How well do you respond to change?

It was a bit past 1:00 AM when we arrived a the Avis car rental facility at the Boston airport on our way back from Cúcuta, Colombia. We knew we still had about two hours to drive before our heads would find a pillow that night.

D-22 was the parking space that the Avis app on my phone said would have our car for the next five days. When we found row D and turned left I saw it. An EV! Yes! An ELECTRIC vehicle. That's right, no, it's not a hybrid. This car doesn't use any gasoline. I went into shock. Now what?

Well, "It is what it is," I told myself and we loaded our carryon suitcases in the back. After a few minutes I figured out how to start it and noticed the little spinner knob to put it in D, N or R. Oh and the little button for P. The dashboard was overwhelming! So many options. It was information overload! 

I was still in shock, but what was I to do? 

I twisted the little circle on the console and made the "D" light up. And... off we went. I had gone about 57 feet and I was in shock again. "Wait... how will I charge this thing?" No, no, no, I told myself, I can't take this thing out of here, we need a GV, a gas vehicle! So, I pushed on the brakes, drove around row E and F and took that car right back to parking space D-22.

Naty didn't blame me. We unloaded our carryons and went in the building to request another car. When we found our way to the Avis desk, there must have been about 60 people in the cue! Yes, 60+ people at 1:15 AM! Now what? I called customer service. 1-800-PLEASE HELP ME!

The kind young man on the other end of the call let me know that he couldn't change my vehicle, only the person at the desk (on the other side of the other 60 people in front of me) could help me with that. 

"Maybe you should just try the electric car," he suggested. 

"How am I supposed to charge it?" I asked him.

"Just Google it," he replied.

"Of course!" I thought. Google and YouTube could surely show me how to drive and charge a Kia Niro EV!

I looked one last time at the 60 people in front of me in line. "You've got to embrace this brave new world." I told myself. And Naty and I started walking toward parking space D-22 for the second time.

"Yeah, electric vehicles aren't that complicated," the hopeful customer service voice told me as we walked back outside. "You can look up EV charging stations on Google Maps and you'll know where to go."

So we loaded up our suitcases for the second time, watched a minute or two of a YouTube video about the Kia Niro EV, pushed the start button, turned the little dial to D, and started driving toward Warwick, MA.

Sometimes you just have to just embrace change and go for it!

Oh, and yes, after a few attempts we did find where to charge the car so we could go back to Boston again!

Thankful for Saturdays

It's a Saturday and we are at home. What a blessing! Saturdays have become "sabbath" for us a time to stop, rest, explore, and enjoy life to the fullest. So, today we connected with our contemplative communities online, created some powerpoints and brochures and enjoyed the fall colors and breezes. 

Two Saturdays ago we were walking and exploring downtown Bogotá and had lunch with a beautiful Quichua family there. 

Last Saturday we were in Massachusetts being tourists with an electric car looking for places to charge and enjoying the scenery along the way.

Who knows what next Saturday will bring, but whatever it is, I'm thankful.

Challenges in Ecuador

When this is what you see in a country where fresh produce is usually abundant, you know something is wrong. Things aren't at all normal these days since President Moreno removed the government subsidy for regular gas and diesel. Last week there a taxi, bus and truckers strike for two days that was supposed to be over on Friday, but then the Indigenous communities started their protests. Cutting down trees and dragging them across highways. Setting tires on fire and dumping nails in the streets!

Supposedly about 20,000 indigenous people have now come to Quito, some having walked for two days, to protest and try to throw out the government. The president and his cabinet have moved to Guayaquil and have declared that city to be the new seat of government for the country now.

A friend sent a video of this scene this morning where the police, dressed in riot gear, were saying the Lord's Prayer in front of the presidential palace in the center of Quito.

As you read this take a minute to pray Your kingdom come, Your will be done in Ecuador as it is in heaven. Amen.

September Happenings

Gaby is a senior now!!! We had the "Juramento a la Bandera" ceremony for seniors on Ecuador's Flag Day September 26. Naty and I along with 6 other sets of parents sang to our children during the reception. It was impossible keep the tears away for parents and seniors alike!

Naty is back to leading the Entre Nosotras women's ministry at Alliance Academy. All the leaders look fruity here because this semester they are studying the book Made to Crave and discussing how to live healthier.

The last weekend in September we traveled to Guayaquil for a missions promotion event. We got to stay with our dear friends Angel and Yanella and they took us out to eat crabs. That was quite a test of patience.

We started our youth group again with AAI students. For the first half of the school year we'll be talking about relationships and doing different social activities.

I don't have any pictures to show it, but Marcus is really busy with drama now. They will be doing Little Women as the play at school and he is even trying out for a part in a movie. Stay tuned to see how that goes!

August 2019 Update

We are very grateful to be back in Quito again after an amazing summer with family and friends in the USA. To read more about it, check out our latest update letter here. You can also subscribe at the link to make sure you get our future emails.

The Best of 2018

The best part of this year may be yet to come since we have the incredible opportunity to travel to Asia for Christmas and New Year's. But aside from that, there were lots of other great things that happened this year.

One of the best is having family, friends and churches behind us allowing us to keep serving here in Ecuador. We had a great trip to the US this past summer and are very thankful to have all of the financial support we need to keep ministering at Alliance Academy International as well as at other churches here.

Another major highlight was having the youth group from Locust Grove Mennonite Church come to minister with us in July. With their help, we were able to bless several families and neighborhoods in Quito that we couldn't have reached on our own.

This year we started meeting with other friends to start house churches. We've especially enjoyed getting to study the Bible with this couple from Venezuela that Naty knew ever since she was a girl.

Gaby and Marcus are having a great school year! Gaby is now a Junior and Marcus is a Freshman. Both of them are leaders for their class and they are both making stronger friendships this year.

Naty is the president for the parent committee for Gaby's class and has done a great job leading the committee through several fundraiser events with more activities still to come. She is also very busy taking classes online to become a certified life coach, which is giving her even more tools to be able to pour into the lives of others.

I have enjoyed climbing more mountains and doing more trail races this year, but I'm most excited about having a new job at Alliance Academy. I'm now half-time staff care coordinator and half-time Reading Intervention teacher. Both of these roles fit me better than being a classroom teacher and I am loving the diversity of all that I need to do at school now.

Marcus loved participating in the drama workshops at school and is looking forward to being part of their production this spring.

Gaby's workshop is often her bedroom where she has been crocheting some pretty amazing teddy bears lately.

2018 has been great! We've had our challenges too with parents and teenagers not always seeing eye to eye, but we all agree, WE LOVE OUR FAMILY! We are anxious for all that the Father has in store for us in 2019!

Hosting and Training

This year has already started with lots of action. The first weekend of the year we welcomed the Lozada and Wanty families to our place in Quito. After spending New Year with them, we were so glad they could come to our place as well. Gaby missed the fun because she was at the Alliance Academy "Fusion" girls retreat for the weekend. Naty and Carla took all the ladies and kids to Mitad del Mundo to visit the equator.

Meanwhile I took Derek and some other guys to hike to the top of the Guagua Pichincha volcano. It was the first time Derek and Carla's nephew Andrés had ever seen snow!

A weekend later, we went with our new Cuban friends Raul and Lydia to visit our friend Marcelo's restaurant in the town of Nono. We have started meeting and praying with Raul and Lydia and are planning to work together with them to start house churches in Nono and also in Quito. They were house church planters for many years in Cuba and they have been longing to do the same thing here in Ecuador. It's amazing how God has given each of us the same desires.  The kids and I are planning to help facilitate our first Bible study in Nono tomorrow.

Last weekend I traveled to Durán, just across the river from Guayaquil, for the annual business meetings of the IEME Mennonite churches in Ecuador. I was very grateful for the time I got to be with Cesar and Brenda (pictured here) and was able to preach at their church on Sunday Morning.

This past week, Jan. 23-27, Naty helped to facilitate a Kairos Course here in Quito at the campus of HCJB. We hosted Daniel Coventon from Honduras and Angel Castro from Guayaquil all week so that they could participate in the course.

Last night Gaby had her winter choir concert at AAI. They did an amazing job and she sang a great solo!

 Today Naty is on the coast at Salinas, teaching leadership skills to the teams of Impacto Mundial, an Ecuadorian mission agency with whom we partner. If all goes well, she'll fly back to Quito Sunday evening. Her flight there got postponed about 3 hours. Hopefully that won't happen tomorrow.

 

So, what's up next? Thankfully we have a week off school in February for our semester break and Carnival. We plan to spend half of that time on the coast in Puerto Cayo to help with building the new Mennonite Church campground. We'll also help facilitate a missions workshop with some other missionaries from Ecuador during that time. Later in February Naty will be coordinating with our Impaco Mundial Quito team to host a coffee time for pastors to encourage and mobilize them for global missions.
In March, Dion will be helping to lead the high school guys "Man Up" retreat here in Quitl and then also teaching for three days at the SEMBRAR discipleship training school in Manta.