Coming home and Changes

FRIENDS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES

 

The road from Guayaquil to Cuenca.

 

I can't believe the month of July flew by so fast.  A couple of weeks in New Mexico and a week in Arizona for conference explains it all. 

When we landed in Albuquerque the first thing we ate was......

You guessed it.   Green Chile! 

I was so happy to spend time with family and friends. 

I just wish I would of had more time to see everyone that I wanted to visit with.  Nevertheless, we came back refreshed and excited to see what these next couple of years will bring.

 

 

Upon arriving in our city,

we find out about the new addition to the church family, a baby girl.

Her parents name her Genesis.

* * * * * *

August will be just as crazy busy because necessary paperwork is up for renewal in addition to revival meetings that are planned for the church. 

I'll post more photos after that week is over, hopefully.

 

Oh, and yes.... Salutations to my friend Corinne!  

See there,  I didn't forget!

 

 

Important first things on the agenda, a visit to the barber.  

Doesn't this little shop just take you back 40 years.  If you are too young to remember 40 years back, trust me this is what it looked like.

 

 

Oh and who is that handsome young man!  Our youngest son was able to spend a week here.  So he is experiencing time travel with us! I'm so happy at least one of my kids was able to visit!

Hum,  two pairs of alien eyes.

 

 

 

Grilled bananas!  Um, Um good.

 

 Experiencing CHUZOS at the roadside drive up.

   

 * *  *  * *

 

We dropped off our son in Guayaquil to catch his plane and received a phone call from one of the sisters in the church as we are driving back home to Cuenca.  She is in labor.  Can we get to the hospital soon? There are some complications.

We get to the hospital and catch up with her just as she is being wheeled into the operation room.

Long story short, momma and baby Benjamin are doing well.

That makes two new babies to the church family.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

 

This is another reason I don't drive in Ecuador. 

 

He came up from behind us and mind you, by the time I snapped this picture he had already gained some altitude !  Now I understand why crop dusting is one of the most dangerous occupations.

 

In addition to all the craziness of travel, we are in store for another  surprise. Our landlord informs us she is selling her apartment, the one we are living in.  So, the search for another place begins.

Let's see,..... that makes moving time number 8 or 9,

 

Talk about timing.

It just so happens that a place opens up 5 floors down. It takes us a week to find the place and move.  I shouldn't even say "us" because my husband did all the work.

 

 

Now I had been secretly pinning away these past few months for the feel of dirt beneath my feet and wanting to be able to just step outside to my own little garden.  Well, I don't exactly have a real yard now but I think this is better! A real patio!  I can't believe it!

 

The humming birds love the flowering bushes. There is also a separate little herb garden.

I got so much joy out of transplanting a bush and coming across a huge worm.  He was about 8 inches long.  I literally squealed with delight.  I grabbed that squirming little sucker to show him off to my hubby who thought I was holding a small snake.  He wonders what in the world am I doing!

 

* * *

It's time to get ready for our trip tomorrow, the three hour drive to Guayaquil to pick up Pastor Amado and wife Lucy from the airport. 

Breakfast burritos, here we come.

 

Baptism and Sigsig

It's been awhile (again) but the time got away from me, plus my camera is not working right!!!

I'll be getting another one soon hopefully.

 

Also I had a surgery and although I was a little apprehensive about being in a hospital in a foreign country,  I'm very grateful for the doctors and the care that I received.

 

 

We just had another baptism and fellowship dinner. 

It is amazing to see lives changed and young people making decisions to serve Jesus. 

We still haven't mastered the language but God is working, should I say,

in spite of all our inadequacies.  Five people baptized this past Sunday night.

 

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

 

 

 

Now at the end of June we took a day trip to Sigsig to see where the

Panamanian Hats are made. 

 

Yes,  I can hear you already.  This is not Panama, but I can assure you, 

Ecuador is where the hats originate.

 

The week before the trip we were very happy to be able to spend time with Francisco and Lety. 

They were launched out the conference in Mexico are pioneering Quito.

We took them to see the town of Chordeleg. 

 

Quito's population is around 6 million, Cuenca comes in at only 485,000.

Pastor Francisco preached a Wednesday night service for us.

 

I think that I will start a page that just features all the unusual churches that we come upon as we

drive around the country.  Remember, Ecuador is comparable in size to the state of Colorado, so a lot can be covered in a day.

 

Unique!

 

These little ones were on their way home after school. 

The girls are wearing the traditional skirts and hats.

The entrance to Sigsig! 

 

We arrive at the hat factory.  No real directions to get there, just drive around

peer in doorways and look for bundles of straw, you'll find it. At least that's what we did.

 

 

 

Yep, this must be the place.  This giant hat is woven.

 

 

 

These alien looking things are woven hats waiting to be pressed into a form we recognize.

 Here is the pressing machine. 

All the different types of forms can be seen on the shelves.

 
 
 

Now this is the end result.  A great looking Panamanian Hat!

This is the old fashion way, I think......

From here the hats are shipped world wide.

 Alongside the road, in front of a little shack, there is pottery on display. 

With a little investigation, we found that the entire operation is just a few precarious steps down 

and away from the edge of the highway.

 

Here is process they use to fire it.

 

 

 
And two more pictures for the beautiful flor of Ecuador.

Bird of Paradise

 

April Travel and Easter Service

Quote for the day:

These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter . . .I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I'm hereafter.



In April we made a trip to Duran and Guayaquil.  This time there was hardly any fog, so we were actually able to see the mountains and little towns in the valleys.

 

I've always wondered how in the world can anyone climb up to these homes.  If you look carefully you can see the house almost in the center of the picture. 

Living above the clouds, the landscape appears as an ocean. 

 



How would you like this drive?  Now, as we descend the mountains we there is a dramatic change in vegetation and climate.  It is becoming more tropical.

 

We see lots of Brahman cattle. I've read that they originated in India and were exported all over the world from there.

 

 Little towns along the way, Jesus Maria, Cristobal Colon,....etc.......



Mosquitos carrying Dengue fever thrive here. 
The only protection is not to get bit.  If you travel to this area,
don't forget the insect repellant.

 

 

 

There are miles and miles of sugar cane, cacoa and rice. 

Thousands of workers were coming out of the fields around lunch time to catch buses. 

Right before the City of Guayaquil is a little town called Duran. 

These were taken by the riverfront, close to the bridge.

 

 

 

This man ventured into the water holding on to a log to retrieve something from the river.

 

TODAY'S CATCH

 

 

Drying fish in the sun..... 
I like the boats.  Of course you'd never catch me IN a little boat,
but I like the picture anyway.
 

Now we venture into the heart of Duran.

 

 

 

A candidate for my "FACES OF ECUADOR" collection. 

In this heat it's easy to doze off.....

 

There is rapidly growing fellowship church here

in this wild little town.

OUTSIDE...

INSIDE...
Sorry I don't have more pictures.



 

So, now we continue on the road to Guayaquil. 

They do have a Mega Maxi store there that

is comparable to a Super Walmart. 

Gas is cheap, travel is inexpensive to so on to Walmart I will go.

 

 

 

TRAFFIC IN GUAYAQUIL!  

THIS IS WHY I DON'T DRIVE HERE.

 

I am  just a coward....I know.  I also won't drive on L.A. freeways USA.

Can anybody tell me where the lanes are?  And by the way, which direction are we headed?

 

 

 

Oh don't you remember the good ol' days when everyone would just pile in the bed of the truck?

 

Usually it wasn't the police though.

Well, you gotta do what you gotta do...

 

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Easter Service

 

Easter Morning Communion Service. 
Sunday's AM is a bilingual service, English and Spanish.

A snapshot of some of the folks in the church. 
Of course, there are some first time,
and just passing thru visitors
 that happened to stop by on a picture day....



Did I mention that Eric Estrada comes to our church? 
Well you have to admit there is a resemblance.

  Testimony of God's healing from cancer for this sister's sister....


And last of all a blast from the past......

 

Take the time to enjoy....

 

LIFE!