Family, back to Ecuador, and a big election

 

Whew, it's time to catch our breath after about 3 months of intense effort to transition back to Ecuador! Now we are settling in and getting things back in order after being gone from our adopted country. Last weekend we successfully helped Lindsey move in to the dorm at John Brown University, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. So far she loves college life! Of course, reality will be much different when new student orientation ends and classes start! Nevertheless, we are confident she will do well then too, when her studious side engages with the classwork. Joel and Jaden live just 10 minutes from campus which gives us even greater confidence. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Joel and Jaden. Jaden is doing much better with her health because of the medications she is on. She is able to work online from home but often doesn’t have much more energy after that. This past week, her sodium level went dangerously high because of the medication she is on, so please pray that they can find the right adjustment for her. Scott is continuing to teach online Hebrew classes in Ecuador. Opportunities will certainly increase being in country, both for Hebrew and for other subjects. Pray for wisdom for Scott as he decides which things he should do and which things the national church is capable of doing themselves. A new group for Hebrew is already beginning to form for September, and others have expressed interest. Kristi has been working with a homeschool group online the past 3 years but is going back to work at Alliance Academy International. She will begin teaching 6th grade on Thursday and is expecting about 21 students. The school is growing again after losing 1/3 of their students during the pandemic. Lower elementary is back to having two classes for each grade as it used to be but upper elementary still just has one class in each grade level. That means that Kristi will be teaching everything for 6th grade. Please pray for her as she teaches some new subjects this year. A few weeks ago we were concerned about the arthritis in her knee. Thankfully, she has seen a lot of improvement with that. Although it is going to be a continuing issue, she feels mobile enough to at least fulfill her teaching responsibilities for now. Of course, this also means that after having children at home for 31 years, we are empty nesters. It is rather difficult to leave behind all of our children and return to Ecuador. David, Shelby, Evelyn and Elisabeth continue living in San Luis Obispo, California. We loved spending a week with them in California this summer and getting to love on our grandaughters!

We are also excited to announce that Luke is engaged to Chase Trautwein, a missionary kid from the Dominican Republic. A good friend of Luke from his high school days in Quito ended up being room mates and best friends with Chase. She introduced them. They have both been working at the same camp for foster kids in Missouri. Pray for them as they prepare for marriage.

Tomorrow is election day in Ecuador. A new president will be chosen, as well as an entirely new group of legislators. There are other issues on the ballot as well. This election is extremely important and tensions are very high. In fact three weeks ago, one of the presidential candidates was assassinated. Fernando Villavicencio was especially outspoken against corruption, organized crime and the growing problem with drug cartels. Unfortunately he paid a price for that with his life. Here is an excellent article from the BBC that summarizes the current situation and how it feels for those who are living it. Please pray that God would have his hand in the choices made tomorrow so that Ecuador can battle its recently growing problem of crime. Pray also that the church will thrive in this country no matter what the outcomes of the election are.