We have so many answered prayers to share!! The very biggest at the moment is that WE HAVE THE VISAS!!!!!
I have written a detailed narrative of what we have been doing and how this has all unfolded on my Journey of Waiting blog. You can check it out here:
http://manabita.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/visa-update/
Have a blessed day!
Joy
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Sunday Evening...
Well, I just noticed that it's been over a month since I posted on here! I just can't seem to keep up with everything. It seems that the older I get the faster time flies by! ;)
We had expected that we would be heading to the US, this month...well actually when we started the whole visa process for Carla and Matthew, we expected to be heading to the US in May or June, but that was not God's plan! We are learning every day through this process, that God's timing is not our timing and that His ways are not ours! He is NEVER late, and his plans are ALWAYS perfect! We have received news that our visa process has passed all the steps needed in the US. The next step is to be assigned a date for our interview at the consulate here. We have been told that we should be assigned a date in August. So we are prayerful that we will be heading to the US by the end of August/first of September. We would really appreciate your prayers about this, as our first scheduled meeting is at a church in VA. Sept. 21-22. This is a new church for us, and it is really important for us to add to our support base.
This month we have enjoyed celebrating the 4th together as a family. We "officially" finished up our school year, the first week in July and the kids have been enjoying their vacation. I have been working on organizing our school plans for the coming year, and figuring out what we will need to take with us to the States. I have also been working on compiling a reading program that will meet Matthew's needs. I think that is just about finished, and I'm quite happy with how it has turned out. It is always neat, when you can "re-cycle" and re-use things that you already own! ;)
Friday, we celebrated Tony's birthday. The kids and I enjoyed taking him out for supper and trying to spoil him a little bit.
Our church is doing well. The leaders are doing a great job, stepping in and getting ready to carry the work during our furlough. This week-end we enjoyed having our Missionaries, David and Monica Proano here, with a group from the US. They did an "Evangelistic Seminar" Saturday morning, and then Saturday afternoon, people went out passing out tracks and invitations to a program this coming Saturday evening at the church. This morning we had a guest speaker from the group, and it was a great challenge to our church. This afternoon, we went with this group and several people from our church to the Malecon here at the beach, and shared the gospel through a couple dramas and painting. We know that 1 young lady accepted Christ, and several people took the gospel of John that was passed out and followed along attentively has David showed how to do the little Bible Study in the front of the book. People from our church took time to talk with those that stayed around til the end of the presentation, and lots of invitations and tracts were handed out. Please pray with us, that there will be fruit from this outreach.
This morning as Tony and I were sitting on the front row, getting ready for the morning service to start, a man that had accepted Christ 2 weeks ago, came up with a huge smile on his face to shake our hands! He was so happy to be there. It is so neat to see the joy now radiating from him!
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta! God is working and we are so excited to be a part of his work!
Blessings,
Joy
We had expected that we would be heading to the US, this month...well actually when we started the whole visa process for Carla and Matthew, we expected to be heading to the US in May or June, but that was not God's plan! We are learning every day through this process, that God's timing is not our timing and that His ways are not ours! He is NEVER late, and his plans are ALWAYS perfect! We have received news that our visa process has passed all the steps needed in the US. The next step is to be assigned a date for our interview at the consulate here. We have been told that we should be assigned a date in August. So we are prayerful that we will be heading to the US by the end of August/first of September. We would really appreciate your prayers about this, as our first scheduled meeting is at a church in VA. Sept. 21-22. This is a new church for us, and it is really important for us to add to our support base.
This month we have enjoyed celebrating the 4th together as a family. We "officially" finished up our school year, the first week in July and the kids have been enjoying their vacation. I have been working on organizing our school plans for the coming year, and figuring out what we will need to take with us to the States. I have also been working on compiling a reading program that will meet Matthew's needs. I think that is just about finished, and I'm quite happy with how it has turned out. It is always neat, when you can "re-cycle" and re-use things that you already own! ;)
Friday, we celebrated Tony's birthday. The kids and I enjoyed taking him out for supper and trying to spoil him a little bit.
Our church is doing well. The leaders are doing a great job, stepping in and getting ready to carry the work during our furlough. This week-end we enjoyed having our Missionaries, David and Monica Proano here, with a group from the US. They did an "Evangelistic Seminar" Saturday morning, and then Saturday afternoon, people went out passing out tracks and invitations to a program this coming Saturday evening at the church. This morning we had a guest speaker from the group, and it was a great challenge to our church. This afternoon, we went with this group and several people from our church to the Malecon here at the beach, and shared the gospel through a couple dramas and painting. We know that 1 young lady accepted Christ, and several people took the gospel of John that was passed out and followed along attentively has David showed how to do the little Bible Study in the front of the book. People from our church took time to talk with those that stayed around til the end of the presentation, and lots of invitations and tracts were handed out. Please pray with us, that there will be fruit from this outreach.
This morning as Tony and I were sitting on the front row, getting ready for the morning service to start, a man that had accepted Christ 2 weeks ago, came up with a huge smile on his face to shake our hands! He was so happy to be there. It is so neat to see the joy now radiating from him!
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta! God is working and we are so excited to be a part of his work!
Blessings,
Joy
Monday, June 17, 2013
Celebrating Father's Day...
Here are a few photos of what we did with Tony, to celebrate Father's Day this year...
This family photo was taken after services Sunday.
We took Tony to a Mexican Resturant for supper, Sunday. We went about 5:00, and were the only people in there... Most people go out a lot later for supper around here.
After we ordered our food, the kids gave Tony his gift and the cards they had made.
Everyone loved their dinner! ;)
Carla and Matthew had "Flautas de Pollo"...
Tony had the "El Coyote"
Teddy had a beef burrito and I had tostados. It was all delicious!
Today, we went to San Lorenzo, to climb up to the light house.
You can just barely see it on the top of the hill.
And we're off...
At the half way point.
This is where I stayed...
but the kids were ready to move on...
"Victory is ours!" is what Matthew said, when they reached the top! ;)
had to take a photo of the "stairs". There were "only" 650 some...
There were also sea turtle nest marked off. That was neat. The kids came home and checked it out on the computer to see photos of the turtles.
on the way back out of the little town, we came across a bunch of baby pigs crossing the road...
Thursday, May 30, 2013
TCK's
One of my grown daughters just wrote a post about some struggles she is having, in adapting and adjusting to life in small town USA. In her post she is brutally honest about her feelings and also how she has come realize that she has not been fair or just in them.
With some back and forth with all 3 of the grown girls, my oldest, shared a set of blog articles that she had come across at one time, and how they had been very convicting and had helped her in her adjustment back to the US.
For me, the articles articulated some things that I had already known, but hadn't put into context. They also pointed out some things to me that I had never really thought about. The one on hypocrisy, is brutal. While I don't think my husband or I have crossed that line, at least not continually, I can see how, snatches of things said, or even things not fully explained, can from a child's perspective be conceived as such. WOW! Very convicting.
The article on leaving and loss, was amazing! I have personally experienced so much of this, BUT my kids, so much more!
So if you are truly interested in TCK's (Third Culture Kids), and would like to understand where they are coming from and some of things that have shaped their thinking, (be that misconceptions or truth), I recommend you check out these articles.
Lies MK's Believe
Blessings to you and yours,
Joy
With some back and forth with all 3 of the grown girls, my oldest, shared a set of blog articles that she had come across at one time, and how they had been very convicting and had helped her in her adjustment back to the US.
For me, the articles articulated some things that I had already known, but hadn't put into context. They also pointed out some things to me that I had never really thought about. The one on hypocrisy, is brutal. While I don't think my husband or I have crossed that line, at least not continually, I can see how, snatches of things said, or even things not fully explained, can from a child's perspective be conceived as such. WOW! Very convicting.
The article on leaving and loss, was amazing! I have personally experienced so much of this, BUT my kids, so much more!
So if you are truly interested in TCK's (Third Culture Kids), and would like to understand where they are coming from and some of things that have shaped their thinking, (be that misconceptions or truth), I recommend you check out these articles.
Lies MK's Believe
Blessings to you and yours,
Joy
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