Ohio and PA

While Naty, Gaby and Marcus are enjoying having Papapa and Mamama (grandpa and grandma) visit, and traveling all around Ecuador, I'm on a trip through Ohio and Pennsylvania for Holy Week vacation.

Last Saturday morning I join some of my soccer parent friends in Columbus to cheer on the Westgate Rec Center teams.

It's crazy how fast kids grow up!

The biggest celebration was being one of the best men for my cousin Rich and his new bride Bethany! They were joined in holy matrimony near Plain City, Ohio on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

Naty, Gaby and Marcus couldn't be there because of Marcus' drama performances so they had to take in the ceremony via Facebook Live. It was really hard to be a such a joyful celebration without my wife and kids, it was great to be with almost all of our extended Peachey family.

Sunday morning was a wonderful reunion with some of our CNM family to share brunch and church together.

Sunday afternoon I got to gather with our Luz Viviente family at Westgate Park, just like we did for so many times when we lived in Columbus. It was great to see all of the families together and even meet two new family that are joining the group.

I got to stay with Leo and Jaque for the weekend. This amazing couple is leading the church forward since we left. They are facing plenty of challenges, but pressing on, growing a lot and leading others to follow Jesus as well.

It was so great to hang out with friends and share scripture together reflecting on how Jesus freed us from death.

We got to celebrate Benjamin's SIXTH birthday too!

Sunday night I got to have a wonderful cup of coffee with Leo and Andrea and meet Andrea's mom. Christian did an awesome job with a selfie stick to catch us all in this pose. (Photo by: Christian Ramos)

Monday morning I visited Stiles Elementary, where I taught ESL for 8 years before moving to Ecuador. It was so cool to see so many former students and colleagues. I never felt so much like a rock star in my life! (Photo credit to Mrs. Cox)

Now this is one of the great things about being in the US of A! They even have a "Reese's Extreme" Blizzard right now. They may just be serving them in heaven when we get there!

I made it back to Big Valley on Monday night so Tuesday afternoon I got to take a bike ride and see some of the local springtime action.

These mountains aren't quite as high as Ecuador (about 7,000 ft. lower) but they are still beautiful.

Tuesday night I gave a picture presentation at Taste of the Valley for friends and family to see what we are up to in Quito.

The first presentation was in English and then I gave a second presentation to all these folks in Spanish! 

Hosting Family and Friends

Naty is so excited to have her parents, Gustavo and Osiris, visiting Quito for the first time! They will be staying with us for more almost two months and it will be great to show them all around.

During Holy Week, I am in the US and Naty is hosting three other families from Manta as well, quite a houseful! Last weekend they were all together at our house and now they are on a three car caravan road trip exploring Nono, Baños, Puyo and who knows where all else.

Last Saturday they went up the cable car to get a rainy view of Quito.

On Sunday they all visited our church in Quito before heading off on their adventure.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly

April 6, 7 and 8 were the highlight of Marcus' school year so far. He was one of the children in a Jewish Ghetto during the Holocaust as part AAI's production of I Never Saw Another Butterfly. Here is a description of the play.

Marcus played the role of a child who was very grateful for their teacher helping them to see a better world than the one they lived in.

  

The whole cast was amazing and Marcus was very grateful for a cast member's mom who lived near the school and adopted him for dinner each evening when they had later practice times.

Can you tell he loves it?

One of our Impacto Mundial friends, Cesar Israel got to join Marcus at one of the shows.

Let's go to the Zoo!

On April 5 we had our second grade field trip to the Quito Zoo!

 All of the students have chosen an animal to research for our classroom project for the year. They are studying life cycles, habitats and informational writing so this project wraps them all together so learning can be a lot of fun too! We were very grateful to have a tour guide to tell us about all the animals along the way so that added in a Spanish lesson as well.

Did you know that Galapagos tortoises can live to be 150 years old?

The Andean Spectacled Bears live in the mountains near Quito and they have patches on their faces that are as unique as human fingerprints.

 

The owl enclosure was super cool because we got to walk right up to the half-blind birds since it was daytime.

This was Mr. Peachey's group for the day.

 Fortunately no one was harmed taking this picture!

We got a little silly on the bus ride home...

Learning About Prayer in Nono

This past Saturday we had the privilege of sharing with our friends at Nono again. We focused on what Jesus taught his disciples about prayer in Matthew 6. I used a manuscript study format that I learned from an M friend in Thailand. It was a great time to be reminded of what prayer is supposed to be according to Jesus and to put the scriptures into the hands of others so they could discover what God is saying to them and also teach each other.

Pray for Ecuador

Only God knows how true the election results are here in Ecuador, but it looks like we have four more years of Alianza País. I can't vote, so I'll keep praying. Please join us in prayer for Ecuador too.