WOW! It has been a long time since I wrote an update. Shame on me, I know! I had been avoiding it because there were a lot of things up in the air. Throughout the summer I was involved in multiple projects including day camps, painting/construction projects, and English classes for youth. After summer had finally ended we began to work out my job schedule for the coming months. I decided to wait until I had begun things to write another update, and well, I think I waited a little too long. Forgive me.
So what have I been up to? My schedule week to week changes little. Mondays to Wednesdays I am way down south in Paquisha doing the kids club. Sometimes I have help, but almost all the time I am by myself. I spend my morning preparing for the club and then I catch my bus at noon. I arrive in Paquisha just before 2 and, provided the kids actually arrive at 2 we start right away. I have been having troubles getting the kids to come on time. More often than not they end up arriving at 2:30. Currently I award a candy to everyone who is on time or early. They have been getting better.
We start with a half hour of Bible lesson. It was clear from the start that the kids knew almost nothing about the Bible. In the Saturday kids club the emphasis is on morals, not so much on Bible stories. So we started with the basics. How many books are in the Bible? How many testaments? Where can we read about Jesus? What is the Old Testament about? Etc. At the beginning I had my various helpers tell the Bible stores because their vocabulary is much better than mine (being that they are native speakers), but when they stopped coming I was forced to take it up. So I have told every story from Exodus to Numbers by myself and it has been a real test for me. I practice by telling the story to the secretary in the morning and having her fill in the gaps in my vocab. As of this past Wednesday we finished learning about the book of Numbers. I have also created a bit of a walk through the Bible for the kids. It involves saying the name of each book followed by a key word that sums up the events of that book and an action. They are really starting to catch on and it is exciting to see!
After the Bible time we have a quiz on the story and then go right into homework time. Those that do not have homework are given a coloring sheet to work on. It is always a picture of the story from that day or an educational worksheet that teaches them a bit of English. This portion of the club makes up the vast majority of the club. It is always at least an hour and the kids generally beg for more time. That might sound like an amazing thing, but it is not so shocking when you know that their parents are going to hit them if they come home without having finished their homework. It is amazing to see the smiles on their faces and the way they run to hug me when they see me coming down the road, and then to know that many of them are being beaten and sexually abused at home. Some don’t want to go home afterwards because of their home situation so they will stay and help me clean. I know that God has me here for a reason. Some of these kids only experience love when they come to the club during the week or on Saturdays.
After the Bible time we have a quiz on the story and then go right into homework time. Those that do not have homework are given a coloring sheet to work on. It is always a picture of the story from that day or an educational worksheet that teaches them a bit of English. This portion of the club makes up the vast majority of the club. It is always at least an hour and the kids generally beg for more time. That might sound like an amazing thing, but it is not so shocking when you know that their parents are going to hit them if they come home without having finished their homework. It is amazing to see the smiles on their faces and the way they run to hug me when they see me coming down the road, and then to know that many of them are being beaten and sexually abused at home. Some don’t want to go home afterwards because of their home situation so they will stay and help me clean. I know that God has me here for a reason. Some of these kids only experience love when they come to the club during the week or on Saturdays.
We always end the day with a song or games. We’ve been working on learning Silent Night (with not much success) for over a month now to perform at the Christmas concert that we are going to do next month. Often our games involve English vocabulary or concentration skills. At four we wrap up and I catch a bus for the two hour ride back to Quito.
Thursdays and Fridays I spend teaching English and trying to work on homework which has proven to be a real challenge. The classes are a lot of fun! We spend a lot of time joking around and laughing which I really enjoy. Teaching, for me, would be no fun if it weren’t for the relational aspect.
So that is where I’m at currently. On Sundays I am regularly attending an English Speaking church where I am trying to get involved. I’ve been on the worship team and helped with their kids club some, but I am hoping that more opportunities will present themselves. I miss being heavily involved in a church community like I was at home. I also attend a Bible reading on Thursday nights which is geared towards young adults. I’ve been very thankful to God for the friends He has brought into my life. As many of you know, I spent the first three months basically by myself in the house. Now I find that I have a social life that is incredibly active. I have seen a very drastic and desperately needed change in my attitude as a result. Having a social outlet is very important.
Now I need to ask a very big favor of you. I know it is generally seen as uncouth to ask directly for money, but this is not for me. As I mentioned before, we are going to have a Christmas production with the kids club in December. Our desire is to give every kid (about 70) a pair of shoes. Yes, we are in Ecuador and things are cheaper, but 70 pairs of shoes are still going to cost us about $500. We currently struggle monthly to pay the rent for the land and the electric and water bills. Paying for 70 pairs of shoes is a little out of our reach right now, but we are praying that God will allow us to provide this very basic and incredibly helpful gift for the kids. This is where you come in. Please pray about this. If you are financially able to help out in any way it would be MUCH appreciated! If you need a tax receipt for the donation then you will have to donate through the Action International Ministries website (just make sure you specify what the donation is for). The easiest way to get the money to me would be to give the donation to my parents so that they can put it directly into my bank account. This method would not include a tax receipt, but it is an easier way for me to keep track of how much money is coming and I would have more direct access to it. I just ask that if you donate to please do so by the end of this month and please send me an e-mail or a message on Facebook telling me how much you donated.
God has been SO good to me over the past months. There have been some very tough situations that have come up, and I have cried a lot, but I have not doubted for a second that God is good and that he uses every circumstance for good. Even through the storm I am singing praise to my Lord who has been answering one of my most earnest prayers; that I would be strengthened in my faith and grow in Christ. That only comes through trials and I am thankful for the way God doesn’t leave me to deal with them alone, but he shows his face through them and lets me know more than ever that he is here and going to carry me through.
Thank-you to those who have kept in contact. I have really appreciated the direct line to home. I will be home over Christmas, so I am sure I will see some of you then and I really look forward to it!
Now I need to ask a very big favor of you. I know it is generally seen as uncouth to ask directly for money, but this is not for me. As I mentioned before, we are going to have a Christmas production with the kids club in December. Our desire is to give every kid (about 70) a pair of shoes. Yes, we are in Ecuador and things are cheaper, but 70 pairs of shoes are still going to cost us about $500. We currently struggle monthly to pay the rent for the land and the electric and water bills. Paying for 70 pairs of shoes is a little out of our reach right now, but we are praying that God will allow us to provide this very basic and incredibly helpful gift for the kids. This is where you come in. Please pray about this. If you are financially able to help out in any way it would be MUCH appreciated! If you need a tax receipt for the donation then you will have to donate through the Action International Ministries website (just make sure you specify what the donation is for). The easiest way to get the money to me would be to give the donation to my parents so that they can put it directly into my bank account. This method would not include a tax receipt, but it is an easier way for me to keep track of how much money is coming and I would have more direct access to it. I just ask that if you donate to please do so by the end of this month and please send me an e-mail or a message on Facebook telling me how much you donated.
God has been SO good to me over the past months. There have been some very tough situations that have come up, and I have cried a lot, but I have not doubted for a second that God is good and that he uses every circumstance for good. Even through the storm I am singing praise to my Lord who has been answering one of my most earnest prayers; that I would be strengthened in my faith and grow in Christ. That only comes through trials and I am thankful for the way God doesn’t leave me to deal with them alone, but he shows his face through them and lets me know more than ever that he is here and going to carry me through.
Thank-you to those who have kept in contact. I have really appreciated the direct line to home. I will be home over Christmas, so I am sure I will see some of you then and I really look forward to it!
Many have also been asking me for prayer requests, so here are a few:
- Praise God for the friends he has provided! It has been such an encouragement!
- Please pray for my work in the kids club. I often feel like Moses; I’ve been asked to do something, but I lack the ability to speak. Pray that God will speak through me and that the kids will meet Christ through the club.
- Action Ecuador is going through some serious changes regarding administration and leadership. Please pray that God will lead us all to fill in the gaps as needed and to never lose sight of why we are here; to serve!!
Last, but not least, some of you do not have Facebook and so do not have access to my pictures. Here are the three albums I have created to date. These are public links so you do not need Facebook to look at them.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150263938623245.367276.515783244&type=1&l=fa4b0ae7d1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150310468228245.378393.515783244&type=1&l=8d48cc64f4
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150350514663245.388250.515783244&type=1&l=9b24462233
Gods richest blessing on all of you! Thanks for taking an interest and being part of what God is doing down here. And please drop me a line and let me know how things are going with you!
