One little thing that Tony and I have enjoyed the last few months, is the ability to watch "Fox News" in English. It helps us feel connected to what is happening back in the US. Yesterday morning we watched the memorial services and the footage from 9/11.
This is something that really affects Tony and I. Teddy, who is very sensitive to our moods and emotions, of course caught on right away. So in our school time yesterday when we talked about what day it was and marked the date on the calendar. Tony came into the school room, and together we tried to explain to our kindergarten in language that he could understand, what people were talking about when they said, 9/11. He had several questions, but then we went on with our day, and he seemed fine with everything.
We had friends visit for lunch, and Teddy was sitting with the children. He said, "Hey, today is a special day. Years ago, before I was even born, bad men took over some airplanes and ran them into big buildings. A lot of people died, and we need to remember it today."
The " years ago, before I was even born," caught my attention. In many ways it seems like yesterday to me, but here we are 6 years later, and to my little boy, it was very long ago.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Another sign of Fall...
Football season has arrived, even to our house in Ecuador! This means the same thing here in our house that it means for the rest of you, who are married to big football fans. :-) We may not have fall leaves, or any of the other things that you associate with "fall" here in our "tropical paradise" but thanks to "Direct tv" we have the NFL.
We had a good service this morning. Each month we have a "theme" and a memory verse to go along with it. This morning during the church service, after going over the verse again with everyone, Tony asked if we had some who were ready to say the verse. After 5 people had said it, Nelly raised her hand, but she said, "We have learned it together as a family". Then they all stood up and recited the verse together! What a blessing. After church they were asking us if they could get some Cd's of the music we sing, because they don't know any of the songs and they would like to learn them and sing them at home! Please keep these new Christians in your prayers.
The congregation is very excited about the new property. They agreed today, to start making the payment on the loan that we had to get from the Missions Office to pay the down payment, until we have raised the money to pay that off. They also are excited about having some "work days" to get the property cleared off, and having some places to play volleyball and just have some fellowship times there.
We are planning a "Ladies Tea" for Saturday, September 5. The ladies have divided up the work. I had 3 ladies volunteer to lead 3 different groups. 1 group is in charge of organizing and get the food, 1 group will take care of setting up and decorating and 1 group will be in charge of cleaning up and getting everything set up for the Sunday Service. It was neat to see them all excited and willing to get involved.
This week the Tignor family from Puerto Viejo is coming over for dinner. We are looking forward to a good time visiting and playing games with them. Teddy is always very excited to have friends to play with!
One more prayer request for you... Tony will be sending our new US passports to Quito this week, so that our visas can be transferred. Please pray that this goes through without any problems. It should just take a week. But of course you never know... ;-)
Thank you for praying for our family and the ministry here in Manta!
God Bless,
Joy
We had a good service this morning. Each month we have a "theme" and a memory verse to go along with it. This morning during the church service, after going over the verse again with everyone, Tony asked if we had some who were ready to say the verse. After 5 people had said it, Nelly raised her hand, but she said, "We have learned it together as a family". Then they all stood up and recited the verse together! What a blessing. After church they were asking us if they could get some Cd's of the music we sing, because they don't know any of the songs and they would like to learn them and sing them at home! Please keep these new Christians in your prayers.
The congregation is very excited about the new property. They agreed today, to start making the payment on the loan that we had to get from the Missions Office to pay the down payment, until we have raised the money to pay that off. They also are excited about having some "work days" to get the property cleared off, and having some places to play volleyball and just have some fellowship times there.
We are planning a "Ladies Tea" for Saturday, September 5. The ladies have divided up the work. I had 3 ladies volunteer to lead 3 different groups. 1 group is in charge of organizing and get the food, 1 group will take care of setting up and decorating and 1 group will be in charge of cleaning up and getting everything set up for the Sunday Service. It was neat to see them all excited and willing to get involved.
This week the Tignor family from Puerto Viejo is coming over for dinner. We are looking forward to a good time visiting and playing games with them. Teddy is always very excited to have friends to play with!
One more prayer request for you... Tony will be sending our new US passports to Quito this week, so that our visas can be transferred. Please pray that this goes through without any problems. It should just take a week. But of course you never know... ;-)
Thank you for praying for our family and the ministry here in Manta!
God Bless,
Joy
Saturday, September 8, 2007
A little funny...
This past week Teddy's Bible verse was John 15:5. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Well, he kept saying, "That isn't nice to say". (referring to the last part, "for without me ye can do nothing.") So I of course spent some time trying to explain the verse. I was pretty excited because we have been learning about trees in Science, and I thought, "what a great way to bring what we have been talking about in science into our Bible class!"
So I spent some time reminding him about what we had been learning about trees, and how if you had an apple tree and cut a branch off of it, that branch wouldn't be able to grow new leaves or apples, because it wasn't attached to the trunk. Then I told him that is what the verse is saying. It is saying that Jesus is like the trunk of the tree and we are like the branches.... Anyway you get the idea, I'm sure!
After spending some time explaining and talking about it, and asking questions to make sure he was understanding, we finished up Bible and started getting ready for Math. About that time Teddy says, "I'm just not believing any of it!" I said, "what are you not believing?" He replies, "I'm just not believing that, that man could have leaves and apples growing out of him!"
So much for my "great explanation!" :-p
Joy
Well, he kept saying, "That isn't nice to say". (referring to the last part, "for without me ye can do nothing.") So I of course spent some time trying to explain the verse. I was pretty excited because we have been learning about trees in Science, and I thought, "what a great way to bring what we have been talking about in science into our Bible class!"
So I spent some time reminding him about what we had been learning about trees, and how if you had an apple tree and cut a branch off of it, that branch wouldn't be able to grow new leaves or apples, because it wasn't attached to the trunk. Then I told him that is what the verse is saying. It is saying that Jesus is like the trunk of the tree and we are like the branches.... Anyway you get the idea, I'm sure!
After spending some time explaining and talking about it, and asking questions to make sure he was understanding, we finished up Bible and started getting ready for Math. About that time Teddy says, "I'm just not believing any of it!" I said, "what are you not believing?" He replies, "I'm just not believing that, that man could have leaves and apples growing out of him!"
So much for my "great explanation!" :-p
Joy
September has arrived!
Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting sooner. We have some very exciting news around here. Tony signed the final papers on the property for our church on Monday! It has been paid for and the deed is being registered with the City of Manta! We are so excited about this. What an incredible blessing it has been to see how the Lord supplied the money for this step! Now we need to start praying that he will continue to help us raise the need funds to build.
I finished up our latest Ladies Bible Study last Friday. It seemed to be a real blessing to the ladies and I am thankful for that. I am hoping to plan a time of fellowship for the ladies in a couple of weeks.
Tony was able to meet with Nelly and Cristobal this week and they both prayed to ask Christ to be their Savior. Please pray for this family as they grow. They have 2 teenage children and an 8 year old.
9 students finished up this last Bible Institute class. They are now taking a break for a few weeks. The next class will start in October.
God is blessing the ministry here! Thank you for your prayers.
Joy
I finished up our latest Ladies Bible Study last Friday. It seemed to be a real blessing to the ladies and I am thankful for that. I am hoping to plan a time of fellowship for the ladies in a couple of weeks.
Tony was able to meet with Nelly and Cristobal this week and they both prayed to ask Christ to be their Savior. Please pray for this family as they grow. They have 2 teenage children and an 8 year old.
9 students finished up this last Bible Institute class. They are now taking a break for a few weeks. The next class will start in October.
God is blessing the ministry here! Thank you for your prayers.
Joy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
