He smiled for the first time

Sunday all four of us got to spend some time with Omar and Vicki in San Jose. We sang songs and got to share some cookies with them. I had seen them on Thursday when I stopped by with a fellow worker who was visiting Tenancingo. That day we had fed them some sweet rolls and water and as we were interacting a bit more with them their mother Cristina arrived. We talked with her some and repeated our offer of assistance. I specifically said I could come with my guitar, play and spend a little bit of time with them. She said it would be fine for us to come and they would be there on Saturday or Sunday.

After church we headed home, changed, picked up the guitar and headed to San Jose. Cristina and her daughter Zuleima (11) were not there, but Omar and Vicki were in the outside area. Once we realized the lock was in place and we wouldn´t be able to go inside to be with them, I brought out the guitar and just started playing from outside. Vicki smiled. I told her to give me her hand through the upper area of the gate and to reach out and strum, which she did. Then Omar´s face lit up with this huge smile. I have never seen him smile before. We sang a few kids songs and I tried unsuccessfully to get him to strum. When I insited he walked towards Vicki and grabbed her hand as if saying "you do it!"   I then said some words of encouragement to Vicki and asked her whether she was sad, to which she replied "who told you?" I told her I could perceive it, but that God loves her.

The next highlight was when their younger sister Z. (who is 11 and just entered sixth grade) arrived. We hadn´t seen her in a few years and she is much taller than the cute nine year old we had seen back in the fall of 2009. We gave her a box of 20 plus small milk cartons and a few cookies. Cristina often sends Z to help tend to Omar and Vicki, so it was good to reconnect with her. Since she opened the big gate, I walked to the threshhold and played a bit more on the guitar. This time Vicki came over and strummed vigorously as I changed chords and we did a song. Then I played a little and she and Omar held hands as if in a simple dance.

It was a brief and limited interaction, but seems to be a new and encouraging beginning. Z even said her mom and her had wanted to invite us to her first communion celebration later this month. We are so thrilled by these breakthroughs and new opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus. May He continue giving us wisdom as we share His love.

Ecuador?

Between July 11 and 20th, Matthew joined a team of 22 others from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, near Atlanta for a weeklong trip to Ecuador. There, we joined missionaries Steve and Carol Thompson and their team at Camp Chacauco where we were able to help in three main areas. First, a medical team of nurses and prescription drug helpers spent time in a town called Montalvo, helping diagnose and assist with basic and common ailments as well as sharing about God's love for the people. The rest of us were involved in a three-day Bible school right on site at the Montalvo church for around 70 kids on the largest day. Finally, in the afternoons and all day Thursday we helped in construction back at the camp with building some roofs on a new building for housing the camp staff (which currently stays in dorms).
A few highlights:

• Being one of very few fluent Spanish speakers, I played guitar, taught verse and lesson for VBS all three days. I also got to interact in a small group format with the kids as they rotated from games to crafts and application time.

• On Wednesday, 7/16, played guitar and preached at a weekly service in a tiny village 8400 ft high. The full group was 50 or 60, but the locals were about 15 to 20. Got to sing songs from my childhood and have folks sing along



• Met a believer who owned a shop next to the equator and asked me to pray for her family right then and there in the store. The HCJB radio program she was listening to was an instant giveaway. She was thankful that I was able to pray for her husband who has only recently begun attending the Evangelical Church in the "Middle of the World" (what they call the equator, since the actual word for equator is the same as the counry's name).

• Went to a university function to support the daughter of one of the pastors as a foreign contact who might be interested in supporting a business idea she and a team created as a project. I discovered that I'm actually a british investor seeking to assist in the exportation of Ecuadorian fruit to the UK (and USA).

• Daily view of an active, ash-spewing volcano called Tungurahua and occasional glimpses of how it has impacted, climate, culture, topography and even religion in this area.

• Learning to use a nail gun w/ the two-by-fours and sundry pieces of wood.Seeing 50 ecuadorian youth divided up into four teams have a talent night with skits, songs and special numbers.

• Getting to wear a patch on my right eye for 24 hours due to a few pieces of sawdust getting stuck behind my eyelid. I noticed it when they came in but it was one of those things you figure they'll come out on their own. The second morning after, my eye was swollen and red and it was decided a doctor should review it. He flushed it out with saline and I felt immediate relief. However, he wanted to make sure all inflamation was gone and eye was fully healed, so I got a shot on my behind and a patch on my eye.

• Having opportunities to share about God's goodness and plan for each life with a number of people in my travel back to Chicago: on the plane from Quito to Atlanta, on Atlanta's railway (MARTA)...

Now it is off to Mexico. Stay tuned!