And so begins the work...

The past few days have been a bit of an orientation to the hospital, the staff and the practicalities of living in Shell. Where do we get groceries? Is the water safe? What bugs, snakes etc do we need to be wary of? I helped with one case on the weekend and found that the inability to communicate in Spanish made life a little challenging in the OR. Not so much with providing anesthetic care but with trying to fill out charting in Spanish and trying to understand their routine for change-overs of cases. Tomorrow will see the regular OR staff in place and I will try to find a cadre of translators that might be able to assist me during my time in the hospital.

The Ecuadorian anesthesiologist has been on continuous call for many months and will appreciate a much deserved break from on-call responsibilities. I delivered most of the supplies to the OR on Saturday and they were very appreciative for the 2 suitcases of donated items that all managed to arrive safely. I will help set up and install the items that we brought to Shell and look forward to "rolling up my sleeves " and pitching in.
Gary

Sunday afternoon

Well today I was tired from the supper thing last night and because I was reading until 10:30. We had eggs and hot chocolate for breakfast, and then we played some card games until we had to leave for church. Church was good, even though I couldn't understand anything they sang of said but it was cool.

We went for chinese for lunch and it was very good, I had chicken fried rice. We walked a different path home and then me and Brett played bump with soccer balls on the basketball hoop. We tried to play that new game but we just got confused and quit. We are going to those girls house for supper so maybe they will teach us some more games. Well I am going to go read a book now.
Carly

Sun. afternoon Siesta time

Well we woke up to gray skies and rain, so took advantage of the weather and stayed in bed awhile. No hurry to get up. Church is at 10:30. Klaudia came and we all walked over to the church with umbrella in hand. It only takes about 10 minutes from here. We have to cross on the suspension bridge and it is a loooong way down to the creek below which you can hardly see due to all the jungle type vegetation below.
Church was full,mostly Ecuadorians. Met alot of other missionary families there, some independent missionaries , some with MAF, some more HCJB. The pastor is Brazilian I think they said. One of the Ecuadorian nurses showed slides of her recent mission trip to the Congo. That is one change from when we were here 20 years ago....they have now come to the point where Ecuador is sending missionaries out to other parts of the world as missionaries. We tried our best to sing along in Spanish,(the words were on the overhead. Couldn't understand any of the service but could look up the Bible verses because I could decipher the references. Adam went to children's church and came out and told me the Bible story. I guess one of the missionary children interpreted for him.
Klaudia and Eckehart Wolff invited us to go to lunch with them at a Chinese restaurant here. It was delicious. The kids cleaned their plates they enjoyed it so much.

Then we took a walk down to the old hospital which they are starting to tear down this week. It was kind of awesome to think that the men who were martyred actually had started to build that before they died.
Walked back across another swinging bridge on the way home. Met alot of people that are doing some amazing things here. It makes our lives at home seem a bit mundane and useless...considering what people here are doing every day.
Alot of the families here have at least one spouse that is an MK. Some of the families will be returning to the U.S. next year, some moving on to other mission fields. Others have been here 20 - 30 years and this is home for them.
Again, as in Africa last year, I really wish that we could speak the language. Apparently, the most common language school for the Americans for Spanish is in Costa Rica. Some of them go there for 5 months or so before coming to work here.
I feel sorry for Gary in the OR as everything is in Spanish, all the paper work, the staff, supplies, etc. We have been praying for him. It can't be easy.
I really enjoy being here..part of it is the simplicity of life. The other part I think is the relationships and the time that is spent investing in other people's lives. They deal with things that really matter here. I don't get a sense of superficiality that is so common in North America. Real, genuine people with a "take us as we are" approach. (Sort of like most of the homeschoolers at home!!!!)
I enjoy watching our kids making up all sorts of games with no toys except a ball.
They really are happy with just that.
Tomorrow morning we are going to the school for chapel at 8:15. Not much else planned as far as our day goes. We have some more grocery shopping to do and want to explore around a bit. It sounds like the orphanage here is currently at about double capacity, so maybe we will have a chance to go and help out there.
Tonight we are going over to Nelson's for supper. We are really being fed very well!!
Look forward to hearing from some of you at home!!
Lori

First full day in Shell

Well today i woke up at 7:30 and talked with dad before he went to work, while the others slept I started a Janette Oke book from grandma, and finished it before lunch. I stayed at the house while mom and Adam went to the market, because brett was still sleeping. Later I played soccer for a bit, and ate lunch. After lunch it was looking pretty grey outside, but that didn't matter. We played basketball with soccer balls for a bit, then we went inside and mom read to us and I did a math lesson while she read. We went outside after that then we had a shower in the rain! It was soooooo fun! Then we had to come in and get changed. Four girls came over and we talked and there were 2 blondes, and 2 brunettes, the blondes claimed they were twins and the brunettes claimed they were sisters. They were 11,11,11, and 13. so we talked to them and they told us the longest drought they have ever had was 10 days!!!! That was soo crazy to hear because we think of a drought as 3-4 months! We played a card game called maui or something like that, and they didn't tell us the rules so we had to learn as we went. The boys did not catch on the entire game!! I caught on after the first time around, so it shows girls rule, boys drool! Then the told us they played a joke on us, they said that the blondes weren't twins, and the brunettes weren't sisters! One of the blondes was sisters to the older brunette, and the other blonde was a twin with the younger brunette!!! That was sooo crazy, but they were fun. we went out for supper, then we came back and now are ready for bed. carly

Happy birthday Tami!

Happy Birthday Tami! Hope your day is great. We've been thinking about you!!
It's been a great day here. Gary was the first one up as he had rounds at the hospital at 8a.m. The rest of us got up at our leisure. Brett was the last one up at about 9a.m.!! He must have been tired to sleep through the hot sun beating in and the cacaphony? of birds and insects singing praises this morning...It was a beautiful, sunny, hot and humid day. The kids would go out and play and soon be in dripping with sweat. We really are not used to the humidity. We had cereal and fresh cantalope for breakfast. The cantalope was amazing!!
Adam and I headed up to the market this morning to get some fruit, veggies and eggs. It was an experience. We brought our Spanish dictionary and came home with what we wanted so guess we did alright. The Ecuadorians are very patient and gracious with us.
I got just what we needed for today so that we would be able to carry it home. The market is really close to the compound here, so it's very handy.
We are right beside the hospital in the mission compound. There are about 2 duplexes and 6? houses in the compound. This hospital was built in 1985 and the houses and duplexes since then. The old hospital, Nate Saints house and the mission school is just across the bridge from us. We haven't taken a walk over there yet. The old hospital is going to be demolished next week, so we will have to go and get some pictures. It has been used as a guest house since the new hospital was built.
Klaudia, our designated hostess gave us some fresh bread last night, so we had bread, cheese, veggies and fruit for lunch.
Gary got called in for a case this afternoon, so the rest of us, wanting to get into the Spanish routine, took a siesta for a couple of hours. All the stores etc. close down from about 12:30/1:00 until 3:00/3:30 anyway. There are also quite a few really young missionary kids that nap close by, so I like the siesta idea.
The kids played some soccer outside and some other games. It started to pour about 4pm and they were playing out in the rain and of course got soaked. Don't know how quickly clothes will dry on the line here being so humid.
Four girls came over that were about Brett's and Carly's ages, so we visited and played games for a couple of hours.
Dr. Hardin and his wife took us out to Puyo (a large town about 6 kms away) for supper to a gorgeous restaurant. The food was delicious. I had a chicken dish with an Ecuadorian cinnamon-like flavouring in it. Yummy! Gary had a steak and the kids had a beef and veggies plate. The juices were fresh and cheaper than soda. They have a blackberry type of fruit that makes an excellent juice called "Mora" and then we had pina (pineapple) and Passionfruit juice as well. They entertained us with some great stories about funny things that have happened to them in Ecuador.

Now to back up a bit. We arrived in Quito and got to the HCJB Guest House at about 12:20 am on Friday. The guest house is really, really nice. We got two adjoining rooms(almost like hotel rooms) and slept until 6:30 when we got up for breakfast. Roger and Lois Reimer run the guest house. He is one of the Reimer family from Winnipeg area. They had a delicous breakfast for us. Ecuador is their home.They have been here for 34 years. Our driver, Vicente picked us up at 9:00a.m. for the 5-6 hour drive to Shell. He had a nice big van and we all fit comfortably in with our ten bags. It was a great road most all of the way. We saw the plains and highlands and the beauty of coming down into the more jungle type area. Lots of waterfalls and lush vegetation. We arrived in Shell and met some of our neighbors, got our bags unpacked, had a tour and then went to our hosts home for supper. Kids were tired so we came home early to put them to bed.
Well Carly would like to get on here, so guess I better share the space....
Lori

AAAHHHHHHH!

Today was a rainy day! There was thunder and lightning and we were playing out in the rain! In fact it's raining really hard right now. The people here said it rains every day!

Adam

Here safe and sound

Just a quick note to say we are here safe and sound. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us especially today. Everything went very well. I will sit down and blog more tomorrow. Adam has "hit the hay" so he can blog tomorrow too. He was pretty beat today. The road (except for a few places) was absolutely beautiful between Quito and here. We are in a HUGE, lovely 4 bedroom home. The missionaries here seem like great people.

It's time for bed here. More tomorrow.....
Lori

Shell, Ecuador

Today we had to get up at 6:30am after going to bed at 12:30 at night, so that was a short sleep. At 7:15 we had breakfast at the guest house, then we went and packed up to leave for Shell. The driver picked us up at 9am for a 5 hour drive to Shell. It was a long drive out of Quito, but we saw lots of cool things in the city, like tons of houses built on the mountians, and MASSIVE statues of Jesus. It was long, but we only had one stop for the banos(bathroom), there were lots of tunnels because of landslides. There were lots of mountains and we drove right on the edge of a Huge cliff, in a valley sort of thing. When we got here it was hot and humid, but it looked like it was going to rain pretty soon. Carly

Guess what it did? If you look over our house you can predict the weather. Our house
was probably the nicest shade of yellow I have ever seen in my entire life. After we got our bags inside the sveet yellow house, then Klaudia Wolfe gave us a tour of the hospital. Then we unpacked our bags, and then went for groceries down the street. Then we went home and got ready for supper at Klaudia Wolfe's house. Me and Carly are still playing an intense game of SPIT! Brett

Gifts from Emmarie

As I survey the absolute bedlam in the spare bedroom, it doesn't seem that long ago that we were packing for Africa a year and a half ago. 10 suitcases strewn about, contents everywhere. The kids and I have done what we can. Now we wait for Gary to sort his things and pack as only he can do. He is the king of all packers.....did you know he used to work for a moving company??
I keep thinking that I have forgotten something major.....we seem to have alot more available space in our suitcases this year and it's actually not very hectic here this week. Could it be that people are praying for us??
Emmarie came tonight bearing more gifts for the kids in Ecuador. Bless her heart for being willing to part with her things and thinking of others less fortunate.
Patty brought some boxes of toothpaste and toothbrushes on the weekend. Won't that be fun to hand out?!! I wish everyone could come with us and experience the thrill it is to hand out these gifts from our friends. It has almost been like Christmas around here already as we have experienced the joy of being the delivery persons for everyone's generosity towards the people in Ecuador. It has been so much fun to receive the donations on behalf of the people we have yet to meet!!!
We will not be arriving in Shell until Friday late, so we will not be able to blog until the weekend sometime. But then hopefully we will be posting notes every day.
Michelle will be sending a note out soon to our prayer partners. To give you an idea of her thoughtful and giving nature, she came tonight with a bag of goodies, because she thought we would be paring down on food and fridge items in preparation for leaving (and we were!) So there was a delicious bag of snacks for us. How come I never think of those things to do for other people??
We have appreciated so much the emails of encouragement and prayer for us lately. Our friends and family have been so wonderful. Hope you can all figure out how to respond back to us on the blog. If not, just email us at our regular addresses.
Time to get some rest......

Lori (for the whole family)

Happy Birthday Michelle!

I've just come home from a wonderful and refreshing time at the Ong's. Melissa and a few others organized a dual birthday party for Michelle Simes and myself. It was so great (and humbling like Mish said) to receive the blessings they bestowed upon us and to gather for prayer in a circle of some amazing friends. We are truly rich, for the relationships that both Mish and I share with these women are God -centered, real, down to earth, open, genuine, supportive and God given. I am so thankful for everyone of them and love the special qualities of each one. Thank you for making this a memorable birthday!!!

Lori

5 days left

It has been a busy and at times stressful week around the Morris household. Our music teachers have been so kind and understanding. It is not like going on vacation. THere is a lot of paper work, phone calls, special permission, thank you notes, gathering of supplies etc, etc. Ongs have graciously lent us some extra suitcases again for the trip. I know we will fill them all.
Today the kids went and gathered up some soccer uniforms and balls to take with us. I went to the Wool Emporium and gathered some donated yarn and knitting needles. Gary is still working on getting medical supplies here to take.
At the same time, we are mowing lawn, putting away lawn furniture and getting the acreage and animals ready for winter.
Laundry, grocery shopping and meals never cease......
But how exciting it is to pack each item away. We have been so amazed by everyone's generosity. Just about everyday this week, I've had offers of donations and supplies. God is good. We have been praying that HE will supply just what we need (or should I say what THEY need) nothing more and nothing less.
We received a couple of emails this week from the missionaries in Shell and one of the requests was that we bring some Spanish books for the orphanage. Well I don't know if we will find any Spanish books to bring along with us, but the kids and I were thrilled that there is an orphanage there. Hopefully we can visit and spend some time there as well. The kids seem to be getting more and more excited about going. It would be really difficult if one of us were not too excited about it!!!!

Thank you to everyone that has been praying for us. I can sense the peace and assurance that has been coming over us.
We hope that we will be more of a help than a hinderance when we go!!!!
Lori

Thank you

A huge thank you to all who were in involved in the Music/Dessert Fundraiser on Sunday night. Thank you to all who donated desserts, who helped set up and clean up, to the Ong's for the music, to Mish for her words of wisdom and prayer, to Tami for organizing the whole thing and to all who so generously donated financially. It was a great evening and it went so well. We were thrilled!

Two weeks today we leave. Gary was just now busy setting up skype so that we can call home and talk to Mom and Dad and hopefully we will have video feed as well. Gary has been gathering medicines and medical equipment to take along. I keep expecting him to tell me soon that I am only allowed to bring one change of clothes!

We are still in the "gathering" stage and even tho I have set out all the suitcases, I haven't put a whole lot in them yet. I seem to be so busy with the day to day things here at home that there is no time for "extras". We've been trying to pull in garden produce and the kids pulled up all my flowers in pots today. Trying to get all the fall "to do" list done, because you never know if there will be a foot of snow waiting for us when we come home or not.

I was teasing Adam that if he didn't get his hair cut before we go, he might come home with one of those Waorani Amazon cuts and plugs in his ear lobes too! Brett thought he'd take the chance, but Adam opted for a haircut here.

THanks again to everyone who has donated materials, supplies and finances. We will endeavour to be good stewards!
Lori

Planting and Harvesting

What is God going to do with us in Ecuador anyway??? I have been mulling this over and over in my mind in the past few months. Maybe it has been more than "mulling" and verging on "worrying"....As if I don't have enough to worry about, I figure I have to worry about God's jobs too. My nature is such that I like everything to be organized and planned out ahead of time, so that I know exactly what I am doing, so that I can be prepared for anything that may come....and when things are not set up ahead of time, I tend to start worrying.

Yesterday, a verse jumped out at me that I don't remember even really reading before. It was right there, in the middle of a story that I have heard over and over probably a hundred times. The verse was John 6:6 and the story is the feeding of the five thousand with the loaves and fish. Jesus had asked Philip where they were going to buy the bread to feed all those people? Then verse 6 states."He was testing Philip, FOR HE ALREADY KNEW WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO." Yes, God already knows what he is going to do.......does he really need me to play a part in it? No, I don't think so. But I feel a little like Philip. Maybe God is testing us. Maybe, too, he enjoys letting us play a part in his plans. Anyway, whatever God is going to do, I want to be a part of it.
And by no means, does God only have plans for missionary work in Africa or Ecuador.....
Many people have asked us why we can't be missionaries right here at home. Why do we think we have to travel half way across the world? Of course the answer is that we are missionaries right here in our own back yards.

We have spent some time out at the farm lately as harvest is under way and we all love to be out there. And it gets me to thinking more about John 4: 35-38. It seems like we do more "planting" here at home than actual harvesting. Yet when we go to do these short term medical missions, it seems like we are doing alot of "harvesting". It's like verse 38 says, " I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant." I wonder if the long term missionaries feel like they do all the "planting " work and then these North Americans sweep in and reap all the harvest? Maybe I will ask some of them if I get a chance.

Lori

I think God may be whispering

I was reminded yesterday about 1 Kings 19 and the story about Elijah. He had just come off two "spiritual highs" and had need of physical rest and nourishment which God provided him. Then the Lord asks him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" and Elijah tries to explain. God tells him to go and stand before Him on the mountain and when Elijah does so, the Lord passes by. A windstorm hits, but the Lord was not in the wind. After that an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then a fire, but the Lord was not in that either. Finally the sound of a gentle whisper. God asks again, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" and again Elijah tries to explain. The Lord then tells him what he wants him to do. We often remember accounts of when God's voice was loud and dramatic and people KNEW that God had spoken. But sometimes we only hear God when we are quiet and listening closely. We lead such hectic and busy lives. How do we manage to hear God's whispers when we are making demands of Him and crying out anxiously and continuously for Him to help us with this and that. Maybe He is trying to tell us, but we can't hear Him.
It was a good reminder for me to be still and quiet and listen for God's whispers in my life.
Lori