Recent activities

I continue to enjoy the times I have with the homeschool kids.  Here are some pictures from the recent activities.  We made soap, planted a garden and Josué and Juan came over one evening to sleep out under the stars.

Bananas galore

I just had to upload this picture.  This evening we had fried bananas supper.  They are sooooo good!  At the moment, we have 4 different types of bananas in the house.  I had forgotten how much I like cooked bananas.  I have decided I almost like them as much as fresh ones.

Homeschooling update

I really praise the Lord for how homeschooling has been going.  My main goal continues to be that of encouraging parent's to fulfill their role to train up their children to love the Lord.  Pr. 22:6  As part of that, I do get together with the kids 2 times a week.  On Mondays we have Bible and on Thursdays we have computer classes.  As part of the classes, we always begin by reading a Proverb and I try to include as much English as possible.  I'm so enjoying being back in the Spanish, that I have a hard time remembering to teach English.  It's so much fun just doing it all in Spanish.

 

Other days of the weeks I get together with individual families from time to time and we do different educational activities.  Our latest projects have been soap making, gardening, and some PLC programming.  It is such a blessing to see the parents and children working and learning together.  In the coming weeks, I would like to do some types of ministry together with the families.  Please pray the Lord would guide and direct us into what areas we can serve.

 

Just this week, two more girls from the church began homeschooling.  That brings the total to 8 kids who are studying at home.  More than anything I'm thrilled to see the parent's sincere desire and sacrifice to see their children grow and mature in the ways of the Lord.  Not surprisingly, all this does not come about without opposition.  Yesterday, two of the girls were talking about some of the things they are being told by their friends and teachers.  Some thing it's neat but others call them lazy.  One teacher told Carina, "The reason most girls leave school is because they are pregnant..."  Please pray for wisdom for each of the children and parents in knowing how to respond to the critics.

 

From all I can perceive, the families continue to be encouraged with how things are going.  This coming Monday Pastor Santiago and I are planning on getting together with all the parents who are homeschooling.  Our desire is for it to be a time to encourage them, instill a vision of what their responsibilities are as parents and talk about how to respond to criticism.  Pastor Santiago has asked me to share on how my family has responded to different questions and criticism of homeschooling.  Please pray I can be clear in my sharing and that all I say would encourage the parents to have Scriptural convictions on why they are homeschooling.

Always maintain your rights!

I've been thankful I applied for an international driving permit before I left the states. I haven't driven a whole lot here, but it's come in handy.

Driving is certainly different here. It feels kind of like a wild west free-for-all. If your car can fit, got for it before somebody else does! I was driving down a long, curvy hill one day with a friend and we watched as the car in front of us tried to pass on a curve. My friend made the comment "that guy was really bad". I agreed and said, "Yes, he shouldn't have passed on the curve." He replied in all seriousness, "No, I meant the car who didn't make room for the car that was passing."

That's kind of the way things are here. One certainly has to drive defensively. Stop signs mean, look both ways before cruising through the intersection. When the light turns red, just keep close to the guy in front of you. If your lane of traffic keeps close together, the other direction won't have chance to start moving even if their light is green. My favorite is the "Maintain your Right-away" sign. Just like the states, there are yield signs around, but the sign that makes me smile every time I see it is the "Always Maintain your Right-away" sign. I finally got a good picture of one. See above...

I'm not exactly sure how you apply this sign. It appears to be the opposite of a yield sign. I guess it means don't stop for anything. If a car turns out in front of you, just plow into it, because above all, "Always Maintain your Right-away." That's what I would call defensive driving!

PTL!

I just wanted to make a quick update and thank everyone for praying about my visa.  I was able to get it registered without taking the 10 hr. bus trip to Quito.  Last Friday I went to the imigration office in Cuenca and got everything finalized.  I should now be set for 2 years with multiple entries.  At this point, I have my ticket bought to return to the US in late June.  Please be praying for the Lord's direction beyond that time.

Shell Pics

Another day flying

I had another wonderful day flying today. Hugo Chaves and Corea where in town today, so the airport was shut down from 7-10 this morning. So we did some maintenance on the plane. We changed oil, cleaned spark plugs, etc. I really shouldn't say "WE". I mostly watched and asked questions.

The first flight today was a cargo run. We took out the two back seats and loaded up the back of the plane. Most of it seemed to be fuel barrels. After that we went to deliver some things to some Wuaorani villages. One of the places we stopped was right at Palm Beach. See here for more info on Palm Beach: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Auca At another village very near by we picked up a very sick lady. She had just delivered a baby and had complications after the birth. She was barely able to walk to the airplane. The mother lay down in the back of the plane and I got to hold the baby all the way back to Shell. The Wuaorani baby boy was only 5 days old. He was wrapped in a blue shawl and had jet black hair. He slept most of the way to Shell, but did wake up and look around for a while. He was just precious. It was by far the highlight of the day.

From Shell Selections

On arriving back to Shell, we helped the mother into the back seat of the LaBouef's pickup and Rick and I took her into Puyo for medical attention. We went to emergency and while others helped the mother out of the truck I kept holding the baby. Once we got into emergency, the baby began to cry. He'd been whimpering for a while and moving his mouth. I gave the baby back to his mom so she could feed him, and by this time I had to leave. May the Lord use this precious life, and may he grow up to serve Jesus.

Update from Shell

Hello from Shell!

Last Friday I called up a missionary pilot. My family knew Rick and Sharon LaBoufe from when we were down here years ago, and they invited me to come right down and visit them for a few days. I jumped on a bus Sat. morning and 9 hour later, was here in Shell. (For more info on the history of Shell and Nate Saint see this link: http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/article/545) They are so welcoming, and have a beautiful house right next to the airport.

On Sunday Rick and I took off to do some preaching in the jungle. We loaded up the plane with an indian family and a bunch of luggage, and headed into the jungle. We stopped at two or three different villages. The first place we stopped was a very small village. We setup the video equipment in a one-room school and started the generator outdoors. There were about 10 people in total who showed up. They were all women and children. After showing a 20 video, Rick preached and then we sang a couple songs. This was a Quichua village, so I sang Jesus Loves Me with them in Quichua.

On our way to the 2nd village, it started to rain. Once we got there, it was raining steadily, and the airstrip was muddy. On touchdown, mud flew in all directions and we just managed to stop before the end of the runway. At this place, there were more people. We showed the video twice and I shared some myself. Many of the women and children do not know Spanish, so we had one of the men translate for us.

Two of the indians had asked for us to fly them out. We loaded all our equipment into the plane, and a bunch of things they were going to sell in the city. The rain had stopped by this time, but the runway was still soggy, and the plane was heavily loaded. PTL, we did make it off the ground, but Rick did describe the take of as "marginal".

Lord willing, I plan to be here in Shell until Wed. and plan to travel home on Thur. Please pray for continued safety and boldness in sharing Jesus. Some of the people we were with yesterday had only heard the Gospel once or twice before.

Serving Jesus,
Justo

A quick update...

After an exciting weekend in the jungle, what does a person write when life returns to normal? It's not that I mind "normal life", its just I'm not sure what to write sometimes.

I had a good weekend. On Sat. we watched a video with the youth in the church. It was on Dinosaurs and the Bible. I directed the question time after watching the video. I so enjoy the time of fellowship at church on Sundays. On Sunday afternoon a bunch of people from church got together and we had a fun soccer game.

Please be praying about my schedule this week. I was hoping to go to Nabon today, but that did not work out. Yesterday, I also found out I need to go to Quito to get my visa registered... and I need to do it within the next 9 days. Please pray the Lord would work out all the details.

A trip to the market

 

 

 

 

Jungle Pictures

I've posted a few pictures from the trip below. To view more click here.

On our way home

Random

New Friends

Beauty