Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.... “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Ecuador 2010

We enjoyed a quick trip to Ecuador on our way back to the States. It was a whirlwind of a trip. Josh was extremely busy... he gave the graduation address on Saturday, preached on Sunday and did a 6 hour conference on Monday and Tuesday. But we managed to fit in a birthday celebration for him, horseback riding and cousin time in spite of it all. We enjoyed being with Nana and Papa and visiting with Uncle Justin and Aunt Jauna too!

Graduation ceremony


Lots of play time with sisters, cousins, and Uncle James







And time outside with Papa and the animals




Birthday fun with Nana



And one of my favorites... sunset over the valley beyond Josh's parents house with beautiful Mt. Antezana in the far background, looking like a cloud.

Ministry Events in April and May

The last few weeks of our time in Cochabamba before we left on furlough were so crazy, I didn´t have time to make this post. So here it is. I figure better late than never.


The primary school Bible class finished out their rotating 3 and a half year curriculum in May, which took us through the whole Bible. To celebrate, we had a dress up party at our house with games and fellowship.


Wendy, a long time member of the church, and Gonzalo decided to make the committment of marriage. Josh has done relationship counseling with them for a couple years, and we were excited they decided to take this step. Wendy is one of the moms that lost her daughter in the accident last year.


The church has been very creative in ideas for raising money for purchasing property as a permanent worship location for the church. One of the things we do is a raffle every month during our fellowship meal. Church members bring grocery items to fill a large container and then a raffle is held. Patricia is the happy winner this month!


The youth helped organize the evangelistic outreach we have had 2 years running on the ´Day of the Child´ in April. We organize a group to go to one of the local parks and hand out balloons and pamphlets, and have facepainting and a few of the youth dress up in costumes.


The youth have a fellowship time together once a month. This time they decided to make pizza and watch a movie and take advantage of the foozeball table and pingpong table they bought with some of their funds for the church.

Things that amaze me about the US

Some of these I´m sure I´ve mentioned before... but they never fail to cease to amaze me.
1. The sugar! The white is so fine and the brown is so moist.
2. The things people throw away. Josh picked up a Fisher Price play kitchen for my parent´s house that someone had put out on the road for the dumpster.
3. The endless choices in shopping. I´ve left 3 stores without buying anything I need because it´s so overwhelming.
4. Water fountains (Michaela calls them waterfalls) and clean drinking water out of the tap.
5. Orderly driving, street signs, well designed and maintained sidewalks, and houses that are numbered according to a pattern.
6. The fact you can find any address and directions on Google maps.
7. Mail to your front door.
8. You can renew your driver´s license online!!!! It took me all of 10 minutes.
9. The many family oriented, child oriented activities available... In the last week, we´ve eaten several times at restaurants with playgrounds and coloring sheets, gone to the zoo (which had an amazing playground, with hand sanitizer dispensers as you enter and exit!), the park 3 times, Greenfield village, and the kids have played at the playground at church. We´re planning on taking advantage of the free programs at the library while we´re here at my parents. However, I have to say I think the attitudes of Bolivian people are generally more child friendly (this is especially noticiable when traveling with 3 small children).
10. Nobody walks! When we were at the hotel in Dallas and walking to the surrounding restaurants, you felt like a fish out of water because nobody else was on the streets.
11. How light it stays for so long in the summer. Does anyone else have trouble putting their kids to bed in the summer?
12. The ease of automatic locks and doors on the cars and garage door openers.
13. Garage sales!
14. Radio stations! Especially NPR.
15. Recycling, garbage collection from your house, and natural gas lines.
That´s all I can think of right now... more to come I´m sure.