Young Life Ecuador Camp

Here are some pictures from Camp.  Pardon me if there are typos.  I have gotten 5 hours of sleep or less and worked very hard the last 4 days.  I am too tired to proofread.  We really had a great time.  I got to meet many new friends who love Jesus and have a heart for young people to know Him.  Abby made some friends, too, as she was with our friend in her cabin of girls.  She has been stretched in her knowledge of Spanish!  Actually we both have been stretched a lot in this area.  

This is the view leaving the camp.  The camp was just outside of Shell.  And this whole place is surrounded by mountains!  The building to the left is the main building where we met for club time and where the dining hall was.  The area of dirt/mud was where we played a lot of the games.  It has rained everyday since we arrived except today.  Cris says it rains more than 50 inches per year here!

Each meal the camp members had to sit 10 to a table in order to eat.  Here is Abby with her table one of the nights.  It was more complicated than it had to be to get food on the tables because the kids had to choose a table each meal! Keeping to a schedule is not really the priority here.

This Young Life camp is evangelistic.  Kids are not allowed to come a second time unless they bring 2 friends.  At first the games and songs are silly or just fun.  Later in the week, they start playing more worshipful songs.  Also the campers all get in lines with arms around each for every song that doesn't require jumping. :)

Games!!  They played lots and lots of games!  Here they are doing relay games.  In this one, each member of the teams had to kick the ball to the end and back while they were jumping in a sack.  

This is the end of the bike ride I was dreading!  I didn't end up having to bike it and I so thankful.  8 km up and (a little down) part of a mountain.  Abby was amazing though as she did the bike trip and then we all (almost all 134 of us- workers, leaders, and campers) went rafting afterwards.  It was my first time white water rafting. The river was a bit wild (at least to me!), but we all survived.  It was fun, but very cold and exhausting.  Abby and our friend's raft flipped and it was scary for a bit, but in the end all were safe.  

One night we did a "fair" for the kids.  There were games set up where the kids could earn "dollars" and then use them to buy snacks.  They could also use their money to purchase water, flour or eggs for the purpose of throwing them on their leader.  I am glad I was a worker and not a leader this night.  Here I am with some of my new friends in our costumes for the night.  All the workers were dressed in silly costumes, a bit like clowns.


The last night was my favorite.  It made all the hard, hard work and sleepless nights worth it.  The speaker, who has talked about Jesus already, clearly presents the gospel.  Then they kids are challenged to give themselves fully to Him, and there is a time of real worship music.  After this club time there is a 15 minute silence in the camp as the kids are ushered to chairs that have been distributed in an area of the camp and are encouraged to spend that time reflecting and praying.  It was powerful and many of the kids said they had decided to commit their lives to Jesus during that time.  Now... I am going to bed.  I am one sleepy girl.

A New Adventure... Shell, Ecuador

Abby's Ecuadorian Adventure is under way!  We are getting settled into our friend's home. Camp starts tomorrow.

The OMS Guest house in Quito where we spent our first night.

If you look closely you can see the snow covered mountain in the background behind the clouds. It is a volcano named Cotopaxi that just erupted last week.  There is still much smoke and ash in the air and on the plants and the ground in the surrounding area.  It is south of Quito and we drove by it on the way to Shell.

Quito is surrounded by mountains, many of them volcanos.  Here is a view as we are nearing Shell.  We had to stop because there had been a landslide and they were cleaning up the road.  I  got out and took a few photos. :)

Spring!!

As promised here is the Spring post!  By the way...God is amazing!  In this season He wakens the world to life and color.  Hope is birthed in Spring.  As we wait, longing for relief from cold, dark, and lifelessness, the seeds of hope is birthed.  Hope is the certainty of things we cannot see.  Spring reminds us that all the promises of God are true and certain!
To enjoy the beauty of the new season and to celebrate the end of David's first year of nursing school, we went on a couple of hikes.

Here are a few more cute ones from the past few months.

Sarah's brothers love her so much!  Here Nathanael is reading to her.

CHICKENS!  In addition to the dog, we added chickens to our household.  

The 4 youngest swinging on the porch swing.

My long-haired boy got tired of it so we buzzed it off to give him a new look.

Abby participated in the ballet again and my parents were able to come  up to see it.

After several years of asking, we finally Micah dance, also.  Here he is after the performance with his class.  He did a great job, and loved it!  He even got to do a lift! 

Shame on Me! It's been almost a year!

Shame on me for not keeping this blog updated.  For some reason it has become work for me instead of fun, and I have enough work to do already!!  But for those who are far away and want to know what is happening in our lives, or want to see how the kids are growing, here is pictorial update.

First, we went to Oregon last summer.  It was wonderful to see family and explore the beauty of the area.

We spent a somewhat rainy day at the coast.  This is us in Newport.

We are eating at Mo's- a locally famous seafood place on the ocean blvd in Newport.  David used to go here as a kid!

Keenan by the beautifully rugged coastline.

One fun thing we got to do in Oregon is to play with cousins!  Here Silas is with 2 of the crew!

Sarah with Papa.

Abby receiving an AWANA award from Grandma.  She memorized hundreds of verses to qualify for the award.  Rachel also received an important AWANA award while we were in Oregon.

Silas turned 6.

Rachel turned 16 in October!  IT has been a big year for her!  Lots of new experiences!  We celebrated her birthday with a big scavenger hunt and game night.

 

Abby celebrated her 14th birthday with a the camping party she never got to have the year Nathanael was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes!

 We took fun pictures under the ginkgo tree at Asbury Seminary.  It is a favorite picture spot for many.  We got there as it was getting dark, but did it anyway for fear they would rake up all the lovely golden leaves before we could make it back!

Keenan got a dog in late summer!  He had been asking for one for years and saving his money!  He has done a great job being a pet owner!

Keenan las got to play basketball for the first time and LOVED it!

December is Keenan's birthday month!

 Here are a few from Christmas.

We got 2 really big snows this year, each 12 in. or more.  Here Micah is trying to dig out his bike!

Easter Sunday!  Sarah is out for a stroll in her car.  And below having fun with her basket of eggs! 

The boys playing ball.

I'll post more of the past couple of months soon.  And I really do mean soon! :)

A Successful Day

It's been 4 days since David and Rachel have been gone! I really do miss them!  I guess maybe I'll post more this week (this is #3 already) because there is less school work to do and because there is a shortage of adult conversations to be had. :)
Today I left the load of laundry on the line- the one with Micah's truck blanket that Rachel's cat pee'd on and a few kitchen rags that were a bit smelly.  I washed them in hot water and hung them in the germ killing sun!  But it's late and dark and they are still there. I also forgot to remind the 10 yr old to put the trash by the road for the trash truck this morning, and they went right on by our house while our trash collects flies and odors for a few more days until the next trash day that I cannot forget! And there is likely something else that has slipped my mind, still lingering in the land of forgetfulness!  I live there more often than I would like.
But then again today, I did finally get the insurance issue straightened out and get Nathanael's blood sugar testing supplies from the pharmacy just in the nick of time.  And I did enter all my receipts into the checkbook, which would make my hubby proud if he were here!  I made a run to the local DG store for the all important toilet paper, napkins, and AAA batteries ('cause those are necessities to 8 yr old boys!) I also read several books to boys crowded around, fed them all 3 meals and a snack, nursed the baby every time she was hungry, washed above mentioned smelly laundry, washed  or loaded dishes (though I just remembered that I never finished them!  Haha.  I knew there was something else I forgot!).  But I did do lots of training/discipline with one boy who is struggling to listen and obey, give lots of hugs and snuggles to all, and I remember to check Nathanael's blood sugar at every meal and give him insulin every time after.  I remembered it was Monday, which is Kid's Worship day at CI-HOP.  I got my kiddos there, watched my friend's boy, who plays with Nathanael while she teaches to the kids to love Jesus, His Word, and Praising Him, and I remembered to go back and get them when it was finished.  I was even a little early and got to join in the worship for a short time!  I also sent a few emails, had a lovely impromptu visit with a friend, checked facebook several times for updates on my loves in South America, and talked and prayed on the phone with a friend who is struggling.  After all of that, I vacuumed the rugs and the stairs, gave the 3 littles baths, sent the 2 middles to the shower, and made ice cream sundaes for dessert. Then, I took the 5 youngest up to brush teeth, read the nightly Bible story, sing, pray, get more water, give one more hug, tell one more boy to keep his hands to himself, go back downstairs, talk with Abby (the girl who's missing her sister!), and rock and feed the baby.
whew....!!  I did remember to do a lot of important things today.  So I will let the forgotten things go, breathe deeply, turn the eyes of my heart to my Father in Heaven and go to bed with His praise on my lips.  It has been a successful day!

Away they fly...

And they are off... to Loja, Ecuador!  Rachel and David, that is!  

What a neat opportunity they have been given! You may have gotten a letter from them about.  If you gave or are praying for them this week, thank you so much! You will be rewarded by our Father in Heaven who sees what is done in secret! 

They are traveling with the girls youth group at our local church from KY to minister with an OMS group and local believers there in Loja.  They will be doing some light building/ work projects, VBS-type kids activities, evangelization, and whatever else they are asked to do as servants of Jesus, the King!  I miss them so much already, but I am so thankful for this opportunity, especially for Rachel.  

All the parents were taking pictures at the same time so it was hard to get a good one, but here is the team at the airport saying goodbye to their "normal" life for a while!