It is hard to believe that Christmas 2016 is finished and we have entered a new year – 2017!  We are so thankful for your prayers and interest in the work here in Ecuador – your notes of encouragement and gifts of support.  It is all possible because of God’s faithful provision each and every day.

After our last post, we had the privilege of hosting our annual Homeschool Family Christmas Party.  We had a record attendance of over 90.  What a wonderful group to work with!  Over the years it has been amazing to see how our group has grown with more Ecuadorian families taking the mantle of homeschooling to nurture their children.  Here are a few photos of the highlights of our time together December 16th:

Right before this wonderful gathering, our daughter Lydia arrived from Mexico where she works with Mexico Medical Missions homeschooling a missionary family.  Our son Isaac also arrived from college in Florida.  It has been a wonderful time having five of our children home for Christmas this year and we treasure the memories.

Our son Ethan and his wife Leanne were not able to be with us this year.  They continue with their work in the Congo helping homeschool a missionary’s three children and assisting with other work. (If you would like a copy of their last newsletter, let us know.)

One of the biggest changes we have observed since we first came to Ecuador as a family in 1990 is the way we can communicate.  In the early days we had “snail mail” letters that would take a month to get from the jungle to the United States and it would take at least another month before we would get a response to that letter.  Now we can video chat – like we did with Ethan and Leanne in Africa on Christmas Day and with Esther’s family in Oregon on Christmas Eve.  This has been such a blessing to us!

Since the day after Christmas we have had the joy of hosting three of Sarah and Julia’s friends from Emmaus Bible College and Phantom Ranch Bible Camp.  We’ve had fun showing them around Quito, taking them to Pululahua Crater and up Ruco Pichincha.  Ron presently has them down in the jungle exploring in Sinangue and Limoncocha.  We may have some photos of their adventures to share in our next blog post.

We will finish this post with our new family photo and some prayer requests.  Thank you!

Prayer requests:

• For Lydia traveling back to Mexico January 5th.  She is enjoying her work homeschooling some missionary children and hopes she can keep warm as the next few months there could be some snow where she lives in the Sierra Madres around 7000 ft. in altitude.  They often see some of the cartel driving around, so safety is also an issue.  Pray for her little student, Carolina.
• For Isaac who will be traveling back January 20th to Pensacola, Florida.  He is enjoying his studies and working on campus.  Pray for his finances as they will be tight this next semester.
• Continue to pray for Alex, the little boy from Sinangue who was burned badly last month.  Many of you were praying for him the last few weeks, and despite the doctors giving very little hope for his recovery, he has gotten better – well enough to come home earlier this week – nothing short of miraculous!  Keep praying for Alex and his family.
• Jhonas and his mom just arrived in Quito yesterday from the Secoya village just downriver from Dureno.  Pray for Celinda’s impending hip replacement surgery.  We hope it happens very soon.
• For strength and wisdom as our many Bible studies, Sunday classes and meetings start back up.  This Friday our Homeschool Teen Fellowship meets and next Tuesday the ladies Bible study Esther hosts starts back up.  Next week all of Ron’s studies and discipleship sessions also resume.