Home Again!

We had a really good trip home. Sitting in the airport less than24 hours after leaving Ecuador, we were saying it almost seems like a dream that we were really there and experiencing all that we did.
We left Shell on Saturday morning. Our driver Roland (Vicente's son) had left Quito at 4 a. m. to come to Shell to pick us up by 9a.m. and then make the 5 hour drive back to Quito again!! Even tho it was difficult to leave Shell, we left with a real peace that we had gone according to God's will and done just exactly what He wanted us to do there. We loved Shell. The missionaries were so warm and welcoming. The hospital was small and friendly so we were able to do alot of hands on ministry there. Our accomodations were the best of any we have been in previously. The local Ecuadorians were wonderful and we loved them. I was telling someone there that I think we fit in better in Shell than we do here at home!! The whole experience could not have been better (except for a few less insect bites for Carly and I!).
We will certainly be praying for HCJB Hospital Vozandes and MAF in Shell as they are facing uncertain times. We were so fortunate to have gone when we did. Shell would be an ideal place for a long term mission posting. At the moment it doesn't look like they will need an anaesthetist as they have someone else coming shortly. They are currently in language school, but will be going to Shell when they have completed their language requirements.
Our kids made some great friends and we became very close to a number of the missionaries there.
When we arrived in Quito, we took a taxi downtown for awhile to do go to the market and then we went to a new mall near the Guest house to have supper before going to bed at 7:30p.m. We had to get up at 3:00 to catch our flight from Quito to Houston, so were glad that we had gone to bed early the night before. Arrived home in Saskatoon about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night.
Felt pretty good on Monday, but experiencing some reverse culture shock as we always seem to on our arrival home. I think I like the Ecuadorian pace of life better than the North American!!!! Tuesday, I was already feeling that old familiar stress level rising with all the running around that we do here at home. Emails to respond to, a stack of mail to go through, phone messages to return, music lessons and activites to go to.......let alone doing any schoolbooks!!! When did we manage to fit in devotions before??? I read the " Mission of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson on the way home in the plane. Hopefully I learned some good lessons from her book......
Back to Ecuador.......we had sooo many deaths in the last week at the hospital. Every time we turned around someone had died. Young people, unknown causes, wierd diseases... I immediately wondered, "Did they know Christ?" Had anyone told them of Jesus dying on the cross for their sins? Yes, there are still people groups who have never heard. There are still individuals who have never heard the Good News. Have we done our part and are we continuing to do our part in spreading the Gospel? I feel burdened for those that remain lost.
Hospital Vozandes can be that link to those people who are still in darkness. Pray for the missionaries there. They are humbly and lovingly going about God's work. It is not an easy calling, but I have seen the joy and satisfaction on their faces in knowing that they are doing the will of God.
Continue to pray for us as well. We have of course gained much more from our time in Ecuador than we were able to give. It was a joy, a privilege and an honor to have gone to be amongst them there.

Love,
Gary, Lori, Carly, Brett and Adam

Home Again!

Journey's End

It has been a busy few days and I haven't had time to blog.
Wednesday we were at the orphanage in the morning and then in the afternoon, the kids and I took a taxi to a place called "Fatima". It was sort of like a zoo. We probably would have gotten a lot more out of it if we had spoken Spanish but it was fun to see monkeys playing in the trees, cayman in the water (no fences around anywhere), wild pigs, turtles, an anaconda, parrots, and a tapir. The kids got to hold a boa constrictor. The best part though was when we went looking for "Bambi" the tapir. THey are huge. She just lumbered up the path and we could feed her and pet her. We also went to an aviary where there were hundreds of local and exotic birds. We laughed at so many of them, as they had very unusual characteristics like a mop of hair on their heads or big floppy feathers like flippers on their feet.
Wednesday night we went to Hardin's for pizza and lots of laughs.



Thursday morning I was called in to help in the ICU with a woman with an MI. After lunch the kids and I took the bus to Puyo and went swimming at the water slides and wave pool. We went shopping a bit before coming home and went over to Florence's for a typical Ecuadorian supper with 16 of us there. We were the only Gringo's so relied on Florence to do alot of the translation for us. Didn't have much left to give them but gave them our clothes (not the ones we are wearing!!!)



Today, we got up and went to the MAF hangar to fly to Tewano (sp?) a Waorani village where there are a group of Christians. The flight took about 20 minutes from Shell. Dan Whitehead was our pilot. It was a great flight there. Landed on a grass strip and were met by the enthusiastic community. They all crowded around the plane and an older man came up in shirt, shorts and rubber boots. He was one of the men who killed the 5 missionaries. He prayed for us and we went up to see their church and a meeting house that they were building. They are having a church conference there in a few days. They sang a song for us in Waorani explaining how their life was before God and afterwards. We were shown how to "re-shingle" their palm leaf house and they showed us a typical Waorani dance. They made headbands out of a plant and painted "waponi" on them with a red substance from a fruit. Each of us got one as well as some red paint for our faces. Didn't we look great!!
We visited one of the homes and saw their pet monkeys and pet parrot. They also had some blow guns for sale, so we bought two to take home. One of the fellows who made the guns demonstrated how to use it.
We went down to the cook shack and watched some women stirring a pot over the fire. They were cooking deer and Yucca for lunch. Gary and I were then married in typical waorani fashion (some of it caught on video) and then we were all fed the deer and yucca stew.
It started to rain and it was also time to go. The whole trip back was cloudy and rainy. We had left just in time. Another plane a few minutes farther away started out and had to turn around because of the weather. We would have been stuck in Tewano! It was a great visit. I forgot to mention that we had to translate all the time from Waorani to Spanish to English and then back again each time we wanted to converse!
More later....
Lori

Emotionally Draining

We are into our last few days here in Ecuador and I have faced some of the most difficult medical situations of this project. I helped with a thoracotomy for an 18 month old that needed his chest cleaned out following a significant pneumonia. He is recovering slowly but doing well.

A 47 year old man arrived very ill from an abscess in his neck that had spread to his chest. We drained as much as we could then placed him on a ventilator post operatively. He died 4 hours post op.

A 17 year old boy was transferred in Sunday from the jungle with severe hepatitis. He died the Monday afternoon.

A 16 year old presented with severe dyspnea on Saturday (difficulty breathing) and was intubated and ventilated. She dramatically improved clinically but her lab and x-ray values were awful. She deteriorated through Monday and arrangements were made to medevac her to Quito to an ICU. She arrested and died this morning despite our best resuscitative efforts.

Families grieve very openly here in Latin America. Not only do they face the death of a family member, they are responsible for significant hospital costs before the body can be released to the family for the funeral.

It is really hard to lose the young ones.

Gary

Monday

Well yesterday we had to do a thinger for chapel at the school, so we took a powermark magazine and did a skit about the good Samaritan. It was fun we had the whole school laughing, how many can say that!!!! We forgot our books to return to the library so we went home and got some money and returned our books. after we went to karens and bought candy and bb guns. we spent 9.99$. We came home sorted out our candy them mom read in freedoms cause to us. Then for the rest of the day we just did nothing really except math and jokes with dad while we do our math(as usual). He tried to get to karens cuz when he saw all our sweet stuff he wanted some too(as usual). But every time he tried to go he got called in to work. Later in th afternoon we went to go have a tour of MAF and stuff, we looked at planes and saw their 2 boa constrictors!!!!! Then we just read or played outside, then after supper we (tried to) play phase 10 with mom, but she thought it was the weirdest game ever. when dad got home he joined in and then Brett won adn we decided to play a different game cuz mom was cheating to will!!!!! no not really but she took a card from the pile when Brett still needed to lay his down(i know what you're thinking "why would she cheat??) it was cuz she hated that game. So we decided to play chicken foot (a game with dominoes). the first few rounds went good then on the last one my mom kept the double 0(which is worth 50 points and you don't want points!) for the last and dad put down his last and she only had that one and we started laughing our pant off(not really, well Brett's pants were a little lower if you ask me). We told her it was 50 and she was like NO WAY!!!!!1 and she thought we were just making up rules so we gave her 0(just for that time only, so don't be thinking you can get away with it when you play with us!!). Then Brett was like can you believe all these silly rules up they want to make the double 12 24!!! can you believe it!!!! we were laughing for a long time after that! Then the next round she was like now i'm going to get rid of this double 1 in case its 100!!! oh dear it was a good night. Well we might be going tot he orphanage today, so i should go eat.
Carly

Pictures of Centro Y

In case you were wondering, I can't do a thing with my hair in this humidity!!!!
Lori

Sunday -last one here

I think Carly and Gary have caught everyone up to date on what we've been doing.
Yesterday was a highlight for me. It was a lot of fun (except the getting up at 5 a.m. part). 18 of us met at the hospital. Carly and I, two nurses, two doctors, a pastor and some music and kids workers from the church, an eye doc and helper all fit into 3 vehicles. We brought some clean water, medicine, eye testing equipment, snacks and a pot of chicken!! Traveled 2 hours to a poor, small area where we ran a clinic all day. The kids are so adorable. Every chance I got, I tried to convince them to come and sit on my lap. They were quite shy at first but by mid morning, I think I had them won over and then had shadows the rest of the day. The little 4 year olds were better soccer players than Carly and I and we lost!
We thoroughly enjoyed the worship service in both Shuar and Spanish and Manual preached up a storm. I had an interpreter so caught most of the message. I couldn't help the tears from coming to my eyes as I watched them worship in earnest. I just kept thanking God that His word had reached these people. The first ever Christian in this community only became a Christian 2 years ago through the death of her son and her consequent stay at the Shell hospital. Now whole families are coming to the Lord. When you think about the sacrifices that others have made here to spread the Gospel only in the last 50-60 years, it is an amazing and wonderful thing.
I loved the people we met and was sorry to say good bye at the end of the day. They have no pastor and no church but they do meet regularly and rely on someone to come in to teach them. How I would have loved to have been 20 years younger and live among them.
At noon, we gathered in a cook house and were fed a delicious lunch. They sang Happy Birthday to Carly in Spanish and everyone gave her a big hug. It was pretty special. They did it with so much enthusiasm and without reserve.
On the way home, we stopped at a lookout where we could see the jungle for miles and miles. It was an awe-some sight and difficult to catch on camera the magnitude and magnificence of it all. The various shades of green and to think that so many people inhabit that space that just looks like thick trees and vines.
It was a great day and we were so privileged to be asked to come along. The hospital truck had some extra cargo coming home as the people had brought what precious little plantains, cassava, papaya and yucca they could, to give as gifts to the medical staff. One feels almost guilty for accepting it, but we have a lot to learn about generosity don't we?
Today, the kids and I went to church. Gary had a couple of interesting cases at the hospital to do. Kids played outside with friends and we ran through our presentation of the Good Samaritan that we are going to do at chapel tomorrow a.m.
We later went for ice cream up town and phoned home to touch base with the kin..
Alot of the missionary moms were next door in the concha playing games this afternoon, so went over and had coffee and snacks with them.
I am almost done the book, "Mission to the Headhunters" and love it. It would be a book I would love to read again.
Carly and I have bites on our legs that are red, swollen, weeping and very!!! itchy. WE look a mess. Guess that will be our souvenirs from Ecuador.

Lori

My Birthday

Today was my birthday and i was woken up from the best dream ever(even though I can't remember what it was) by my mother at 5:30 for a caravan. Ok lets go back to the beginning.
On Friday night I had my birthday party with Jenna, Alisa, Mara, Alison, Lorraine, and Danella. We ate spaghetti(I know I know, but they had pizza a week before for Brett's b-day and I wanted to be different). Then we played sardines(which is sooooo fun in this house). Then we ate cake and opened presents, they are really good gift getters. After we played like a 3 hour game of CHEAT, and it went on and on and on, cuz they play til there is 2 people left. Finally my mom was like game over and I walked them to the gate. So then thats where i left off. Ok so we went on this caravan, a 2 hour trip from shell, and about 1/3 of the road is paved the other 2/3 is like a road made up of big rocks.  We had 18 people and 3 jeeps! So we had to really squish. It was a longggggg and painful ride since I was in the back with 3 others and I was like laying on my side and my shoulder dislocated.

This is my mom's little helper, Mario would check weight and like to watch her do blood pressures. He even made her play soccer, which was super funny!!!! For lunch we went into this hut sorta thing and we ate this soup with a chicken piece in it and the broth was soooo filling. Then they gave us rice, ukah and chicken as a like other course. oh dear here is where it gets sorta embarrassing. ok my mom was like Happy Birthday Carly and they were all like oh really how old are you turning, and I was like 15 and here that is the BIG birthday. So while we were eating these guys came in and I didn't even notice and they started singing happy birthday in Spanish! It was like a jungle version of what they do in restraunts! So then we did a few more people, then we headed home. Just as we were leaving this 70something year lod lady named Florence, was running after 6 year olds trying to get the ball. She jumped off this hill and chased after them and was holding this boy back so she could get the ball, i was laughing soooo hard!!!! This time i was in the front with 2 other people, and it was really squishy, the other girl was half off the seat!!!!! I got home and ate my birthday spaghetti and unpacked our stuff. oh yeah this morning at 6 I opened my presents wrapped in a grocery bag. I got pretty nail clippers, candy and an umbrella, all from our favorite store here KARENS!!!!! ok well hope everything is fine wherever you are.
Carly

MAF

A large part of the work here involves flying into and out of the jungle. The airport here is the third busiest in the country despite a population of Shell of only 8000 people. The weather changes so frequently. The mornings are often clear and the snow-capped mountains in view. the clouds roll in by late morning and there is frequently a raging thunderstorm by late afternoon. Navigation aids are few, mountains are high and conditions unpredictable.

For a glimpse into the like of a jungle pilot, Sean Cannon maintains an active blog with lots of pictures and accounts of flying with MAF in Ecuador. It's worth a look.
http://jungleaviator.blogspot.com
If you want a short You Tube experience of flying into some jungle strips Sean has posted some here.
Takeoffs and landings in the Ecuadorean jungle
Not only does MAF supply pilots, they also try to bring teachers to the bases from which they fly as many missionaries come with school-aged children. Jeremy and Jodie made initial contact with MAF April 15th, 2007 and by August they were unpacking in Ecuador and settling in with their 4 children. Jeremy stays at home with the 2 pre-schoolers while Jodie teaches at the Nate Saint school. There are so many remarkable stories.

Lori and the kids went swimming today (a National holiday) with one of the other families. They had a great time as many of the other mission families had the same plans. They came back non the worse for wear other than a little "green" hair. I guess that means that the water should be safe.

I had some cases to do this afternoon so celebrated here with some Doritos and Coca Cola. Some things are the same everywhere.
Gary

Another day at the Office ?

This has been such a remarkable journey. Today we stepped into the "End of the Spear" book written by Steve Saint. As Steve was considering returning to Ecuador to work with the Waorani he was searching for a GPS to map the jungle areas. In a fashion that only God can organize, he met Rick and Sharon who were to lend him their airplane for the newwork in the jungle. Tonight we were invited for dinner and to share the evening with Rick and Sharon - missionaries to Ecuador for 30 years; homeschoolers; a pilot; and they live in an original MAF house with a hangar right on the Shell airport (with a few termites that create havoc on much of their woodwork).


We met Steve, another missionary from Cuenca, who has been building an "experimental" aircraft for the past 4 years. Most of the pieces have been brought from the States in his "personal luggage". This week he has moved most of the parts of the plane to Rick's hangar and hopes to complete this rugged STOL aircraft and use it to fly for mission projects into the jungle. With metal cutters and a book of instructions he fashioned the wings, ailerons, flaps and is now waiting for the glues and adhesives to attach the fabric to the outer shell of the plane.















There were no scheduled surgical cases today but I was called back rather urgently to help out in emergency. Sometimes it can be faster to walk than to drive. A woman was bitten by a snake and was admitted to receive anti-venom. Once bitten most patients will kill the snake and bring it to the hospital with them. Fortunately, most of the poisonous snakes are from the rattlesnake "family" and respond to a common anti-venom. I also helped retrieve a 1x2 cm bean from the nose of a 3 year old that had somehow lodged it into his right nostril. Sevoflurane, a thin pair of forceps, and some persistence successfully delivered this very large bean. Finally, we did our first C-section during my visit. The spinal worked just like in Saskatoon and the mom and baby both did well. I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will hold.
Gary

Wednesday

This is a view of the back of our house. We regularly check for snakes in the rafters of our screened in sun porch as the long grass and jungle is immediately in the back yard.


This is the public bridge which leads to the military base side of town. The military base is very large. For the past few days we have been hearing a lot of gunfire and what sounds like explosions going off.




The airstrip in Shell. It is a very busy place. From early morning and all day, we listen to planes taking off and landing as well the sound of helicopters and
ambulance sirens. When we wake up, I think I can hear monkeys and all sorts of birds in the trees around us.


An Ecuadorian house; although most have dogs, chickens and children in the yard. Alot of the independent missionaries live in Ecuadorian homes compared to living on the HCJB/MAF compounds.

When we were at the orphanage today, I learned that the director, Patty Sue, is a retired military mechanic.....God has a great sense of humor taking her from that line of work to being a mother to 37 mostly special needs children. Who would of thought???Least of all- her- which she readily admits.
The meeting last night was fantastic. It was a group of men from Wood's Edge Church, Woodlands, Texas that have come here for a week. They even have a missions pastor (who used to live in Ecuador). He came along,as well as several that were engineers or oil company executives. We had a great time of praise and worship and a short message from the pastor of Wood's Edge. There was a discussion time with the missionaries on the high's and low's of being a missionary here. Then the men broke up into groups of two and went around praying and laying hands on each family or individual. They seemed like a great bunch of guys, very genuine and sincere. We were so impressed with the whole group. A couple of them are off to Africa next month to find an Aids orphanage to help fund. They actually are going to Kijabe where we were last year, so we mentioned a couple of the orphanages that we had been to there.
Lori

Tuesday

Well today we had nothing important on so from last night we continued our card stacking game, or whatever you call it. We sort of made records and tried to beat them, the highest we have gotten tonight is 8 stories high. I was the first to get 5,6, and 7
Brett was the first for 8 and 3, and Jenna was the first for 4. so we have been at it off and on all day. Lots of weird bugs and stuff have come our way the past few days. Right now my parents and brothers are at this sermon thing or something for the missionaries here. I was at the Hardin's babysitting for a while, but then he was called into work and I came home around nine. I have been reading alot of books from the library here and i really enjoy the books. Tomorrow we might go to the orphanage and rock babies and stuff and then I might go after school with the girls to the orphanage. I have done 3 math lessons today and some corrections with my dad.
well i'm going to work on my card tower now.
Carly

Post Thanksgiving relaxation

Yesterday we went to chapel at the school in the morning and then on to the post office but it was closed. I've heard it takes several trips until you find it open....
Thankfully the butcher shop had 2 chickens that we could buy in lieu of a Thanksgiving turkey. The wife of another Canadian here had some canned pumpkin, sweet potatoes and cranberries from Canada that someone had brought her so we had a fabulous supper with all of our resources pooled. We borrowed a couple of picnic tables from next door and set them up in our screened porch here. 12 of us, celebrating God's goodness to us and thanking Him for the Harvest. I guess the other two families who joined us will get to celebrate Thanksgiving again in Nov. as the wives were American.
I can't say we get a whole lot accomplished in a day, but we sure do spend a lot of time visiting which is great.
It has been POURING rain all morning, so I think we will just take it easy this morning here at home. Tonight there is a visiting team putting on a service at the guesthouse so we will go to that. Yesterday, we babysit for a couple of the missionary families. Our time here is half over. It goes by so quickly.
Lori

Thanksgiving

Our thoughts were with you today as we shared Thanksgiving continents apart. We initially thought that this would be year in which we would "miss" Thanksgiving. Most of the mission staff are American and will not celebrate their Thanksgiving until November. However, we found 2 other Canadian families here at Shell and we pooled our Thanksgiving recipes and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. It is so interesting to hear of the journeys and adventures of others as we cross paths. Don travels on a Canadian passport even though he was born in Ecuador, went to school and worked as an engineer in the US for over 20 years and has now "retired" to work with indigenous churches through the valley. He is a great adventurer, rappelling canyons, skydiving, to the point that some have told his wife that "their husbands are not allowed to play with Don anymore" because he lives a little too close to the edge.

Ecuador is home to several active volcanoes. Often cloaked in clouds we were treated to a great view this afternoon of a plume rising from a volcano in a nearby mountain range. No scheduled surgery today, but I was able to reassemble an anesthesia machine donated and shipping in February and arrived here Friday. There were several outpatient sedation cases and had the opportunity to remove a fish bone from the larynx of a very stidulous 4 year old. Surprised while eating dinner, he aspirated a large piece of bone and struggled for breath all night. It is very satisfying to use tools at hand to relieve a life threatening obstruction and send a young boy back home to the jungle. The lack of fluency in Spanish is frustrating at times but the mission physicians and Ecuadorean interns are very gracious and to translate for me.
Gary

Yesterday we had a spider in our house! it had HUGE legs.my dad swept the spider out the door. After church (it was in Spanish so I couldn't understand a word) we went to the Blackburn's for lunch. And then they gave us a tour of the old hospital. They're starting to tear it down. It's really broken down when we saw it. I think thats all i can say. bye bye for now toodles
Adam

Some more pictures of the school kids and the view across the street from the school.
Lori

Another sunday

Well today we went to church at 10:30 and I almost died of heat!!!!! It was unbelievably hot in church. Another sermon where I couldn't understand 1 single word, except when he prayed I got gracios which is thank you. After church we went to the kindergarten teachers house for lunch. Their last name is Blackburn. We stayed there for a LONG time and then we went home for siesta. as usual the second we got in the door there was a bug of unusual size so my dad snapped a pic of it and then he was out like a light on the bed. I spent the time reading while Brett played with the twins older brother and a kid from the party. They were betting on who would win horse. They were betting 1$ it was soo funny to watch. I don't know who one cuz i lost intrest quickly. Crazy boys! Tomorrow we are having Canadian thanksgiving with 2 other Canadian families. It is sorta dark and cloudy and I hope it will rain cuz it is super hot! Well mom messed up our house/hut joke by putting a pic of our real house on. It was fun while it lasted! No more jokes. We saw a dead snake outside the Blackburns and it was sooooooo gross. I am glad its dead. Maybe Brett will put a pic of it on.
Carly

Exploring Shell

The boys and I ventured out this morning before the heat of the day became oppressive and before the threat of afternoon thunderstorms may catch us in a torrential downpour. We crossed the steel suspension bridge to try find the Post Office. We couldn't really locate the Post Office, and since it is closed on weekends we didn't try too hard. We came across a soccer match complete with cheering fans and vendors serving ice cream and stayed to watch some of the match - very talented. A little grass might be nice but with all of the rain, the sandy "field" is probably more functional than a field of mud. The streets were filled with the aroma of streetside "fast food" vendors. (Let the buyer beware!)

We then walked across town through the "hardware" section of town on a search for the waterpark at the creek near the edge of town. Workers are moving rocks, mixing cement, and generally looking busy as they appear to be renovating the park. Unfortunately the E. coli count in the water is significant and not really recommended for water activities. Too bad.


We saw some creative approaches to sharing a bicycle and have always tried to obey (or imitate) the signs along the street.






Though we see some serious trauma at the hospital, my on-call responsibilities have been modest. I was called in to assist with intubation of a head injured patient that needed a medivac to Quito, then again for a man that had fallen while intoxicated and dislocated his shoulder. I have felt comfortable in my role here though I wish that I knew Spanish and could more easily communicate with patients and staff. Our surgeons change next week so I will see what adjustments need to be made.

Gary

Day in Puyo

Today i had a little accident on the driveway, which ended in a baseball sized scrape on my leg! It hurts a bits, especially when my mom put a sticky bandage on for when I went to the pool in Puyo. That is a bug (one of many, that is huge and gross, except it is not as gross as some. Yeah I went to the pool with Jenna and the twins, and we were going to wait for the Nelson girls, cuz they were babysitting their bro while their parents were out. it was soooo cool!!!!! It only cost 3$ for an adult and 1.50$ for a kid. And they have two MASSIVE water slides, two diving boards, a BIG wave pool, a lane pool, a kiddie pool, a circle pool, and a little water slide!!! all for 3$!!!! yeah that was really fun, while we were on the water slides there would be boys waiting at the top and the girls asked them if they were going down and they said no, so we went, but as soon as went left the top they were chasing us!!! Lorraine, was crushed by these two boys and one grabbed her arm, so she started yelling at him in Spanish and splashed him, it was soooo funny!!! It was sorta cloudy in Puyo and when we got home it was POURING in Shell!! We got a slice of pizza, and a glass of coke for 85 cents so we got that for supper. The wave pool was almost better then the one in west Ed, its smaller, but the waves are better and bigger. It was super fun, and the three bandages that were covering my wound fell of but i didn't notice. We had LOTS of fun, partly cuz it was sooooooooo funny to watch them yell at boys and the boys yell right back!!! It was a really fun day except for my swollen leg. Carly

Sat. in Shell

I just realized that I haven't written on the blog since about Tues. Our week got very busy and I was hitting the hay pretty tired at night. It's been a really relaxing day today tho. After making breakfast, I sat down and did about 4-5 hours of work for the school. Carly got invited with a girl named Jenna to go swimming in the next town over. The boys have had friends over. Man can those teen boys eat. I see I'm going to have to have the kitchen well stocked. They are out playing basketball right now. It's so hot and they come in dripping wet....and THIRSTY!
The birthday party last night was a huge success. They sure had fun. Guess we will do it all over again next weekend for Carly's birthday.
We had some young kids over this morning for awhile coloring and playing games. I am including a picture of some goodies that Florence gave us the other day. It was like a cake that was steamed in leaves. Delicious! I just can't remember the name of it. It was something like Quimbolitas or something. Adam, Brett and Gary had gone out for a walk to the river this morning and to take some pictures around town. Gary has had a a couple of short cases today. It's so handy just to walk two minutes over to the hospital and go back and forth when needed.
Thank you everyone for your emails and comments on the blog. It is really fun to hear from you all. Will try to post some pictures of the things you are wondering about. It's kind of hard to explain things....pictures would be more helpful. I will include a picture of the outside of our house and maybe one or two of the inside. This is by far the most comfortable mission that Gary and I have been on. Not difficult to adjust to this lifestyle at all. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering a first mission posting. Ideal for families. Safe.
I noticed the kids have been blogging about the orphanage we have been going to. The director, Patty Sue, is doing a tremendous job of running that place. They are really crowded there right now, with about double the normal occupancy at 37 kids!!
But they keep it clean and well stocked. If anyone is interested in visiting the website and learning more about the kids we are seeing, the address is: lacasadefe.org
"The house of faith" it is called. The stories of each child there are interesting.
This has been a different focus for the kids and I here at Shell compared to last year in Kenya. It seems like it has been more about supporting, helping, relieving and encouraging the missionaries rather than working with the local people. I asked Carly about which she liked better and she said she likes both - they are just different.
It's hard to believe we have only been here a week. And that we only have two weeks left!! We've enjoyed getting to know the MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship)
families. Although we have flown with MAF before, read alot about them and have supported them, this is the first time that we have personally gotten to know any of their staff. What a great ministry it is. Of course our interest in aviation makes it appealing to us too. I often think of how much it has changed since Nate Saint was flying his little yellow Piper around here.
We've been lent two books, "Mission to the Headhunters" by Frank and Marie Drown and "Bridge to the Rain Forest" by Eleanor Boyes. I can't wait to read them. I have read some about the Drown's work here with the Jivaro Indians (near Shell). They are the ones that shrink heads!! I mean not the Drowns but the Jivaros!!!
It is very refreshing to be here. Time to sit down and talk with our family about important issues, time to read and have regular devotions, time to visit with neighbors and new friends, time to share a laugh and smiles with kids, time to give to others so that they can have a well deserved rest..... We really are blessed to have come here. Even tho Gary and I often have questioned why we feel called to come on short term missions over the past 22 plus years, our lives certainly have been transformed through doing it.
Lori