Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Blankets to warm the Oppressed

We threw away a traditional Christmas party option this year for my Girls small group who are learning about Injustice. We decided instead to DO something for those who are oppressed this Christmas. Last night we all plopped on the floor and started making blankets for the women who were rescued from the Brothels here in Ecuador. It was totally a God thing how this project began. This year there is a new French teacher here at Alliance named Jess. We have been hanging out a lot and she was telling me how she wants to make blankets for the poor. Then I was talking with my friend Desire who moved here from Holland to work with the girls who are rescued from prostitution. We have had Desire over to speak to my small group about what is going on here in Ecuador with the sex industry. Recently she told me that the home these girls live in are looking for blankets. I connected the dots and decided this would be a great project for my small group girls. So we had Jess over teaching my small group how to make the blankets and we had Desire and her Fiance over helping us as well. Most of the girls in the rescued home are between 12 and 18 years old. A lot of them also already have children. Please be praying for this Saturday. We will have a Christmas party for the girls and give them the blankets we made them! Pray that my small group will share Christ's love in practical ways to these other girls who are their same age but completely different life experiences. About a month ago Loren and I went on a field trip to Mindo with the 7th graders from the school! It is a town about 2 hours from Quito that is known for its nature. Beautiful butterflies and birds that you can't find anywhere else in the world. Here is a slideshow of us getting to zip line in the jungle with our students! This is when we went on a 5 hour hike to a waterfall with the students. One of our favorite quotes we heard from a student that day was: "I have never walked this long in my whole life, have you?" haha! We have more updates to share with you soon, stay tuned!!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

God Of Second Chances W/ Danny

I found this video on my friends' facebook page! It is super amazing about a homeless guy who came up to this man while filming for his new music video!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Being Wife & Mom

Helpful Resources:

Our journey through high risk pregnancy:

Quito Celebration

Let me introduce you to Celebrations we just went through here in Quito. The quotes are from GoEcuador.com. "Every year, on the 6th of December, QuiteƱos celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of their city and Ecuadorian capital. San Francisco de Quito, as it is officially named, was founded in 1534 by the Roman Catholic Spanish conquistadors on the ruins of the Inca capital Kitu." "The main focus of the week long event is the Feria de Toros Jesus del Gran Poder which is held at the Plaza Monumental de Toros. The bullfights go on every afternoon, rain or shine, for eight days, culminating on December 6th. The festival in Quito is arguably the most important and traditional bullfighting affair of the Americas." I want you to glance again at the name of the Bullfighter... Jesus del Gran Poder... if you know a little bit of Spanish you will see that translated his name is "Jesus of great power". Wow- if you ask me that is one confident bullfighter!! This year Loren and I didn't go to any of the bullfights- but we have been before. It is quite the adventure with drunks in the stands and men killing bulls in a dancing form. That is the reason for the celebrations and these are some ways how they celebrate! ~Going to the bullfights ~Riding a chiva The Chiva rides around the city while people dance to techno music and blow a whistle. We had Monday off because of the holiday- so we went to some old Catholic Cathedrals downtown with our friends. In the picture is our friend Lauren who is now our next door neighbor since we moved into our new place. She is the elementary Chaplain at AAI. Ashley is also with us and she works with us in the Chaplains office. Ricky- who is not in the picture 'cause he is taking it, was there as well. We ended the lovely day by eating at "Vista Hermosa" (Beautiful View) downtown and this was our view of the city, truly hermosa!