Waiting... part 2

You know, it just occurred to me...

You´ve heard about the 33 miners trapped down below in a mine in Chile? They´re waiting for rescue that could take anywhere from 1 to 4 months... and ANYTHING could happen in the meantime.

The Chilean response has been incredible, consulting all kinds of experts to support the men as they wait.

Would you all join me in faithful daily prayer for those miners and their families? They´ve gotten toothbrushes and games, a hole for fresh air and such, and they´ve organized their living area for the long-haul (truly amazing people). What if we could pray God into their presence? What if He could be there with them in the wait?

Please let me know if you´re with me on this,,, it means SO much more to pray together. M

Waiting...

Thank you all for waiting along with me.

I think that this time has become more important for me every passing day, to get all kinds of things in order and ready to go for next-steps.

And I am SO very curious to find out what´s next :)

Wishing each and every one of you God´s best gift, each and every day.
love m

Almost forgot to mention

For those of you who did see the CNN report,,, yes there WAS a 6.9 earthquake centered in Puyo (near Shell) Ecuador about 4-5 days ago. Some people felt it at different places in various parts of the country. Reports were that it was located about 100 miles down into the earth --- there have been no personal or structural damages reported (if you can believe that). From what I understand, people who felt it most were in Guayaquil (I think because that follows the fault line). Friends in Puyo and Shell felt nothing --- they suppose it´s because it was so deep, no shock waves reached the surface there, but rather radiated outward... We are all doing well, and the next day news report said there weren´t even any aftershocks produced.

Understandably, a 6.9 earthquake ANY closer to the surface here would have a tremendous impact. I´m grateful for God´s protection, and thank you for your continued prayers regarding these kinds of possibilities for us.
M

Kids and such

Just a quick note to let you know...

I introduced myself in person to Luis Mutre last Sunday. He´s the guy who´s supposed to be my contact person at República for putting my street kids officially under their social-services care. He asked for patience (imagine that...) to wait til September to talk, as he´s bogged down with some other things right now.

I´m taking advantage of this waiting time to polish, amplify and complete about 30 workshops - to provide the language library for Compassion/Nuevos Amigos (Have finished 3 powerpoint workshops with their corresponding written reports - am working on the last one now, only lacks ppt and references.) The rest are Dysphagia workshops which I can be paid for presenting, and/or supply as a library to the hospital - whichever works best. I´ve gotten those workshops sorted, and will start them as soon as I get the Compassion ones done and printed up. Plan to hand the language ones in to Fernando when I get to meet with him. In total, this workshop prep should take me through September. That´s good, because am also still waiting finalization on the Dysphagia Book from Compassion, meeting results from Dr. Vásconez (Medical Education - Vozandes), and meeting results from Professor Plaza (Univ. Talca, Chile). There will likely be more professional presentations and meetings that I´ll be required to participate in after that.

And just a little tidbit of info... I bumped into Johnny a week or so ago (I don´t think I mentioned that yet.). He told me he´s not hanging out on the street anymore. Of the 15 kids (3 main family groups) I started with 6 years ago, that means that only Joey (Johnny´s twin) and their little brother Michael (who Joey drags along) are still on the street... supposedly. I haven´t seen them lately, either. I´m praying it´s because they´ve made the same decision to stay home. The 3 family groups represented were 1) Willian 2) Jesús and Jesseña and 3) Edison. So the tally is, Jesús and Jesseña´s family left the street after the first year working with them; Joey & Michael are the last of the 5 from Edison´s family group who are still on the street. Johnny says that Edison will be graduating soon as a baker/pastry chef --- I asked them to let me know where he gets work so I can go visit him. I continue praying for Willian, as I haven´t found him since his Mom passed away. Johnny says they haven´t seen him lately either --- he´d have to be about 17 now, I think. He had brought 4-5 of his younger siblings to meet me, and I had the privilege of personally meeting his Mom, too.

So the ones left to really target are the Iñaquito kids --- from what I´ve seen, that´d be the perfect group for the República men to take on. I´m looking forward to meeting with Luis Mutre in September.

I´m comforted to see God providing all kinds of people pulling together to take on these incredible challenges, and I´m happy to have the time here in Ecuador still to share this all with them. It´s so much more fun working together on these things.

Trust you´re all doing well on your end. I hope you get to see God being really big, too! Sincerely, M

That was Yesterday

I´m drawing a blank on who sang that song ages ago... The majority of you will know it, though :)

I´d like to share with you what happened yesterday, in such a way that you would understand that 6 years of "detailing" interactions, confidence, trust, and relationship with street kids; 6 years of constancy and perseverance glued together by God´s faithfulness made yesterday possible. You remember Jefferson, Daisy, and Jessica...

Daisy took a little sandwich bag that had a piece of carrot-cake I had made down the sidewalk to the little girl who had followed us up, asking for hand-outs, which I told her I couldn´t give her. And Daisy wished her God´s blessing. When I had asked her to do me that favor, Daisy didn´t flinch or hesitate an instant. The rest of us waited on the corner.

Jessica stopped on the sidewalk to wait to greet a very special friend of hers,,, a full-grown man who is exactly as tall as she is (she´s about 7 years old, and little).

Jeff took the $20 I gave him, using just $8 (of the $10 I allowed him) to buy lunch for the 3 of them. He prayed (some encouragement needed) for the meal, and instructed us all in "stopping" and "going" with all the traffic on our way to the park. (With a little guidance), he also used $1 to buy a bag of candy from our new friend, Ximena, and then went to share his purchase with the "tougher" group of Iñaquito kids we had just passed and greeted. (They actually accepted his offer!). The three of us went down to the park to play puzzle games, and later Guillermo (from the Iñaquito group) and Ximena (from the candy lady) had joined us. 3 different families represented there, but all sharing the games, laughing to find out they could do them, and really just having a great time... not even noticing they were from 3 different worlds.

When I mentioned to Jeff, Daisy, and Jess on the way back that I had to stop for groceries, they offered to help me shop. So we shopped, treasure-hunt style :) They looked for milk boxes that said "Nutra-leche", eggs that were medium-sized and cost less than $2, wheat bread that actually had dietary fiber (can you believe I gave them that one? heehee), and the 5 of the reddest apples they could find, etc. etc. For a few basic items, I asked them to put a portion aside for their own family,,, and each time I did, Jessica said "thank you, Michelle". Somehow she also noticed when I put my loaf of bread back so they could keep theirs when we were checking out... Jeff made sure the girls helped out carrying bags, but everyone was already tired by the time we got up to the street with the heavy milk and vegetables,,, so when I asked him if he thought we should walk all the way back or use that last $1 (of the $10 I had given him earlier) to grab a cab (and the girls unanimously said "yeeeessss" to hear "cab"), he decided that would probably be a good idea. He instructed me to sit in front with the driver, and the 2 girls to get in back with him. And he handed that last dollar to the cab-driver when we got to where we needed to go.

Wish you could have seen them skipping/running down the sidewalk back to their parents when we got to Villalengua and Veracruz.

I´m thankful for yesterday :)
M

AMAZING GRACE

I think now I´m glad to not really know the future. Odds are in most every case, I would chicken out to see what was coming, and would do whatever possible to make things way more soft, pleasant and easy than they turn out being most of the time. But then I´d know nothing about God´s amazing grace.

And I think it´s ONE incredible thing when God intervenes to heal a potentially fatal illness in ourselves and/or our loved ones, and then really quite another when He waits til someone/something dearly cherished actually dies before He (apparently) acts. And then His grace is even more amazing.

And I see the Pichincha mountain range that caught on fire last year from the drought we had,,, the whole thing was brown,,, and black in those huge sections where forest fires had started. We´ve had steady rain since March/April this year. And even now in August, when everywhere should be brown and dry,,, the Pichincha mountains are thick with trees, and bushes and green.... especially where the fires had been.

News is coming in now, from Chile, from Vozandes, from Iglesia República, from my hometown, from my Mom,,,, from all sides --- good news,,,, like rain on dry land.

Please join me in thanking God for His amazing grace. My heart is starting to feel that rich, thick green - like Pichincha :) I would never have chosen this road for myself,,, so thank God He gave me the courage and the strength to follow Him.

M.