Let the Little Children Come....

We've had an incredibly full week, but then most weeks are, right?!  On Wednesday night we started our VBS.  We had a good number of kids turn out and more adults to help than we knew what to do with.  What an awesome problem to have.  I had helped organize it and get the material, etc.  but when it came to running the program, my only job was taking pictures!  It's really neat to see the people take ownership of things and put them into action!    We averaged about 50 children each evening.   Our main Sunday School teachers took the responsibility of teaching their classes, with some extra help.  Tony handled the opening, which included a song, and usually a little game or something that involved the kids.  Then after their classes they came back upstairs and for the closing time, about 6 men in the church had worked the class time, with Tony to put together a skit that dramatized the story they had that night.  The guys did a great job.  They had a lot of fun and the kids remembered the lessons! 

We had word that a few children accepted Christ.  On a personal note Matthew prayed to ask Jesus to forgive him of his sins and save him, in his class, Wednesday night!   We have talked to him about it a few different times, and he always tells us the same thing, so I think he really did understand what he was doing.  I would ask you to pray with us that Carla would come to know Jesus as her Savior.  I asked her when I was putting her to bed, if she had ever prayed and asked Jesus to forgive her of her sins and be her Savior and she told me, No.  She wasn't ready to do it yet.  So just pray with us, that as she keeps learning more and more, that she would understand her need for Christ.  

We had a great day yesterday!  All the Children were in the service, for the opening.  Each class presented a song and a verse for the parents.  Then we sang all the songs we had song during our VBS week.  It was fun. The guys who had helped with the skits and music all week,  helped with the music. 

Thank you for your prayers for our ministry and for our family.  It is exciting to see what the Lord is doing here in Manta, Ecuador! 

God Bless!
Joy

Showers of Blessings always seem to bring on the Storms!

Have you ever noticed how when there are blessings pouring down there are always storm clouds brewing? It seems to me that Satan is always ready to try and steal away our joy.

We had a fantastic day, today!  157 in church!  That is one of the best attendances we have had, and it wasn't a "special" day!  No meals served, no holiday, nothing!  Then after church we had our first Baptism Service using our baptistery, (unfinished though it may be! :-)  17 people were baptized this morning!!!  What an incredible blessing.  Right before the baptism, we had a couple stop us and tell us they had been working to get everything straighten out so they could get married and they were getting married this Friday!  They asked if Tony and I would come to the court house to be their witnesses.  In this culture we have so many people living in what they refer to as "Free Union", that it is a huge victory when they make the decision to get married. Right after church another couple told Tony that they were getting prepared and they wanted to be baptized the next time, we have a baptismal service!!

Yesterday, we had 30 ladies show up for our ladies meeting and 1 lady accepted Christ as her Savior after the meeting!  

So you say, WOW!!! what could possibly go wrong after 2 days full of blessings?!?!?!

This evening we went back to church for an organizational meeting for our VBS.   When everyone broke up into their small groups to go over some things, I went down stairs to check on the kids.  One of our sweet ladies was down there, and she wanted to talk to me.  Then she started crying...Well, you don't need to know all the details of our conversation, but it boils down to another lady in the church, allowing herself to be Satan's instrument to tear down and try to hurt another.   After we got home, I sent the kids upstairs to play so Tony and I could talk.  First thing Tony said, was, well, we've had a great day, so Satan is trying to steal our joy!

Well, it's not going to happen!   Yes, we will have to deal with the situation, but this has been an incredible day of victory and blessing, and I am going to bask in it just a little bit more! :-)

So I invite you to bask in it with me!  Praise the Lord with us for all of these blessings.  Pray with us for wisdom to gently guide and council those the Lord places in our care.  Pray for a great VBS this week, too!  It will be Wednesday-Sunday.

Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Joy

 Here's a picture of the 17 people that were baptized this morning with Tony.

Valentine's Dinner Menu

I did a fancy 4 course dinner...It was a lot of fun! 

Course #1- simple green salad served with Italian Herb bread

Course #2- Strawberry gelatin fruit cup

Course #3- Chicken Alfredo

Recipe adapted from Todd Wilbur's book, Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. 

1/2 cup butter/margarine
2 cups of evaporated milk
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 12 oz package of fettuccine pasta
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 a chicken breast, cooked and shredded
4 slices of bacon chopped

Put water on to boil for Pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the evaporated milk, garlic powder, and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.  While sauce is simmering, cook the chopped bacon.  When bacon is cooked add shredded chicken breast and saute until chicken is heated through.   Add chicken and bacon to sauce, along with Parmesan cheese.  When ready to serve pour sauce over cooked pasta.  Garnish with a little more Parmesan cheese.  

Course #4- Strawberry Cordial Pie


This recipe comes from the website of a local Knoxville, Tennessee television station.  www.wbir.com

Crust-
1/2 cup margarine-softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix will, and press into a 9 inch pie plate.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes at 400F.  Cool.
(Special note:  Next time I will cut the amount down, as I personally thought the crust was a little bit too thick.)

Filling: 
1 package of Chocolate Chips, (I used 2 cups).
1/2 Cup of milk

Place in a microwave safe mixing bowl, and melt, stirring every minute or so, until smooth.   Pour into crust.  Chill 1 hour or more.  

Top with Sliced strawberries

(Tony was wondering where I put his fork! LOL!!)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

We are on "School Break" this week.  We finished up our first semester last week!  I can't tell you what a great feeling that was!   Everyone was more than ready for a break, too, so this all worked out great! :-)

Our first day off, has been pretty laid back.  I have been working on getting things ready for a special Valentine's dinner tonight.  Actually it was going to be a special lunch, but I got a little behind, and Teddy has tennis class from 3 to 4, so we just decided it would work out better to make it a dinner.

We are having Chicken Alfredo with salad, homemade Italian Herb bread, strawberry jello salad, and "Strawberry Cordial Pie".  (recipes will follow in another post, for those of you interested. :-)

On Saturday, the kids made valentines for each other and for Tony and I.   They also decorated lunch bags, for "mail boxes".  I also found a lot of ideas for valentines on FamilyFun.com, and I made several different things to stick in their bags.  One of the neat things I found, was "coupons and checks", which I printed out and put together in a little book for each of them.   I never went quite this far when Mandie, Ashley and Lexi were little.  We would usually have a special dinner or breakfast, and cards and a little gift for each other.   They always had a Valentine's Party at school, so there really wasn't any reason to do all of that at home.  This year, I decided, since Teddy, Carla and Matthew, have never had a Valentine's Party at school, we would try to do something kind of like that at home, along with our special dinner.   Thus, the "mail boxes" and the little "valentines" for everyone.

Well, it's time to go finish up dinner and get things moving.  I hope each of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

God Bless!
Joy