tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40237787980520740312024-02-19T03:21:27.053-08:00Familia Peachey BriceñoDionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-82432066761270354522019-10-08T19:54:00.001-07:002019-10-08T19:54:32.645-07:00Challenges in Ecuador<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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As you read this take a minute to pray Your kingdom come, Your will be done in Ecuador as it is in heaven. Amen.<br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-27723209606134913322019-10-08T19:53:00.001-07:002019-10-08T19:53:46.497-07:00September Happenings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-36529164530527909912019-08-25T14:26:00.003-07:002019-08-25T14:31:49.038-07:00August 2019 Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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 <a href="https://mailchi.mp/668da2a29b41/peachey-times-update-letter" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also subscribe at the link to make sure you get our future emails.Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-40666865025448337892018-12-10T19:00:00.001-08:002018-12-10T19:00:43.925-08:00The Best of 2018The 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Marcus loved participating in the drama workshops at school and is looking forward to being part of their production this spring.<br />
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Gaby's workshop is often her bedroom where she has been crocheting some pretty amazing teddy bears lately.<br />
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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!<br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-80191624407012088722018-01-27T11:45:00.001-08:002018-01-27T11:45:42.870-08:00Hosting and TrainingThis 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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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This past week, Jan. 23-27, Naty helped to facilitate a <a href="http://www.kairoscourse.org/" target="_blank">Kairos Course</a> 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. <br />
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Last night Gaby had her winter choir concert at AAI. They did an amazing job and she sang a great solo! <br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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.<br />
<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-13070476832321069282018-01-27T11:11:00.001-08:002018-01-27T11:11:27.077-08:00Christmas and New Year 2018The holidays in another country are very different from the traditions we've shared before with family. Thankfully, God has blessed us with families here in Ecuador to help fill void that is left from being so far from home. Two of those families are the Murphys and the Lozadas. The Murphy's are from Georgia in the US and we have loved getting to know them ever since our pre field orientation in New York in 2016. The Lozadas are from Guayaquil, Ecuador and I've known their family ever since I was in the REACH program in Ecuador in 1997. We celebrated Christmas with the Murphy's and New Years with the Lozadas this year. <br />
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Our Christmas break started with an overnight get away to the hot springs in Papallacta, about two hours east of Quito. We went with our friends the Murphy family who are also missionaries at Alliance Academy. While we were there we also celebrated Gaby's birthday. She is 16 years old now!!<br />
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For Christmas Eve, the Murphy's came to our house and we had our Christmas meal Latino style, late at night. We made a combination of Venezuelan and American food then had a gift exchange after that.<br />
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On December 26 we set out from Quito with the Murphy family to Cuenca, a beautiful city about 7 hours south of Quito. We enjoyed 3 days of sleeping in and eating out while visiting many beautiful Catholic churches and even went to some hot bathes there as well!<br />
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From Cuenca we said goodbye to the Murphy's and traveled down to Guayaquil for New Year's. Guayaquil is a great place to send off the old year and welcome the new. They have a tradition here of making "Old Years" - <i>años viejos</i> which are effigies that they burn at midnight when the new year arrives. They make some huge <i>año viejos</i> in some neighborhoods of Guayaquil and we went with the Lozada family to see them.<br />
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Another great thing about Guayaquil is that they have Wendy's! I don't know why there is no Wendy's in Quito, but that's just the way it is. Nothing makes me smile quite like a Frosty!<br />
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On New Year's Eve we had a gift exchange with the Lozada family. It was so special that they all invited and embraced us so that we felt at home. If at all possible, we hope that we can welcome 2019 in Guayaquil as well!<br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-68944991486235044602017-11-05T17:26:00.003-08:002017-11-05T17:26:40.863-08:00Campamento Juvenil Menonita 2017On Thursday morning we set out with this great group to the semi-annual Campamento Juvenil Menonita in Santo Domingo. Thankfully it was only about a 4 hour drive and we made it there and back and didn't lose any of our luggage that we had to pack up on the roof!<br />
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Our mornings and nights were filled with amazing times of worship and challenging teaching from three different conferencistas. Altogether there were 160 young people who attended to camp!<br />
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During the day Friday the youth were divided into 5 different teams for some extreme games. They had to hold hands any time they went to the games or they would lose points for their team. <br />
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Some of the games were a bit gross, like having 20+ people take a bite out of the same watermelon... <br />
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Others were downright messy, like doing and Army crawl through a mud pit! <br />
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Everyone seemed to have a great time though! <br />
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A highlight for me was having some amazing times of worship together. It's been a long time since I've seen a group of young people so passionate to praise God!<br />
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Another amazing part of the camp was that it was all organized by the youth too! This is the group of leaders for the camp and I'm sure these guys are going to go VERY far in life. They did an amazing job making it a great weekend for everyone.</div>
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I had the chance to share about missions with the group and we had response cards from 55 of the youth saying that they want to PRAY, MOBILIZE, SUPPORT or GO in missions!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/thNN2XUUYIs" width="560"></iframe>Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-39831851181456385212017-10-30T20:43:00.000-07:002017-10-30T20:43:10.937-07:00Helping RefugeesOur friend Cristal from Colombia sharing about how to connect with refugees. This one is in Spanish...<br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-10092525473234581752017-10-29T20:59:00.000-07:002017-10-29T20:59:29.643-07:00SEW 2017This past week was our fall Spiritual Emphasis Week for elementary. It was by far the highlight of my time at Alliance Academy so far. SEW is a time when we have chapel and activities every day of the week instead of just on Tuesdays. I was part of the planning committee this year and in spite of many extra hours of work and less hours of sleep, it was an awesome week!<br />
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Our theme this year was CAMP AAI and we set up the chapel to look like a forest with several campsites. We had short plays everyday where I acted as Counselor Kazoo with some crazy campers (faculty members) named Poppy, Roxie and Allie. Each day had a different theme with guest speakers who taught about community, courage, perseverance, rest and eternity.<br />
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On Wednesday we had a Family Night for students and parents. We packed out the chapel with about 300 people! I had the opportunity to lead worship with another teacher and the singing was amazing! I also got to interpret as another teacher shared about how God able to do the impossible.</div>
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Friday and Saturday we were Gaby's biggest fans as her team competed in the AASSA volleyball tournament.</div>
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Her team didn't win as many matches as we had hoped, but with no seniors on the squad, they'll all be back next year and should be much better. <br />
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Back at home, Naty is very excited to have flowers and ferns planted in these cute flower boxes out front. <br />
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I'm stoked to finally have a grill! We had our new school director and his family over for dinner last night and thanks to some tips from another friend, I grilled some of the best meat I've ever made over wood and charcoal.<br />
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This morning at church we said goodbye to a Venezuelan couple who only spent a short time with us here in Quito. They need to go back to Venezuela to care for the wife's mom who is sick. The family had planned to stay in Ecuador much longer, escape the economic, social and political disaster zone that is Venezuela these days, but plans changed. They are very grateful for the time they had here and said that their biggest purpose for coming here was to connect with God, something they had never experienced in Venezuela. They are going home with new faith. Naty bought each of them a Bible and we are doing what we can to try to connect them with a church in Valencia so they can grow in their faith and share with others.<br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-54724675204891934332017-10-24T20:39:00.002-07:002017-10-24T20:39:11.079-07:00We're Never Bored!The beginning of school year 2017-18 has been very busy for our whole family but it has also meant more stability and picking up where we left off with many relationships and projects that we keep working to develop.<br />
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Naty is working with this group of women to lead the Entre Nosotras women's group at our school. They are studying <u>Keep Your Love On</u> by Danny Silk. This has already been life changing for several ladies in the group. <br />
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We keep going to Nono once a month to lead others in connecting with God, but also to connect with Him more ourselves in such a beautiful place. We pray that God would draw more people in this town to Himself. There is not a Jesus centered church in Nono yet and we pray that God will call out the people there who will plant a church.<br />
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I hurt my knee back in September and couldn't run for about a month. It was good on this day though because I got to take my beautiful wife out for lunch after on of my doctor's appointments! </div>
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Every other Friday night I make lots of pizza for this youth group that we are leading with another couple. The group is mostly made up of AAI students as well as some others from the community. We are studying the scriptures to find Jesus in the Old Testament. <br />
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Our family took an overnight get-away to Cuicocha lake at the beginning of October. This lake was formed by a massive volcanic eruption about 3,000 years ago. The volcano has been dormant ever since, but you can still see bubbles of gas coming up from the volcano in the middle of the lake. <br />
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October 9 was Guayaquil Day holiday so I had the chance to go for a 20 km 7 hour hike with some friends. Our goal was to go from my house to the top of Rucu Pichincha, (the mountain peak behind me in the picture) but major lightning and a hail storm made us turn around. <br />
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We have had several opportunities to keep mobilizing mission workers here in Quito. We led a missions sending service at this church in southern Quito. I preached about being witnesses in Jerusalem AND Judea AND Samaria AND to the ends of the earth. So many churches here focus on growing their on congregations and reaching their neighborhood and going "to the ends of Quito" but to obey Jesus' commission we must go much farther.</div>
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We prayed to commission the brother in the red shirt as he goes to Spain to study as serve as a witness to Muslim immigrants in Barcelona. <br />
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November 13 and 14 we hosted four people at our house and Naty helped organize to host 400 people at HCJB for the "United in the Mission" conference. It was a great time to connect with other churches and agencies in Ecuador who are working to send missionaries to unreached areas around the world.<br />
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We keep meeting monthly with Rosedale Mennonite Missions' LAMP (Latin American Missions Partnership) team via video conference. We are very excited about a couple in Costa Rica who is taking solid steps to move to Spain.</div>
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We keep gathering with the Quito Mennonite Church on Sunday mornings. Our church works a lot with immigrants and refugees. There seem to be more refugees arriving in Ecuador now that their were a year ago. It has bee great to gather to worship with people from so many countries. We have even had people from Iraq and Afghanistan join us for our worship services. Here I am helping to facilitate a meeting to start a men's group for the church.<br />
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This past Sunday we had a family night at the movies to watch this Christian film that was produced by HCJB. Some of the scenes in the movie were recorded just a few blocks from our house!</div>
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This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week for the entire elementary school at AAI. I'm helping to present some skits and tomorrow another teacher and I will lead worship for our Family Night with parents and other family members. Many families who send their children to our school are not yet followers of Jesus, so I am very thankful for this opportunity to share with them. <br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-23882256843402980112017-09-17T19:55:00.002-07:002017-09-17T19:55:59.575-07:00Starting School Year 2017-18The night the Naty and I got back to Quito, I ran the 10k Ruta de las Iglesias race with some friends from AAI.<br />
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And the next day, I led a group of friends to the top of Rucu Pichincha. The last day of my summer vacation was the same as my first, the summit of Rucu! <br />
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I decided to make some Pan de Jamón (Venezuelan ham bread) to welcome Gaby and Marcus back the next day. <br />
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On August 29, Gaby, Marcus and Thea all made it back to Quito. Boy were we happy to see them again! <br />
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With some help from all of our family, room E101 was once again ready for new second graders. <br />
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The weekend before the kids came back to school our family traveled to the coast again for Impacto Mundial's Mobilizers Seminar. It was a great time of training and connecting with about 150 other Ecuadorian preparing for global outreach. <br />
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September 4 was the first day of school for our family. Marcus is now in 8th grade and Gaby is a sophmore! <br />
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And I'm the proud leader of 18 wonderful second graders! <br />
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On Saturday September 9 we celebrated Naty's birthday by going with several friends to Nono. </div>
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We facilitated a discovery Bible study centered on hope. <br />
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Marcus and Gaby were glad to get back on the horses again, even in the rain! <br />
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At our first staff meeting of the year, my new colleague Miss Oliver and I each received awards. She was given the spiritual formation award and I was granted the leadership award. What a great way to start the year! <br />
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This past week Naty hosted and facilitated two different missions workshops led by a missions mobilizer from Costa Rica. We are hoping these gatherings can lead to getting more mobilizers together for Impacto Mundial Quito. <br />
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It's been a crazy ride for the past few months. Even with all the extra hours at work, it feels good to be back in a routine again.Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-64173744649775301312017-09-17T19:34:00.002-07:002017-09-17T19:34:54.935-07:00COMIBAM in BogotáNaty and I got back to Quito where I worked in my classroom for two days and then we caught a one hour flight to Bogotá, Colombia.<br />
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We spent the extended weekend with our friends Valdemar, Sobeida and their kids. They hosted us for the week along with our friend Flor from Mexico. <br />
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We took a short trip to Chía to visit <i>Andres Carne de Res</i> the most amazing restaurant I've ever seen in my life. <br />
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Bogotá is a great city, but I still think Quito is more beautiful. <br />
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COMIBAM is an international missions conference bring together international workers from all over Latin America. It was very motivating to join 1,800 Latinos all focused on taking the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth. <br />
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It was good to visit with people we know and also meet more people from Ecuador and all around Latin America who are working to mobilize global workers, just like us. <br />
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This was a gathering of COMEC, Ecuadorian believers working to promote and send workers to the world.<br />
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One highlight of the conference was meeting this Cuban pastor who lives in Miami and is sending workers to the jungle of Ecuador. We are hoping that some day we can go into the jungle with his team. <br />
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After COMIBAM it felt so go to be back in Quito to stay. <br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-8548872173043302722017-09-17T19:01:00.000-07:002017-09-17T19:01:01.165-07:00Back in the USA!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We landed in Columbus, Ohio on July 21 to a great welcome from some of Gaby's best friends from her school there. She was so happy to spend the afternoon with her friends again.</div>
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That same night Marcus and I went to watch a Clipper's game. It was a beautiful evening for baseball and a cool surprise was that I actually knew the starting catcher for the Clippers; we went to EMU together!<br />
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On Sunday we got together with our church, Columbus Network of Microchurches. We brought along some Ecuadorian jewelry to sell to help us raise more support as we support local artisans from Ecuador.<br />
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The next week we went to visit friends in Johnsville, Ohio and then on to Conservative Mennonite Conference in Kidron.<br />
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We got back to Columbus the next Sunday for another picnic with our church.<br />
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Monday all day Naty and I got together with the LAMP (Latin American Missions Partnership) team in Hartville, Ohio where we met some new potential international workers from Costa Rica over Skype.<br />
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From Ohio we headed east to Virginia where we stayed with our friends Russ and Melissa and their family.<br />
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We invited several friends and supporters from the Harrisonburg area to join us at Taste of Thai restaurant and we had a great time reconnecting with many friends there.<br />
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From VA we headed to PA and spent the first few nights with Naty's Belleville family and also her sister and her family. <br />
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It was Thea's first time in Amish country!<br />
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She loved seeing all the country. I sometimes wonder if she thinks she's a Holstein cow since she's also black and white!<br />
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We were glad to visit with (great)-grandma Hostetler.<br />
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We spent two days and two nights camping with all of the Peachey family near Lancaster, PA.<br />
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I finally had the chance to relax. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me! <br />
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After camping we got to visit with some of our great friends, the Tutens, from AAI. After 9 years in Ecuador they moved back to Pennsylvania this summer. We will miss them dearly, but are so glad they live in PA so we can see them when we get home in the summers. <br />
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After camping we went back to Belleville where we got to take in the fireman's parade and festival. <br />
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They were throwing Hartley's chips?!? What a treat! <br />
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I was glad to get back on a road bike again. <br />
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At 12:00 midnight, Marcus and I got up to help my brother Daniel start cooking pork shoulders for our second annual pulled pork fundraiser. <br />
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The next day we had more of the family involved in the smoking process. <br />
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Then Sunday, with help from lots of others at our church we fed over 350 people and raised $6,500 for our support for the coming year. <br />
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We ended our time in Belleville visiting with our pastor and mentor Max. <br />
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And also with some other great friends and supporters. <br />
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<span id="goog_1547199067">After that, Naty and I flew back to Ecuador and Gaby and Marcus stayed in Bellville for almost two more weeks.</span>Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-17854355851630676372017-07-20T17:38:00.001-07:002017-07-20T17:38:58.418-07:00We did it!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After 6 months of leading an online class using Skype, we had the graduation ceremony for 13 people who took the VAMOS missionary training course with us. It was a great growing experience for all of us and we really liked leading the course online. We are now planning to coach another couple to lead the class again starting in a few months. </div>
<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-68738351426920427272017-06-14T21:09:00.001-07:002017-06-14T21:13:13.599-07:00Finishing up the school year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last month we got up close to Cotopaxi, our favorite mountain here in Ecuador. We'd like to give you the chance to get up close to more of what we've been doing but I'm going to save time by just giving you a link <a href="http://mailchi.mp/33eb8306c2d0/peachey-times-june-2017?e=[UNIQID]" target="_blank">here</a> to our latest newsletter. </div>
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Click there and you'll see more snapshots of the past two months. For now, I've got tons of grading to do so not much blogging from me these days. 12 more days of school, then we'll all be a bit more free.</div>
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-16939604618984129732017-04-12T08:07:00.003-07:002017-04-12T08:07:43.951-07:00Ohio and PAWhile Naty, Gaby and Marcus are enjoying having <a href="http://www.peacheybriceno.com/2017/04/hosting-family-and-friends.html" target="_blank"><i>Papapa</i> and <i>Mamama</i> (grandpa and grandma) visit</a>, and traveling all around Ecuador, I'm on a trip through Ohio and Pennsylvania for Holy Week vacation.<br />
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Last Saturday morning I join some of my soccer parent friends in Columbus to cheer on the Westgate Rec Center teams.</div>
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It's crazy how fast kids grow up! <br />
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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. <br />
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Naty, Gaby and Marcus couldn't be there because of <a href="http://www.peacheybriceno.com/2017/04/i-never-saw-another-butterfly.html" target="_blank">Marcus' drama performances</a> 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.<br />
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Sunday morning was a wonderful reunion with some of our CNM family to share brunch and church together. <br />
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Sunday afternoon I got to gather with our <i>Luz Viviente</i> 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.</div>
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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. <br />
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It was so great to hang out with friends and share scripture together reflecting on how Jesus freed us from death. <br />
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We got to celebrate Benjamin's SIXTH birthday too! <br />
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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)<br />
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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) <br />
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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!<br />
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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. <br />
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These mountains aren't quite as high as Ecuador (about 7,000 ft. lower) but they are still beautiful. <br />
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Tuesday night I gave a picture presentation at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TastOfTheValley/" target="_blank">Taste of the Valley</a> for friends and family to see what we are up to in Quito. <br />
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The first presentation was in English and then I gave a second presentation to all these folks in Spanish! <br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-84681893747710088412017-04-12T07:22:00.001-07:002017-04-12T07:22:13.704-07:00Hosting Family and FriendsNaty 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.<br />
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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.</div>
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Last Saturday they went up the cable car to get a rainy view of Quito. <br />
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On Sunday they all visited our church in Quito before heading off on their adventure. <br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-1084053841449200872017-04-12T07:10:00.001-07:002017-04-12T07:10:11.786-07:00I Never Saw Another Butterfly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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>I Never Saw Another Butterfly.</i> Here is a description of the play.</div>
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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.<br />
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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.</div>
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Can you tell he loves it?<br />
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One of our Impacto Mundial friends, Cesar Israel got to join Marcus at one of the shows.<br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-24432800515561140442017-04-12T05:08:00.000-07:002017-04-12T05:08:39.431-07:00Let's go to the Zoo!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On April 5 we had our second grade field trip to the Quito Zoo!</div>
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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.<br />
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Did you know that Galapagos tortoises can live to be 150 years old?<br />
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The Andean Spectacled Bears live in the mountains near Quito and they have patches on their faces that are as unique as human fingerprints.<br />
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The owl enclosure was super cool because we got to walk right up to the half-blind birds since it was daytime.<br />
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This was Mr. Peachey's group for the day. <br />
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Fortunately no one was harmed taking this picture!<br />
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We got a little silly on the bus ride home... <br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-4352291069817179482017-04-03T20:05:00.000-07:002017-04-03T20:11:22.371-07:00Learning About Prayer in Nono<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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.Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0Parroquia Nono, Ecuador-0.0669014 -78.576731100000018-0.0748409 -78.586816100000021 -0.0589619 -78.566646100000014tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-19207648761592679482017-04-02T20:27:00.000-07:002017-04-02T20:31:02.890-07:00Pray for Ecuador<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">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. </span><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2oBcECWd3gBIdWpleALmbVqAF6XnkLlogAYgErnbJk3BLmMrrkUsDP8ovfOEcaBRFunPAz-8BR4P2VfxO98zQmX26SYuGIRAoE_viocrh3VC_aZMvvJi9QrZd2zoO-EQLHtm5iq3G_U/I/photo_780882.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br><br> <span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div>Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-13465879272263445372017-02-28T16:06:00.002-08:002017-02-28T16:10:39.941-08:00Here and There and EverywhereThe first two months of 2017 have been anything but boring! Here are some highlights of what we've been up to.<br />
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At the beginning of January we traveled to Manta and Pacoche for the annual business meeting of the IEME - Ecuador Evangelical Mennonite Church. It was pretty cool to have a visit from Darren Peachey at the gathering. Who would of thought we'd have two Peacheys from Belleville at the same meeting in a small town in Ecuador? <br />
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We were blessed to have Naty's PA mom Phyllis Yoder visit us for a week and go to the coast with us. Naty and the kids had fun with her at the beach while I went to the meetings. <br />
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In mid January we met with Julieta Murillo and Maria Lola Moreno, the leaders of Impacto Mundial, an Ecuadorian mission agency dedicated to sending workers to unreached people around the world. We began planning with them and two other potential missions candidates to re-start an Impacto Mundial branch here in Quito. We are going to partner with this organization to learn more about preparing Latino workers to go overseas and help to spread global vision in the churches here in Quito. <br />
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The last weekend of January I (Dion) helped to lead the "Man Up!" retreat for high school boys from Alliance Academy International. We camped for the weekend in Calacalí a small town about an hour north of Quito. We had a great time teaching about the great outdoors and also about having a mentor, mentoring others and being a best friend. I'm really glad I had this experience even though I bruised a rib in one of the night games we played! <br />
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On January 31 we started leading "Vamos" (Let's Go!) course with a 14 person cohort online. We study the lessons each week then do a group video Skype call every Monday night. So far it has been a great learning experience and an incredible challenge to prepare all the material each week. We are praying that God uses this course to call more workers to long-term overseas service. </div>
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The second weekend of February I had an amazing camping and hiking trip with three friends from our church. We camped right by Cotopaxi (in the background) then woke up at 4:00 AM to hike to almost the top of Sincholagua a 16,073 ft. inactive vocano just east of Cotopaxi. We didn't make it to the summit because there was some snow and we didn't have the proper climbing gear but we were less than 50 feet from the top.<br />
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In mid February we hosted "An Afternoon in Thailand" at our house. It was a sending off celebration for Verónica Gordón young women from here in Quito who is going to serve for two years with SIM missions in Chang Mai, Thailand. We even served an authentic Thai soup made with a recipe from our friends Tom and Candice who live in Bangkok<br />
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Naty had the chance to go and serve with the refugee ministry that is run by our church and MCC. She had to interpret for these two ladies from Afghanistan who moved to Ecuador to escape the Taliban. We are so glad that our church hosts this ministry and hope to do more in the future to serve refugees and political asylum seekers that are coming to Ecuador.</div>
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This past weekend we traveled for 15 hours by bus to the city of Loja in southern Ecuador for an Impacto Mundial seminar. We went with seven other young people who will be working with us to begin an Impacto Mundial group in Quito. <br />
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We were officially commissioned to lead the Impacto Mundial Quito group during the seminar. Connecting with group of co-laborers for the Kingdom is helping us see more of God's reasons for calling us to Quito.</div>
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After the seminar we were grateful for a few hours to explore Loja with two young ladies that live there. What a beautiful city! Unfortunately, it is also one of the least evangelized cities in Ecuador. There are many, many adherents to Catholicism, but few true followers of Jesus. After our tourist time we were back on a bus again for 15 more hours of traveling back home to Quito. <br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-67636796654785004112016-12-28T15:35:00.000-08:002016-12-28T16:27:35.105-08:00Family VacationWe have been so grateful to have a break from school and have been visiting some beautiful places here in Ecuador. On Christmas Day after church we set out to Cotopaxi National Park. Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world. <div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQhHr9fqrxMGJYzX1AzqlJQx9mQznBZHVXKVhPveQI1RcZ0K_UF1MiAl1lSeSux_Yw2pbQQ7Yi_FlOcXrbDsRPfM821n2UbaxqftXjLN10U9iQMXBdWW_jgs8WCpmb6eCKknbhQ8rL1A/I/photo_712167.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br>We hiked around a lake there and then drove up as high as we could. Naty and I hiked a bit higher to the refuge. We stayed overnight at a hotel and then took a family walk the next morning to see the wild horses. </div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5LoLam-9LKlM1BZb-iw6X_zWqaUE5xqYeVZzEnTpQmUsjLZVz81XL_bRI2cr01kJWw7WZ4u92MNpEb7D7B2WB1hrU-mmGVzs8g102ryCqJ_p9V53YVKFdqnGI7BX84ld1KliIcV0Pwc/I/photo_434240.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br>We traveled from Cotopaxi back to Quito and then down the mountains to Puyo on December 26. Some friends from our church invited us to visit their hometown. We are staying in a cabin east of Puyo and have had a blast visiting different places here on the jungle side of Ecuador. </div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday we went to the town of El Triunfo and rode a cable car to an amazing waterfall. </div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbE-F1AulcbI_J8TW9IeI0jNHLA38GX4Oy3X2f9Mx3hlOxvwsghzju0Ow29kXzOidPwFMwa7CaUs2Nc3NGvnDAxiJhV-dQ1-3i1jPIeJ0AB-NeFdo2WlKqWGDoyrGigaaVjAviyFWcLx8/I/photo_829252.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br>After lots of pictures and a cold swim, we went to a monkey refuge near Puyo. Marcus's dream was to see monkeys in the jungle, so his wish came true!</div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYASRzw4pQQ5nWU1KRJr55vDiFrzEUmGeKf63YwZPq9F4RHEn6mc7ZIc3LJDRoDKAgojjG7Aaq1wjYjHQZlnN2Qi1KaisCnXMynEbmWDd0RNafGEDUpi9Nu5up-d6nbHDKEfQbcwviVm0/I/photo_985002.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br>Today we went to a huge tree house to look out over the jungle. </div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_a6fjL4MDFO2SFD9HrZAoh3-7u-7Jg6yKMxQg3OjAVqc-02_b4rQOqp9zPf646ae-ofjP9jFzeuBn0Iw5c-zhE7Gsi9RV_bjsHJikyvPD8ik6HXjnqqjJ8DH4p0f9i0-ktGg67-Nmkuo/I/photo_122329.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br>Then after lunch we came to Shell to see the Nate Saint House. </div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgPehcHDxs2hYggQVW-AB_b4XolgUAi-k7Agxhd_ajb3K_ypzMRApLUivb8SXg5aTnsAB0aI7rluGRNw4qMdEjbmu8uprZrJd8agVYpHETCH651qZ-r7ujplv7azDiy605euD2xTPCoZs/I/photo_511279.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><br>This is where Nate Saint flew from before the fateful day when he and four friends were killed by the Waorani tribe. </div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrQYK54fMDTvEfskKDJrBpXsySXlupvNGLYTxfn6Uqbw_U2S1PlYsDw2RhWEyfWCzQUnpyy8JBruFtvzm7wfX2qD42ArmA1taMIfoCqmFNcoZplVLhaMJFrqkJPcIr3zyylIobLSrBi0/I/photo_240484.jpg" border="0" class="bloggoimg"></div><div><br></div>The tribe are now Jesus followers and we hope that someday we can fly out to visit one of their villages. If you have never seen the movie "The End of the Spear" you need to watch it. </div><div><br></div><div>Next week we'll be back in school again so we're making the most of our time now. </div><div><br></div><div><br><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br></div><div><br> <br></div>Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-80369292909435934852016-12-23T08:36:00.001-08:002016-12-23T08:37:32.615-08:00Why am I doing this?I've asked that question more than once over the past five months. I feel like I've worked more this school year than any time in my career. I've also had several moments when I've realized there is nothing I'd rather do more. This Christmas card from a student helped me remember why I'm here:<br />
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<br />Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023778798052074031.post-31378432426048872142016-11-19T14:11:00.002-08:002016-11-19T14:11:48.023-08:00"I Want a Puppy!"That's what Gaby has been saying for the past month.<br />
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Aside from missing Coffee, our faithful friend for fourteen years, some friends of ours had a litter of puppies. Naty and I talked about it and talked with our landlords and decided to get Gaby a puppy for her birthday which is coming next month. We were planning to give Gaby a trip to Africa for her 15th birthday, but with a longer school year and short summer vacation as well as no spring break here in Ecuador, we weren't sure when she was going to be able to go. She said that she would rather have a puppy now and go to Africa as a high school graduation gift. So, now we have Thea!<br />
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In other news...<br />
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Last night was the awards ceremony for the Alliance Volleyball teams. Both Gaby and Marcus won the "Barnabas Encourager Award" for each of their JV volleyball teams. We are very proud of them! This weekend we have been enjoying to fall play at the school.<br />
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Dionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08383896567616851592noreply@blogger.com1