Thanksgiving is coming soon! I can hardly believe how fast time keeps going. It's been a long time since I've shared anything on this blog, so here goes with a quick update.
Back in October Marcus and Gaby both ended up their volleyball seasons in second place for their local high school league. It was disappointing to loose in the championship matches, but both teams did very well.
This coming weekend we will have the volleyball awards banquets for both teams.
This past Saturday I finally made it on my bike to the top of the antenna hill behind our house, a 3,000+ feet climb.
We got a car! Naty made a trip to Guayaquil to buy a 2006 Toyota Rav4 from a family in one of the Mennonite churches there that is moving to the US. We had to do some minor repairs, but we hope that this car can serve us for many years to come.
Thankfully, both Naty and I got our Ecuadorian driver's licenses as well!
November 2, 3 and 4 were national holidays here in Ecuador, so we used that time to make a trip to Manta. With all the traffic it took us 10 1/2 hours to make a 7 hour trip! One highlight we spending a day at the beach with the Murphy family, some of our ministry partners at Alliance Academy.
From the beach, we went to the IEME Mennonite churches national retreat, where we got to visit with all of our friends from the churches here. An extra special treat was spending the two days with our friends Pablo and Judi Kauffman and DeLynn, Gloria and Carmelinda Hoover who were the speakers for the event.
Last week we went out for sushi to celebrate Marcus' upcoming birthday. On November 17 he will turn 13 years old!
On Friday night we hosted about 15 youth at our house. Our family and another missionary family with their children at Alliance started a youth group for fun, food, Bible study and prayer for our kids and their friends. We had a great time and look forward to meeting again in December.
Yesterday morning was a very sad time of saying goodbye to a member of the church that we have decided to join here in Quito. Juan Pablo Rocha, a Colombian refugee, died of Pneumonia on Friday night. We didn't get to know him well, but we won't forget his contagious smile and generous spirit. It is so hard to see someone so young, with so much to give already passed on from this world to eternity.
Naty continues to connect with others involved in global missions. Last night we hosted four young ladies who are in the
Corrientes missions training program here in Quito. Over the next few months they will be moving to Niger, Eritrea, Djibouti and Greece to serve in missions.