Visas and Pies

Whoa! Well, it has been quite a while since I last posted in here. My days lately have been filled with my work at the school, taking care of the girls, and enjoying the company of others around me. I've been getting a little bit homesick lately, and I am surely ready to see everyone very soon. I'll be leaving to come back to the States for a visit in just over two weeks, and what a Christmas present that will be!

I did have a little adventure lately with trying to get my Ecuadorian visa to be able to stay in the country. Because of the time crunch when I decided to come down here, we decided that it would be best for me to come immediately down and enter the country with an automatic 90-day tourist visa, which I would be able to extend until I could return to the States for Christmas and travel to Houston to apply for my long-term missionary/volunteer visa. Well, Ecuador being Ecuador, the laws have changed in the past few months, and now extending my visa was no longer an option. When Justin took me to the Immigration office a few days before my tourist visa expired, we discovered that pretty much the only thing that I could do was to get a 6-month tourist visa for the low low price of $230. The good news that came out of this was that I no longer have to travel to Houston during my precious two weeks at home, but can convert my visa to the long-term one right here in Quito. It also ends up being about the same cost due to travel expenses. Well, Senor Fausto, the very kind man to whom we talked that day, gave me a list of all the paperwork and other materials that I needed, and said that it was fine to return after my visa expired since we couldn't make it back before then, without a penalty.

To make a long story slightly less long, I returned by myself that following Monday, and (since I now knew the type of visa I needed), after waiting for three hours, was directed to a different man with whom I had already spoken and had also said that it was fine that I was past the expiration date. When I went to this man and presented my case to him (and remember, this is all  in legal jargon in Spanish, what good practice, haha), he told me that he had no memory of me and could do nothing to help me, that I was illegal and refused to grant me the visa. I talked with him and tried to convince him, reminding him of what he had told me the week before, and telling him how important it was for me to get this visa. He quickly tired of me talking and abruptly stood up and walked away. I was quite upset and stressed, and asked the guard on the way out if I could speak with Senor Fausto, the man with whom I originally spoke, and he said I could, but I had to get another number. At this point (it was about 11:15 am, and I had been at the office since 7:45 am) I was going to miss almost the whole day of school anyway, so I decided it was worth it to stay and do everything I could to get the visa.

So I took another number. After an hour and a half of praying for God to allow this to happen if it was His will that I stay in the country, I was finally called.

As I sat down to talk with Mr. Fausto, I explained to him my case and showed him the piece of paper on which he had written the list of things I needed as well as his name. I reminded him that he said it was no problem to return late, and he immediately answered,

"Oh yes, I remember you. That's not a problem. Do you have all of your paperwork? Okay, great. Let's get this done."

What a blessing! I was holding back tears of joy and relief as we filled in my information and I went to go pay for the visa. God really gave me the person that I needed to accomplish what needed to be done. He always provides. I picked up my passport (yes, you have to leave your passport there for several days, a little nerve-wracking) with my pretty new visa in it on Friday afternoon, and oh, what a relief it was! I think I just started at it in the car with Jerry for about 10 minutes. I am just thanking and praising God.

As you all know, Thanksgiving was last week. As I live in Ecuador, I didn't get to have Thanksgiving off. It was a normal day just like any other, except Laura and I wanted to do a little something to celebrate, so we along with Laura's friend Karen who was visiting for the week, made pies for all of the teachers for our afternoon meetings. I made pumpkin pie (using Amanda's fabulous recipe!) and Laura made chocolate pie. They all loved them, and I've already had to translate the pumpkin pie recipe to Spanish at the request of several people. Family in Huntsville and Nashville, you may look forward to some over Christmas, because I am surely making it again :)

We did finally get to have a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. Sunday was a national census all around Ecuador, and no one was allowed to leave their house until 5 p.m. while the government sent around representatives to count everyone. (Yep, I'm in a different country.) Since church services were postponed because of this, Jerry invited myself and Laura to spend the night at his house and we had a big Thanksgiving dinner and devotional there for Sunday lunch with Justin and Amanda, their four children, Ulf (the original director of Camp Bellevue, who is currently crashing with Jerry for a while), and Kyle, the American intern at the camp. It was a wonderful dinner with tons of delicious food and fabulous company.

Making the pies in the kitchen. It was late. 

On the way to school, showing off our creations! (Notice that there's a big chunk missing from the one that Laura is holding. Someone found it in the middle of the night :) ) 

Another fun thing that has happened recently is decorating the house for Christmas! We have many Christmas lights up, and our little living room is looking quite cheerful. Enjoying Christmas decorations is one of my favorite things about the Christmas season, and it was so much fun to decorate everything with the girls.

Also, while Karen was here, Maritza made us arepas (Carlos' specialty), a very traditional Venezuelan food that is yummy yummy yummy! (And oh, so filling). It was a fun and special night, even without Carlos there. Carlos' 28-year-old brother passed away in Venezuela at the beginning of November, so he went and spent 2 1/2 weeks there with his family. He has returned, and we are all glad to have him back, especially Maritza. He used the opportunity to try to talk to his family about Christ, and God is working in their hearts. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Carlos in this time. It's been difficult for him and his family. Carlos also brought back many different Venezuelan treats that Maritza is giving myself and Laura a little bit of every day so we can try some different things. She spoils us :)

Arepas with Maritza, Laura, and Karen! Yum :)

Well, I think that's all for now. We're just wrapping up the school trimester, trying to help all the students get their work done before Christmas break. We have a few more intense weeks, then it's off to Sweet Home Alabama for me for a while! 

Also, thank you to Karen Hill for the photos. These are all hers that I stole off of Facebook :)

A Fantastic Visit

Well, the visit from all my loving support from the States was wonderful. We had a lot of fun just hanging out, and everyone was a great help in the school and around the property. Everyone helped in Learning Center for several days, and several of the men (and Ann!) helped to lay down pavers to continue paving the entrance to the school. That's been a blessing for us here at the Hacienda, as we don't have to walk through the mud in the worst part anymore :)

We were also able to spend a little bit of time in Otavalo and other surrounding towns one day, as well as have a fun evening in Quito on their last night, complete with a nice meal across the street from our hotel room. My grandmother generously paid for myself and Laura to stay in our very nice hotel another night after my group had left. We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend and were able to catch up on some sleep. Thank you again, Nana!

Throughout their stay here, my family/friends were able to love on all the kids, and the kids were able to love on them in return. Art could not go anywhere without several kids hanging all over him. The young ones were especially fascinated by his head :) The students also all greatly enjoyed the chapel that they organized.

We've had some wonderful answers to prayers! We did not have to go a single day missing the three professors we lost! We were able to find and hire four new teachers that started the following school day after the others left. What a blessing! Things are beginning to stabilize in the daily routine of the school as the students settle in and we have more sufficient personnel.  These students have just captured my heart. It's wonderful getting to spend my days with them.

Another answered prayer is the stabilized political situation in the country. After that chaotic day of unrest in Quito, things immediately stabilized and returned to normal, and we've not heard of any problems since then. Praise God!

Last, and certainly not least, is that we had three people join the body of believers two weeks ago! Ms. Elena, who takes care of Justin and Amanda's children during the day, along with her two precious sons, Holger and Juver, was baptized with great celebration. All glory go to God!

We're going to begin putting out a newsletter every month for all those in the States who want to know what is going on. Amanda made and sent out the one for this month, and did a fabulous job! I'm having trouble uploading it here, but let me know if you would like me to email you a copy!

Thank you for the continued prayers and loving support! Blessings!

Wow, What a Week

Well, this has been quite an eventful week, and I have some prayer requests to go along with all of my news. First, the good (but a little sad) news: we have a new girl living with us! Her name is Magaly, is 8 years old, and is precious. We got her on Sunday, and that was a little bit of an emotional experience for me. She has a mother and siblings, but her widowed mother has more children than she is able to provide for and can't afford to put any of them in school. When Jerry and Hugo went to pick her up on Sunday, they brought her whole family with them so that they could see where she is going to live and meet the girls that she is going to live with. It was hard meeting her mother and siblings, knowing that they were going to have to leave her here and part from her. I can't imagine having to do that. So far Magaly has been doing really well, and I hope it continues that way. I can't imagine how overwhelmed she must feel with being in a new place and being put into school for the first time. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

The other big news is (as I'm sure many of you have already heard) that there has been a police riot against the President in Quito, the capital of Ecuador today. Everything in Quito is shut down, and there are even roads in Ecuador that are blocked off. I have a group coming to visit that lands this Sunday in Quito, and so they are now watching to see if it will be possible/safe for them to come. Please be in prayer about this whole situation. As of tonight, I've heard that things have calmed down, but I have no details at all. Please be in prayer about all this.

To add to the chaos at school today with the news of the police riots, we also had to say goodbye to three of our fantastic teachers at the school who have gotten good government teaching jobs. It was very sad, and we had many sobbing young girls (didn't really see any boys crying :P) who are going to miss their teachers terribly. This also puts the school in a tight spot as we are now five teachers short, and certified teachers are very difficult to come by right now with all the jobs that the government is offering. This makes functioning on a day to day basis very stressful for everyone. Please be in prayer that God provides the teachers and support that we need. We need individuals who will not only be good teachers, but who can be good Christian role models to these children and be involved in their lives. Not only do we need more teachers and support, we especially need certified teachers so that we can finish the process of legalizing the high school so that the oldest students can graduate in a couple of years. The Lord will provide somehow. Be in prayer for this school with its mission, aim, and heart.

To leave with a good thought: tonight at our women's Bible study, we sang one of my favorite songs, "Ancient Words." I absolutely love the words to this song...

Ancients words, ever true
Changing me, changing you
We have come with open hearts
So let the ancient words impart

Ecuadorian Civic Day at School

Yesterday all schools across Ecuador had a national civic day to honor the top students of the 7th grade. At Hacienda of Hope Christian Academy, we had a ceremony to honor those students. I took the opportunity to take some photos of some of my students :) Unfortunately, I didn't get any good photos of the oldest students, who I spend most of my time with. But please enjoy those I did get!

9th and 10th grade girls marching in... 

The oldest students marching... 

8th grade boys 

The top students from last year carry in the flag 

7th grade girls 

7th grade boys 

Maritza presents the top students 

Jordan, Christian, and Salma 

The 7th graders hold the flags 

Ingrid, the top student, making a presentation 

 Orlando, Carlos, and Nicole

Ms. Fabi (house mother for the boys), Laura, Maritza (secretary and replacement house mother), and me! :) 

Pamela, Hugo's daughter. So pretty! 

Christian. How handsome is he?!

A Busy But Good Couple of Weeks

I've been quite busy the past couple of weeks, but it's been good too. After a week of orientation, we started classes last week. I've so enjoyed getting to know all of the students and spending time with them. I'm the head supervisor for two Learning Centers (rooms where the students have their own "offices," or desks, to do their work): the 6th-7th graders and the 10th-11th graders. I have no doubt that MY students are the best in the whole school :) I have had so much fun with them, and enjoy working in a one-on-one environment, similar to a tutor.

In addition to helping students in Learning Center, I am also teaching a few traditional English classes for the oldest students, the 8th-11th graders. Right now, I'm focusing on conversational English and will soon dive into more serious grammar. The nerd in me is really excited about that, because I always loved grammar :)

This past weekend was Laura's and my weekend off, and we did some traveling. Friday night we went into Cayambe and had some fantastic pizza (no rice the whole weekeend!). Saturday we traveled to Otavalo, the pretty market town, and wandered around there some. I bought a cute butterfly keychain for my room key and...a guitar! It's a beautiful and unique orange wood, with a pretty design around the hole. All of the guitars here have vinyl strings for the top three strings, which I just don't like as much, so I bought some steel strings and restrung it myself. It's so nice to have a guitar again and be able to play. I've been practicing a little bit every night before I go to bed. I've sung to the girls some too. They love to sing, and are always asking me to sing for/with them.

I have a group of visitors coming in a week and a half! (Carrying so many things for people down here, haha) My parents, grandmother, Art Leslie, and Steve and Ann Clark are going to be staying at Camp Bellvue and will be able to see all that is going on here and hopefully travel around some. It will be so good to see them.

Now I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep! I have to get up at 5 am every day. Not fun at all, but I'm getting used to it. A good night to all!

A Relaxing Weekend

First, (for those who do not have Facebook), I wanted to share some photos that I've taken of the kids. These were all taken last Friday, when the kids were playing outside in the afternoon and then helping make pizza for dinner. It was a beautiful day, and a happy time.

Esteban (Maritza's son), Maria, and Caty jumping rope

Dayana...how precious is she?

Carmen...the baby :)

Esteban swinging the rope while Fabian jumps. Fabian is almost never without that huge smile.

Maria...beautiful girl (and that's Dayana in the background)

Go, Caty, go!

Jorge cutting vegetables while Cynthia, Caty, Carlos, Maritza, and Christian work on the pizza!

All 16 kids sitting down for dinner. It was a fun night!

This week has been busy as we've finished up our teacher training. We didn't spend as much time on English this week (just a little bit every day) because there is so much more that needs to be done before school starts on Monday. Construction on the school is wrapping up, and now it's a matter of getting everything cleaned, organized, and ready for the students! Next week is only half days, doing orientation and giving aptitude tests for all the new students.

As part of teacher training, we had worksheet packets to do in Spanish, and had to take tests over them, and I survived and did well! I learned a lot, and although I didn't get much sleep this week because of it, I am thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow. 

We also received our schedules for school this week, and in addition to helping the kids in the Learning Centers with their English, I am also teaching traditional English classes with the 8th-11th graders, and I am looking forward to that. I hope to have some fun and doing a variety of things with literature, grammar, and pronunciation. I have considered certifying in English as a Second Language and working with Spanish-speaking students in the states, and this will give me an excellent opportunity to see how I like it and gain that experience. 

Laura and I have this weekend off, and we wanted to take the time to rest before school starts, so we are crashing at Jerry and Pat's house :) When we came over last night, all four of us got into our pajamas, and then Laura and I made yummy fajitas for dinner. We all curled up in the living room next to a roaring fire, and ate while watching the second Anne of Green Gables movie. (We watched the first over the past two weeks for teacher training, and were really in the mood for it :)) Late last night, we also made fabulous gooey brownies. It was an excellent, relaxing, fun night. Today we slept in late, and are taking the day to relax and read. We will be refreshed and ready to go for next week! 

"And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!'" Mark 15:39  I enjoyed finishing up our study of Mark this week!

We Survived Our First Weekend With the Girls :)

What a first week! For myself and Laura, these first couple of weeks before school starts are probably going to be the craziest we have all year. We are planning English classes for teacher training, as well as doing part of the teacher training ourselves in Spanish. I have joined in on a project that Laura was working on before I got here, redoing all of the score keys and making them more durable for the school year. We have had a lot of planning and homework so far, but it has been good too!

Throughout our year here at the Hacienda, Laura and I are going to alternate having weekends off with the girls' houseparents, Fabricio and Estela. We started that this past weekend, and so Fabricio and Estela went to Quito and we had the girls the whole weekend. It was a very good weekend and we had a lot of fun. Friday night we had all the boys and the replacement houseparents, Carlos and Maritza, come over and we all made pizza together. Saturday morning, we took 11 of the kids with Jerry and Pat to Otavalo, the market town, to get new house shoes for the kids for school. After finding what we needed, we stopped at a park, made sandwiches for lunch, and played on the playground there for a while (and yes, Laura and I played and climbed too :)). Saturday night we took all the kids up to the school and played volleyball and soccer for a few hours. It was so much fun! I have a few bruises on my arms from the volleyball, but I think we came out injury-free otherwise.

This week is more teacher training, although we are cutting down a little bit on the English part of it, because we still have so much to do before the school year starts. We finish up all of our workbooks for teacher training (which I have had to do in Spanish...eeek!) tomorrow and then will concentrate on getting everything physically ready for the first day of school next Monday.

As part of our English training, we have been reading and having a Bible study over Mark every morning. I have really enjoyed this time with the teachers and studying God's word with them. As I am reading Mark, I am seeing a lot of things that I have not noticed before, and am enjoying that very much. The power of Christ just shines through in this book, and it is very convicting as well. Praise God.

Now, off to do more studying in Spanish! I am using this opportunity to learn and improve my Spanish, so that I can form even better relationships with all of the wonderful people surrounding me here. I am praying that God blesses my studies and uses this time to form me, humble me, and help me in reaching out to others.

I love all of you. Thank you for your continued prayer, support, and love that has been showered over me. "By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life." Psalm 42:8

At the Hacienda!

Well, I made it safe and sound, with no flight problems at all, and with all of my luggage! My flight landed at 10:00 last night, so I got to the Hacienda at about midnight. I stayed the night at Jerry and Pat's house, then woke up this morning, toured the school, and wandered around the property a little. Pat brought me up here to my room in the girls' house, so I have just been getting settled, unpacking, and talking with the girls. It's so cloudy that I haven't gotten to see Mount Cayambe yet, but will have a fantastic view of it when it does clear!

So far, the only problem has been altitude sickness, which I expected. I am praying that I get over this quickly so that I won't be affected while trying to do everything I want and need to do. At the point that I was feeling particularly awful this afternoon, the girls came home and I suddenly had four girls hanging all over me, which made everything a little better :)

Tonight we are having a big party for Leonela's quinceanera (15th birthday party). She picked out a beautiful dress to wear, and is very excited! There will be about 60-70 people in attendance. Right now, Leo is having her hair fixed and is getting ready.

I hope to have more news soon and some photos of things going on here! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

On My Way!

Hello all,

I am currently sitting in the Atlanta airport, on my way down to Quito! I had several wonderful people come to see me off at the Huntsville airport, and some even brought goodies :) Packing for a year was much less of a headache than I anticipated, and I was able to fit in more than I expected in the space I was allowed. I will land in Quito at 10:00 tonight, and be at the Hacienda very late. Jerry told me a couple of days ago that the girls were busy getting ready for me to come! I am excited about the fun and busy weekend ahead of me.

I appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers for me and my travels. Please pray that God humbles and uses me this year to accomplish His will and bless these children. Praise be to God!

Getting Ready!

So, at the request of my grandmother (love it!), and for all of my friends and family who have requested to stay updated, I am going to keep a blog during my time in Ecuador. Currently, I am in the process of packing and getting everything together to leave on Friday. I am getting excited about this year!

For those who do not know, I am going to spend a year down at the Hacienda of Hope (children's home) in Tabacundo, Ecuador. My primary role will be teaching English in the bilingual school on the property, but I will also be living with our girls at the Hacienda and helping the house parents before and after school.

I am excited about what God is going to do this year, and appreciate all of the prayers, love, and encouragement that I have received from my friends and church family. I love all of you very much, and your support means the world to me. My prayer for this year is that God be glorified in every situation. Remember 1 Corinthians 2:1-5--"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." Praise God!