e-woldhuis

Kids at the Park

2012-01-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

Had the kids to myself recently and made sure they got some good half-pipe action in.

Maybe not quiet a half-pipe, but they are certainly getting ready for it.

How do you know when mum's away?

2011-12-14T21:02:00.001-05:00

This week Karine went on a little trip up to Quito to be with a friend. This left me to play dad and mum for the whole week.
You would think that everything would remain the same and the kids would behave like they do for mum, however there are a number of things that change while mum's away...

Mattias becomes a budding puzzle expert, this being the 20th puzzle in four days, and yes that is a look of tiredness.

Evie decides that being a photographer would be really cool, and so starts with self-portraits...

She then decides that Annalise would make a good model...

For both smiles and serious shots...

Puzzles were her next genre...

and to top it off a new hairstyle...

Mattias finally finished his puzzle...

And dad prepared a quick tv dinner (I forgot that kids need to eat earlier than their bed time if anything is to go down the hatch, tv always helps)...

And thankfully I managed a shop today as we were completely out of 'food'.

Come back Karine, we all miss you loads...

Preaching Conference 2011

2011-12-06T13:55:00.001-05:00

Thinkingabout the conference this year, I come to realise that having a conference forpeople in ministry is always encouraging. I am sure that for some people thisyear’s conference was not quite what they expected, however for others it wasjust what they needed and still others were somewhere in between, thankful forwhat they were learning, and at the same time not sure if it was for them.

For apreaching conference you really do want preachers attending. This year was ayear that I thought I should change the goal a little in order to make theconference more accessible to those who are not in full-time ministry however arevery involved. Do we need to change the focus of the conference? I am talkingabout people who teach regularly, bible study leaders, youth group leaders andothers who have a basic understanding of the bible with no formal training ofany sort. So did we have more of these people than those who preach?

No, in factI counted and at least half of the people in the conference have a regularpreaching opportunity, which was more than I thought (I thought perhaps only 5to 10 would have the opportunity). This is a real encouragement to me and makesme want to think about perhaps having a different conference that would coverthese others, perhaps even using those who attend the preaching conference torun it. Many thoughts and many ideas, however perhaps I just need to keep myfeet on the ground, ask for some help and perhaps someone else will take upthis responsibility.

I guessthis is one thing that motivates me to keep going here in Loja, that is, a needfor bible teaching. A need for getting into the text and explaining what itsays and not what our itching ears want to hear.

Take forinstance two young guys who came from a province town where there is no realevangelical presence. Both in their early twenties and both very shy and turnred at the drop of a hat. However a few weeks after the conference they bothattended a youth camp where a young girl from their town was greatly impactedas a result of the change she saw in these two guys, especially one of them. Thiscomes from creating this space where he can flourish and at the conference thisyoung guy received what was necessary for him to be encouraged to take thismessage further afield than perhaps he has done before.

Praise Godfor the conference and for the encouragement that these stories bring to us. PraiseGod for the way he is using these events for his glory.

Evie turns 6

2011-11-07T20:49:00.004-05:00

Time to party, Evie turned 6 years old! We had a fun day, lots of kids, lots of mayhem, lots of food and lots of laughs. We played the straw relay game where you have to carry an m&m to a bowl using a straw and I suddenly had to think of a bunch of ways to explain in spanish how to suck on the straw in order to pick up the m&m rather than blow air out (by which time the majority of the m&m's were coated in saliva...). We played the donut on a string game - probably the funniest to watch as the kids lunged and dived for their wayward donut. We played pass the parcel and the chocolate game, which was also a bit of a riot.

We had a big love heart cake, a success for the icing alone and then watched a movie.

Thanking God for our girl as she grows, praying for wisdom as we seek to guide her in Jesus' footsteps.

New Software for the Bookshop

2011-10-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

As things get busier there is a need to maintain some sort of control in the bookshop. As a result we have purchased some new software to print receipts and keep tabs on the books we have in stock. However, the process was not as easy as it was to write the last two sentences.

It all started in July when the final decision was made that we need to have some sort of control over the stock and move from hand writing receipts to printing receipts. After working through the decision for purchasing a ready made program or getting a local person to develop one we met with a friend to get the program written. Ah, and so the fun began.

The first meeting was with the owner of a computer shop and I explained everything that I wanted the program to do and I left all my notes with him to get on with the job.

The following meeting was with a guy who was writing the program, so I thought, and he asked me the same questions, which was quite difficult not having the notes from the first meeting and the manager of the shop wasn’t in to give the notes to this new guy.

The next meeting was with the actual person who was going to write the program and so this time I decided it was time to make my own set of notes during the meeting to make sure that if this happened again that I would have the necessary information.

The next meeting was the first view of the program. It was at this meeting that I was glad to have written the notes of the previous meeting telling them that there were many things that were missing, and it was at this point that I was wondering in the wisdom of getting some young guys to do this. They were asking me questions like, “But do you like the colour?” “Do you like how when you click here that this happens?” And all along I am thinking, am I ever going to get a program that functions or is it going to look good and do nothing?

By this time it was the end of August and I had seen the program once and sent them away with the idea of actually writing the program to do what we had asked.

Our next meeting was seriously promising, there were a few little issues and bugs to be worked through, however it was doing most of what we wanted and we had a date for installation which was the end August. Exciting, however I am writing this in October and so there is more to the story.

The date came and went and they started the asking for another week to fix this and another week to fix that and then an install date was given to me as next friday. This was then delayed as they were having trouble packaging it for installation (meaning that they wanted a nice file to double click on that self installed, a bit of a waste of time and meant that I was still without a program).

It was at this point that everything came to a crashing end. The guy who was writing the program dropped his computer and pretty much lost everything. A good reminder to those of you who do not do backups, that you should start, as losing your stuff is only one drop away!

As you can imagine I was not very compassionate, being a programmer, one would assume that you keep backups regularly, however we showed some grace and decided to give them some extra time to re-write and get things ready.

The manager of the computer shop at this stage decided that if the program wasn’t installed in our office by the 7th October we would ask someone else to give us a program.

Unfortunately the program was not ready and the manager of the shop decided that he would just ask a favor from a friend who had a program that normally costs more than double what we had originally thought, and so on the 6th October we finally had the new software installed and it’s working fine!

Talk about a saga, however the best part of all this was the fact that the friendship between the manager of the computer shop and myself has grown. He is a Christian, and has been for the past 11 years, however he has had numerous questions about the gospel and other things and so with all the extra time we have had some good conversations about the trinity and salvation amongst other things.

I guess one of the things we continue to realise and one that doesn't change whether here in Ecuador or in Australia is that relationship leads to conversation and encouragement and even at times a willingness to listen to who Jesus is and what he came to do.

Play time

2011-10-11T15:02:00.002-05:00

Thought it might be nice to have a play date for Evie, so we sent a note home with her classmates for a Friday afternoon gig, 4-6pm. Friday afternoon rolled around and a good amount of kids too! Some came early (before 3.30pm - is that possible here in Latin America??!), some came late, we had laughs and games and popcorn. Got to speak to some mum's, plus one of the ladies that looks after one of Evie's classmates in the afternoons (who it turns out has a little plot of land higher up the mountain, so I gave her my butternut pumpkin seedling as I figure I don't really have enough room, here's to hoping some pumpkins will result and that we can have some tasty pumpkin soup). Two of Evie's teachers came too, so all round, good to build some more connections at school. I wouldn't mind investigating whether it's possible to volunteer at school maybe once every few weeks, reading english books or the like, but my mind can't currently get around the extra organisation required between Mattias and Annalise, so will leave that as a mere thought at present.

Loja at the beginning of the school year

2011-09-14T10:00:00.003-05:00

It's like a city-wide treasure hunt....the race is on to get all your children's school utilities according to the whim and fancy of each individual school. The list is exhaustive - folders, wax paper (colour blue, red, green and yellow), metal pencil sharpener, pencil case, exercise books with lines, exercise books with grids, A4 paper, cardboard, thick wool, thin wool, erasers, glitter (any colour), toilet paper, whiteboard markers (colour red, blue and black), age appropriate board game, textas, pencils, lead pencils (the triangular shaped ones), rubbish bags, chalk, plasticine, plastic storage box (colour blue), masking tape (or if you will 'masky'), tooth brush, tooth paste and cup, balloons et cetera ad infinitum. The lines snake out of all the stationary shops, the fight to get in front of the line, or maybe to establish that there is a line and hence one's place in the line. People dashing into shops, 'do you have a size 5 sharpener?' or 'do you have a spiral notebook with 50 pages?', overheard conversations about the cost of everything, different school lists compared, dazed parents walking around lugging bags, wielding their rolled up cardboard like modern day swords, finally able to bring everything home to then put the child's name on every item bought (yes, including the 'masky'). There is a certain sense of satisfaction in being able to whittle down the list of still required items (I have only 5 to go!) and the joy in being able to hand it all over, the treasure hunt over, the city scoured, discovered new stationary shops with shorter lines receiving heartfelt gratitude, and the hope that the teacher uses all her school supplies well.

What you miss out on in Australia where all you do is hand over your school fees, it sort of sounds mundane somehow?

Fun in the sun

2011-09-12T19:57:00.002-05:00

We grabbed the moment of sunshine on the weekend and went down to the park. I think we all had fun...

Spiritual Life Conference 2011

2011-09-12T19:39:00.002-05:00

In August we got to go away for a week with our SIM team. For us in Loja, we didn't wander too far, only to Vilcabamba, 40 minutes further south. Bit of a hike for those in Quito, Guayaquil and those from the US that came to help with kids and to speak!

It was a good week, despite the freezing temperature of the pool. It was good to hear from God's word and be challenged again to be a servant of the gospel in many varied ways. It was good to see the kids playing together. It was good to go for a walk along the river and a bike ride. It was good to chat with fellow team mates and have a laugh.

The make up of missionary teams change rapidly, and our SIM team here in Ecuador is no exception. There is great diversity in our team - stage of life, past careers, nationality, thought patterns, energy levels, interests - you name it! Thought we’d give you a picture of what our team currently looks like.

Our director is from Virginia, and is married to a Paraguayan. We have a Californian/Brazilian family who formerly served in Africa with SIM. We have a Mexican/Californian family who arrived earlier this year, A family from Colorado, people from Virginia, from western Sydney, from Canberra, Switzerland, QLD, Illinois, Quito, Guayaquil and Bolivia.

And what do we do as SIM Ecuador?

We seek to help people encounter the living Lord Jesus Christ and submit to Him and to make progress in their walk with Him. That being said, there are lots of ways that actually happens in the day to day activities of our team mates.

People on our team are involved in marriage counseling, running a christian radio station, teaching english at the local public university, training children’s workers in churches, evangelism in small towns through kids’ clubs, diet clubs and craft clubs, running english conversation classes, running outreach events in english, bible studies for couples, bible studies for women, bible studies for youth, bible studies for city folk and for country folk, church planting, medical ministry, discipleship, running a youth cafe, home schooling, organising preaching conferences, running a bookshop and library, mobilising Ecuadorians into missions, seeking to influence and encourage pastor’s wives, teaching english to Ecuadorians who are training to be missionaries, teaching carpentry in a local high school, mountain biking, talking to people whom you bump into, inviting people to read the bible with us, befriend exchange students and Peace Corp workers, opening our homes to families, helping single mums make a living, crisis counseling, being parents of toddlers, learning language and culture, navigating local bureaucracy, cooking and sharing food and recipes with neighbours.

It’s a pretty diverse crew, involved in many different areas in Loja, the province and nationally, but under God, we pray that his kingdom will grow and his name will be glorified in and through us. And that is what makes up SIM Ecuador, for now anyways!

What is that?

2011-08-20T19:43:00.004-05:00

Another day of driving in Ecuador finding a good place to sleep and food that our kids will enjoy. We are fortunate that Mattias loves rice as every meal can come with rice, be it spaghetti, soup or just a hunk of meat .

However today as we were driving along we were confronted with a problem of numerous cultures converging on us. I looked at this lady deep frying something (and I always have a taste for things deep fried), I thought to myself, "Beer battered fish" and "Croquets", oh yum, and any Australian born to Dutch parents will agree that although a strange combination to find together, they would be well worth eating, if that's what they really were.

And that is exactly what went wrong, as you look at the photo you can imagine my surprise to find the croquet really being fish covered in mashed banana, and the beer battered fish as a beer battered banana. Ha ha ha, oh to be from a Dutch background, growing up in Australia and trying to live in Ecuador where everything is made to look like things you love, but just end up being banana.

Turtles - friendly, vicious or dead?

2011-08-18T15:40:00.010-05:00

It's not every day that you see a turtle, especially a Galapagos Turtle. But being in Ecuador, there are opportunities all over the place.

A few weekends back we decided to go to the zoo in Loja (worthwhile mentioning that this is a very affordable family activity, at a cost of $1 for all of us! Mind you, less animals than Taronga but then again, less walking around required too...) and we got to see some friendly turtles that just amble around their little habitat.

John discovered that they also have a dark side. After attempting a few photos, the turtle decided enough was enough and starting hissing with a mouth wide open ready to attack. Thankfully, unlike lions and other animals, these guys actually move as fast as a turtle so didn't cause any damage to the photographer, but made for a good photo.

Lastly, the dead one. We went to Los Frailes beach this morning and saw the remnants of a turtle on the beach being eaten by birds. Nothing we could do to save it, but we did manage a memorial of the turtle with a sand sculptured one of our own.

French toast or just plain double dutch

2011-08-18T15:24:00.005-05:00

When doing discipleship with new or newish believers you always come across difficulties due to words that crop up in the course of studying the bible that perhaps have never been encountered before.

Doing this in Spanish has been challenging but now, after four years things are certainly easier and I do not have the fear that I used to have when I had to open my mouth in public. Although between you and me, I feel as though the more Spanish I learn the more I realise how much I do not understand, but life goes on. I will always be a foreigner here!

So about 4 months ago when I started meeting with a guy called Sylvain I realised that him being French and me being Australian would sometimes prove difficult. So in my wisdom (or foolishness) I found a discipleship book that was in French and English and was downloadable and gave a great explanation of the Bible.

With almost 10 chapters of the book under our sleeves we are getting close to the New Testament. We have covered the whole of the Old Testament: sacrifices, crossing the Red Sea and the construction of the tabernacle, what a whirlwind.

So far we have been talking something like the following, remembering that we are reading in our native language and speaking in Spanish.

"So Sylvain, what did you like this week?"

"Oh, I like the part where the men cross the water"

"Oh the crossing of the sea after the important man from Egypt decided to chase them?"

"Yes that's it, it's in this paragraph here."

"Oh... Yes I see, yes that part, mmm I like that too, it's like, mmm, great.

And so for 1.5 hours every other week we get together and discuss the bible in our limited way. But even though it is limited in the ways we are able to communicate, it is not limited at all as we are reading in our own native tongue the history of our ancestors, the Israelites, and how Jesus is the one who is proclaimed about in the pages of the Bible.

Want to use this same material yourself? Go to www.goodseed.com and check it out, they also have the whole bible story as a flash video to watch at your leisure.

Bolon de maduro con chicharron

2011-08-02T21:44:00.003-05:00

Made it out today for a coffee with some of the girls on team. We went with our spanish teachers to a place they have found which is full of authentic ecuadorian food.

So I had a bolon de maduro con chicharron. It was pretty good but dense, so only made my way through it partially. Also had a jugo de tomate del arbol. Also good.

What is it? Ripe banana with fried pork pieces, and tree tomato was the flavour of my juice.

Forgot to whip out the camera earlier than I did, but if I had, you would have noticed that although everyone had a different order, all the food was the same colour...yellow! Landing on the same section of the colour wheel did not mean the same flavours across our spectrum of banana, potato, yuca and maiz dishes. When I mentioned this to John at home, he said that is why there is a zillion names for the colour yellow here!

Oh, and this place is also very noteworthy as they serve the coffee black, which is normal, but WITHOUT SUGAR! Amazing.

Finally a footpath!

2011-07-16T14:36:00.002-05:00

You know you are in construction central when the sight of 'Scoop' outside our window no longer causes excitement for Mattias, and only merits a passing comment about rocks being moved.

And hence my joy the day the footpath was finished, never mind that it was raining. It is certainly hard work here. Hopefully we get to enjoy this footpath for awhile as is!

Mattias finishes pre-school for the year

2011-07-04T21:22:00.004-05:00

The last day of pre-school for Mattias included an open classroom time, so we went along and saw him doing his stuff - some of the matching games and drawing etc that has kept him occupied this past half year. His face was full of concentration, very fun to see.

His teacher said a lovely speech about the kids in her class and how she'd miss them and managed to talk through her tears. Those kids are a cute lot. I'll miss them too, they always come up and talk to Annalise and 'Mattias' mum' at pick up time.

Holiday time now, nice that Evie doesn't have to be ready for the bus to pick her up at 7.15am! Hope it doesn't rain the entire time so that we can make it to the park without gumboots over these coming weeks.

Morning walk

2011-06-28T10:48:00.001-05:00

Life in Loja is often dusty and windy and very little green in the immediate vicinity. It's because lots of gardens are tucked behind the house and so walking around you generally just see walls and concrete. And some construction is always happening somewhere so mud and dirt gets carried around everywhere (for example right outside our house).

And so, it is delight to be able to go for a walk along the river on the northern end of town. To be amidst the trees, the grass, the sound of the river rushing past is refreshing to the soul. Thrown into that, Annalise gets to see cows, horses, dogs, llamas, monkeys and eagles as we make our way along. And when I lift my eyes, the hills are there, green, often misty, and when the sun breaks through the clouds, the light as it hits those slopes is lovely.

It is worth the bug bites that always seem to appear once I get home!

Ephesians 6 across cultures

2011-06-19T15:23:00.002-05:00

Came to Ephesians 6 in the bible study I (John) lead before church this morning. And it raised a whole host of questions that hadn't even entered my Australian head. As we talked about relationships between slaves and masters, and what it means to be a godly employee or employer the whole area of 'favours' came up. What do you do if you are an employee and a friend asks you for a favour to get something moving along faster or to have an issue resolved sooner than it otherwise would be? What about if it was you, is it OK to ask a friend for a favour to get those slow or stationary wheels turning to have your situation attended to? Do you decide on the basis of legality, you surely wouldn't agree to something illegal, but if it was legal, would you go ahead and do it?

Hard questions to answer, so it meant a lot of listening for me! God's word has a lot to say to every culture but for as someone still learning this culture, it meant hearing how followers of Jesus here viewed some of these tricky areas.

What I learnt today

2011-06-14T22:02:00.002-05:00

I was happily (sort of) ironing this morning as the lady who helps with cleaning once a week paused outside the room I was in. 'You iron during the day, Señora Karine?' 'Oh, I replied, 'if I have time, more often at night, when the kids are in bed'. She looked a little perturbed. 'When do you iron' I ask her. 'At night'. Oh. The thing is, she went on to explain, its dangerous to iron during the day. Why? I asked. Well, you will soon be cooking lunch, right? And you'll be washing up and using water. And the water will be cold, and even if it's warm water, all this water will make your body cold. And this is after the ironing has made your body all hot. And the end result of this will be that you will damage your hands. You will end up with twisted hands and wrists.

Oh. I could see her cause for concern. Do you know anyone that this has happened to? Yes, she replied. Oh. Do you think it could be arthritis? No way, this is different.

Who told you about not ironing during the day? My mum, my mother-in-law. All the women in our family iron on Friday nights, after we have definitely finished everything in the kitchen.

OK. There are so many beliefs and superstitions in this society that I have yet to learn. Each of them govern people's lives in such subtle ways, dictating even when ironing should happen. I pray that many will hear the gospel and enter into the freedom that comes from knowing Christ, and that it may be God's powerful word that governs lives.

The process of putting in new phone lines

2011-06-10T10:52:00.004-05:00

Mattias had a fun afternoon the other day as he watched a digger right outside our window dig up the footpath up and down our street. Noisy, dirty and so close! No one came to let us know the footpath was going to be dug up, and unfortunately for our neighbours, the footpath mostly ended up in front of their garage (people generally are very averse to leaving their cars outside overnight).

A week has since past, and the trail of destruction (or construction?) continues on down the hill. Not sure if the footpath will get repaired or if it will be left as is. At least I am getting a bit of off-roading experience as I drive into our garage!

Recent random happenings

2011-05-13T15:14:00.002-05:00

Life does go on, but living here often brings events that don't happen at home very often. Here are some of those moments...

Got a call at 9pm the other night. A guy that people on our team had been looking after had just died after a short battle with cancer. The great news was that in the past few weeks he had given his life to Christ and so he went to his new eternal home. But he needed some clothes to put his earthly body in. No place selling clothes here is open at that time of night but John did have a pair of jeans he wasn't really using, so that seemed like a good use to put them to!

My third attempt to pay the electricity bill was a dismal failure. Somewhat embarrassingly, my first attempt was marked by my success to bring enough money but failure to bring the actual bill. My second attempt was valiant as I stayed in line a good number of minutes waiting for the system to start working again. My third attempt got off to a good start, no wait, bill in hand but now I had to pay for two months and for that I did not have enough money. No option to pay for only one month. I make my exit and declare that John will pay this bill.

Got to Romans 3.21-26 today with my friend Patricia, wonderful to be able to talk again about the incredibly great news that God has provided everything we need to save us, and that in Christ we are justified, we are set free from sin, and that he accomplished what we were not able to do of our own accord.

The sandbags outside our house have not budged, now been there for over a month. The amount of sand in the bags are slowly diminishing. The kids like the bumpy ride as we launch over them into our driveway.

Returned to the car with an ominous puddle next to the rear tire. Someone once again has mistaken that tire for a public urinal.

Discover, to my delight, that there is a play swing set in the local toy store, so send John out to buy it immediately. We had been thinking of trying to get one made out of timber but wasn't sure how successful it would be. The kids are ecstatic.

Chatting with a friend (who is married with 2 kids) this afternoon, she tells me of the recent debacle she had with her new doctor. The doctor recognised her from when they were teenagers. And then starts asking her personal questions, then asks for her phone number....she escapes and decides to find a new doctor and her husband promises to accompany her to all future doctor visits. Faithfulness in marriage is something to be fought for.

Friday night I wondered why outside our house is such a great location for mobile discos. Evie woke up a few times from the super loud music closer to midnight. 12.30am seemed like a good time to ring the police to see if they would come and move these party animals along. It worked. Half an hour later, either the same group or a new group turn up. 2am I call the police again, and again at 2.30am. I think by about 3am I had dropped off and I guess the music had too. At least the music isn't too distasteful...

Train driving

2011-04-19T18:47:00.002-05:00

Evie was a little distressed when she realised that there was no driver in the train. Her nervousness turned to excitement the moment she understood that she was the one who had to drive it. Take a look...

Houston, we have landed

2011-04-19T18:37:00.002-05:00

Well travelling with a 5 year old has its moments as many of you will know. Here is a little moment while we were in Houston airport which certainly got us both very excited.

High on the hill

2011-04-15T10:42:00.003-05:00

Here's a pic of Evie riding her bike at the park a little up the hill from where we live. Mattias calls it the 'up the hill' park, as opposed to the 'home' park which is across the road. It's weird at times living in a long, narrow valley which even has it's own weather patterns from one side to the other.

This park is in two sections, the top one where Evie is riding on the volley ball court, and then its down a big hill to a football field. I've banned the very fun but exhausting 'throw the ball down the hill' game for now.

We can't complain for lack of a view...

Oh dear, sandbags...

2011-04-08T11:50:00.003-05:00

After a particularly impressive downpour on Monday afternoon, Monday night saw sandbag action right outside our house. I guess to divert water from flooding houses down the hill on a future occasion. So the wall of sandbags are just there with no signs to take care of the sudden closure of half the road.

Last night in the middle of bible study we hear the sound of an almost accident with no follow through crash. Taking a look out the window, lo and behold, there was a taxi stranded on top of the sandbags. With barely functioning window wipers and only one headlight the poor guy hadn't seen the diversion. Out go Diego and John to lift the car up a bit so it can get off the sandbags. Good on you fellas! My question is, how long will they keep these diversions in place for?

We can watch tele...

2011-04-07T15:23:00.004-05:00

This year the local soccer team has made it back into the national league, piquing John's interest in watching games. Tickets are a little hard to come by, so he has settled for watching it on the tele...small issue being that we get absolutely no reception in this house, seeing as we are in some sort of hollow. We don't want cable and we have the TV in the lounge room (as opposed to in each bedroom which is quite common here). And so began the joy of trying to get reception.

Bring out the 6m pole, find an electrician (or someone who knows about wires) and bring him up to the house. Buy a better antenna and off we go. Initial price - $5. One false installation (pole and antenna stuck up high in the sky but zero receptivity), next try is onto the roof with pole leaning onto the neighbours wall. The cable is poked through a gap in the roof and run all the way through the dining and lounge areas to finally reach the TV. Six hours later we choose which channels we definitely want and forego the others. There's even a cable channel in the mix by virtue of being able to tune into it?!

The guy gets ready to go and um's and uh's - it's been a lot of work for just $5 and we agree. So $10 it is and some lunch money thrown in - what a good job he has done to get us some tele. Happy John, not-so-excited kids who think football watching is somewhat boring, Karine placated thinking that at least it means Dad is around to help with the kids a little during the games!

Slug bug blue!

2011-03-29T17:00:00.001-05:00

While we stayed with some friends near Seattle on our journey to Ecuador, they taught us how to play “Slug bug”. The idea is that if you spot the bug first and say it’s colour, i.e. slug bug blue, you get to slug the other the person, of course if you forget to say “No slugs back”, you´ll get one right back at you.

Well this game has caught on in our home and thankfully, without the slugs! Here is Mattias, yet again overjoyed at seeing yet another bug, especially a blue one!!

Your bricks are here

2011-03-29T16:55:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered what the benefits are of getting bricks delivered in pallets? Here a good reason. Think about the guys who have to pick all these up and stack them prior to moving them around the worksite.

I wonder how many people would write to their local member if this happened down the street from where you live.

La fiesta italiana

2011-03-07T20:42:00.003-05:00

Here we are enjoying a 'family' feast with our team mates. Before we left Australia, John got a hold of the 'My family feast' series and thought it would be fun to watch an episode together and then eat the food they show (pending availability of ingredients of course). So, last Saturday we had our first such feast - italian. It was pretty good I think - we made tomato sauce (passata) out of 20kg of tomatoes, stuffed eggplant, meatballs and focaccia. Our dessert lacked authenticity - no gelato in our neck of the woods and not enough energy to have a go at making it. Oh, to be around the corner once again from Pure Gelato, now that would be bliss.

Cosecha

2011-02-28T21:10:00.002-05:00

Evie came home on Friday with a little bag of potatoes in hand - harvested from the school garden that they work in. Well done, green thumb! Evie says we should make some potato chips out of them, sounds perfect.

Apples

2011-02-14T20:40:00.011-05:00

We were half way through our apple dumpling recipe and discovered we had to core the apples. Alas! Apple corers don't exist in this past of the world. So we set John onto the task and his solution worked a treat. The dumplings were scrumptious.

Celebrating Mattias' birthday

2011-02-07T11:06:00.004-05:00

After raining most of the week, Loja was beautifully sunny last Saturday morning which meant perfect party weather for Mattias. John did a lovely job decorating the cake and we managed a little potato and spoon race before we decided the sun was too sunny and we should retreat to the shade. Happy birthday Tijs!

A walk with mum

2011-02-07T10:36:00.003-05:00

We ran out of bananas after 4 days (that means almost 20 bananas....good thing they are only 5c each), so I decided I had better go and get some more. Annalise, who had no choice in the matter, accompanied me. Evie and Mattias voiced their opinions and decided to stay home and continue to play. It's a long hill down to the market, but with 20 bananas in hand, an even longer one back up. Annalise had a lovely time pulling my hair and looking all around at the big, wide world.

This feels like a nice kid stage right now - Evie and Mattias can play together for ages when both are in the right moods and not too tired. Saturday was one long mum's and dad's game for them. Annalise is getting herself moving and curious about everything, so Mattias is extra busy packing and hiding his 'special' toys from her reaching hands. Evie is learning a dance at school and I can see that famous latin hip wiggle coming along nicely as she practices at home.

Speaking of dancing, I was reminded again yesterday that language bloopers will never be too far away....a friend jokingly said yesterday that we should start dancing some salsa, I responded by saying, 'Great, I have some Chi Chi' and she bursts out laughing. So, I was referring to a salsa album I have by Chi Chi Peralta, but here, chi chi means boobs. I won't forget that now!

A blue flower

2011-01-27T14:21:00.004-05:00

As Mattias, Annalise and I were walking back to the car, we passed by the little plaza where they sell flowers, so I stopped and picked up some lovely gerbras. The florist then gave a flower to Mattias who promptly said that he didn't want that red one but a blue one for 'his boy' (his imaginary friend, I think he is trying to keep up with Evie). I explained Mattias' dilemma to the lady so she wouldn't feel bad about his lack of excitement, but then she promptly disappeared behind the stall and in a minute came out with a blue spray painted rose! Mattias' face lit up and he exclaimed, 'Look Mum, they DO have blue flowers!' What a sweet lady!

A toll booth?

2011-01-26T21:19:00.003-05:00

After three years living in the same city and travelling the same roads you would think that I, John, would know that I need to take $1 for tolls when going out of town. Well not tonight!!

Here I was listening to a talk on the radio, when the toll booth came to mind. I need to get the 50 cents ready. It was then that I realised, 30 kilometres from home that I did not even have 1 cent to my name.

I thought to myself, what can I do, do I turn around and do this trip tomorrow? Do I continue and risk them turning me around? Do I ring some teammates who maybe close behind me? But maybe not. Oh I know, it's close to aeroplane leaving time and Gustavo, our regular taxi driver who takes us to the airport, might be coming up the hill?

I give him a call and lo and behold he is just the other side of the toll booth and is very keen to help out. In fact he offers me much more money that I need, but I tell him that $1 is all I need to get me there and back.

After getting the money the smile was big and the traffic was light, so I made my way easily to the toll booth, and after paying I asked the lady at the toll booth, "What happens if I don't have any money?" To which she responded, we just let you go through. What a lot of stress for something that could have been avoided if I didn't prepare the money beforehand.

Annalise has started sitting

2010-12-09T21:47:00.002-05:00

Here, captivated by Bob the Builder on TV....

Guamote

2010-12-02T22:14:00.005-05:00

We stopped in at a rural market in Guamote on the long drive back from Quito. This is one of the country's larger rural markets and it was happening! We got checked out with long stares by the locals, saw lots of pigs, sheep, fruit and the hugest veggies ever. Quichua seemed to be predominant, rather than spanish. A fascinating glimpse into another facet of this amazing country.

As we travelled south on the Panamericana I just couldn't get over the strenuous physicality of so much of the population here as they work their land on the steep slopes, much of it by hand. I also appreciated the way people can pass time, whether it's just sitting quietly on the edge of the road waiting for a bus, or passing a volleyball with a friend on a dirt patch out the front of a house or talking with a companion on some upturned boxes. All this as we listened to Kirk Patston's talks again on Ecclesiastes, and it made me want to again put my mind to enjoying and savouring this moment of time, this season that God has us in, rather than rushing through it, always looking to the next thing rather than the current.

So, I am thanking God for our three little kids, and enjoying their stature and all that it entails - the wonder and joy, the frustrations and the laughs.

That being so, I shall go and take joy in being able to comfort our screaming 7 month old as she tries to get back to sleep....

South American Guava

2010-11-19T21:06:00.004-05:00

The lady at the shop said I should try this, I agreed with her and found myself buying something new. (My interest in this particular guava was spiked after watching the guys on Master chef make the guava snow egg dessert, but the guava they used is completely different.)

It was really hard to open up, and the white bits were really soft and fluffy with a big seed inside. Overall I thought the flavour pretty unspectacular.

I'm more impressed with my quince paste that I made after finding quinces in the market. They were 50c each which I baulked at as expensive but a friend back home assures me this is incredibly cheap for quinces. I might have to make some more at the rate that Evie is eating it up!

Vida Ventura

2010-11-14T16:23:00.003-05:00

Went out for lunch today. Good food, lovely spot, great company (my family). I am trying to quickly dig into my food before Annalise kicks up too much of a fuss for being stuck in the pram. Evie can't figure out what the big deal is. Thanks Lord for an opportunity to enjoy today. Oh, and only 4 people thought Annalise was a boy (see earlier blog).

Roadworks

2010-11-14T16:14:00.003-05:00

It's our barrio's turn for roadworks. Good but bad...

The method is for the workmen to go around for a week and dig out all the existing holes, making them excessively big and, at times, impassable (I saw someone stall in the ditch below the other day). Cars come careening down the hill, and slide to a skidding halt as they realise the new driving impediment that has now occurred.

When all the digging is done, the following week (or the week after that) is spent filling up all the holes. It makes for a continued need for defensive driving!

Evie turns 5!

2010-11-02T21:49:00.004-05:00

We celebrated Evie's fifth birthday this past weekend. We had cake with icing that stained our teeth, we played the potato and spoon race, pin the tail on the donkey, painting and general party shinanigins...has it really been 5 years since we welcomed our little girl into the world? Thank you Lord for this little life.

The power of a symbol

2010-11-02T21:41:00.003-05:00

It took me a while (being a bit slow on the uptake at times) to figure out why I can have Annalise dressed up like such a girl and still everyone saying how handsome he looked.

I know she doesn't have any hair yet and that makes it a little tricky, but doesn't the dress or the various shades of pink give it away? Apparently not, if you are Ecuadorian.

While I take my cues about the sex of a baby by what they are wearing, an Ecuadorian will almost exclusively zoom in on a baby's ears to see if they are pierced or not, and that's the clincher. When 100% of baby girls leave the hospital with pierced ears, it's a pretty sure way to decide if you are looking at a boy or a girl....unless it's an australian baby with a mum who hasn't pierced her baby girl's ears!

Gourmet travellers

2010-10-21T20:09:00.002-05:00

Was very excited to receive a new food mag from a friend from RPC, and especially so to see a salad with quinoa on the front cover! Tried it out this last Sunday with a family over from church, one of whom commented, 'we normally use quinoa in soup'...nothing like breaking with tradition!

Fresh out of the salon

2010-10-13T21:05:00.003-05:00

Pegs are such useful things aren't they? This afternoon they not only served to hang up Annalise's nappies but also as rose petals for a wedding Evie attended, then they morphed into hair clips for Mattias' and Evie's hair dressing salon. I think I'll ditch my regular hairdresser and just use these guys instead!

Giant cubby houses and the like

2010-10-10T19:47:00.005-05:00

Here we have the giant cubby house that kept Evie and Tijs amused for Saturday morning, courtesy of John's building prowess. There were a few tears when I pulled it down the next day.

And here we have Annalise, at 6 months, trying out her first real food, good old rice cereal. Despite the face, she really didn't seem to mind it at all!

We had some new friends over for lunch today, Sandra and David and their two kids, cooked up some hamburgers on the wood fire BBQ out the back, and made it a good aussie burger with beetroot, served on John's homemade bread rolls. It was a nice time and good to hear more of their story, how they have worked as missionaries around Ecuador and elsewhere and are now back in Loja, their home town, for schooling for their kids. How encouraging to see how God is using people from everywhere to tell others about his awesome rescue!

Trying out fresh prunes

2010-10-10T18:25:00.002-05:00

Here is my latest purchase at the market, fresh prunes, 25 for $1. They are pretty good.

I hadn't made it down to the market for almost three weeks, so I bought up big yesterday and spent a whopping $30! I think i don't need to go again for another three weeks...

Meet the neighbours

2010-09-30T11:43:00.002-05:00

I was lying in bed the other morning and heard a distinct 'moooo'. Looking out the window, I was able to meet our new neighbours, a family of cows! I am feeling somewhat 'country' right now.

Our neighbours seem to be somewhat transient, as after about a week on this vacant lot they moved on. They were milked every day though, and extra feed was dropped off in a taxi, so they have all the mod-cons that cows might need.

A few days ago I managed a small walk/jog around our new neighbourhood. Not sure really where to go as it is pretty hilly (ie hard work) and also a big mix of houses and workshops (mechanics, carpentry and so forth) which isn't always too nice to jog past. I think I passed our cow friends along the way too! I picked up a couple of pebbles ready to throw at any alarming dogs just in case but had no need of that, they seemed pretty docile at that time of day.

We've bumped into Rodrigo and Mariana a few times (I used to go riding with Mariana in 2007) which has been nice and is making me think maybe I just need to get back on the bike. So, the trick will be to co-ordinate kids with John to be able to get out here and there.

The Virgin goes past

2010-09-19T08:46:00.004-05:00

I was out the back of the house a few days ago when I heard the music of a brass band going past.

Out we went to have a look, and there, going up our street was a little procession carrying the Virgin del Cisne. Not exactly sure of her final destination on this outing, but she was wearing a sun hat for good measure!

Please continue to pray that the many here would discover Jesus as the one who is truly worthy of their devotion.

Things aren't always as they seem

2010-09-14T20:28:00.004-05:00

I have been trying this past week to buy a hose fitting for the hose we have. It is a 3/4" hose and I have found that they are not very common. In fact I went to several hardware stores and they all looked at me strangely saying that hoses are 1/2" and not 3/4" (obviously we inherited an imported product).

I bit the bullet and bought a 1/2" fitting in the hope that I could make it work. I slid some half inch hose on the fitting and then slid the 3/4" hose over the top and it was all good. I was literally excited after such a long process of trying to get our hose working.

But... the end of my glee came when I took for granted that the fitting would be strong, made of copper or some other, any other strong material. Boy was I wrong. It was prooving difficult to do up the fitting and so I grabbed the multigrips and went to hold it tight and something wasn't quite right and as I looked closer I reaslied that I had just crushed the fitting and what you see is left below. The only thing still intact was the bit I didn't touch.

Bus stop, Ecuadorian style

2010-09-13T21:03:00.003-05:00

I had a little chuckle with a fellow team mate who is due to go on home assignment soon. She was planning out her travels and where to get on and off the bus back home when out of town and had a sudden realisation that she wouldn't be able to just yell out to the driver to stop at her desired destination but would need to go to an actual designated bus stop. How inconvenient western travel can be!

Tennis

2010-09-13T20:58:00.002-05:00

We made it to the tennis court with our friend Diego! A nice Sunday afternoon activity. We all managed to have a hit, and Evie wanted to stay for a million hours so she could keep playing! Mattias was most sad to get in the car cause he had to say goodbye to the cow that was off to the side of the court...

Charcoal chicken and roast pork...

2010-08-30T20:28:00.003-05:00

Fast food like this is especially prevalent on weekends....enjoy!

Crystal car wash - Ecuadorian style

2010-08-28T17:07:00.002-05:00

Thought it might be fun to show a few parallel services across these two cultures of Australia and Ecuador....so here is the first instalment, the car wash.

You know you're back in Ecuador when...

2010-08-21T22:24:00.002-05:00

The plane lands and there is a hearty round of applause from all occupants....

Baggage includes lots of roosters being transported for various cock fights...

Random fireworks go off at any time of night or day...

Red lights are more of a suggestion...

You hear yourself and your kids being referred to as 'zuca' (short form of azucar, meaning sugar, which is white)...

You start hoarding all your change as even $5 can be too big a note...

You gaze up and see mountains all around and realise - this is life in the Andes!

Fruitfulness

2010-08-12T20:34:00.003-05:00

We have just spent some time with a mate in Wenatchee, three hours east of Seattle, as a way to help transition between the saying of so many goodbyes in Australia and the many hellos to come back to in Loja.

It was so great to see that almost everyone seemed to have some sort of veggie patch going in their yard, making the most of the fertile soil and excellent growing conditions they have over summer. These gardens were fruitful, verdant and abundant in bloom. There was a a sweet fragrance in the air as we passed by clusters of flowers in every yard.

As we set our sights on life for the next three years in Loja, we pray that it will be a Wenatchee-like experience...digging down into the fertile soil of God's word, revelling in relationship with Him, living fruitful, verdant and abundant lives for His glory.

The Hatchback - a perfect family car

2010-08-12T20:29:00.003-05:00

I was pretty impressed with being able to fit three car seats across the back of the hatchback we had on loan for the duration of home assignment. It did require some contortions to get the seatbelts done up, but we did it. We even managed some road trips with all five of us crammed in and the boot full to the brim too. Yay for the hatch!

Further education

2010-08-08T17:18:00.003-05:00

To my (Karine) delight, and that of various companions, John is now a TAFE certified barista! We are reaping the benefits of improved coffee making skills and coffee art. Needless to say that John was pretty pumped at the end of a 5 hour day which was all about coffee!

Normality

2010-08-08T17:08:00.004-05:00

Funny how what used to seem so normal now stands out after living with another 'normal' for a few years. And so here we have a picture of regular rubbish bins standing on the nature strip, nothing of seeming consequence, but after three years in Ecuador where generally you put the bin out just before the truck comes to pick it up and then stay around to bring it back inside as soon as its empty to ensure that your bin doesn't go walking, well, it struck me as quite amazing to see bins all over the place in Sydney casually hanging around on the nature strip waiting hours upon hours for their rightful owners to bring them back in. Living cross culturally opens my eyes in two directions, a new culture and my own. Let's hope those lessons continue!

Play dough art

2010-07-10T06:45:00.002-05:00

You can tell my arty sister has been around the place when the kids regular play dough activity transforms itself into an exhibition on the wall! Here is their effort from the other day...who knew the kitchen tiles would lend itself to such a job as an art gallery for these dough sculptures!

Now baptised....

2010-06-16T17:55:00.003-05:00

At the end of May Mattias and Annalise were both baptised. We promised to raise our kids to know and love Jesus and to follow him all their days. What a promise! Completely beyond our scope if it wasn't for our gracious God who works within us and through us. And I am so thankful that it isn't a promise just made by us as parents, but also by our family and church family to help us in this and to pray for us as we journey along this path of parenthood.

We hadn't baptised Mattias yet as our church in Loja doesn't practice infant baptism. This is probably a good thing to avoid confusion over it's significance when compared to christening within the catholic faith where it is seen as a necessary part of salvation.

Annalise put on a good show, crying the whole time we were up the front (she was just hungry, I guess I didn't time that quite right!).

Connecting across country experiences

2010-06-16T17:44:00.004-05:00

It was good a while ago to be able to get together with some other people from our year at SMBC who are involved in similar work to us all over the world. Five families in five different countries across three continents all passionate about seeing people come to know Jesus and continue in Him until the end.

It was so nice to see our friends face to face and talk about some of our experiences of the past few years that we have read about through newsletters. Who knows when our home assignments will next coincide!

Life is hectic

2010-06-11T06:10:00.003-05:00

I just need some sleep mum! The footpath will do me fine...

Life with Annalise

2010-06-04T00:40:00.005-05:00

I can't believe our newest little girl is one day shy of 8 weeks! She is a sweet thing, with lots of smiles for us all and generally pretty settled (after Mattias and his reflux, what a blessing that is).

Evie and Mattias are doing a good job of being big sister and big brother, but Mattias isn't shy about telling me when it is time to put Annalise back into bed so he can't get some play time in with mum.

Ever thankful for our great church and family who have been an awesome help with meals being provided and pick up from pre-school and taking Evie to swim classes as I wait at home for the 6 weeks no driving post c/section.

Where are you meat? ....oh, there you are!!!

2010-04-26T20:26:00.002-05:00

There's nothing like having a meatatarian in the family.

Botanical gardens fun

2010-04-06T04:38:00.003-05:00

Here is a little video of the kids in the Botanical Gardens.

Kids and scooters

2010-04-06T04:04:00.005-05:00

We recently acquired some scooters for the kids to ride and well, things have not been the same. They have discovered they have a circuit around the house, they have discovered Centennial Parkland’s bike track for kids and yesterday they discovered the Botanical gardens in Sydney. We have certainly been enjoying the sights of Sydney.

I think the most photographed tree in the whole of the gardens is this one below. While there are hundreds of lovely healthy trees all about you, this one gets all the attention, talk about the poor tree feeling different. It reminded me a bit of what it is like to walk around Loja. We do stand out from the crowd.

Airport fun!!!

2010-03-07T20:16:00.003-05:00

Well recently I took the kids for a trip down to the airport. Unlike the three flights a day in Loja, here we could enjoy as many as we wanted. Here is one that we really enjoyed.

Encouraging times

2010-02-06T05:19:00.005-05:00

It has been great to be able to meet up with friends and supporters thus far and to share a bit about what life in Loja has been like these past three years. What a treat it has been to speak with people who have been praying for us for so long, some without even having met us before!

I have been blown away yet again by the wonderful gift we have of being in God's family, knowing that we share a common future and can share a common present through praying for each other.

What a great God we have who doesn't leave us to be solo workers for him but puts us in these communities.

Pics - at a friends farm in Walcha, at the beach in Yamba

Cute Koalas

2010-01-13T06:32:00.005-05:00

We went to visit some good friends in Newcastle last week and nearby they have a wildlife park where you could get up close and personal with koalas, too exciting!

Evie and Mattias had fun playing with Hamish and Thea, and the dress up outfits were great!

Not 50c but very worthwhile!

2010-01-13T05:11:00.007-05:00

A trip to Taronga Zoo was definitely a special treat this last week. Seeing as Loja's exotic animal died, the giraffe, it was great to spot elephants, lions, gorillas, seals, sea lions, red belly black snakes, turtles, and all sorts of birds as we made our way through the beautiful surrounds of the zoo. I did get tired legs though as we had to wander through so much garden between animals and exhibits!

The larger animals were the favourite as they were much easier to spot. Mattias cried when he had to move on from whatever it was that caught his attention.

Re-entry...

2009-12-16T04:38:00.003-05:00

It has now been 3 weeks since we left Quito and I sit here from our sunroom in Kingsford with the seabreeze coming in, thinking that it all feels quite surreal.

Our week in Nashville with my brother and his family was great, and a good stepping stone between 2 worlds - still driving on the right hand side but mostly english spoken around us. We celebrated Thanksgiving, raked up lots of autumn leaves which the kids then jumped in and promptly disappeared, and even saw a puppet show in downtown Nashville library.

We arrived in Sydney on the 5th Dec and spent the next week helping with all my sister's wedding preparations for the following Saturday, although we did sneak in a quick 2 trips to the beach! Now we are getting our head around living here for the next 8 months. Our church family has been so fantastic at helping us get settled, to the point that we were able to sleep in the house they had organised the first night we arrived, and had breakfast waiting for us in the cupboard for the following morning! So thank you Lord for the way you care for us in such a myriad of ways and thank you RPC.

Some things that have struck us as we get out and about...

Less high heels; lots more leg showing with guys in shorts and girls in dresses and skirts (naturally as we are in the heat of summer but after seeing people mostly in jeans for 3 years it does stand out); lots more green spaces and trees visible within the city; tiled roofs and finished buildings; smooth roads; some things cheaper such as fast and reliable internet, some things more expensive like fruit and veg; wondering how to greet and farewell people appropriately (do I wave aimlessly in the air, merely say goodbye, shake hands or kiss on the cheek???); telemarketers ringing up...and so it goes on.

Feeling a little whelmed but enjoying being here too. Let's see how the next few months pan out, by God's grace we will have some rest, some re-energising, re-connecting and fun, plus all the other responsibilities fitted in too!

Tentative plans

2009-11-27T21:42:00.002-05:00

Three years in Ecuador as an Australian has led me to make tentative plans....I don't actually 100% believe that something will happen until it has started happening anymore!

For example, we had planned a farewell lunch out at Mollepamba (about an hour out of Loja) with the group that John has been teaching out there once a month on Sundays. We had the date planned already for months as the 1st November, we were bringing all the pizza ingredients to see how it turned out in Jorge's wood fired adobe oven. Off we start, up and over the pass, halfway down the hill to La Toma only to round a corner and see a big line up of cars. Hmmm.
John gets out to investigate, and after asking numerous people, finds out that although it was only 9am, the 9.30am road closure had already started and the police were not going to let anyone else through, unless it was a medical emergency. What's more, the road wasn't going to be re-opened until 6pm that evening. The reason? The Virgin of Cisne was making her pilgrammage back from Loja to El Cisne that very day, knowledge new to us, but obvious to some of our other local friends when we mentioned our frustration the next day. I was sort of glad to see we weren't the only ones in the dark as we observed irate drivers yelling at the police about why they hadn't shut the road in Loja itself rather 40 minutes down the road!

The next complication was letting our friends in Mollepamba know that there was no way we could make our planned lunch. There is one place in their house where they can get reception for their mobile phone to receive messages, so we sent a message, hoping that they would check their mobile phone. The phone call we got from another girl who was in a different spot with some mobile phone coverage a few hours later asking where we were and that everyone was waiting for us for lunch made it clear our message hadn't gotten through...

So no farewell lunch in Mollepamba and a lot of pizza dough to get through with an alternative bunch of people was the end result of that tentative plan!

Another example, John had arranged a trip out to Zamora, about an hour out of Loja (opposite direction to Mollepamba) on a particular Tuesday. He leaves the house at a reasonable hour, drives over to pick up Morgan (about 10 blocks) and can't get any further as this was the day of a taxi and bus driver strike in an effort to see fares increased. The whole of Loja was gridlocked with taxis and buses blocking most intersections making it impossible to get through. John didn't make it any further than Morgan's place and had to ring up and cancel the meeting in Zamora.

I had gotten Evie ready for school like normal, only to show up and see that there was no school due to the strike, which most everybody else seemed to know but me. There is just a certain level of ignorance that seems to come as a result of being a foreigner in another culture.

And so, I continue to make plans, but with a much higher expectation that they might never come to pass, and only as it happens do I believe it!

Celebrating Evie's birthday

2009-11-10T21:51:00.003-05:00

Evie turned 4 on October 29, so we brought a cake along to her pre-school and got the kids to jump around like kangaroos! We had a little party the next day at home and enjoyed seeing the kids all play together. It was a good Australian-Ecuadorian mix with fairy bread and a pinata!

Into the clouds

2009-10-27T20:34:00.003-05:00

Our church in Loja is helping out with a church plant in a town called Celica. Celica is about 4 hours south west from Loja and is usually in the clouds. They say people from Celica find out who their spouse is only after they get married, cause they haven't been able to see through the haze before that (haze of lovesickness???).

This church plant was started by a pastor from Guayaquil who used to travel the 6-7 hours every week or so and now this responsibility has been passed onto our church. There are a few different groups that take turns in going to Celica each week. John has gone out with Toño a few times now.

John stood out as a gringo and received the appropriate 'go home' greeting from a local walking down the street on his first visit, thankfully the guys from the church were more welcoming!

There they stood in the middle of a room that was the size of an average lounge room in Australia making loud music to the Lord....

This new church is so thankful to have our church supporting them and showing an interest in them; and we are really glad to see how our Loja church is taking up this challenge to invest in the lives of other younger christians, even when it means an 8 hour drive on a Sunday.

May it be so that more and more Ecuadorian christians reach out to those around them, especially in Loja province!

Spiritual refreshment in the Andes, 24-28 August

2009-10-14T20:22:00.000-05:00

This year’s spiritual life conference for SIM Ecuador was a special treat for us as David Cook (SMBC principal) along with his wife, Maxine, came as our conference speaker. Speaking about the God who rules, based on Psalms, the talks over the week were a challenge and encouragement to be a child of God who delights in him, who, despite the troughs and peaks of life, can praise the Lord – for that is our eternal song (well, this was amongst a lot of other things that were brought to bear…cherishing God’s word, a warning not to fool with sin – it is a deadly enemy, living a holy life in sight of a holy God) .

The pool, as always, was freezing but fun, the food particularly good (I was in charge of liaising with the chef) and it was fun to chill out with our team mates for a few days!

The river

2009-08-05T14:59:00.001-05:00

I take my jog along the river that runs near our house. Some days it is crystal clear as it flows, other days after rain it is like a raging torrent. I run upriver until I get to a bridge that crosses over onto a dirt track and there are no more houses that you can see from the road. Once there take some time out to stretch, while I contemplate the flow of the river. It’s a good way to gain perspective.

I often think about the part in Ezekiel 47 where Ezekiel is shown the river that emanates from the temple and flows out, getting deeper and deeper such that no one could cross. The water from the river is the source of life, where the river flows everything will live, fruit trees bear fruit every month because the water from the temple flows to them. As I head back home listening to this particular river running through Loja I am reminded that God is in control of everything. His word continues to go out and call people into his family, his kingdom continues to grow, his power sustains all life and he is merciful to us. There is nothing that can stop the flow of God’s river of life.

When I feel weak and unsure about our ‘effectiveness’ here in trying to encourage people in their faith, in our desire to build up Christian leadership, in wanting to see people fully submitted to Christ, the sound of this river reminds me that God’s will shall be accomplished, and I ask again for his mercy and wisdom for us to be part of that work here in Loja, for the sake of his holy name.

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." Ezekiel 47:1-12

Randwick Presbyterian Church in Loja!

2009-07-15T22:53:00.003-05:00

From Sunday June 28th until Monday July 6th we had a team of 9 from our home church, Randwick Presbyterian, visiting us and getting involved in some ministry here in Loja.

It was a hectic week but very worthwhile. We really appreciated the opportunity for this group of people to experience a bit of life in Loja, meet people, encourage and challenge them with the great news of Jesus and generally do some things they would never normally do (up close and personal with a guinea pig)!

We had an outreach for women held at our church (we taught them dot painting on Australian animals cutouts), we had an AFL clinic which even spiked the interest of the police in the park who then stayed around to provide security for us and help find (the many) stray balls, we hung out with the guys from our youth group and also got involved in working at the cafe and the english minsitry events over the week. I think God challenged each of us to do things we never normally do and to trust him in stretching situations.

The team did a great job and got to enjoy some of the incredible scenery around Loja too!

Thanks God for bringing this great group of people to us!

Jesús habla las plenas

2009-06-18T23:16:00.001-05:00

I was reading Luke 9 this week with a friend. The end of the chapter finishes off with Jesus responding to a man who said ‘I will follow you wherever you go’ by talking about how Jesus has nowhere to lay his head. Jesus does not promise that everything will be smooth sailing if you decide to follow him.

In our discussion my friend said Jesus really talks straight, or ‘habla las plenas’, he doesn’t beat around the bush, doesn’t say anything other than the truth. In response to people wanting to follow him, he wants them to think about it first, he tells them it won’t be easy and wants them to count the cost. But he tells the whole truth…the cost is well worth it because the reward is so great – eternal life spent in his presence.

It is a great thing to discover anew with my friend the character of Jesus, that he does tell it like it is, and what he has to say is the most important thing we can pay heed to in this world where we often have to wade through a lot of white noise to get to the point.

Parque Nacional Poducarpus

2009-05-31T20:39:00.008-05:00

That was a great hike! I can't believe how easy it is to get to 3500m above sea level from our house. Diego and I got dropped off at 10am on Friday expecting to do a 3 day hike. We began climbing with only 30m visibility, things were not looking good. We managed to get from 2750m to 3500m in around one and a half hours while I lost the sole of my shoe. Not a good thing as the amount of mud that we walked through meant that I fell over more times than I care to mention.

As we walked along the ridge of this park we had a GPS to make sure we didn't get lost in all the cloud, and we were glad of that given the crazy signs that weren't even stuck down very well. However, the track on top was fairly well marked, it being the deep trench loaded with mud. With sticks poking into legs and mud coming close to our knees we made camp at around 4.30pm and about 5.30pm we had our first view, for 15 minutes, of what we had missed all day, what a view! After a great dinner, we were off to bed with this goal: If it's clear in the morning we keep on going, if not, we return.

Day two was no better, in fact I believe it was worse. It rained continually for the entire day and we actually only stopped twice on the 5 hour return to make sure we could change and be warm again. There were moments when we both had trouble feeling our hands due to the cold wind blowing across the tops of the mountain.

All in all it was a great experience and a really enjoyable time with Diego. Maybe next time we will make our goal, La Laguna del Compadre!

No wonder I stumble over my words in spanish!

2009-05-17T21:56:00.003-05:00

Check this out for a word - otorrinolaringologico. How can it legitimately have so many syllables??? Little wonder I sometimes get stuck half way through trying to say a word, let alone a complete sentence!

Ecuadorian Roads

2009-04-26T21:20:00.005-05:00

When we first got to Ecuador I thought they did a poor job of infrastructure management. The roads were shocking, landslides and caved in bits of road were everywhere. The wise teacher of time has enlightened me somewhat however. A while back the road to Vilcabamba had significant work done on it over a period of time and was just perfect. For all of a few weeks-months! Then the rains came and the roads went…more landslides, more caved in sections. How do you build excellent roads with limited funds and significant geological faults in the Andes anyway??? I now bump along Ecuadorian roads with more grace and understanding than I did two years ago!

The President comes to town

2009-04-26T21:18:00.002-05:00

Being a mother of two toddlers and often at home with them, I am sometimes out of sync with the happenings of Loja, but not this day! Friday, 17th April was a special day for Loja. Our house help, Gloria, came to work talking about the President Rafael Correa’s imminent arrival at 11am that morning. So, when we heard the helicopter land up the road we made our way out to see what was happening. We were in Calle Lourdes at just the right time to see the presidential cavalcade drive past, and our friend Fabricio got in a quick handshake too! Later on we waited down on the Plaza to see him appear there. Eventually he arrived and made his way up to the stage. In the crush of people I checked my phone in my back pocket, and checked it again 10 seconds later only to find that it was no longer there. Silly me, of course for leaving it my pocket, ah well. A momentous day…phoneless but the President was sighted.

KENYA – SIM Global Leaders Gathering

2009-04-26T21:12:00.002-05:00

From 22nd till 29th April SIM International organised a Global Leaders Gathering for directors and representatives of various countries. The idea of the conference was to bring people from the 72 different countries that SIM is involved in worldwide to praise God, to pray and to listen to what God has to say to us. Travelling to Nairobi, Kenya made me realize again that Loja is really quite far from anywhere! They have a saying in Quito that Loja is further than the moon, because at least you can see the moon….So, one flight to Quito, another to Madrid, another to London and another to Nairobi. Not great back-to-back, but I survived.

The conference had three main speakers - an assistant bishop from the Kampala Diocese in Africa, Rev. David Zac Niringiye, who has had over 20 years in ministry in varying roles in Africa; Dr. Funmi Para-Mallam a senior research fellow from Nigeria, who published a book called “Why? Oh Why am I a Woman?” (she certainly had some things to say about equality and women, was nice to hear it from some else apart from Karine, who used to come home from uni when doing her masters talking about gender issues all the time!); and Rev. Simon Walker, author of “The Undefended Leader”, the reading of which was homework for the conference.

Of the three speakers the one that interested me most was Simon as I am certainly trying to work out what my place will be within SIM Ecuador and how best I can serve my fellow teammates. His talks were encouraging and thought provoking. Along with his book, I found that he gave me some really interesting ideas on how to talk to people in the varying ministries that they are involved in within SIM Ecuador. I pray that this will be of some use and encouragement to the rest of the team.

I had a great time meeting the many people from around the SIM World and making many new friends.

I also managed to drop in on some friends and family in the UK, which was a real treat. Had a walk with Jules and Josh (RPC) in the Peak District and had a BBQ with the Miller-Crankos (the sun was out). Thank you all for your hospitality!
I made it back home to Karine and the kids and they even met me at the airport, a 40 minute drive over the mountain.
I have put lots of photos on Facebook, so please go and have a look.

10 great things about life in Loja

2009-04-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

1. Such great fruit and veg...at good prices! (bananas at 5c each, that is USD, so maybe it’s a little expensive in aussie currency...)
2. Being able to walk lots of places, leaving the car in the garage for days at a time if we so desire
3. Watching horses stroll past my window this morning, passing cows and sheep on my run by the river
4. Mora juice (like blackberry), strawberry juice, tree tomato juice
5. Recognising people on the street regularly as we walk around town
6. The Ecuadorian love of laughter
7. My Baalbergen tendency of lateness not being inappropriate here
8. The aptness of my mountain buggy (pram) for the local sidewalks
9. Being able to get medicine so readily and cheaply, as long as you know what you want!
10. Driving up a mountain for 20 minutes and gazing at the Andes as they rise up all around you

The testimony of an unadorned house

2009-04-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

I have begun to meet up with a friend to read the bible. Patricia comes over to my house on Tuesday mornings and we sit down with a cuppa and read and talk. My friend comes from a strongly catholic family but has for a long time been searching for something more, something that works...
So we have begun reading the gospel of Luke together. She is making all sorts of discoveries about what the bible is like, about who Jesus is and what God desires of us. Our conversation also includes things like what I think about praying to the dead, praying to saints, the benefits keeping saints and religious paraphernalia on hand to ensure success and safety.
Yesterday she mentioned the simplicity of our house and that we don't have pictures or statues of saints or the virgin around the house, nor do we have an open bible on a stand, nor other religious bits and bobs everywhere.
She talked about how when her and her husband moved to Loja last year they decided to throw out the Saint and blessed bread and other items that her mum wanted her to have in their shop to ensure success. They related these things to the idea of the golden calf that the Israelites worshipped in the desert.
And her conclusion to the matter....none of those things are really necessary are they? No, because Jesus is our only mediator and no-one else can do his work of giving us access to God the Father.
It was a surprise to me how every part of our lives, including interior decorating, can speak of the relationship that we have with our great God and the difference that trusting in Jesus makes!

¡La Evie, tan lojana!

2009-03-19T22:47:00.000-05:00

Evie was playing 'waitress' the other day and gave me the menu of what was on offer at her 'fruit shop'. There were mangoes, bananas, grapes, apples, strawberries..... I placed my order of mango only to find out there were no mangoes available. Ok then, bananas. No, no bananas available either. Grapes? No, says Evie, actually we only have apples today.

Quite a common experience here. It made me chuckle!

Plus, here is a pic of Mattias adding to his climbing exploits.

Oh the joys....

2009-01-12T22:38:00.000-05:00

Mattias is a climber, Evie is a jumper......

At least the furniture is getting a good work out!

Beach Time

2008-12-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

We managed a week’s holiday down at the beach just before Christmas. It was so good to see the ocean, and also to think that on the other side of that water, far, far away is home. The kids enjoyed the sand and the water, Mattias not even blinking an eye when side swiped by a wave.

John got in some quality sand castle building and Evie liked pulling it all down again. It was more than worth the 2 day drive to get there!

‘Do you do Nativity scenes?’

2008-12-29T14:48:00.000-05:00

I was talking with a friend about how we celebrate Christmas, and she asked if our decorations include nativity scenes. I was a little perplexed as to how to answer. Yes, but not really….not like here! Nativity scenes are a very serious business in Ecuador. People dedicate half their lounge rooms to intricate scenes including everything from packets of farm yard animals to modern additions of model cars and buses. Baby Jesus only gets laid in the manger on the night of the 24th. And no, I haven’t been snooping into people’s front yards, but most houses are directly on the street so it’s easy access to see all this nativity scene action up close and personal.

John's parents in Loja

2008-11-19T15:39:00.001-05:00

Having arrived back from Quito on Sunday morning we looked back and thought about the wonderful time we had while John's parents were here. While Karine was off in Thailand my parents arrived and then they stayed for a week and a half after Karine came back. We certainly had some good times for them and they too realised the dificulty of getting around for Dad, as Loja is not very wheelchair friendly.

It was great to see both Mattias and Evie enjoy having Opa and Oma here for a while to spoil their grandkids.

Mum became the adventurer with regular visits to the shops on her own and catching taxis when she was far enough away and didn't want to walk back. At $1 for a taxi, who can blame her.

Dad was certainly pleased with the television as being in South America means that there is football (Soccer) on nearly every waking moment. Thankfully there were times that he turned the TV off.

Storm hits Loja

2008-10-14T22:11:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning was lovely, sunny and warm. Slowly, clouds began to form, and the sky darkened. Soon there was thunder and lightening. I was relishing the sound and feel of a good thunderstorm as they are few and far between here in Loja. Then the heavens opened and it bucketed down, what a great feeling.

However, the next morning driving to church along the river we were amazed to see how much damage the torrential downpour had created. The river burst its banks in a few places, ripped out trees, damaged a few bridges, swept one completely away and all in all made a big mess.

So, the men in green are currently out in force for the big clean up operation. Not quite the scale of a big Sydney storm but impressive all the same.

Preach it brother

2008-09-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

Well, how a few days can change your life. Many of the people who came to the preaching conference were asking, "When is the next one?" Something must have turned out alright. When I think about Monday before the conference and the lack of enrollments, my mind wonders how I even coped. By the grace of God, and the prayers of many. Thank you!

We ended up have 58 people enrolled, and I was glad that a number of people decided to go home at night, as the place where we stayed only had space for 50 people to sleep.

It was a real blessing to have Morgan and Anna up here from Language school in Arequipa to help out and get to meet people they will hopefully be ministering to in the near future. I think as a networking tool, the conference worked a treat and has opened many doors for future ministry. One of the doors it opened was for me (John) is to go to a small town this weekend to give evangelistic talks to a youth group. Another door that has been talked about is to start a preaching group within Loja. As we think and pray for direction for where we go from here, we are sure that more doors will open.

I have included some pics from the conference, some regular shots, plus the extra one of Morgan and I trying to work out the best location for the group photo.

Evie's first day at pre-school

2008-09-12T21:04:00.000-05:00

What do you think of Evie's uniform? She started pre-school this week, for 2 mornings and seemed to enjoy it. I still haven't bought all the items on the very long list of resources needed for a 3 year old...

100 Kilometers of 4WD

2008-09-07T20:38:00.000-05:00

As the preaching conference gets closer there is more need to round up people to come. One of the goals for the conference was to reach people who are in remote areas and invite them along to the conference in order to encourage them, and give them the necessary tools for preaching and teaching the bible.

So in order to do this we travelled 339kms in one day and visited 6 Pastors in 4 towns and spent roughly 9-10 hours driving.

We started the day by driving to Zamora where we met a Pastor we had arranged (the only thing we did arrange). We told him and he was excited and said he knew some pastors in Yantzaza. So off we went for a 1 hour drive. Once there we met two pastors and gave them enough information about the conference to give to other pastors in the same town.

From Zantzaza we went to Yacaumbi (28 Mayo on map), another 1 hours in the car where we had a deep fried fish lunch with rice and Yuka. It was at this town I met the husband of a family who had moved to this remote place in order to be Christians there. At the time we arrived his wife was in a new town where they had decided to move to in order to spread the good news. This meant another 1 hour in the car to Tutupali. I thought the road was bad up until now, however this next part was not for the faint hearted and was specifically built for 4WD's, the 50km trip each way was very demanding and had a high smile factor. On the way to this remote place we crossed a river, around 50m wide, saw a spectacular waterfall and at the end of the road we had to cross the foot bridge in order to get into town. Once there the lady we met was so excited about the conference and said she would be joining us for the three days.

All in all, it was a good day. There was fun to be had, but also it was an encouraging day for both us and for those we met.

Ecuador's wildlife and scenery

2008-08-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

I first saw one of these vermillion flycatchers (I think that's what they're called) on our beach holiday. I couldn't believe something that vibrant was actually a living thing. They are great.

The view from where we had our team retreat, lovely sunsets on the mountains for a brief minute or two.

John makes it up Mandango. In record time (he had some energy to burn). It's a great view from the top.

A Hamper, Ecuadorian Style

2008-08-24T20:52:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm a little hazy on details but there was a christian type marathon happening from the coast through Loja up to Quito. The idea was for this team of christian runners to be a blessing around different locations in Ecuador, praying for cities and churches along the way.

When it got to Loja, a cavalcade was organised and John, being in the pastor's fraternal went along too. Long and short of it, there was a service at a local church, it included feet washing and John getting a hamper! It was SOOOOO heavy I counldn't even pick it up. Check out the photo to see what was inside...not your average chocolate and wine hamper!
Needless to say, we won't be buying rice or brown sugar for a while.

La Playa

2008-08-13T21:53:00.000-05:00

We thought we would be adventurous and try to have a holiday with a 2 1/2 year old and 6 month old and so headed down to the beach. We drove up to Cuenca and met Dan and Rach and Nathaniel, then all squeezed into the car down to Guayaquil where we dropped them off. We thought to go to Montañita, but as we stepped out of the car the realisation hit that we truly are not in a backpacking stage of life and what goes with it, so after a yummy lunch headed further up to Puerto Lopez which turned out to be great. The beach was calm enough at shore for Evie and further out back had enough waves for some body surfing. I didn't realise how much I missed the ocean. Evie had so much energy, it was unbelievable. We even saw some whales offshore!

I think we will go again in the not too distant future....

Has it really been 10 years????

2008-07-15T22:38:00.000-05:00

John and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on the 11th! It has been a good ten years, God has blessed us with some great times, some stretching times and has always been faithful to us. We went out to dinner and we were the ONLY ONES in the restaurant the whole time we were there. Thankfully, the lack of custom was no reflection on the food. It was great.

Here we are, about to go out - we took an Ecuadorian style shot and a regular shot...

Karine is famosisisimo....

2008-07-15T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have made it into the local newspaper...the events page! Photographed while at a friend's babyshower. The ladies at my table are all friends from church. Ecuadorians have a baby shower for every baby they have. It's also a way to raise funds for the costs associated with the birth etc. This one was pretty extravagant, held at a function venue, lots of games, prizes and food etc. Mattias also made it into the paper, but his head is perfectly framed by the stuffed toy goose sitting in the middle of the table!

Kids

2008-07-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

Two photos...Mattias at 5 months. He is getting 2 teeth, well on the way to crawling and hates his nappy being changed (so do I, it's hard work as he is content to lie on his back for a nanosecond). And Evie, such a little talker at times, and loves painting with glitter but mostly paints her hands.

Have I been calling Evie a dog?

2008-07-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

Learning a language means learning a whole new set of gestures, noises and utterances, not just regular words. And so the other day there I was speaking with a short termer on the ins and outs of hissing to get people's attention. I find out that the short, repeated hiss is to call a dog while the single long hiss is to call out to someone you know (calling out their name is rude). And my heart sinks as I realise I have been using the dog version to get Evie's attention at times for the better part of a year. At least both of us have been in the dark about that! As an aside, the fact that men use the short repeated hiss as women walk past sort of increases the level of insult I, as a foreigner feel...not necessarily shared by local women. Different context, different framework.

And so, the learning continues. To point, you purse your lips. To indicate height you hold your hand out vertically rather than horizontally. The noises you make with babies are different, a sort of clicking against your teeth. I could go on, but enough for today!