often.
• December 10th: Our school presented a Christmas program to kick off the Christmas season. Many people from the missionary community attended, as well as several Ecuadorian friends. I was able to bring my Spotlight students since we usually have English practice on Thursday evenings. They really enjoyed singing some Christmas carols in English!

Looking ahead - How you can pray and praise with us!

• Praise God that David received a 5-year visa for the States!!! Thank you for all of your prayers concerning this recent request.
• Pray for safety as we travel to the States to visit family and friends. We leave Ecuador on December 19th and return on the 30th. We hope to see as many people as possible while we are in for this short visit, but family is definitely a priority for us. This will be David's first trip to the States. We're excited he will finally get a chance to see where I grew up and to meet more family and friends that weren't able to attend the wedding, especially my grandparents.
• Praise God for the blessing that baby Nanki has been to us. He is a joy to have each week and it's been something new that David and I are able to experience together. We're getting plenty of practice changing dirty diapers!
• Praise God that meetings David led with the ALAS employees were a success. They were able to make a clear plan for the next year of service.
• Pray for my relationship with Rosa, a 12-year old girl from Casa de Fe (where Nanki also lives). Because the children at the orphanage don't receive much one-on-one attention, I am hoping to spend more time with Rosa, who comes from a very difficult childhood. We made and decorated Christmas cookies together and I plan to continue to cook with her on a regular basis. She is a sweet girl with a great attitude, but is still healing from her past. Pray that Rosa will experience God's unconditional love and form a relationship with Him.