Molly's first devotional

 

At the start of this year, our family began family devotional nights every Tuesday night.  It has become a highlight of my week.  Luke, Jordan and Molly are so creative with their lessons.  Here is Molly leading her first devotional night.  If you go to our ministry's web site, http://www.incalink.net/ you will find a video of an intern serving at the city dump in Peru.  Molly had watched this video and decided to use it in her devo night.  This picture is so sweet:  it is of the children in the dump with broken toys but Molly tells us that the kids are not scared or sad because they know Jesus (at the top of the picture) is with them and taking care of them. 

 

Molly asked Jordan to pray and Luke to play a song.  We watched the video again and then she asked us to draw a picture of a time when Jesus helped someone.  She also read from her rhyming bible the story of when Jesus fed thousands with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. 

Molly was prepared and taught a great first lesson.  She likes to play school, and she usually teaches in Spanish to her baby dolls.  Lucky for me, she taught in English this night. 

Guys Bike Trip

For Casey's Christmas present, I gave him a Cotopaxi bike tour - so did many of my friends for their husbands.  The guys started at the base of Cotopaxi volcano, a little over 15,000 feet and rode down to about 9,000 feet.  Casey said it was very cold but very fun.

Casey riding down with the beautiful cone-shaped volcano, Cotopaxi in the background.  Cotopaxi's peak is 19,347 feet and on clear days this majestic creation overlooks the city of Quito.

Casey also got to see beautiful wild horses on his bike ride.

The guys had a wonderful day together enjoying God's amazing creation.



Casa Elizabeth

Casa Elizabeth is a home for pregnant teenagers and their babies.  Inca Link planned for the home to open this month, but God had other plans for the home to open a bit earlier.  A girl had a baby in December and had nowhere to go, so the doors were opened to welcome her and her newborn son to live at Casa Elizabeth.  Currently there are 3 girls living at Casa Elizabeth ranging in ages from 12-19.  Two girls are pregnant and one has a baby.  Would you please pray for our ministry with Casa Elizabeth?  Here is a picture of Casa Elizabeth, a gift from the Lord.  It is completely paid for!

Our family is excited to have the girls come to our home every Monday night for dinner, short Bible study, and play time with our family.  This is also what our family does every Thursday night with the young men living at Casa Gabriel.  Thursday nights with the boys are much louder and crazier than Monday nights with the girls.  Hopefully after time the Casa Elizabeth girls will feel the same comfort level as the Casa Gabriel boys. 

Remembering...

I have been playing catch up since I started this blog in January, but I want to stop and remember a dear friend.  Here in Ecuador we just celebrated Carnaval and to my kids' description it is one big water fight.  Carnaval is a fun holiday but it is also a painful reminder that we lost a dear family during last year's Carnaval holidays.  Jordan's best friend, Asaf, along with his mom and dad were killed in a car accident.  Would you please stop and pray for Alejandra who lost her dad, mom and brother last year?  She is a precious young girl in the 6th grade at Alliance Academy.

I was looking through my old blog where I had written about Asaf and how sad we were that he was moving back to Uzbekistan to be missionaries there.  Never did anyone imagine such a tragedy would happen to such a beautiful and loving family.  This is a time when we do not understand God's ways but choose to trust them.  Jordan has grieved for his friend for a year, and I am so thankful he still talks about Asaf.  During the Ladine's memorial service, I will never forget seeing Jordan with his sleeves 3 times their normal size because he had chewed on them all day and telling Jordan that he does not have to go on stage with his class to sing at the service.  Jordan looked at me and said, "Of course I am going.  I am going to sing the best I ever have for Asaf." And he did...

We miss you so much Asaf, but we know that you are rejoicing with our Lord.

Beach Birthday

December 29, 2010 - Jordan turns 9 at Canoa

For breakfast, he enjoyed a Tigreton (like a chocolate covered Twinkie)

After a super fun day at the beach we all went to Surf Shack to eat pizza!

December 29 is also Carla's birthday, so it was double the celebration!

Can he really be 9?

Gooey Arroz Crocante Treats with melted candles!

9 reasons I love Jordan:

1.  He loves God and loves others deeply.

2.  If you ask him to pray for you, he will not forget and will pray faithfully.

3.  He is SILLY and makes me laugh everyday.

4.  He is creative and has a wonderful imagination.

5.  He is sensitive and has a tender heart.

6.  He leaves pictures, stories he has written, and made up soccer team stats ALL over the house.

7.  He is an encourager, includer, and a great friend.

8.  He has a generous heart and loves to give gifts.

9.  He will sporadically come up and give me a big hug and say how much he loves me.

Feliz Cumpleaños Jordan!  You bring so much joy to my life.  I am very proud of you and love you with all of my heart.

Beach Trip!

We loaded up the car and headed to Canoa, a beach in Ecuador with two other fun families.  The waves were amazing and with friends from California, our family learned to surf or maybe some of us attempted the new sport.  I hopped right up the first time but then could never do it again.  On the other hand, Luke and Jordan were dancing on their surfboards.  Jordan loved to do the Macarena!

Boogie boarding is the best!

Maddy, Molly, Mia, Lucy, Mikala

Cade, Nick, Jordan, Luke

Molly and Lucy are two peas in a pod and they had a blast together!

Playing frisbee at sunset

Here is the whole crew with President Rafael Correa who our neighbors at the beach bought to burn to bring in the New Year.  There is a New Year's Eve tradition here in Ecuador where you burn the old man symbolizing ending the previous year and starting fresh with the new year.  The picture below is poor Correa being burned at the beach.

It was such a fun week to be with friends! We are very thankful for the Jensens and Ackermanns who live in Quito with us. 

Low point:  Maddy and Luke stung by jelly fish

High points:  lots of laughter, celebrating Carla and Jordan's birthdays (next post), celebrating New Year's with fireworks and glow sticks, playing games, learning to surf, boogie boarding, building and destroying a gigantic sand castle, burying one another in the sand, finding starfish and sand dollars along the beach, and enjoying God's beautiful creation with great friends.