Thursday, December 17, 2015

As noted by Laura

This is out of sequential order, but I want to get this in print before I forget.  My current visitors are Laura E and Alaina T from Illinois.  We've had a wonderful few days together so far.  (More about that later)  Tonight Laura came back from her shower with this observation:

"One perk of showering here (in Manabí) is that you don't ever have to worry about running out of hot water."


How true!  How true!  
Thanks for putting things in perspective, Laura!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

I'm now a card carrying member

On November 18, I became the proud owner of an Ecuadorian cédula (identification card).  This accompanies my newly obtained visa that gives me residence in this country for an unspecified period of time.  May this be the end of government paperwork for a while!!!


This will give you the idea without allowing you to steal my identity.  :-)




Whose co-worker is that, anyway?!?!

After arriving in Quito, a few of us stopped in at the mall for coffee before heading on to our homes for supper and the night.  Jill entertained the patrons of El Español while the rest of us tried to pretend that we had no idea how it was that she had come to be sitting with us.  :-)


Next stop: Quito

Getting there:





A few thoughts from El Cristal convention


  • Often falling helps us walk more carefully.
  • When we realize that we can't please God in our own strength, the life of Jesus becomes very important to us.
  • Example is the best way to teach and the kindest way to correct.
  • No night has ever conquered the morning.
  • As we are faithful to prepare our hearts, God will write on them.
  • The devil wants to give us things to play with but nothing to feed our souls.
  • We want the Lord to see the result of His work in our lives.
  • I Sam. 17 - David didn't go to fight; he went to take bread to his brothers.  However, when he saw the need, he was willing to fight.
  • Have we faced reality?  The Gibeonites realized, "What we have is old and rotting and disappearing.  There's no future in it."  They entered into a covenant, not on their own terms, but rather completely willing to be servants.  That's how it must be for our flesh.
  • We'd like to help others live by what we share with them of the word of God.
  • Many people think that the way of god is too difficult because they're trying to put to death the works of the flesh in the power of the flesh.
  • Shimei lost his life because he wasn't willing to show mercy as he had been shown mercy.  He should have been willing to let something go.
  • In Proverbs, nearly every time it speaks about the lips or the tongue, it mentions the heart first.  Pureness of heart takes care of problems with our tongue.
  • God knows us by our spirit.
  • Walking with someone that we don't love is very difficult.

Scenes from El Cristal

In no particular order:


The kitchen is a very busy place!


Making juice


Looking down at the dish-washing area





The cats are never far from the kitchen!


Valentina


¡Hola, Damaris!

Gary and Patty

Norman & Hank

Yes, we're still working on hymns!

Laurence



Plenty of bananas


Henry

Damaris

The road back toward "town"

Where the baptism is held








Kathy is one of the daughters of the convention home.


Washing dishes

Chopping vegetables

Hank & Pearl

Eli

Brother workers' sleeping on the left, sister workers' sleeping on the right


Ecuador's flag






Here you can see more clearly the spot where the baptism is actually held.