tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23199827069380960272023-11-16T03:22:42.458-08:00the Murray family in Ecuadormurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-42628557905066759002012-06-02T08:37:00.000-07:002019-04-02T21:02:00.330-07:00Here in Saraguro . . .Thank you so much for your prayers for our safe travel down here in Ecuador. Making the move to Saraguro last month was difficult, because we had expected to work at Camp Pallatanga all year; we both felt that we had unfinished work there. But our mission organization felt that the move was best, and as we prayed about moving to Saraguro, we felt that God had great things in store for us to do; we felt assured that if we were there at the right time, to encourage or help the right person or people, according to God's plan, then the move would be well worth it. So here we are in southern Ecuador and we feel so blessed to be living in Saraguro. We are way up high in the Andes, at 8500ft. This morning we have our wool sweaters on, as it is about 11degrees inside and out, and raining, but not inside (yeah, no leaks!). The house that we're living in is a lovely two story home that was built for our current field director and his family, when they worked here in Saraguro 20 years ago.
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looking down onto Saraguro
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way up in the Andes!
In the three-ish weeks since we've moved to Saraguro, we've had lots of visitors! The five of us have settled in to two of the large bedrooms, so that we have room to host guests in the other bedroom. Our field driector and his wife were here this past weekend. They were travelling with another missionary who lived and worked here in the 80s. It is really neat to visit with them and hear stories of their work here in Saraguro. This week, we had Brian stay; he is a short-term missionary who had been working near Cuenca. Our children like having him visit, as he makes a big fuss of them and gets them all riled up.
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Our field director, Tom, and his wife, Susan, ready to leave Saraguro with a trailer full of supplies for a medical team. The house behind is where we are now living.
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The view of the town from our upstairs window.
The week prior, we had the privilege of hosting Dr Hall and his son, Steve, as well as visiting with Dr and Mrs Douce and their grandson, Joe. Steve took us hiking on trails he had hiked when he was 12. Dr Hall worked in Saraguro in the 60s, when Dr Douce was on furlough. Dr Douce has worked here in Saraguro for over 50 years. They had a very busy week here, visiting townspeople who refer to them as grandma and grandpa Douce. At mid 80 and 90 years of age, it was inspiring to accompany them on visits to people in Saraguro and surrounding villages. Their love and attention to the people here is amazing.
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Dr Douce and Dr Hall back in Saraguro where they spent years taking care of patients.
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Mrs Douce visiting and sharing with locals.
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Dr Douce fitting a local weaver with "new" glasses.
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I sure enjoyed the visits out and about in the surrounding communities!
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Hiking fun! We explore a waterfall and some caves at the end of this trail.
We have been very warmly received by the townspeople here, due to the amazing work of OMS missionaries in Saraguro since the 1950s. The house hadn't been lived in for a couple of years (just used now and again for an overnight), so once the townspeople sensed activity here, lots of people dropped in to see who the new missionaries were. Ethan joined the local soccer team the third day we were here; he eagerly anticipates the 3:30 practice each day. The girls have had friends come over after school each day to swing on the rope swings that they tied up into an open shed on the property. Our cat and dog love the porch overlooking the town and the fenced property around the house. So we are very comfortable here. Saraguro is a small town, with a classic central square built around a big, old Catholic church.
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We meet a lot of people through Ethan's soccer.
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Most of his soccer team, likes to come back to our house to play mini-stick-hockey on the front porch.
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The children are enjoying getting to play with other children!
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Our neighbours have been dropping by to see who is now living in the OMS house.
Don describes Saraguro like this: Our house here overlooks the town and we have a beautiful view of the Andes on three sides. Within a block, we have a small corner store (which sells essentials, including large bottles of potable water), the Duragas company (for purchasing the 50lb bottles of propane that power our gas stove and water heating system), the hardware store I use for all of my supplies, an OMS church, a health clinic, a dental office, and of course the ever important internet place (great for e-mail, though it doesn't have enough service to skype). You could feasibly live in this house and not need to walk more than a block to live indefinitely. Every Sunday there is a large farmer's market that also starts at the corner of our block. It is primarily indigenous people who live in the mountains bringing their produce into town to sell. We can buy all of the fruits and vegetables we can eat in a week there and it is extremely cheap and fresh. Of course, Spanish is a must have in Saraguro, so we get daily Spanish practice.
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Living amongst a lot of tradition. This neighbour asked us for some branches off of a tree in our yard. She'll boil up the branches and leaves for a foot-therapy soak.
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Many people in town wear traditional clothing.
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Lots of the houses here are brick or plaster on the front walls, then mud brick on the side walls. People here are still hand-spinning wool from their own sheep, and growing much of their own food.
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Don hauling propane tanks so we can cook and have hot water.
We've been enjoying the OMS church's services in Spanish. Its hard work keeping a keen ear and translating throughout the three-ish hour services. My Spanish is also being stretched as I attend a local womens' Bible Study.
In church this Sunday, the pastor had to keep raising the volume of his preaching. Sunday here is market day. Buses poured into town, using their air brakes to slow their way into town. Trucks lumber on the main street beside the church, loaded with green-plantain bananas, oranges, and potatoes. Cattle and sheep were herded past. Stray dogs, chickens, and families wandered by, some of each of which popped into the church for a bit of a visit mid-sermon. One big german-shepherd-ish dog, came and slept just near our feet for the second half of the sermon. In honour of the Catholic month of Corpus Cristi, firecrackers boomed at random, sometimes in clusters that lasted for seconds strung together. And all of the while, the pastor tried to raise his voice above the din, so we could hear the father's day sermon. Maybe that's why this week's morning sermon was only about a half-hour long.
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One of our two local OMS churches: Buen Pastor
If you get there 'on time' the church is pretty empty. Most people have arrived by mid-sermon (an hour later).
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Firecrackers have been going off night and day, all month.
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This OMS church is attached to the compound where we live in Saraguro. This church is called Amada De Dios.
Don's to-do list here in Sarguro is plentiful. The two local OMS churches run a rehab clinic and a radio station. Both have requests for Don's assistance with wiring issues and other maintenance projects. As well, this house has lots of character, and lots of maintenance needs. Don machete-ed through the side garden and added a brick path and some tiered planters alongside the house, and now the street-view of the place is much, much nicer. Today he is staining and painting the exterior, after having spent a few days sanding it down. In between projects, he fixes leaks, replacing non-working lights and switches, and fis iguring out how to keep the gas-water-heater working. So the house is enjoying his attention! The pets are a help with the house, too, the local rat population is no longer leaving evidence in the main level of the house each morning.
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The house has a cabin-feel with lots of character.
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Scout and Skittles are enjoying Saraguro.
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Machete-ing a spot for the laundry line that Don hung.
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Sanding the graffiti off of the garage door.
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The side-yard and the garage are the house's first impressions. Don is fixing them up . . .
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and it is looking great!
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Cleaning the attic skylights so we have lots of natural light coming into the upstairs of this lovely house.
Earlier this week, when I went to clean the bathroom. I swept behind the toilet and found new rat poo - sad. No wonder the cat was making so much noise the night before. He even knocked over a stool in the kitchen. I wonder if he was involved in a big rat chase? He is a big cat; walks like a well-built lion, likes to attack everything he sees, and is a really sappy in-want-of-love kind-of cat.
After sweeping, I picked up a soggy-haired barbie that had been played with in the shower. Its hair was crawling with maggots! Aaaaaack! Iiiiiiiick! Yuck! They nearly touched me!
So Don and I super cleaned and disinfected the bathroom floor to ceiling.
The morning after we thoroughly cleaned the bathroom, I woke up to new maggots squirming on the bathroom floor. More gag-filled cleaning . . . oooooh what I would have given for a wet/dry shop vac!
We weren't sure how the sticky critters were getting in; we checked all over the bathroom floor, and then the ceiling. THEN Don checked the space between the ceiling and the upstairs floor . . . there were two dead rats decaying up in that narrow dark space; maggots were breeding up there, then dropping through the seams of the bathroom ceiling.
Eeeeeeeewwwwwwwww.
Don has cleaned up the dead rats. Poor Don . . . ick, ick, ick!!!! So now we aren't expecting to encounter any new maggots. Good thing we all have slippers!
Now I'm off to homeschool our three children. They're working amongst the lines of laundry hanging to dry in the house; it is rather comical. They are progressing really well with their year's work, as well as their Spanish, and their concepts of how our lives are God's, and our purpose is to glorify Him in all that we do. We are learning lots too! Our work here is both humbling and an honour. This week our family is focusing on Philipians 4:8-9, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about these things.” This is how we have hope and peace. And we sure thank God for you and for your support! We pray for you daily.
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Blessings,
Amanda and crewmurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-41248986623811696252012-04-19T12:21:00.000-07:002012-04-19T12:21:56.948-07:00"Hola" from the Galapagos IslandsGod is so amazing. We are really learning to pray and trust Him in every little decision. So many things are not under our control here in Ecuador: like when a bus comes and goes, what will be needed at camp and when, etc. For example, a great big huge eucalypus tree's root ball became saturated in our Pallatanga rains and fell along the front of the camp's hall, so Don's construction plans for the day changed to chain-sawing plans. The challenge became an opportunity, as Don and Guido designed curved brick stairs for the area where the tree had been, and the new steps really compliment the camp's infrastructure and improve access to the main hall.<br />
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Now I am typing to you from under a pool-side umbrella, on Santa Cruz Island, in the Galapagos. We had planned to come to the Galapagos Islands in July, after completing our mission work and before heading home. But there weren't any camps booked for mid-April, and its the low-season here at the Galapagos, so we were able to arrange a really great tour of the islands. We pre-booked and pre-paid in Guayaquil, with a travel agent recommended by another OMS missionary. Now we get picked-up and dropped-off here and there without a care, except our sunscreen needs. Its an amazing experience!!!!<br />
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This morning, we were scheduled to change hotels, from one side of Puerto Ayora to the other. The children were concerned, because the hotel where we'd been staying had a little, clean pool. They asked if we could change back if we didn't like the new hotel. But everything is pre-booked and pre-paid. So we all prayed about it and decided to be thankful for the time we'd already had at our nice hotel. Now we're settled into our new accommodations: the pool is bigger, the internet access is stronger (I can blog!), and the rooms are cleaner: we just feel so very blessed! And we are learning so much through these kinds of experiences.<br />
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Today, Don is off scuba diving; we haven't been in 15 years. The children and I are having a “free day”, which is lovely as our tours have begun at 5:30 and 6am each day. We've been to four different islands in the last few days. The kids LOVED bodysurfing at the beach on Isabella Island. The ocean is warm, the beach sand is hot. The children have all learned to snorkel. We've snorkelled with lots of neat fish, SEA LIONS, PENGUINS, STING RAYS, an eel, and even a jellyfish (ouch - that one hurt, but we're all okay now). We just feel so absolutely in awe of the nature and geography we are learning about.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-L-xzn2jDB3vLqdZXBRgruy2aUZJZLq6QpzWBQiEf2x4H2ge3mObPK7kodj3xBf6BGoGUX5iTfFBzBwHiOViSfbC-AaLY0d_d5YnU9ui1kmm1bUAtdlET6ThO0kNiXMU2EFvdSHjq7SsO/s1600/DSC07942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-L-xzn2jDB3vLqdZXBRgruy2aUZJZLq6QpzWBQiEf2x4H2ge3mObPK7kodj3xBf6BGoGUX5iTfFBzBwHiOViSfbC-AaLY0d_d5YnU9ui1kmm1bUAtdlET6ThO0kNiXMU2EFvdSHjq7SsO/s320/DSC07942.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiEoVew9U2d4tgK2r9d6Mm9YhrH2QpplUWg390Vqp8MPJTMp03Qku_ydHWP6_g50pjLuYyj_K3GCgnfNTl8yxsuIZrYI536BMYykWLEA4RiOOt-D0DgHRAKJp5UoLqvw2RnUXC5m2w9Ka/s1600/DSC08019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiEoVew9U2d4tgK2r9d6Mm9YhrH2QpplUWg390Vqp8MPJTMp03Qku_ydHWP6_g50pjLuYyj_K3GCgnfNTl8yxsuIZrYI536BMYykWLEA4RiOOt-D0DgHRAKJp5UoLqvw2RnUXC5m2w9Ka/s320/DSC08019.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Meanwhile, back at camp, Kim is heading to the US for a few weeks, with her youngest daughter. Guido and the two older girls are heading to Cuenca for awhile (where he grew-up). The camp's cook is staying at the camp with her family to look after things. Kim is scheduled to speak at a conference in the States, so please do pray for her. If you could pray for both of our families. We live close together, camp times are intense and we all get tired. So please ask for unity, grace, and perseverance for each one of us. We fly back to Guayaquil on April 24th, then we plan to take a bus back up to camp on the 26th.<br />
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Blessings to you! We are all really missing home, and this amazing holiday is definitely a distraction. We wish we could send you some of this heat. =)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjg6JFPHR56teBJ7JgEUdYm_h9GsD4mwkcItSXvyW-kkUFl5USdE6ZL0HlnqMvuGS-sLOxJlVZJjzUtLRAEiu_7vIUvSVn1TUeHDMCKUujVRJHHfG4YdPCTB2i6TuA_mMf4ZZup_-3cBt/s1600/DSC08054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjg6JFPHR56teBJ7JgEUdYm_h9GsD4mwkcItSXvyW-kkUFl5USdE6ZL0HlnqMvuGS-sLOxJlVZJjzUtLRAEiu_7vIUvSVn1TUeHDMCKUujVRJHHfG4YdPCTB2i6TuA_mMf4ZZup_-3cBt/s320/DSC08054.jpg" /></a></div>murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-43867711019826653112012-04-13T15:52:00.000-07:002012-04-13T15:52:25.082-07:00Happy Easter!We hope that spring is beginning to warm you up and draw you outdoors. As you may have heard on international news, the weather in Ecuador is still very wet. Landslides are very common on the highways, so Don has to keep a sharp lookout for them from winding-corner to winding-corner when he's driving here in the mountains. You can read about our last hair-raising driving story in the blog link "Wow That's Different". The coast is suffering in some areas from flooding; so much so that the government has delayed the start of school for almost two weeks. This affects the children in town, but not our home-schoolers here at camp. We understand that the roads here have really improved in the last few years, still we do find surprises each time we drive. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRb4fT4XE18bIFmyrA-RSMVV3yLnAOUxYb1_2NlWhtzTcr4Dkh-QO_3YivXM5sFBAkaOZEYGxthUJeHbvws5jvBlitnxcEoPQTYzZtyWAzl3UMjGBl0qI_VRtYpjNJfsxmmV57UbfeKDn/s1600/1+narrow+street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRb4fT4XE18bIFmyrA-RSMVV3yLnAOUxYb1_2NlWhtzTcr4Dkh-QO_3YivXM5sFBAkaOZEYGxthUJeHbvws5jvBlitnxcEoPQTYzZtyWAzl3UMjGBl0qI_VRtYpjNJfsxmmV57UbfeKDn/s320/1+narrow+street.jpg" /></a></div>Roads are narrow for lots of different reasons: buildings built against the roads,<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkP6pKkgfIu_o6vxdkvOvvQZPGoX4I0rT2Sv95i3Refb2jUQJDpIDZIxPELzeeG9cDHkPq1TDktnGjlYKZI3Le7bocTLQY95IKdpcQZJmJe14GvOzFgX1__jHyIA6O_hu_m-RIMitSz17e/s1600/1+pipe+in+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkP6pKkgfIu_o6vxdkvOvvQZPGoX4I0rT2Sv95i3Refb2jUQJDpIDZIxPELzeeG9cDHkPq1TDktnGjlYKZI3Le7bocTLQY95IKdpcQZJmJe14GvOzFgX1__jHyIA6O_hu_m-RIMitSz17e/s320/1+pipe+in+road.jpg" /></a></div>a pipe headed through the roads, <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUAeg7GZBd3UqLzbkaQO8QFvG516j9K5oLfESZevL2kOSoT3hrxvtToW3dyBTlFz9fTb55XmUX8GBog9kzFj2MSnKA3P1SW2z-1AUN0j_93lUR0hxQjdM80mC4my0EzoHfMdYy9NviS0n/s1600/1+single+lane+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUAeg7GZBd3UqLzbkaQO8QFvG516j9K5oLfESZevL2kOSoT3hrxvtToW3dyBTlFz9fTb55XmUX8GBog9kzFj2MSnKA3P1SW2z-1AUN0j_93lUR0hxQjdM80mC4my0EzoHfMdYy9NviS0n/s320/1+single+lane+bridge.jpg" /></a></div>or a single-lane bridge.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0-SKHP4sN-4R3v7VMAuoBWnDlK5vVw0xRqAX7PimgweF99WLWAKZPrMur19rZoUeug22WW5CqlVkVnoteiO0hhj4Rta1CL-EES1_DUb_9tsaFEwpqAllI_xZykXDk4eMOvZmO3mft8qX/s1600/1+truck+trouble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0-SKHP4sN-4R3v7VMAuoBWnDlK5vVw0xRqAX7PimgweF99WLWAKZPrMur19rZoUeug22WW5CqlVkVnoteiO0hhj4Rta1CL-EES1_DUb_9tsaFEwpqAllI_xZykXDk4eMOvZmO3mft8qX/s320/1+truck+trouble.jpg" /></a></div>The big ol' camp truck chugs along well most of the time.<br />
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March was a month full of camps. Lots of singing echoed off through the valley here, as most groups have worship services after meals. Campers make full use of the property and facilities, enjoying the cool mountain air here in Pallatanga. Here are some recent camp pictures: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBav_Gidhq8etAHIko0RjMNsZQOm7x2hBkEfJPpFMR2GnmsnR6wmsv1ZN1O-KHRCqRJXeeBgkik2dthPcPzhSs9SvlCD34TFNdI0527P5jtOET_S39k4tjyRotcD9yc2Jtv-5hU5yQ5la/s1600/2+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBav_Gidhq8etAHIko0RjMNsZQOm7x2hBkEfJPpFMR2GnmsnR6wmsv1ZN1O-KHRCqRJXeeBgkik2dthPcPzhSs9SvlCD34TFNdI0527P5jtOET_S39k4tjyRotcD9yc2Jtv-5hU5yQ5la/s320/2+.jpg" /></a></div>attentive camper listening to a sermon<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJd_nA1dFo3Zz7frXaMjpF38SPHHEl2RA5UtsW_SD3UqecagO85bkv0S1oHdpPUXTzNHMSH_w68xLsXsROYvo9UY531irkgSnSj-5c5B77jYa2r-ez1x_U1jDp-zda3X0OmFz7MkXgrsQ/s1600/2+cookin+pancakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJd_nA1dFo3Zz7frXaMjpF38SPHHEl2RA5UtsW_SD3UqecagO85bkv0S1oHdpPUXTzNHMSH_w68xLsXsROYvo9UY531irkgSnSj-5c5B77jYa2r-ez1x_U1jDp-zda3X0OmFz7MkXgrsQ/s320/2+cookin+pancakes.jpg" /></a></div>the Murray kids were excited to cook pancakes for the US Dynamic Women team!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSD6xKfAEsOxG0Av-FdgJhQu4oNB_kAdIwWTDES35jJiDu56SwlPMWwkHXZFrS3gq1tRtbcMPrUlX1yIb-fuClmWqUKHe-KJsnhHLUg7xEzlgAqxqUNzYWmbqThcvzDVGa6tLwWDELDaiq/s1600/2+D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSD6xKfAEsOxG0Av-FdgJhQu4oNB_kAdIwWTDES35jJiDu56SwlPMWwkHXZFrS3gq1tRtbcMPrUlX1yIb-fuClmWqUKHe-KJsnhHLUg7xEzlgAqxqUNzYWmbqThcvzDVGa6tLwWDELDaiq/s320/2+D.jpg" /></a></div>prayer and worship in the camp hall<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPKWNyrr7PmY9VQmEZPt0jf59PjTXtZIN-AFgICLqPNz53xYIk6vKD74isGVpMGv5yZ825TkuZW_psTMfD7oxWtbSG3YC8_vxO3xLITufjhfZL1xe3a34THTUY-M8XfUxh-2eKsvomDbx/s1600/2+cooking+pancakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPKWNyrr7PmY9VQmEZPt0jf59PjTXtZIN-AFgICLqPNz53xYIk6vKD74isGVpMGv5yZ825TkuZW_psTMfD7oxWtbSG3YC8_vxO3xLITufjhfZL1xe3a34THTUY-M8XfUxh-2eKsvomDbx/s320/2+cooking+pancakes.jpg" /></a></div>more pancake making on the BIG stove<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBocRkswKWtwBUGU36BV7bkWWs4-tfKkJbrcN7miaBQqGElHqthb9QIZ1kEqrmmltLDPKsXb2qj3U7ncCUeGU3wb1Q0cmS6IRtkkoede9GqWURPPUBVxibPpXSn9FlaS2pti8iyFo2Ca3/s1600/2+DSC06815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBocRkswKWtwBUGU36BV7bkWWs4-tfKkJbrcN7miaBQqGElHqthb9QIZ1kEqrmmltLDPKsXb2qj3U7ncCUeGU3wb1Q0cmS6IRtkkoede9GqWURPPUBVxibPpXSn9FlaS2pti8iyFo2Ca3/s320/2+DSC06815.jpg" /></a></div>children's camp worship time<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Y9QlbBgcXCUtBTuqmmuPit8iNubg2GIWNORNbFKDl_enlCzcHSA2E7upsVjgFt96xoEQwYQfiQ_sv7SEtAwEBH6hB5R3w9Hulz1JvAMSox9OFEMUxQC8y_kGH1pcjQbZUSc7qT5GrB9a/s1600/2+DSC06988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Y9QlbBgcXCUtBTuqmmuPit8iNubg2GIWNORNbFKDl_enlCzcHSA2E7upsVjgFt96xoEQwYQfiQ_sv7SEtAwEBH6hB5R3w9Hulz1JvAMSox9OFEMUxQC8y_kGH1pcjQbZUSc7qT5GrB9a/s320/2+DSC06988.jpg" /></a></div>praying and listening to messages<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04DkTJTsgLe-MgDUdtolZ3TY9pamsBLa9V5VQsdFJ68DQS1qnz_PabV5Wbu5L54FilhJEcHsmxnNLda2svyshGljXbPhDzfnmH1dXYsrhxy3IO1kkyNwjVaICgluOQ8HYsxwf8YZ4RHgs/s1600/2+DSC07017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04DkTJTsgLe-MgDUdtolZ3TY9pamsBLa9V5VQsdFJ68DQS1qnz_PabV5Wbu5L54FilhJEcHsmxnNLda2svyshGljXbPhDzfnmH1dXYsrhxy3IO1kkyNwjVaICgluOQ8HYsxwf8YZ4RHgs/s320/2+DSC07017.jpg" /></a></div>Quilting camp "stitching stories of our lives, together"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQQu15ckOL8rs9f1tIRWXMmHRpzALl8NFxF40doBToT6-5PaOtAl812nkUSfBQhhl0icDf5XRV1xVPgbFsJTKdN2VkDKo-EKBrudsPxTFpQ8a3qkxserR7y0uL_Pr-PL1DsLQ5AOi4YDE/s1600/2+quilting+camp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQQu15ckOL8rs9f1tIRWXMmHRpzALl8NFxF40doBToT6-5PaOtAl812nkUSfBQhhl0icDf5XRV1xVPgbFsJTKdN2VkDKo-EKBrudsPxTFpQ8a3qkxserR7y0uL_Pr-PL1DsLQ5AOi4YDE/s320/2+quilting+camp.jpg" /></a></div>the camp gym is converted to a quilting bee spot: busy quilters working hard on hand-stitching blankets (note the mural behind - Don designed it and Amanda painted it!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hwQDWDpAaGtpvz1ri3cq3s39slUkSpW-Ghlx8UXam_Ne0ij-T68XymG2l5pEkAupSOz281lkOD8RKcCVXqM2mFArsGNeARRB-CfEN2suVOg7y2MtrpyStb5sNj9kOH9UauF3zb9MwnOo/s1600/2+quilting+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hwQDWDpAaGtpvz1ri3cq3s39slUkSpW-Ghlx8UXam_Ne0ij-T68XymG2l5pEkAupSOz281lkOD8RKcCVXqM2mFArsGNeARRB-CfEN2suVOg7y2MtrpyStb5sNj9kOH9UauF3zb9MwnOo/s320/2+quilting+kids.jpg" /></a></div>Quilting joy!<br />
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There are so many little challenges in our work here, that I would like to share with you, and make you laugh. Like the laugh we had after we left St Albert and we come all the way to the mission field in Ecuador, to find ourselves with an ensuite-bathroom for our first time ever. Only to discover that the plumbing continually backed-up (and is entirely concreted in: toilet base, shower drain-cover, and all), and the window in there is only screen, so from the bedroom we hear everything happening in the next building: the camp kitchen, the dining hall, and meeting rooms. Within a few months, we'd give up that ensuite bedroom to our son, as he had trouble breathing at night in the bedroom at the other end of the house (likely due to bat feces in the ceiling). So many little things are done differently here.<br />
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There have been other bigger challenges throughout our very busy March, challenges that I'd likely cry telling you about. I've been hosting all kinds of stomach and intestinal things, so I've had all kinds of medication this past month, including a surprise IV, right there and then, in our local town lab. Ethan has been fighting tummy bugs too, as well as a throat infection. Lauren, Katelyn, and Don are healthy! Hooray!!!! After working endless hours in the new house, tracing concreted-in wires that have been installed over the past few years, Don was nearly finished the house' electrical; when one of the workers, digging a trench, outside in the rain, leaned up against the new house, and discovered that he served as a good ground, exposing an electrical leak (only 40 volts) that was literally charging the house, via the rebar cemented into the walls. Don handled the news well, laughing and suggesting it provided a good snake/rat deterent; then he worked to find the source of the problem and fixed it. Prior to us arriving in Ecuador in November, we were told that the house would be ready for us to move into shortly after we arrived. But while many parts of the construction are coming along well, the house still does not have exterior doors; so we're still a ways from moving in (though birds and bats enjoy it as shelter). We've been living out of suitcases for eight months now. These kinds of challenges make us realize that we're working according to God's schedule; we are learning a lot about ourselves and Him as we pray through these challenges. We do need prayer for camp unity, for servant's hearts, and grace-filled loving spirits. We are so thankful for your prayers and support.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03oqC_nYinPa1q8r-FZdp_TPKIFQ69DBwz57D2yWUTpRDsBZqjsRLxhMgTp3D63co7BfbBlQXqRr0K9Y3yT461p8Wd__o7vpmZDbCn1W4Ubpq76Yt-KtHnLllFbde9Q-zJDVmY_Px897b/s1600/4+getting+IV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03oqC_nYinPa1q8r-FZdp_TPKIFQ69DBwz57D2yWUTpRDsBZqjsRLxhMgTp3D63co7BfbBlQXqRr0K9Y3yT461p8Wd__o7vpmZDbCn1W4Ubpq76Yt-KtHnLllFbde9Q-zJDVmY_Px897b/s320/4+getting+IV.jpg" /></a></div>Scary getting gan Iv in the local lab<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHgqb69XfpH_KgL2RP69wDM70y9G3ybC9VI7dul5gxLIvBTRPw9jxfi5R9B2dsw_IwF3maYTg2hu2mN-LcZYIZe_S_xBJY0tyIws7IT9ZlBHzE01JTShK0sAggMonV0W8IHYfovSWvxjo5/s1600/4+lab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHgqb69XfpH_KgL2RP69wDM70y9G3ybC9VI7dul5gxLIvBTRPw9jxfi5R9B2dsw_IwF3maYTg2hu2mN-LcZYIZe_S_xBJY0tyIws7IT9ZlBHzE01JTShK0sAggMonV0W8IHYfovSWvxjo5/s320/4+lab.jpg" /></a></div>the waiting room conditions don't engender much trust<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKLE5gkRHuDXYEiU6XMHL2iC_rcSKQRiOQLqL51UBurbTo9eFETa-RfidGC3fLhYYd-ydipuUifzwO92Ra9xkEUFwvDGdDBqtV8Zew8ZTG7a9YxoIPV7rVlSnUr3WIfhB5_rQnl42CeHu/s1600/4+new+house+trench.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKLE5gkRHuDXYEiU6XMHL2iC_rcSKQRiOQLqL51UBurbTo9eFETa-RfidGC3fLhYYd-ydipuUifzwO92Ra9xkEUFwvDGdDBqtV8Zew8ZTG7a9YxoIPV7rVlSnUr3WIfhB5_rQnl42CeHu/s320/4+new+house+trench.jpg" /></a></div>the new house has septic and water now!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpM7B_pQVHKl3YCnJgfo_yvDN_ravfdsTtTovSpEv54gZNKO2dpBOCl6kemKGrJzXSYMB6t5meR1A9c3aO2KBiV6G0aCBC2xj8ht_KRTTujDCNApw-mz3gBOB_wZrQkr-CSGZRB2ZsnX9/s1600/4+our+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpM7B_pQVHKl3YCnJgfo_yvDN_ravfdsTtTovSpEv54gZNKO2dpBOCl6kemKGrJzXSYMB6t5meR1A9c3aO2KBiV6G0aCBC2xj8ht_KRTTujDCNApw-mz3gBOB_wZrQkr-CSGZRB2ZsnX9/s320/4+our+house.jpg" /></a></div>our current little house boasts a colourful jungle garden<br />
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We do have so very much to be thankful for, here in Ecuador! Recently we visited friends in Shell, a jungle jump-off town made famous by Nate Saint's mission and martyrdom (Have you read the books “Through the Gates of Splendour” or “The End of the Spear”). We joined our friends at an orphanage in Shell where they work each week. Shell has a mission school, a mission hanger, and a mission hospital, so we were able to connect with lots of other missionaries and encourage one another. Meanwhile, Don was off at an One Mission Society men's retreat in the jungle. He travelled down the Napo river in a small boat and hiked in the Amazon with six other missionary men. On our way back from the jungle, we sat under the night sky and soaked in some hotsprings heated by volcano Tungurahua.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv35VNg32H2oelzUU4yT9mPS7zaz_PE8XtGfL3EKdV0p1JDkllgBqfh0UzoXzyX64EIl2SkyaDjPtUfgsTVSJ0MTGZm9H008V7H8WX8Em-Up2vxB4ZL1MTZN-mUoGLVHbLtLbXS7w7j_pV/s1600/5+Nate+Saint+park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv35VNg32H2oelzUU4yT9mPS7zaz_PE8XtGfL3EKdV0p1JDkllgBqfh0UzoXzyX64EIl2SkyaDjPtUfgsTVSJ0MTGZm9H008V7H8WX8Em-Up2vxB4ZL1MTZN-mUoGLVHbLtLbXS7w7j_pV/s320/5+Nate+Saint+park.jpg" /></a></div>Nate Saint memorial park<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWErpqwPRHRu2GxQlyaV9VvXaAvHn_9xV-ch4GxBZeBMTDl2DLMXfAuhVqt1L1MSHqgyBhJZ1rM1YR-Dw2tlPrphvEOpSILxBU5iflLUQldb4LYd5QL8B8CmlIIH0Y7Ub0VvDcvB-KY5wV/s1600/DSC07379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWErpqwPRHRu2GxQlyaV9VvXaAvHn_9xV-ch4GxBZeBMTDl2DLMXfAuhVqt1L1MSHqgyBhJZ1rM1YR-Dw2tlPrphvEOpSILxBU5iflLUQldb4LYd5QL8B8CmlIIH0Y7Ub0VvDcvB-KY5wV/s320/DSC07379.jpg" /></a></div>Banos hotpools<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcf65sgxRwv_8GJ2sO6r5qtmkyjsIdlyy94LvJXk6uDW2LfP-CMW78FxeLwA8yyRKaUwxcZIm7B2HrCbRUBk2-B4Zy_5f2hP-3j2r17PJ5B0QVdJ12UaEEtt2ntpPBQMhVkAGEL1bnlC3W/s1600/DSC07383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcf65sgxRwv_8GJ2sO6r5qtmkyjsIdlyy94LvJXk6uDW2LfP-CMW78FxeLwA8yyRKaUwxcZIm7B2HrCbRUBk2-B4Zy_5f2hP-3j2r17PJ5B0QVdJ12UaEEtt2ntpPBQMhVkAGEL1bnlC3W/s320/DSC07383.jpg" /></a></div>varieties of pools and temperatures to soak in<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQsfk-HI2zVqx66-QHsD7O7JA5NdoIbnl9kkOq4J1YffiIAUUhAvVNmKdpBa63HpuIpq_1aaeK9DnNIg0lrmoa_TxjITAgizNHbQNHQEuKJK-_7JihyphenhyphenyIdJM3nuWqOJhhik_OPZJU2VPD/s1600/DSC08861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQsfk-HI2zVqx66-QHsD7O7JA5NdoIbnl9kkOq4J1YffiIAUUhAvVNmKdpBa63HpuIpq_1aaeK9DnNIg0lrmoa_TxjITAgizNHbQNHQEuKJK-_7JihyphenhyphenyIdJM3nuWqOJhhik_OPZJU2VPD/s320/DSC08861.jpg" /></a></div>Casa Fe orphanage<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEoPoFRLJ12IMA9xYHAR-g5Ea1kHfbPSnRAkRQFriYs6MrS60vDfpq95L6k9ndMDD6wi79fFikDVVcHbURA0A1LDW43tP5wmoZTOyZVFyzmPHkQlHSV82ym2KHMVr2uBjaB-7iEuYfQkfn/s1600/DSC08867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEoPoFRLJ12IMA9xYHAR-g5Ea1kHfbPSnRAkRQFriYs6MrS60vDfpq95L6k9ndMDD6wi79fFikDVVcHbURA0A1LDW43tP5wmoZTOyZVFyzmPHkQlHSV82ym2KHMVr2uBjaB-7iEuYfQkfn/s320/DSC08867.jpg" /></a></div>playing with the children<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DtfeZF2VheA5E3XJqUGX0XKsmuYQ_OJ5KXoK_mjGGf3BhfcIIcFPFEj1VGAdbQCHI6xoN4dYRd8OGWKfiKlXRALkO-bK9VyQnIL4mkOVZzfY7_Az4-DwIQj39kOBrkNXzonwC8eGfFup/s1600/DSC08874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DtfeZF2VheA5E3XJqUGX0XKsmuYQ_OJ5KXoK_mjGGf3BhfcIIcFPFEj1VGAdbQCHI6xoN4dYRd8OGWKfiKlXRALkO-bK9VyQnIL4mkOVZzfY7_Az4-DwIQj39kOBrkNXzonwC8eGfFup/s320/DSC08874.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2tkZC9k2opWoof6y2SDyOc_MDJ6LB6ssbvvaZTYr0rBBwMrrjRZfOQElqgc8aY9a33fvb0yHPhZkkgqtdN3Hxet1wuqK5YUuylSUuhDfTyX2nJ8qILJulBMQ3iODpB7W8Uw5QFwG77HF/s1600/DSC08876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2tkZC9k2opWoof6y2SDyOc_MDJ6LB6ssbvvaZTYr0rBBwMrrjRZfOQElqgc8aY9a33fvb0yHPhZkkgqtdN3Hxet1wuqK5YUuylSUuhDfTyX2nJ8qILJulBMQ3iODpB7W8Uw5QFwG77HF/s320/DSC08876.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMkbXp8GeXDiLwgDKRHrfxpMK6AL9nl5phO0HSryBuPs0iIo24PVwdTHO-q4i2VuYcGRBBWE1mNOBOD7lYqx2AQbAOhzBkkzaPiw86ix3jeJhyphenhyphenDh-OlnhusZZ_DswJ4HvYvIDw96Dh1-i/s1600/IMG_3706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMkbXp8GeXDiLwgDKRHrfxpMK6AL9nl5phO0HSryBuPs0iIo24PVwdTHO-q4i2VuYcGRBBWE1mNOBOD7lYqx2AQbAOhzBkkzaPiw86ix3jeJhyphenhyphenDh-OlnhusZZ_DswJ4HvYvIDw96Dh1-i/s320/IMG_3706.jpg" /></a></div>Napo river tour<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSDkpAz3TgkVmzsgwPrrkw8-a4pF5yhmpwyiMuJwB2zLvJ6CvjSAMAVOGDnf6MyT2RuMLpStRiz4CblBpp4ROL-T9YrQGmV2VZzEFEM6QugPYRSSS3vxKY9rtdmgZpINdbfUOcuFLpGV4/s1600/IMG_3836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSDkpAz3TgkVmzsgwPrrkw8-a4pF5yhmpwyiMuJwB2zLvJ6CvjSAMAVOGDnf6MyT2RuMLpStRiz4CblBpp4ROL-T9YrQGmV2VZzEFEM6QugPYRSSS3vxKY9rtdmgZpINdbfUOcuFLpGV4/s320/IMG_3836.jpg" /></a></div>OMS men's retreat jungle hike<br />
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The children's daily devotionals and home-school work are providing us lots of time for us to learn and play together. The kids love the space to run and climb here at camp. Their play is very creative. Until some friends visited Ecuador and gave the girls barbies for Christmas, the kids didn't actually have any toys along with them. We'd brought lots of homeschool resources, but we didn't want to bring toys, not knowing if our neighbours would have such things. SO, the children spend hours and hours outside. They especially love playing in the trees. At the moment, Ethan is out practicing with his Pallatanga soccer team. He provides us all with lots of opportunity to practice our spanish, through his games and interactions with his team-mates and their families. These conversations often begin with the question of why our family is living here; and they usually get into deep meaningful conversations that challenge the extent of our spanish vocabulary. This week, Ethan's coach asked us for a Bible. Kim and I are no longer home-schooling each other's children, so I've taken over teaching our kids spanish, which is fun but humbling. Today Don is tracing electrical lines that run down to the camp sign near the highway. All of the connections are left exposed, so often they get moisture trapped in them and they short-out. Meanwhile he is in the middle of building some new tables for the dining hall; the tables have managed to grow mould over the weekend, so we've got to scrub them up with disinfectant before putting on the polyurethane coats. There is always lots to do around camp!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiJ5Dtsn_nFIU7Xn54GPIFmLY0gxyEOjGZXvId1lSKFFh53wOUsPijBEmIRpZre7l-4pWRvaMFgSdUzOtZJ1IaX6bKrGDjp3rHkyrlmvsHNpaVtqd72yJPECH90Mb4QK0qrn0YIsHDPft/s1600/6+DSC07580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiJ5Dtsn_nFIU7Xn54GPIFmLY0gxyEOjGZXvId1lSKFFh53wOUsPijBEmIRpZre7l-4pWRvaMFgSdUzOtZJ1IaX6bKrGDjp3rHkyrlmvsHNpaVtqd72yJPECH90Mb4QK0qrn0YIsHDPft/s320/6+DSC07580.jpg" /></a></div>After a morning's four and a half hour soccer practice<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZq37jhWLmuWGbpQTncO1BWrOpjwKYenLAFDSBgDLCIeZJw-V4EaqEhlO1wsmNH1LbSE6bM_q7M37lpbc7ztPULZHkHcZU3AIvJsiv3PnlrN2x8J_n-7iVIMZ6yeEotOgVY1_KWuLDBOxU/s1600/6+DSC07586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZq37jhWLmuWGbpQTncO1BWrOpjwKYenLAFDSBgDLCIeZJw-V4EaqEhlO1wsmNH1LbSE6bM_q7M37lpbc7ztPULZHkHcZU3AIvJsiv3PnlrN2x8J_n-7iVIMZ6yeEotOgVY1_KWuLDBOxU/s320/6+DSC07586.jpg" /></a></div>Ethan's soccer coach<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWo6U0iHPmo1jUrqop65uHHxHwMZYyK_mzw7jLZUC724TvUie0OlI_kq4TACoAdjVT-2IZTf-ZjPGrw797rEyp2ckntL4WAdyr5haSkdfd5aFo0COLLZX0Pc6JO4RTvuKFS9INI2l5nfg/s1600/6+homeshool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWo6U0iHPmo1jUrqop65uHHxHwMZYyK_mzw7jLZUC724TvUie0OlI_kq4TACoAdjVT-2IZTf-ZjPGrw797rEyp2ckntL4WAdyr5haSkdfd5aFo0COLLZX0Pc6JO4RTvuKFS9INI2l5nfg/s320/6+homeshool.jpg" /></a></div>homeschooling in the kitchen<br />
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We are missing you. With three months left here in Ecuador, our thoughts are creeping homeward. We are all excited about being reunited with family and friends in Alberta, in July. Please pray for our families, for encouragement, and especially for health for Terry, Vin, and Dave back at home.<br />
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Blessings to you,<br />
Don, Amanda, Ethan, Lauren and Katelynmurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-77747425661094933152012-03-07T07:44:00.001-08:002019-04-02T21:04:05.614-07:00March is busy at camp!The neighbouring farmer has just brought me some very fresh milk: his cows use some of the camp property to graze, and trimmed ditches and a bucket of warm milk now and again is how he thanks us. As the milk boils on the stove top, I'm perched nearby in the kitchen with he laptop (that milk tries to boil over everytime . . . one minute its not bubbling, then the next it is bubbling over, so I am standing guard). Don is out mowing the grass, with Ethan helping out, and the girls are playing barbies in the living room. I'll get to post this when we head into the city to purchase camp groceries; for the moment, we're back in Pallatanga and life is good.<br />
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At the end of February, we escaped to Quito. There had been a camp booked for the weekend, and when we heard it was cancelled, we turned to Lauren and asked her where in Ecuador she wanted to go . . . it was going to be her birthday on the weekend (Feb 26th). The Orellana family were headed to Guayaquil, and Lauren chose Quito. We've been to Quito once before, to get Don's driver's license. The mission guest house there is really nice, AND Lauren loves to shop: she wanted to go to a mall for her birthday. So we stuffed one backpack full, cleaned the house and left all the bedding draped all over doors and furniture to get air, and try to prevent mould, then we waited in Pallatanga for an hour before we caught the first of three busses headed toward Quito. Seven hours and three buses later, we were celebrating Lauren's birthday weekend in the capital of Ecuador.<br />
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We all needed to get away from camp for a bit. When it is not raining, the air is still so moist that the cookie you leave out for an hour gets soggy on its plate. Even our sandals try to get a layer of black fuzzy mould on them from one wearing to the next.<br />
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The milk on the stove top is getting frothy . . . I'm keeping an eye on it . . .<br />
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The weekend before we bussed off to Quito, we'd had a really busy four day camp. It was “Carnival” weekend here in Ecuador, and the camp managers were unable to find enough staff to work the camp. The Carnival long weekend here, coincides with our Family Day long weekend in Alberta. Everyone here looks forward to froshing each other and celebrating Carnival; some of our regular camp staff were even involved in Carnival parades in town.<br />
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We wished we could be in town, experiencing carnival! We'd heard so much about it . . . about the inescapable water and foam battles that go on as you try to do your weekly market shop. We drove into Pallatanga for an hour on Sunday to get our fruit and veggies. We did all get soggy and foamy! We saw three parade floats go by, then we rushed back to help at camp again.<br />
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Prior to a camp arriving, life here is extra busy, doing maintenance, cleaning, organizing, and purchasing in preparation for new campers. Without adequate camp staff over the Carnival weekend, we were up early, in the camp kitchen, helping with breakfast. Throughout each day, the Orellana family and our family were the dish-washers after every meal, we were the potato-peelers for the lunch's soups and supper's main meal, we were the lemon-squishers making juice for ninety campers, and we were the bean huskers for supper's soup.<br />
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It was wonderful to hear the youth-group singing worship songs late into the night. It was fun to see their camp activities throughout the long weekend, racing the carts down the hill, playing basketball in the gym, and having waterballoon fights outside. It was good to be part of such a wonderful weekend! But it was also discouraging, to not know from one day to the next, who would come to camp to work, how many extra campers would show-up (so we wouldn't always have the right amount of food), how late we had to keep the little camp snack shop open. It was a long four days of washing and drying hundreds and hundreds of plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, and cooking pots. And really, the difficult part is not the dishpan-hands, the difficult part is the spiritual battle: remaining optimistic and supportive . . . keeping that servant's heart beating strong, when you're tired of peeling muddy potatoes.<br />
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So our Quito excursion was a very good break for our little family. It was our first family adventure since we arrived in November. This past week, we've been back to work, and there is always endless work to do here at camp. The calendar says that March is completely full of camps, one camp running into the next, throughout weekends and weekdays, so its good that we're all feeling refreshed.<br />
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On March 14th thirteen women are scheduled to arrived from the US to take part in a quilting camp. On the weekend on the 17th over three dozen local women will come to Camp Pallatanga to participate in this cross cultural quilting camp. Please pray for the campers! Please pray for Kim as she leads this camp and translates all of the guest speaker's messages into Spanish throughout the weekend. I will be involved in cooking. This gives me lots of time to practice my spanish with Maria, the camp cook, and her children. I'm also scheduled to lead the women in daily prayer time. Don is always kept busy during camps, maintaining buildings and responding to campers needs, in addition to continuing to work on current building projects at camp. Our children get to help cook and wash dishes; they may get out of some of their homeschooling during this busy time.<br />
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We just had a hairy drive down the Andes to Pallatanga, from Riobamba. We went to Riobamba to meet with the Chimborazo soccer federation's head people. There is some concern that Ethan won't be able to play in the provincial qualifiers in June, because he is not a national, so the coach and our clan drove to Riobamba for a meeting about it. We still have to follow up with the Minister of Interior, in Guayaquil. Ethan should feel very complimented, as his coach really wants him to be able to play, and he said many many great things about Ethan. WOW!<br />
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At any rate, on the drive back, it turned dark, and there was the usual bad amount of dense fog, but then the clutch went. Don managed to jam the shifter into third at the top of the steepest pass, but we still had another 50 klms of winding mountain roads to go back to camp. Everytime we came up upon a slower moving vehicle, the truck chugged-chugged-chuuged in third, but it didn't stall, as Don fought with it to wait for the right moment, then try to pass when able (still in third gear).<br />
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The rain really let loose just as we got into the house. We couldn't believe that Don even managed to negotiate the turn into the camp driveway! God was so amazing, as Don had to dodge small landslides, and pass other vehicles, all along the winding road. Oh my! Don knew if he slowed too much, we'd stall, and there are no shoulders on those roads. We even made it up steep hills that the truck can't usually do in third gear.<br />
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Don still has to have a good look at the transmission in the daylight; evidently this has happened to the good ol' Toyota camp truck before. We can hardly believe we made it all that way, God is amazing. We prayed lots!!!!!! And that is really what God has been teaching us in our recent time at camp, to rely on Him, to commit everything to prayer, fervent needy prayer. Being needy about things, etc, is not something that Don and I are used to feeling. We are learning lots and praying lots through these challenges.<br />
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We're looking forward to bussing into the town the next time we go. =)
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Well, the milk did manage to boil over a bit, but not enough to put out the gas flame, so we'll call that a success. I'm going to carry the milk over to the camp kitchen, to pop it into the freezer to cool. That's our pasteurization process: boil for five minutes, then cool quickly.<br />
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Thank you so very much for your support and prayers. We are all healthy and we praise God for that!!We pray for you too, for safe travels in your recent new snow, for peaceful moments with family and good friends, and for joy even before spring begins to bring you green.<br />
=) Amanda and familymurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-4382970259051530422012-02-10T20:08:00.000-08:002019-04-02T21:08:46.022-07:00Rain, rain, go away . . .Mowing in the rain . . .<br />
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I think we are beginning to look like missionaries (I am smiling broadly as I type that, so hopefully you are giggling). I've just spent the morning patching up clothing. The humidity and constant washing of our half-dozen outfits each are really taking their toll of the integrity of the fabrics we wear (we came with just one suitcase each, and one extra suitcase of homeschool supplies), plus the children are growing, and we're always outside working or playing, rain and all! Its a funny thing, wearing patched-up, worn-out, and a bit short clothes, while working here in Ecuador, because as we were preparing to come to here, we had trouble identifying ourselves as missionaries. For us, the term “missionary” was a tall order, something very long term and evangelical. But here we are frequently asked (in spanish) “You must be missionaries”. So we've come to identify ourselves more with that term, and now we seem to be growing into it. =)<br />
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Lots of things are feeling “normal” now that we've been away from Canada for 5 months, and here at camp for 3 months. Things like not being able to flush toilet paper, and constantly finding new buckets to place under leaks in the roof, until Don can climb up and deal with them. There are lots of things that we are amazingly thankful for . . . potable water here at camp (it would be so much more work to have to boil or treat our water), washing and drying machines (with all of this humidity, we don't even have to worry about static), and a safe environment here at camp (the kids can run and play at will). Not to mention praying friends back in Canada!!<br />
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We've gotten used to lots of things being done differently in Central and South America, but lots of things still surprise us regularly.<br />
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Bathroom visits can lead to a lot of culture shock, especially when there's no door no the bathroom, no soap to wash up, or no toilet paper (normal), or no seat on the toilet. And there is NEVER hot water for the sink.<br />
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However, once and awhile, a visit to the bathroom is extra shocking! Last week, when reaching for the light-switch, this bug surprised me!<br />
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Then this grasshopper deterred Katelyn from using the washroom on our drive back to camp this past week.<br />
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Oh my!!!!!
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At the moment, Don and Ethan are out chopping bamboo. The bamboo is amazing: each week it grows tall and strong. Ethan is getting callouses from machete-ing the stalks down to ground level, so that we can mow the grass in the area. Bamboo is just one of the challenges of helping maintain 14 acres of camp property, during the rainy season.<br />
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The kids have just finished working on posters for their English Language Arts homeschool project, now I can reclaim my kitchen as a kitchen, and begin the process of turning fresh produce into a meal: everything is organic, everything made from scratch, each meal (unless we're able to get our hands on a loaf of bread, in town, or get peanut butter from the city!!), and I have about two-square feet of counter-top in this kitchen.<br />
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The pets are thriving and bringing us lots of joy (plus I no longer have to get up in the night, to let the pup out). We've recently re-named our dog . . . we've been calling him “Skipper”, but then last week, we booked the pup a spot on the plane back to Canada with us. He still might not get to come, he has to be under 18lbs when we fly, so that he can come as carry-on. During the summer months, pets can't go in the cargo hold of planes, and the family here at camp are keen to keep him. Right now the pup is still little, but he has big feet! And who knows what mix of breeds he might be? We decided to change his name, because our little dog at home is called “Tipper” (Tipper is being taken care of for the year, by a friend in Edmonton). Just in case, this little Ecuadorian dog gets to come home, we've renamed him “Scout”, so that the little dogs' names won't rhyme and confuse us all, after we fly home in mid-July.<br />
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Skittles the kitten is really growing too. He is a marvellous insect killer and a fun playmate for all of us, especially Scout. Skittles plans to stay in Ecuador and be a camp cat, with Otis, his friend the other big camp cat.<br />
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We work on the new house each day, and it is progressing. We've got the exterior painted (it was quite the challenge painting in the rain!), and the interior is plumbed, the electrical is run, the walls are being plastered, and we're working on the flooring. The need for a septic system is our greatest challenge; there are no regulations around this, and no local experts. So we've been e-mailing home for expertise; it sounds like we'll likely need to dig a huge hole and build the septic tank out of concrete for a start. At the moment we're tiling shower stalls (the house has five showers, as it will be used as a family dorm, next fall). The girls and I are looking forward to being able to paint the inside of the house! And Don needs to begin building kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Windows arrived this past week. Now we need doors, and . . . well its a bit overwhelming to think of the whole project at once. Completion of the new house is a camp priority; its been in the works for over three years, so its time to get it finished, then we can go back to maintaining and improving the rest of the camp infrastructure, preparing the camp for campers, then cleaning-up after them (boy is that a LONG to-do list!). We are going to move up into the new house, once it is finished. There will be MUCH more room up there for homeschooling, and the roof is intact!!<br />
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This past week, Ethan has had the opportunity to play SOCCER. Three weeks ago, we were in town while a tournament was taking place in the main square. The coach and players let Ethan play a shift even though we arrived during the second half of their final game and he wasn't wearing any soccer gear (or even suitable shoes). Then this week, the coach drove out to the camp, to invite Ethan to join the local team. Yeah! We have been praying that God would provide age-mates for Ethan to connect with. Now Ethan will get to practice on his spanish soccer vocabulary and hopefully make some local friends. This has been a big prayer item for our family, so it is amazing to have someone drive right into the camp as an answer to prayer. He been worked hard at his first two practices, arriving back at camp VERY soggy, muddy, and happy!<br />
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Ethan's soccer practices in town also provides us an opportunity to be more involved in the local community, which is something that we have been praying about. Don and I both know that there is enough work for us to stay at camp forever, and that the reason OMS asked us to come here is to help at camp; but at the same time, we sense the opportunities to be involved locally: perhaps teaching english, and clarifying lots of misgivings about Christianity. Ecuador has strong Catholic roots, and we see more evidence of the worship of Mary, than the worship of Jesus. Each area of Ecuador has statues of their own “virgin” that they bring gifts to. Easter is coming, and it is such a great opportunity to talk about Jesus' resurrection, which is not a focal point of the church here in Ecuador. So we are pleased with the opportunity to build more relationships in town when we take Ethan in for soccer, and we pray that God will use us in His amazing way. Each time we go into town, we learn a bit more spanish, so that is neat too (and humbling!).<br />
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The children are VERY interested in my stuff. They come each day to see me and my camera, my spanish-english dictionary, etc. I learn lots of spanish from them, and they like to try saying English words.<br />
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Our friend's shop and home in behind . . .<br />
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Thank you also for your prayers and e-mails about Katelyn. We are currently in the city to bring her back for a check-up with the doctor. (I can access web pages from here, and update the blog with pictures – fun). The doctor has declared her “all better”. Praise God!! She has finished her anti-biotics and is both infection free and parasite free. We have been amazed at how quickly Katelyn is back to her usual self, over the past two weeks. Last week, she lost both of her top front teeth . . . she's growing up.<br />
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We are so thankful for your prayers! At the moment, it rains tons and tons, every day here. The grass is glowing green, squishing under foot as we walk. With humidity high and the temperature hovering around 17 degrees, the camp buildings are battling mould, cockroaches, and armies of ants. Our little house is has very little of each, even though it has a reputation for all of those things. Praise God, that we have been contending with very little mould, and we have an ant-free place to sleep! Even the horse appreciates our house, coming for sleep-overs on the front porch.<br />
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We're off back to camp in the morning; headed from the heat and traffic of Guayaquil, to the rain in Pallatanga. According to the camp calendar, we have back to back camps and loads of campers headed our way, throughout the end of February and all of March. We pray for perseverance and servant's hearts.<br />
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Blessings to you! We pray for you often, too.<br />
=) the Murraysmurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-51735135393053805172012-01-16T09:45:00.000-08:002019-04-02T21:06:13.539-07:00Happy New Year!I am so pleased to be able to send you an update, while we have a few moments in an internet zone in Guayaquil (we are in the city to drop volunteers off at the airport).<br />
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We have been on the road a lot in the past few weeks!<br />
On Boxing Day, our family travelled to Quito to apply for Ecuadorian driver's licenses. Don spent about fourteen hours over three days, visiting transportation offices, waiting in line-ups, and taking written, fine-motor, blood, eye, and reaction-time tests.<br />
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We were in Quito over New Years, so we turned the trip into a bit of a family adventure. We took a gondola up toward a volcano near Quito, then went horse-back riding for an hour. What an experience!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSW5yq7ZzY2iN7t469YsoFKdAn7uwQ5hjdsrQmGkqb3Y-QQkzTtQpY6qydJjedki95iBtM91nJU4bv3unSLQ48j2xJ9-Fwnf-elJcxZCA00QrV8trideT-igypJcYzD3Tap3ADfwo9xWMY/s1600/gondola+horseback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSW5yq7ZzY2iN7t469YsoFKdAn7uwQ5hjdsrQmGkqb3Y-QQkzTtQpY6qydJjedki95iBtM91nJU4bv3unSLQ48j2xJ9-Fwnf-elJcxZCA00QrV8trideT-igypJcYzD3Tap3ADfwo9xWMY/s320/gondola+horseback.jpg"></a></div><br />
New Years Eve was also quite and experience! Leading up the New Years Eve, people sell fireworks and "old men dolls" on street corners. These all get lit throughout the night on New Years Eve, so that fireworks and smoke can be seen ALL over the city, in front yards, on street corners . . . fireworks coming from all directions, all night long! We watched in awe from the mission-guest-house garage roof into the wee hours of the morning. Quito smelled of gun powder by five minutes after midnight.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6u2L4ri3isEDnZdNzrCCwMZtJNmCzLpJhOl6tHiJEOVMpPBoNrXLM3QwMsR6U-ZpYvEbglsuLRWKColnHfsUSs5_SztFVsgMGgW4KKdkdV4Qw7IfCEA59frVdMwRpLPzkL3ZCOkahmvKN/s1600/viejos+muneos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6u2L4ri3isEDnZdNzrCCwMZtJNmCzLpJhOl6tHiJEOVMpPBoNrXLM3QwMsR6U-ZpYvEbglsuLRWKColnHfsUSs5_SztFVsgMGgW4KKdkdV4Qw7IfCEA59frVdMwRpLPzkL3ZCOkahmvKN/s320/viejos+muneos.jpg"></a></div>This is a picture of Ethan beside one of the "viejos muneos" that was later burned on New Years Eve.<br />
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When we got back to camp, there was sooooooooo much to do!!!<br />
The roof of our little house had been leaking, and our mattress was soggy . . .<br />
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The termites had been busy chomping on the rafters in Lauren's room, so we had to take measures to keep the termite dust from falling onto her bed . . .<br />
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The bamboo shoots had been shooting-up, and needed to be chopped before the grass could be mowed . . .<br />
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There are acres and acres and acres of grass to be cut. Ethan will be busy indefinitely!<br />
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Don has been working hard on wiring the new house. The electrical conduit is concreted into the walls, floor, and ceilings. Over the last three years, as volunteer teams and local workers have come onto the site, they have all added their expertise to the house, but there was no overall plan drawn out on paper for the house, and non of the conduit is mapped. Good thing Don is a man of un-ending patience and farm-like fix-anything skills . . .<br />
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Then we were off to the annual Ecuadorian One Mission Society Retreat at a camp near Cuenca. Three volunteers came from Ontario to cook for all of the missionaries during retreat. Our family was in charge of child care, while the adults had meetings and sermon/prayer sessions.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharHGu-ZuNGxlzi1-rgR3Y3gCKom0pCmjIIdIyR9n4VYNDHA2macA3rGY4GIGA6gQjk9cCxYeXQ6BZX7GxMIwcGoKHqQ2qdZzas0mCzu2eaSrUrODybw7KdE8Ej55QkPUZapXXBCCpG_XZ/s1600/retreat+singing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharHGu-ZuNGxlzi1-rgR3Y3gCKom0pCmjIIdIyR9n4VYNDHA2macA3rGY4GIGA6gQjk9cCxYeXQ6BZX7GxMIwcGoKHqQ2qdZzas0mCzu2eaSrUrODybw7KdE8Ej55QkPUZapXXBCCpG_XZ/s320/retreat+singing.jpg"></a></div>Thank you for your prayers for the retreat. It was a busy four days, but we had loads of fun with the kids!!! doing crafts, games, walks, songs, and Bible study. God really empowered us with energy and love for each child there.<br />
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The three Canadian volunteers came back with us to Camp Pallatanga. Don did a fantastic job of <b>driving</b> in the dark and the fog, up and down the mountain roads, the six hours from Cuenca back to camp. The truck was loaded down with luggage for the thirteen of us headed back to camp. The passengers rode in the Orellanas new twelve passenger van that actually has seat-belts!<br />
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We got right to work, painting the new house's exterior, while we had three extra sets of hands to help us. We had a VERY busy week, fitting in house painting, on top of cooking for the volunteers, and homeschooling, and lawn-mowering . . . <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqAuBMYmAkoq__owz-85Zqq6e7Ll612WyNkZeegDdNr3l0zd31P6Ss0RaG5q2kioCGdksfcJwrwt7ekOMXyZgB-09EayXVGH65XbiPVbuB-MmoQ2OkYNxx-AdeY_2g_PN8C_TY5YMbvhX/s1600/house+priming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqAuBMYmAkoq__owz-85Zqq6e7Ll612WyNkZeegDdNr3l0zd31P6Ss0RaG5q2kioCGdksfcJwrwt7ekOMXyZgB-09EayXVGH65XbiPVbuB-MmoQ2OkYNxx-AdeY_2g_PN8C_TY5YMbvhX/s320/house+priming.jpg"></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hecsyJ0f9Ore49n6Q4yhAf_Fpn-uYtzbel863pJ82sIQVCox9o1bNnlsdzUwA4tuwZoUY2PNIy7pvFQc9GThk3rPEtDVvjZL27fp9_UCtTw296k4qjIOz3pqg8FmmLBBqD8RFMgJPWC7/s1600/house+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hecsyJ0f9Ore49n6Q4yhAf_Fpn-uYtzbel863pJ82sIQVCox9o1bNnlsdzUwA4tuwZoUY2PNIy7pvFQc9GThk3rPEtDVvjZL27fp9_UCtTw296k4qjIOz3pqg8FmmLBBqD8RFMgJPWC7/s320/house+painting.jpg"></a></div>The new house is coming along! Don has the electrical nearly done; his next step is back on the carpentry end, making cabinets for the kitchen and beds for the bedrooms. Local workers are plastering and plumbing. The next BIG challenge is figuring out the septic installation!<br />
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At the moment, I am in Guayaquil dropping the three Canadian volunteers off at the airport. They've been so helpful their ten days here in Ecuador. While in the city, Kim and I will shop for ceramic tile for the new house's bathrooms.<br />
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Then we'll get down to settling back into camp rhythm. We were able to go into our nearest town for market day. We'd missed market day while we were in Quito and at retreat, so we hadn't been able to buy fresh fruit or vegetables in weeks. It was lovely to get to the market and visit the local farmers who travel into town to sell their fruit and vegetables. We love market day. Yeah fruit!!!!<br />
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We pray that 2012 has begun well for you! Thank you so much for your prayers for our family, for Camp Pallatanga's ministry, and for Ecuador. Please do continue to pray for health and safety for our little clan: Katelyn has been getting high fevers quite often; we have her booked to come in to see a doctor in Guayaquil next week. We've all recently taken de-worming medicine, and the amoebas have been cleared from our systems, so we're ready to keep working hard for God.<br />
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Blessing to you,<br />
Amanda and familymurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-88703242619065079732011-12-22T07:24:00.000-08:002011-12-22T07:24:39.916-08:00Christmas in an Ecuadorian mountain villageWe're celebrating this Christmas as missionaries, serving at a family camp in Ecuador. Last Saturday, we drove UP into the mountains on windy, narrow roads with amazing valley-views, for three hours. Then we turned down into a pueblo that some of the OMS camp's hired workers know about. Two of the workers came with us, each brought a child or two. Plus two missionary moms came up from Guayaquil to come with us, each bringing their two and three kids. SO there were 22 people and TONS of presents, costumes, props, sound equipment (which we didn't get to use, because the town didn't have ANY electricity coming into it) packed into the camp's ol' truck and the camp manager's new van.<br />
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As we drove into the village, we hollered out the vehicle windows for people to come to the main square: a concrete field, found in every village just outside the school; it is used for soccer, a kind of volleyball-ish game that is popular here, and general hanging around spot. We started out playing parachute games in the fog. Within moments, there were eighty people in the square. Within a half hour, there were about 150, mostly children. We were told that "gringos" (caucasians) had never been up to their town, so the people were intrigued as to why we were there.<br />
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We began the "centre" games: Ethan ran a football-through-a-hoop throw, Lauren ran a spoon/egg relay race, Don ran a horse-shoe-toss station with Katelyn's help, there was a boot-throw-into-a-rope-circle game, a bean-bag toss game, and a pop-bottle-bowling centre. Kids earned tickets at each station.<br />
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After an hour and a half of games, we dressed-up volunteer village kids in sheets and costumes, and did a live nativity performance with them. A donkey and some sheep showed up, and joined in, as Rebecca (one the missionary mom's) read a Christmas story. Then Guido, the camp manager, did a little sermon about Jesus.<br />
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THEN we gave out presents. Every baby through teen who showed-up got a gift (We'd been shopping for little gifts for the past month, then we'd wrapped for three days straight, last week, and organized the gifts by gender and age). When the crowds cleared and we began to pack-up, we had about twenty presents left. We reckon that we gave out about 200. It was so fun to see everyone opening presents!! We also gave out watermelon slices and baggies of popcorn (that we'd popped in a pot on the stove; we bagged popcorn until 2am the night before the event).<br />
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Our efforts felt were well worth it: all of the prep, and the crazy drive . . . it was quite the experience. Ethan says "The kids were pretty poor, as soon as they saw the van and truck they immediately came, they kind of just were trying to get whatever they could, presents, tokens, they were trying to take the balls that were meant for the game, etc". I guess Ethan felt that desperate poverty. I didn't feel that; I was walking around most of the time, taking pictures, and I felt the surprised joy. I got many more smiles than usual. Some people asked for their picture to be taken, so that they could look at themselves in the camera screen afterward. They wouldn't smile for the picture, but then they'd giggle and cover their mouths when they looked at the camera screen and their picture, afterward. It was so great to be able to converse with them in spanish; it sure makes me want to expand my vocabulary much much more. Katleyn says, "It was happy giving things to other people to make them happy. That's what made me happy. We went up a hill in the town and saw a mad horse, it was tied, and it started putting its ears up and pawing, then it backed-up and tried to run forward. Then we saw baby pigs." Lauren's favourite part was leading the donkey around, when the kids went to listen to the story. One young boy handed a donkey's rope to Lauren, when he went to sit down and see the play. So she proceeded to walk the donkey around for ages and ages; she even gave out donkey rides. Lauren did a great job of running the egg race game all by herself. She has been working really hard on her spanish and that showed. Don had fun with the kids! Toward the end, he walked around with a bag for the wrapping paper garbage, it was so cute watching the littlest kids unwrapping their presents. He kept calling me over to take pictures of this little child and that little one. By then, many of the parents were very friendly, encouraging their children to look at the camera for a photo.<br />
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A lucky local pig got lots of watermelon rinds when we cleared-up the courtyard! Then we had the long, windy, bumpy drive back, with many of the adults and children dying to use a bathroom (a few volunteers chose to venture into the field that the crowd had been using as the toilet, but not many). We were all exhausted when we made it safely back to camp. It was a rich Christmas experience.<br />
<br />
Wishing you a joyous Christmas this year!<br />
Love from the Murray familymurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-36877571755492939652011-12-13T05:55:00.000-08:002011-12-13T05:59:39.343-08:00Mail and pets and a Merry ChristmasWe have added a guard-dog and a rodent-killer to our ranks:<br />
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Well, maybe not quite yet . . . but they are welcome lifers at the camp, and they have already brought amazing amounts of joy and love to our little clan. We were only supposed to get the cat, but we barely survived our animal-market experience without having to open a private zoo! We have a self-imposed restraining order on any future animal-market visits!!!! Skipper, the dog, and Skittles, the cat, are well on their way to training us all.<br />
<br />
Many people have asked about a mailing address:<br />
<br />
Donald and Amanda Murray<br />
Casilla 0906-2316U<br />
Guayaquil<br />
ECUADOR<br />
<br />
This address will get mail to a post box in Guayaquil (our nearest big city), then we'll pick up mail from a missionary who lives in Guayaquil and regularly collects the mail on behalf of other missionaries in the country. Envelopes seem to arrive just fine, even paddled ones, but I guess there has been some problems receiving boxed packages.<br />
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There's just under two weeks until Christmas, and we don't expect to have blog-able internet access again until the new year, so we do want to wish each of you a VERY Merry Christmas!<br />
<br />
Next weekend, we'll be driving into little mountain villages, doing live nativity skits, Christmas games, songs, and giving out presents. We are really excited!!!! The Orellana family that are full-time missionaries at the camp, even have a four month-old baby to go in the manger that Don is building. We women (with Ethan along to help) are in the city today shopping for the children's gifts to give out, then both of our families will be spending the week wrapping.<br />
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Blessings to you and your extended families this Christmas! We'll be praying for you. Please do pray for our extended families, for health and joy and peace; we miss them!murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-20048272488715798642011-11-20T11:51:00.000-08:002019-04-02T20:55:15.503-07:00We have arrived at Camp Pallatanga, EcuadorAfter a month of e-silence, we're thrilled to be writing an update on our mission situation!<br />
<br />
All five of us have arrived safely at Camp Pallatanga in Ecuador. The camp is a two-and-a-half hour bus ride from the city of Guayaquil. When we go to Guayaquil after the campers leave this Sunday, I will get to post this message to you.<br />
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We arrived at camp, in the dark, the evening of Saturday November 5th. We stayed in one of the dorms for a few nights until our little house was cleaned out and ready for us to move in. We're comfortably cuddled into this home, Ethan and Katelyn share a small bedroom, Lauren has a little bedroom, and Don and I have a bedroom with our own bathroom (first ensuite for us, ever!). We're still living out of suitcases, because the bedrooms don't have room for dressers and they don't have closets. So we'll have to do some creative organizing, but in the meantime, we've gotten straight to work at camp.<br />
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The missionary family we have come to help at the camp, the Orellanas, have been managing the camp facilities for seven years. Kim is originally from the states. Guido is from another part of Ecuador. They met and were married here. Now they have three daughters: Isabel (who is 8years old and four days older than our Katelyn), Elena (who is 5years old and beginning to read), and Sofia (who is three months old).<br />
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At present we do not have internet at the camp. Kim and Guido have arranged some internet connection through their cell phone; cellular service and electricity are both somewhat intermittent at camp, but we have been trying to set up our own cellular account. So hopefully in time, we will be able to send text e-mails from camp. The camp does not have enough coverage to allow us to go onto websites (such as our blog), use skype, or e-mail pictures. So we plan to type updates regularly, then upload them whenever we go into the city.<br />
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Our closest town, Pallatanga, has fresh produce available at the market on Sundays. It also has small shops where we can buy margarine, rice, biscuits, etc. Meat is purchased at an open air butcher. “Bread” is bought at the bakery (not loaves, but different buns that always have different fillings, like cheese or fruit). Last week when we couldn't make a phone call from camp, we had to drive into Pallatanga to get cell service. When the camp has campers (most weekends), we drive into Pallatanga to get the workers, so we are back and forth to town often.<br />
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The camp is about 4 kms from town, bordering the highway that runs between Pallatanga and Guayaquil. The camp property covers a lot of area. The rainy season is just about to begin (we just left Costa Rica's rainy season, so we're doing “winter” twice this year!); at the moment, the camp is quite brown and dry. The camp's to-do list has no end. We've jumped straight into our ministry of being a blessing to the Orellanas and the camp:<br />
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Don is out in the work shop. The first week we were here, the camp was short on beds for their upcoming youth weekend retreat. So Don got to work building a bunk bed. His prototype required all kinds of design modifications to suit the materials that he was able to find around the Pallatanga area. The freshly cut wood twisted and changed as he worked with it; the old wood piles were either termite-eaten or shrunken solid. He broke bolts, used whatever types and lengths of screws he could find. Purchased angle iron and made angle brackets. The making of the bed was challenging. He came back to the house late each night, tired and hungry from the physical and mental challenges. On Friday night, the single-bed-on-top, queen-bed-on-bottom bunk-bed was assembled in one of the dorms, just as the campers were arriving. Guido would like Don to make 29 more (one for each dorm room), so that the camp could host couple retreats (the camp only had single-bunk-beds).<br />
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Amanda began homeschooling day three after arriving at camp. It is a squish to give each child a spot to do schoolwork in our house. With five children in four different grades from kindergarten to junior-high, Amanda is kept busy prepping, teaching, and marking. Schedules are evolving, but the Murray children have to do math each day. LA is taught on Wednesday and Fridays. Kim is teaching the children Spanish and Science on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while Amanda is beginning English classes for single-mothers from Pallatanga on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is also a demand for a children's English class on Saturdays for students from Pallatanga, so that will likley begin in December. In addition, Amanda is getting used to cooking and cleaning “from scratch”. Each day, the bugs try to move back into our little house and access to groceries is a challenge.<br />
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Lauren and Katelyn have become fast-friends with the Orellana girls. The four girls have already tried camping in a tent (which ended in a sleep-over in the house). Katelyn and Isabel get to work together on a lot of their grade three schoolwork. They share a common love of animals! The camp has a horse, four dogs, a cat, three chickens, and on the first day we were here, the girls caught a pet frog.<br />
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Ethan started a pick-up game of soccer in the town plaza, yesterday. He's really been missing his St. Albert and his Costa Rican soccer pals! He has also been missing being connected to friends via internet. The camp has lots of room to move and lots of jobs to do, but no children his own age. The dogs want to play ball with Ethan, but they tend to eat his soccer balls rather than pass them back.<br />
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We had a 107 campers last weekend; 5 over capacity, so some siblings shared beds. I have one more load of laundry left to do this morning, then I'll have washed 214 sheets, ready for this weekend's 102 campers. Last weekend was a teen camp. This weekend is a kids camp (9 and 10 year-olds). This morning, Don is working on the camp park: fixing the tire swing, putting handles on the home-made teeter-totter, and adding some balance beams. The weekends here are busy, facilitating camp activities (like the zip-line and games in the gym), washing dishes after each meal (everyone is needed to help), and running the camp's little snack shop (Ethan and Lauren's new project – for which they NEED to work on their spanish!), along with finding any needed supplies (just keeping up with the toilet paper needs, etc). For the most part, our job is to help facilitate the physical camp needs. There are a few camps coming up where we will be organizing and running all of the activities with Kim and Guido. The first one of thes is a children's Christmas camp, December 16-18, where very poor children will come from Guayaquil to play games and make Christmas presents for their families. Our children will be very involved in planning and running this camp. Please pray for this children's camp!<br />
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We pray for you also: for our homechurch Sturgeon Valley Baptist in St Albert, for the church we grew-up in, St. Pauls Anglican in Edmonton, for our school community at Camilla in Riviere Qui Barre, and the children's Logos friends at Elmer Gish and Leo Nickerson in St Albert. We miss you and are very thankful for your prayers for our family and this camp. Please pray for safety for us at camp, and that our daily tasks here will have an eternal impact.<br />
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Thank you for you for reading this long blog. Please do e-mail us, and know we will reply as soon as we have internet.<br />
Blessings on your upcoming week!<br />
the Murrays<br />
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Camp life<br />
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Today is a camp day (Saturday). It is fun and noisy. It begins and end with piles of dishes to wash and dry.<br />
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Most camps are weekend camps. This weekend is a kids camp. The campers here came with youth leaders from a large evangelical camp in Guayaquil. Last weekend's camp was a teen camp, the youth from Guayaquil. You might not find Pallatanga on a map of Ecuador, as the nearest town is small. But Camp Pallatanga is about three hours drive from Guayaquil, on a highway that runs through past camp, through Pallatanga, then onto Riobamba, before continuing another four hours onto Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The 14 acres of camp property borders a steep hill at the back and the highway at the front.<br />
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It is the end of the dry season, so the grass is brown. There are lots of bugs trying to live with us. The “coffee flies” relentlessly rise from the brown grass and bite our feet, ankles, and legs. Our children's legs are covered in bites that both bleed and itch (but there's neither malaria or yellow fever here, due to our altitude = 4,000ft). The camp is virtually on the equator; so the sun rises and sets close to 6 each day. At mid-day, today, it was hot. Above 30 degrees. By evening it is cool again, as low as 17 degrees (we're thinking of you, as winter begins back in Alberta!!). Soon the rainy season will begin here. I am not looking forward to the increased number of bugs!!!!<br />
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The pace of the weekend is almost slower than the weekdays. Though the camp kitchen feels frantic just before meals, and is blaringly hot all day long. Lunch is the larger meal here. No sandwiches! Lunch and dinner are two-course cooked meals: soup first, then rice and likely potatoes too, served with meat, other vegetables are rarities. The snack shop is ahive of activity throughout the day, especially just before and after meals. The campers buy drinks (coffee for the adults, pop or bottled water for the kids), candies, chips, etc. With last year's snack shop money, the camp built a zip-line. I am signed up for zip-line suiting-up duty, tomorrow morning after breakfast.<br />
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Over the course of the weekend, we run around supplying the campers with anything they need: a projector, audio equipment, water-balloons, gym equipment (yes, there is a big open gym at the camp – which is lovely in the evenings when the fields are pitch black, and it will be such a blessing during the rainy season!!), field equipment (the go-carts need constant repair), etc. As well, we feed and clean-up after the campers. Our children have picked-up bags of garbage already this weekend. All the while, we know that God is at work, using this camp as a blessing to its campers. There is so much room to play here; it is so different from the city, where these children live.<br />
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Camp Pallatanga is working toward hosting more family camps and couple's retreats. Don has begun building bunks that will sleep couples on the bottom, as one step toward this goal. The camp has three dorm buildings. Each has six dorm rooms and bathrooms for girls and boys. The dorm rooms have bunks for as many as ten campers and as few as seven. We have a full camp this weekend.<br />
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When the campers leave tomorrow, the work really begins. Laundry, hundreds of sheets, as well as towels and wash-cloths from the kitchen. The camp has three washers and dryers, and it takes the week to get through washing and folding all of the laundry. Workers are here helping in the kitchen on the weekends. They come from town, beginning on Thursday, to help fold the clean laundry and prepare the dorms and kitchen. They bring their youngsters to work with them. This gives me lots of time to work on my spanish, cuddle babies while working, and help the local workers learn some english. In town too, through the week, we run run errands, replenishing the snack shop supplies, and buying a camp's worth of groceries in a spanish-only environment. Kim Orellana is a marvel in town, with her fantastic grasp of spanish, her efficient manner, and her patience for nothing ever being straightforward or on time.<br />
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Many town's people have asked for english language lessons. So more and more classes are being fitted into the week's schedule. One group of young single mom's are due to begin coming from town to the camp each Tuesday and Thursday morning for english classes. Other moms are looking for english classes for their children, on weekends. I am going to be as busy as I am able!<br />
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Then there is the camp to-do list. Three years ago, the camp began to build “the new house”. Simply stated, it needs to be completed. This is one of the projects that OMS hoped Don and I could help accomplish in our year here. The concrete structure is built, the roof is on, and some windows are in on the main floor. Otherwise, the house needs work. The “little house” that we are in now, is needed for the staff that come on weekends. So the plan is for us to complete the big house as soon as possible, then we would move into there for the remainder of the year.<br />
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The big house would be marvellous for homeschooling! Right now, I have three children working in the tiny kitchen, one in the livingroom (working on a folding table), and two in bedrooms (one at a desk and one working on a bed). Not ideal school circumstances. With five (sometimes six) students, ranging in grades kindergarten to grade seven, some need space, all need help, the big house would provide a much more suitable space for homeschooling. The big house is also being designed to be used a a couple's retreat spot. The four upstairs bedrooms will have double beds. There is a real need for instruction in marital faithfulness in the culture here; so the house has been designed with couple's retreats in mind for the future.<br />
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It will take discipline to make time to work on the big house, as there is so much maintenance begging attention around camp. Don's workshop days are long and laborious. He's begun to eat like a youth and sleep solidly. He comes back from the shop filthy each day, usually the dark forces him in, even though he's trying to keep his hours from 7am to 4pm. His main challenges lie in compromising and make-shifting using the tools he has to work with, to manufacture the things we could readily buy at home, like angle brackets, and go-cart axels. He's is really missing his own tools, especially his drill press, and some solid drill bits. Keeping the current tools working is a challenge too. The camp has an older tractor that does work. There's a broken ride-a-mower. There are two additional washing-machines at the camp that don't work. A large freezer in the camp kitchen that quit a week after its warranty ended. The camp has enough windows, screens, doors, toilets, showers, and roofs in need of a bit of love, to keep a gaggle of handy-men overwhelmed. All of this gives Don lots of time to work alongside, Julio, an 18 year-old camp worker who is eager to learn english, and interested in learning more about Christian faith, and Guido, full-time OMS missionary, and the camp manager.<br />
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Then there is the horse. The Orellanas purchased a young filly, the morning after we arrived at camp. So Don and I fit in horse-care morning and evening, and horse-training in our spare time. We've got her leading, and we're about to start her lunging. The Orellanas don't have experience with horses, but the girls are eager to learn.<br />
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Now the camp bell is being wrung, and the singing is about to begin in the dininghall/meeting-room. The over 100 kids are nearly exhausted from a full day of running around camp. The church leaders have been looking forward to this 6pm dusk, that will chase all of the campers into their devotional time. We know some of the campers will be dreaming about their chance to zip-line, tomorrow. So our work here is really all about supporting this thirty year-old ministry in Ecuador. Praying for the upcoming and ongoing camps, workers, and campers. Being witnesses to the locals that we work alongside. Thank you for praying for us and with us, as we pour ourselves into our work here. Please do let us know your questions and ideas, so we can keep you informed about our work here! And let us know how we can pray for you!<br />
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=) the Murraysmurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-81985056367287171672011-10-21T06:25:00.000-07:002019-04-02T20:58:28.248-07:00At the airportWe're currently at our gate, ready to board our first of four flights that will land us in Cusco, Peru, tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, October 22nd).<br />
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We haven't had internet for quite awhile, as there was electrical-pole fires in our neighbourhood in San Jose. The internet and telephones have been out. But the electrical stayed on, even as firefighters doused the flaming power-poles and melting power-lines.<br />
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At any rate, we are safe and healthy, and appreciate your prayers as we fly to South America!! We will update the blog properly, soon. As off we go to board our flight.<br />
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Blessings to you!<br />
Love from the Murray family
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Exploring Peru on the way to Ecuador<br />
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Our spanish classes were finished in Costa Rica, and our visas for Ecuador were not supposed to be ready for a couple of weeks. So before we left Canada, we planned to meet a family friend in Peru and hike in the Andes together in late October.<br />
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After remaining constantly aware of our “security” for two months in San Jose, it was wonderful to spend time in the well-policed tourist-areas of Cusco, and especially in the out-of-the-way rural areas of Peru. We lived a backpacker-life our two weeks there: staying in hostels, tents, and even sleeping in the airport. We ate local food in small economical family-owned restaurants. And we went on a number of unforgettable tours.<br />
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We visited “a lot of broken down buildings” (aka Inca ruins) throughout the Scared Valley, near Cusco. We marvelled at the historic infrastructure: the aquaducts, the terracing, and the stonework. We did a full-day horse-back-riding tour in the mountains around Cusco. Even Katelyn galloped across the mountain meadows at 13000ft. Then we hiked for three days, interrupting grazing llamas, meeting local shepherds, cresting a 14200ft pass in the Andes. We hiked along trails that had been used by Inca messengers and are now used by indiginous Quecha shepherds. The children did great on this three day, eight hour a day hike.<br />
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We visited Machu Picchu. For a full day we climbed up and down uneven Inca stairs, some as tall as Katelyn's thigh. We laughed at how large the ruins must seem to her. Don and I climbed Hyna Picchu, enjoying a magnificent birds-eye-view of Machu Picchu before the clouds rolled-in and hid it all. Our friend, Fraser, from Canada, managed to get enough cell reception to call his mom from the Macchu Picchu, but we don't have such technology, we relied on inconsistent hostel reception to try to stay in contact with Canada.<br />
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The Ecuadorians LOVED our children. Ethan, Lauren, and Katelyn are in so many photos. So many people asked them to pose for pictures. They often were swatmed with attention. As we walked around Machu Picchu, young girls would call out “Ethan, hi Ethan”. The stone walls echoed with it. Funny. Strangers would pick up and hug Katelyn. Kiss her head and tell her how beautiful she is. Katelyn has a large personal space and this was strange for her. The kids go a lot of attention! and we saw very few tourist children in Peru, turns out that not many children are taken there to hike.<br />
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We had a wonderful two-week family adventure in late October, in Peru. We loved the culture and color of the Cusco area. When we left Costa Rica, we were wishing we were going straight to Ecuador. We were eager to get on with our mission work. But our time in Peru was wonderful for our family. We came to Ecuador an intact little family unit, immensely thankful for each other, and feeling very blessed.<br />murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-10081849230089761612011-10-09T20:41:00.000-07:002011-10-09T20:44:39.888-07:00¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias Canadiense!Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Day! We are all a little jealous about your turkey and pumpkin pie. I can almost imagine the taste of whip-cream! We're thinking of you this weekend; hoping that you enjoy some extra time with close friends and family. Pray for our extended families, as we miss them even a little bit more during these times of traditional family gathering.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ra4O3jKHvrnRS9RFBLiBqMlmDjkbO4RiQL6gvKvHE5WSkrbEh_Rj7sPu26w8TKOecMam5NmmnbXz_E5ZgXHnsHrX12gEwodm4DinvZsAVihRkhyphenhyphenMBFzSQ4OAsV1Sjsd3S9sBYh7YSQol/s1600/2nd+cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ra4O3jKHvrnRS9RFBLiBqMlmDjkbO4RiQL6gvKvHE5WSkrbEh_Rj7sPu26w8TKOecMam5NmmnbXz_E5ZgXHnsHrX12gEwodm4DinvZsAVihRkhyphenhyphenMBFzSQ4OAsV1Sjsd3S9sBYh7YSQol/s320/2nd+cross.jpg" /></a></div>We went on an adventure-filled hike near San Jose, yesterday. It is the rainy season here, so the conditions were wet and slippery!! We crossed FIVE boisterously flowing rivers. Sometimes our very path was a river. We hiked UP to a cross that can be seen from our spanish language school. The hike took a lot longer than we'd anticipated. We took our first city bus at 5:45am, and finally got back to our area of the city at 4pm. The long story is quite humorous, now that we're dry and fed.<br />
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We appreciate your prayers, tomorrow, as we venture back across the city of San Jose, this time to the Ecuador embassy. We've received new paperwork from the lawyer for One Mission Society in Ecuador. So we'll take that paperwork to the embassy in the morning, in the hopes of being granted missionary visas for our family. The trip to the embassy involves at least two buses and two taxis. We took paperwork there a few weeks ago, and are now heading there with more paperwork. Please pray that this will go smoothly, as we do not want to have to go to Quito to sort out visas, after we get to Ecuador!!!<br />
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This week is our last week of language classes. We continue to have a lot of daily homework and tests! We have met lovely people down here, that we will be be saying "good-bye" to, and this is tough (especially on the children). We are so very excited about moving on to Ecuador and being put to use there. We've been praying about heading to Camp Pallatanga, Ecuador since missionfest in February of 2010. We appreciate your prayers in the upcoming few weeks, as we uproot our family again, and transition to another new environment. Our visas were meant to be active beginning November 4th, so we're making good use of the "in between time" to see a bit of Costa Rica, then do a trek in Peru. We even have a friend from Canada meeting us in Peru. It will be lovely to have this adventure together; it also offers us an opportunity to practice our spanish and get acclimatized to the high altitude. But all five of us are really looking forward to getting to the family camp where we will be volunteering for the rest of the year.<br />
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We so appreciate your prayers! We encourage you to send us an e-mail some time this week, as we're not sure when we'll have access to internet once we move out of this little green house, on Friday, October 21st. Blessings to you! Love from the Murrays. murraymomelk@gmail.commurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-9156762047305252862011-09-15T19:56:00.000-07:002011-09-15T20:07:33.816-07:00Happy Costa Rican Independence Day to you!!You've asked "How are you settling-in?" and "How is your support?".<br />
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Our little family is sort of perched in San Jose, rather than settled-in. We've learned to work as a team to cross the roads safely. Last Wednesday, our neighbour, Kim, and her daughter were crossing a four lane road one block from our house. They began to jog across, when a semi truck seemed to accelerate toward them, laying on the horn. Kim ran toward one curb, her daughter ran back toward the other, as the semi roared between them. The week we arrived, a missionary was struck by a car just as he reached the sidewalk. Motorcyles here weave between stopped traffic. Even residential sidewalks are used for parking, and sometimes passing. So, when we are out with our three children we have to be very alert at all times. Ethan, Lauren, and Katelyn look and listen at each road crossing, then we all RUN across the road. The street directly in front of our house is a residential street, but we get coach busses, semi trucks, and speeding cars going by, all of which spew poorly burned exhaust. Don reckons San Jose muffler shops are not overly used. Muggings are common in San Jose, they are considered petty theft. Between the traffic and the thought of being pick-pocketed (we don't actually entertain the thought of being held-up in front of the children, though it has happened to others attending the school, recently in this neighbourhood) we five Murrays stick VERY close together whenever we got outside our gate (not usually after dark at 6pm).<br />
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When we go to the park, we're always sure to bring umbrellas. At the moment, it usually rains each afternoon, but as we head into October, we're told to expect rain all day everyday. This makes for lots of muddy laundry, but we still go out. Its warm, usually 28 degrees in the morning, then down to 22 degrees when it rains and overnight. The old equipment at the many local parks are all wet and swamped by puddles after the daily rain. Ethan comes home positively filthy from pick-up games of soccer with local children! The girls have had to learn not to ooooh and awwwwh at the many stray dogs. Lots of people have pet dogs here, but we've come to understand that lice and flees are a real problem; so our children cannot pet any of the dogs that they see in the parks. This "is like torture" to my canine loving kids, who are missing their own two dogs.<br />
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When it rains, the streets become gushing rivers. Last week, Don's classmate cut her foot on the flooded uneven sidewalk, she needed five stitches. The gutters here have gaping holes on each corner, where the metal sewer grates have been long-past stolen. These holes are locally called "gringo catchers", as you have to know that they are there, to avoid falling into them. Twisted angles and cut feet, ankles and legs are common injuries here.<br />
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Katelyn has only recently stopped asking if most buildings that we pass are a jail. Every house/building has bars on the windows and doors. The walls and fences around each building are about 12 feet high, usually topped with coils of razor wire. Armed guards stand outside of many buildings. Our block has a privately hired guard who does a twelve hour shift twenty-eight nights out of each month (two nights a month we are not guarded, while he has a "holiday"). A year and a half ago, there was a rash of break-ins in the neighbourhood, so the neighbours worked together to build a guard "house" and hire Don Antonio. Unfortunately, the children overheard our neighbour explaining why we all need to chip-in $30/month to pay the guard; the girls haven't sleep great in Costa Rica, they often wake up worried about robbers. The nights are very noisy! Dog fights, car alarms, in-efficient motors can be heard most moments day and night. The rain makes a deafening noise on the roof, so that you have to cuddle to have a conversation. We've had to warn the children that they can't go too near the ironed bar fence when they are playing in the front yard, we'd been warned that you can be grabbed through the fence if someone wants what you are playing with. Petty thieves here have a reputation for being very good with long poles, fishing items out of a front yard; so the children have had to get used to ensuring that no soccer balls, footwear, flashlights, or gecko-catching-devices are ever left out in the fenced front yard. Here's a photo of the "guard house" on sidewalk across the street from our house.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6bK5cglFCKCU2ZOjEMj6Ul8YEGwBclTHvPtxCxkyOYwPNAspPhqhG0cqEQI0EMt4yPWneCoHKSvU1cuEI4sQXgz5GK_kB8AV0MG-Gml-Tm80uJ34i1OuR9vJIwBbzhPGVgks6DrywsJZ/s1600/DSC00053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6bK5cglFCKCU2ZOjEMj6Ul8YEGwBclTHvPtxCxkyOYwPNAspPhqhG0cqEQI0EMt4yPWneCoHKSvU1cuEI4sQXgz5GK_kB8AV0MG-Gml-Tm80uJ34i1OuR9vJIwBbzhPGVgks6DrywsJZ/s320/DSC00053.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The other day, after a long walk to the grocery store, Ethan said, "I thought we came here to help. So why are we the poor people?". That morning, he'd played soccer with local tico children, all of whom had cleats (which they call "tacos" here). Ethan had running shoes "which are slippy" but work fine. So he'd been feeling a bit "poor" over that. At the grocery store non-tico (American) food is very expensive. Cheese at the deli (where it is cheapest) is marked by the kilo at $20/kilo. Cereal made in Costa Rica, but bearing the name Corn Flakes, etc, is $8/box. So we are eating lots of porridge in the morning, and lots of beans and rice in the evenings. Thank goodness we have a local bakery that is not expensive, so we often have fresh bread for lunch, but beans are really the cheapest thing to spread on the bread. We often splurge and get a little jar of peanut butter, but between five of us . . . .<br />
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These are examples of some of the cultural/environmental things that we are adjusting to in San Jose. Maybe some other time I'll tell you about the bugs . . . . We are being obedient by being in San Jose. Don and I felt we could learn spanish anywhere and the school fees here seemed expensive. But the Spanish Language Institute that we're attending has a renowned reputation and is used by many many mission organizations, training people who are headed out to serve as missionaries all over Central and South America. We really feel that we are here to be diligent in learning as much spanish as we can in the eight weeks we're here (six weeks of classes, one settling-in week, one adventure-seeking reward week). The children's prayers have become fervent authentic prayers: "Lord please protect us from diseases" (they've heard about dengue fever from the mosquitos), "Lord please bless this food" (we are so fortunate to have potable tap water, but the chlorine taste is a reminder to be thankful that we can drink the water), "Lord please keep us safe!!!".<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTwOAdzQani83ywEXlpaZ8qVMbJZQ9ucv98SXPsjwPkcXBmtUZeQPi6zhVPkti-7e5b85Y1oIZxNFHmSeXVOQfkhjgdF_Q8CJPNJ93DFsjlep_ajLBjDvYjS2M14tsB4Vh6W8tJZknceH/s1600/DSC07457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTwOAdzQani83ywEXlpaZ8qVMbJZQ9ucv98SXPsjwPkcXBmtUZeQPi6zhVPkti-7e5b85Y1oIZxNFHmSeXVOQfkhjgdF_Q8CJPNJ93DFsjlep_ajLBjDvYjS2M14tsB4Vh6W8tJZknceH/s320/DSC07457.jpg" /></a></div>This picture is a view from our language school classroom window. This is our neighbourhood!<br />
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We feel so very blessed to have you journeying alongside us for this year of mission work. We greatly value your prayers! We are still in need of financial support to address the costs of our travel and daily living expenses. All of our work is volunteer work so our travel and daily food, etc, is not provided for by the organization, we purchase these things out of our donated funds. At present, we are about 50% funded, and in need of $20,000 to be fully funded. Thank you to each of you who have chosen to come alongside of us prayerfully and financially. We are awed by your generosity. If you would like to contribute financially, Kimberly at the OMS office in Ontario, is wonderful 1-800-784-7077 or 905-522-1605. She can take credit cards by phone; on-line donation is available through the OMS website @ http://www.omscanada.org (click on the bottom right logo "Canada Helps Org); our account number is: #08053. All donations are tax-deductible.<br />
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One Mission Society Canada <br />
132-293 Wellington St. <br />
N. Hamilton, ON<br />
L8L 8E7<br />
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Thank you for your prayers and concern for our family. The Lord has impressed upon Don and my heart, each individually, that he is our strength and our protection; the walls and bars and guards and tight holding-on-of-little-hands is wise, but our trust for health and safety is in the Lord. Blessings to you, for a great day!murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-5806355376621925182011-09-10T07:07:00.000-07:002011-09-10T21:50:50.936-07:00Yo hablo un pocito espagnol (I speak a little spanish)It's September now, we are in Costa Rica for the six more weeks, to learn spanish. We're enrolled at the Spanish Language Institute in San Jose (the capital of Costa Rica) and we're living in a house one block away from the school. We attend the school each afternoon (year-long students attend in the mornings). We've JUST completed our first week of classes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0wxEjevB9GLzNhZ8-qgNx-YN9hz6n0k5GUYAL6e6RsaMixWJ5oxpWN0atqAtf05EbyrdXYAERDzsru4WN6eHf4x4EJ15zbuBszs1pUb_r2BUlsUReO89WsCWCIAyQNoVC0oLs0i7XlG3/s1600/DSC00385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0wxEjevB9GLzNhZ8-qgNx-YN9hz6n0k5GUYAL6e6RsaMixWJ5oxpWN0atqAtf05EbyrdXYAERDzsru4WN6eHf4x4EJ15zbuBszs1pUb_r2BUlsUReO89WsCWCIAyQNoVC0oLs0i7XlG3/s320/DSC00385.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: San Jose area near our little green house<br />
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They call our class the intensive language course. Its NASA-like in its speed and goal-orientation . . . On Monday we learned to make nouns, articles, and adjectives agree. Its a French-like concept, for those of us who took High School French. Instead of "le" the spanish masculine article is "el". In addition, in Spanish the end of each adjective changes to match the noun. So on our first day of class, we learned to say "la case blanca" (the white house, which is feminine), and "el clime trio" (the cold climate, masculine), or "las aves exoticas" (the exotic birds, feminine plural). The instructors spoke only in Spanish. I heard about a billion new words in first three hours on Monday. We came home with eight pages of homework.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_rKQfgD4CZ1kUuSh9LNe-YhvbOg9uxkh45jUaPam_trRNZUXfoC71yRDWGcC_gfYCP-8jl6Cok-fmDBZz89YE__i5C6qe8YfpVgb356kRmKbTp-XM0Q8Ok_BXIj2PS6vm7P6XZRU6qrY/s1600/DSC07421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_rKQfgD4CZ1kUuSh9LNe-YhvbOg9uxkh45jUaPam_trRNZUXfoC71yRDWGcC_gfYCP-8jl6Cok-fmDBZz89YE__i5C6qe8YfpVgb356kRmKbTp-XM0Q8Ok_BXIj2PS6vm7P6XZRU6qrY/s320/DSC07421.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: the school gates and with a guard on duty 24/7<br />
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Classes have continued at that pace. By the end of this first week, my instructors have covered pronouns in subject and object form, verb conjugation, and irregular verb rules and conjugation. I have a test on Monday!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb3IhQvTXOjmfFBqUUjH3fjSz-oZWsjzVBaOoQhtBpVFYF2_BREBvVeTiY8pXU_E1n2RRC025Bj81y9eMlsgCJ4etudVCIzsHeUN_Z1djHK1LGmQsU5aXIS5u5-39r34NUhpjljZ-t9oRN/s1600/DSC07423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb3IhQvTXOjmfFBqUUjH3fjSz-oZWsjzVBaOoQhtBpVFYF2_BREBvVeTiY8pXU_E1n2RRC025Bj81y9eMlsgCJ4etudVCIzsHeUN_Z1djHK1LGmQsU5aXIS5u5-39r34NUhpjljZ-t9oRN/s320/DSC07423.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: Tahiri, one of our Spanish teachers hard at work<br />
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That's the BEGINNER intensive course. Don is in the next class up (he took a university Spanish correspondence course this past spring). He's already learning crazy reflexive verb use. I hear him mumbling about third person plural reflexive, as he slaves over his homework. Our heads are full of Spanish after one week of afternoon classes.<br />
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Ethan, Lauren, and Katelyn are keen to learn Spanish. During the first week, we put sticky notes around our house: "la peurta" on the door, "la cocina" in the kitchen. Then Lisbeth, our ninera (child-care worker) began coming each afternoon to take care of the children while Don and I are in class. She speaks only spanish, but she has worked with missionary families in the past. When Don and I came home the first afternoon, Lisbeth and the kids had begun a word wall of spanish vocabulary. The kids really like her. And Don and I get LOTS of language practice trying to convey all kids of things to her. She has been a real blessing!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRtYeoHu-lLiybC7zZ3l8Jmouy7FXPnq5dtk9AxNkOd0jp4HlkIq-3VcR6ohPbkpD5mPOd8Wfs20U45AfwdosOl55pRr5m8d6Tfp6LlD0d6sYhSoDURBLQhLQjR7Ve6cRC9Ytjoy0EsKI/s1600/DSC00362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRtYeoHu-lLiybC7zZ3l8Jmouy7FXPnq5dtk9AxNkOd0jp4HlkIq-3VcR6ohPbkpD5mPOd8Wfs20U45AfwdosOl55pRr5m8d6Tfp6LlD0d6sYhSoDURBLQhLQjR7Ve6cRC9Ytjoy0EsKI/s320/DSC00362.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: Lisbeth and Amanda<br />
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Each morning, we're up and at it early. The children do three hours of homeschooling, then Don and I get ready for our classes. In amongst the marking, homeschool planning, cooking, and cleaning, we're practicing our spanish with each other, and fitting in our homework.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii82DvPrNJqMGMWenlQ6olcg5d9q5awUaAB-Vp7yXSRrpwHQAVrU_o7LAl-rcTTpgGsXDZgyR7Lfg01agDApsm34WgwL0pe9ubQNVb8oh6r-qx77EhjNW49ozSG8DChoYlo8SRyy4Ppr7o/s1600/DSC00351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii82DvPrNJqMGMWenlQ6olcg5d9q5awUaAB-Vp7yXSRrpwHQAVrU_o7LAl-rcTTpgGsXDZgyR7Lfg01agDApsm34WgwL0pe9ubQNVb8oh6r-qx77EhjNW49ozSG8DChoYlo8SRyy4Ppr7o/s320/DSC00351.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: homeschool hub<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzA17oqFjyDFwPrf7dfLQTti9K4SFxy_Mk3m8_7YXMWkjPl5ZvOJuIy1UnFMHLt2CX1vhw-FWft7vzjkHQ0M98Itq0Q1PD1FFfOH7VAPtZDoVqieBhNaJL4tOpX-Qo7Aa7GQHuBqLYZz2j/s1600/DSC00361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzA17oqFjyDFwPrf7dfLQTti9K4SFxy_Mk3m8_7YXMWkjPl5ZvOJuIy1UnFMHLt2CX1vhw-FWft7vzjkHQ0M98Itq0Q1PD1FFfOH7VAPtZDoVqieBhNaJL4tOpX-Qo7Aa7GQHuBqLYZz2j/s320/DSC00361.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: Don's favorite homework spot<br />
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We're getting used to shopping around our neighbourhood. We've found the market, the bakery, and various sizes of grocery stores, thanks to great neighbours!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEQEtYP5ty-NOjR8OcEcCRm8yS9jWgg_a9uDUkp73aWivoW-9OZCcVswMKMLrVF3CcytbkecFc_j1iW6jq1lRz4QxGGwlsSVHJJN500tzzcQS5ROI_nZtJl8McB0uBqOtrBy9df0LF-gk/s1600/DSC07422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEQEtYP5ty-NOjR8OcEcCRm8yS9jWgg_a9uDUkp73aWivoW-9OZCcVswMKMLrVF3CcytbkecFc_j1iW6jq1lRz4QxGGwlsSVHJJN500tzzcQS5ROI_nZtJl8McB0uBqOtrBy9df0LF-gk/s320/DSC07422.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: getting to know the neighbourhood, where to shop, and how to cross a street and live<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBL0_q75nT84mnirIZKPMUu_kBE9lxsL025mcBNNhdrCryzQR53jSvGKsq-IT31njR2RfCZYV-V80pZ2YBw2lmr5o29VCra-uEOIDQDfhZtJ_v80VfvNcL5alRRM28tNc-ZjaUwSS6AHS/s1600/DSC07430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBL0_q75nT84mnirIZKPMUu_kBE9lxsL025mcBNNhdrCryzQR53jSvGKsq-IT31njR2RfCZYV-V80pZ2YBw2lmr5o29VCra-uEOIDQDfhZtJ_v80VfvNcL5alRRM28tNc-ZjaUwSS6AHS/s320/DSC07430.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: Saturday's market allows us to purchase fresh fruit and veggies<br />
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We've begun e-mailing with the missionary family that we are going to work with in Ecuador. It helps make our purpose for being in San Jose very real . . . we need to learn as much Spanish as we can in the next six weeks, so that we can be useful (rather than a burden) when we get to Ecuador. We sure appreciate your prayers for our family!!!! especially for continued safety, health, and "sponge-like" language learning.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqyLXIYuKYXhyphenhyphenro3K5kOI-s3yGCphmH00ZjH7FBTRfinSytCXW-0DhDAf7AFvmi7WnRDMYT3UM-O4UVUaSu2A43e7L7FVO44V5KB9l0dmjuQ7GbV7IBKO9JUHpRQZx2MbHmUsyQQ8-F9nl/s1600/DSC00376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqyLXIYuKYXhyphenhyphenro3K5kOI-s3yGCphmH00ZjH7FBTRfinSytCXW-0DhDAf7AFvmi7WnRDMYT3UM-O4UVUaSu2A43e7L7FVO44V5KB9l0dmjuQ7GbV7IBKO9JUHpRQZx2MbHmUsyQQ8-F9nl/s320/DSC00376.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: we have to remember to drink LOTS of water! or the headaches hurt<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkY9iOenrOHZ-He6EC9lAN0O8TvQMEJnOgl_5oBobZ3KxYAm61zK2htGt2zMMVEmLzxG8m5jbw6pmbGCiyfwzCdGmG6gzHIuLaazk8lBcG91Ywpah0awUmKOnG_U0jW_nqiw5PPAmWfoTS/s1600/DSC00358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkY9iOenrOHZ-He6EC9lAN0O8TvQMEJnOgl_5oBobZ3KxYAm61zK2htGt2zMMVEmLzxG8m5jbw6pmbGCiyfwzCdGmG6gzHIuLaazk8lBcG91Ywpah0awUmKOnG_U0jW_nqiw5PPAmWfoTS/s320/DSC00358.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: our "backyard", where the internet works best<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkkN3MKzWboKz5L5qEBUcg-I0sP0b72Z-OHKiaX8zXKkqC8NV-pro5AAZd0XJvw_VNj_-e8-IPDtXuKuZ_LWBTrTEdP-PcqyQynydtrK0ySiir8YHLCkTtbo8_ZSfSlk_4c7i04bV2apO/s1600/DSC00335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkkN3MKzWboKz5L5qEBUcg-I0sP0b72Z-OHKiaX8zXKkqC8NV-pro5AAZd0XJvw_VNj_-e8-IPDtXuKuZ_LWBTrTEdP-PcqyQynydtrK0ySiir8YHLCkTtbo8_ZSfSlk_4c7i04bV2apO/s320/DSC00335.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: our front yard, where the kids play lots of soccer and catch geckos<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYopFNo0GTG5odusRWpiYsWLbIkfkV0bv-8DlMaK9U9RNkZI4hN15V5tNYQkESWt38fwYaHRz1J-KwSR4Fv6WzlelfD0rYEVr3E8lZPQkDc5Fx5IwpVayaHcurPZsgPKiBMNZ1sNmIyLy/s1600/DSC00355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYopFNo0GTG5odusRWpiYsWLbIkfkV0bv-8DlMaK9U9RNkZI4hN15V5tNYQkESWt38fwYaHRz1J-KwSR4Fv6WzlelfD0rYEVr3E8lZPQkDc5Fx5IwpVayaHcurPZsgPKiBMNZ1sNmIyLy/s320/DSC00355.jpg" /></a></div><i>photo: creative play is being discovered . . . empty juice bottles become "baby dolls"<br />
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Thank you for making time to think of us and pray for us! We pray many blessings for you and your family!<br />
Love from the Murraysmurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-35212562903420729272011-09-03T07:26:00.000-07:002011-09-03T15:54:24.202-07:00Arrived Safely in Costa RicaSan Jose isn't the tropical Costa Rican resort that we all dream about in December.<br />
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This morning I woke up to the sounds of a lovely tropical bird singing away. I lay in bed, praising God for the bird, for my good night’s sleep (yeah!), and for the situation and safety of our family. As I prayed, God was gracious to me, and showed me the blessings of an optimistic spirit. I listened to Him, and I listened to the sounds under the lovely bird’s song . . . large trucks roaring past our bedroom window on our “residential street”, parked car’s alarms responding to those trucks near misses, sirens, stray dogs yipping and fighting; it is amazing how quickly we have become so accustomed to these “normal” San Jose noises.<br />
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We praise God for how well the family is adjusting! We're meeting people in our neighborhood. Also, some of San Jose’s amenities make adjusting easier . . . . garbage pick-up (the streets are generally clean and the stray dogs don’t hang around too much), potable water (not only does this make our life much easier in this house, brushing teeth, etc, but knowing that each San Jose premises has safe drinking water means that we can drink tea or punch elsewhere and eat salads and vegetables at local restaurants knowing they’ve been washed in safe water). This is a great transition place for our family, before we head to a more rural spot in South America.<br />
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Today we are going to the local market. We have been looking forward to this all week, as we can hardly wait to buy fresh fruit!! We arrived on Sunday. Since then, we’ve walked in each direction, finding local stores, restaurants, and parks. We are extremely fortunate, in that our house is one block from the language training school, where Don and I will begin Spanish classes on Monday. Everything seems very expensive here . . . eggs, bread, milk, all cost the same or more than they would at Safeway, in St Albert. The first few days we made porridge, peanut butter sandwiches, omelettes, and pasta with sauce. Now we’re beginning to branch out into more “tico” (Costa Rican) food, like beans, rice, and chicken. We’re only in Costa Rica for another seven weeks, so we don’t want to buy too much for spices, etc<br />
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The ants keep us humble. They really like our kitchen counter and table. Because of the ants, we only need five of each thing . . . five forks, five bowls, five plates, because we can’t put a dirty dish down anywhere, the ants find it and swarm. We do feel blessed to have a fridge, stove, washing machines, beds, and a kitchen table. Now we have internet too! Having internet in the house is more than we’d ever hoped for!! This week, we’ve been skyping with family for free, and we had expected to be phoning them from a roadside payphone. What a tremendous blessing, to stay connected and be able to reassure friends and family at home!!!<br />
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This afternoon, we’ll meet our tico nanny. She is going to come to the house each weekday to care for the children while we are in language classes. The kids Grandma Helen had planned to come and take care of them, but her white-blood-cell count changed days before we flew here, and she has had to stay home. We’re praying for her; she feels healthy, but her condition is a puzzle to her doctors, so please keep her in your prayers. Also pray for our children, please, as they adjust to being cared for each afternoon by Lisbeth; she doesn’t speak English, so this is a wonderful opportunity for the children! I will homeschool them each morning, then they will have the afternoon at the house (and hopefully at the park) with Lisbeth. She comes highly recommended from missionaries who have previously attended the language school we’ll be at each afternoon.<br />
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So far, it has rained most afternoons. Katelyn calls it the glorious rain, because she doesn’t like to feel hot. She dances out in our gated front yard in the rain.<br />
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We have gates and locks and bars everywhere. We’ve gotten used to it requiring fourteen key turns to go out for a walk . . . the door, the gate (like a screen door, with no screen), and the other gate (like a fence). Each has a built –in deadbolt, then the fence-gate has a secondary deadbolt that you attach. As we lock each section at night, I am reminded that our trust is in the Lord, and we are thankful for the locks, and window bars, and walls, and barbed wire, but we trust in God for security. He has certainly been gracious to us.<br />
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Well, I am in danger of writing a novel instead of a blog post. Thank you so much for your support and prayers! Blessings to you, as you begin a new school year. We’re praying for you, too.<br />
Love from the Murrays and our ever-changing-catch-and-release pet geckos.<br />
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murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-19886069658746879352011-08-20T18:15:00.000-07:002011-08-20T18:15:41.845-07:00Exactly how it was meant to be . . .When we put the house up for sale in May, we knew it would sell immediately. After all we were selling the home to allow us to go overseas for a year as volunteers with One Mission Society. The housing market seemed at a lull, but we knew that God could sell a house in any market, so we prayed and we waited.<br />
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We are booked to being Spanish language classes at a missionary institute in San Jose, Costa Rica, on September 4th. We’ll then proceed to Camp Pallatanga, in Ecuador, to volunteer for the rest of the school year, beginning November 4th.<br />
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We have done a lot of waiting this spring. We have done a ton of praying this spring!<br />
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Many people encouraged us to rent out our house, instead of selling. They wanted to protect us from fluctuating housing markets, but we were afraid to have our attention divided when we were overseas; we didn’t want to have to worry about our big old bungalow.<br />
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We had a lot of potential buyers come through our home, and we have become experts at “making it look like a show home” in short notice. We didn’t get a single offer on our house, though everyone “loved it”. We’ve organized all kinds things and packed them away in a storage container we have at our friend’s acreage. So we’ve been perched, ready to spring into action, as soon as the house sold.<br />
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The summer has crept by and last week we decided to try our hand at finding a renter. Now we can see that this was exactly how it was all meant to be. We have a renter/house-sitter who is going to move with her young family from Ontario to begin a new job in Edmonton. It seems that God had the house prepared for them to rent all along.<br />
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Suddenly, all of the details are coming together swimmingly. This morning OMS sent an e-mail confirming our flight information. This afternoon our “renter” confirmed that she does “have the job” in Edmonton and is ready to move.<br />
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We’ll fly out next Sunday morning, its time for us to really get packing! Thanks for your continued prayers!!!!<br />
murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-43815910104727232402011-07-27T07:54:00.000-07:002011-07-27T08:30:03.728-07:00A time of waitingToday, we're going to get our home "looking like a show home". After two months of having the house on the market, the children know their show-home-jobs well. Hopefully it will even be dry enough to mow the grass, today! We have an open house coming up. We are so very hopeful that our house will sell this weekend. It is stressful, watching our departure date looming (some time the week of August 22nd) and not being able to pack up and finalize things here. We keep praying and trusting and waiting.<br />
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We have been very, very blessed and encouraged in our initial fundraising efforts. In the last month, family and friends have donated 25% of the funds we need to have into One Mission Society, in order to go to Ecuador. Its so encouraging to be approached by people wanting to be involved in our volunteer efforts in Ecuador. It is very exciting, talking with the missionary family who are already working at Camp Pallatanga. We are eager to get down to South America and be put to work!<br />
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This week, our two dogs went to their year-long homes. Our house is strangely emptier, without Dante and Tipper wagging around.<br />
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We've begun to haul things to our storage container. We're doing it a bit backward, putting in little things first, but we're grateful to have a container to put most everything into!<br />
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Don is currently working on a Spanish course through Athabasca University. Don and I spoke conversational Spanish 13 years ago. We love the intonation and cadence of the language. We'll do most of our language training in San Jose Costa Rica, from September 4th to October 14th, before heading onto South America. We can't wait to get underway!<br />
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Thank you for your prayers!!!<br />
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Dante and Tippermurraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-41447664744714774392011-07-19T22:00:00.000-07:002011-07-19T22:00:52.605-07:00moving forward in faithDon and I are officially off work.<br />
<br />
We are ready to register for spanish language training, book flights, and arrange for housing in Costa Rica (where our family will be in intensive language classes for six weeks). Our own home in St Albert has not yet sold, however we are currently moving forward in faith booking dates, courses, and flights. Your financial contributions and your prayers are VERY MUCH appreciated!<br />
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We are preparing to leave Canada in late August. Our language training classes run from Sept 5th to October 14th.<br />
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Thank you for visiting our blog!<br />
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Our OMS support account number is #08053<br />
tax-deductible donations can be made by phone at <br />
1-800-784-7077 or<br />
<br />
through the OMS website <a href="http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/express-donations">http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/express-donations</a><br />
<br />
or sent to <br />
One Mission Society Canada <br />
132-293 Wellington St. <br />
N. Hamilton, ON<br />
L8L 8E7murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-75134221376533276262011-06-26T19:30:00.000-07:002011-07-19T21:43:36.960-07:00Get involvedHelp get the Murrays out of the country!<br />
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The plan is for our family to work at a family camp, in the mountains of Ecuador for a year. One Mission Society is the organization we are working under. We begin in September with language training at a missionary language institute in San Jose, Costa Rica.<br />
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We had planned to sell our home, and use the equity to fund our year volunteering abroad. We’ve kept our home “looking like a show-home” for a month (that’s tough on the five of us!).<br />
<br />
We’re excited about registering for language training and booking our flights, but our house has not yet sold. So we’re prayerfully asking for help with funding.<br />
<br />
Our OMS support account number is #08053<br />
tax-deductible donations can be made by phone at <br />
1-800-784-7077 or<br />
<br />
through the OMS website <a href="http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/express-donations">http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/express-donations</a><br />
<br />
or sent to <br />
One Mission Society Canada <br />
132-293 Wellington St. <br />
N. Hamilton, ON<br />
L8L 8E7<br />
<br />
We would REALLY appreciate your prayers as we endeavor to be actively involved in God’s work in Ecuador.murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-50028739568501953402011-06-19T19:57:00.000-07:002011-06-19T19:57:06.652-07:00June 2011 updateThank you to the wonderful congregation of St Pauls Anglican church for inviting us to share our plans with them! What a lovely morning we had reconnecting with old friends!<br />
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Our plans are evolving as the summer draws near. We're now looking at a mid-August departure date. This should give us time to sell our home in St Albert, before heading to language training in the capital city of Costa Rica. Don's mom is planning to join us for the 6 six weeks that we'll be in San Jose for language training; "grandma" is going to take care of our three children, while we are in classes full days, each day. We are thrilled about this new development!<br />
<br />
We anticipate heading directly from Costa Rica to Ecuador. We are excited about getting to Camp Pallatanga!murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0Camp Pallatanga, Ecuador-2.1143878463361117 -78.980713265625013-2.6916538463361115 -79.430336265625016 -1.5371218463361118 -78.531090265625011tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319982706938096027.post-58870474169605485732011-05-01T21:10:00.000-07:002011-05-01T21:10:37.519-07:00It's May already!Our family is so excited about heading to Camp Pallatanga in Ecuador!<br />
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We are in the throws of getting organized . . . its a bit overwhelming, so we appreciate your prayers! One Mission Society (OMS) is doing a fantastic job of organizing all kinds of details for us: like cross-cultural training, language training, securing visas, prayer support, and communicating with those already in Ecuador.<br />
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We've been preparing to sell our house. Organizing home-schooling details. Finding a year-long dog sitter. Beginning to learn Spanish. And now we want to try to get organized to correspond with friends and family while we are away!!!!<br />
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Will we have internet in Ecuador? We hope so. It sounds like Camp Pallatanga has dial-up wireless internet, that reportedly works best from the end of the driveway.<br />
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We have lots of dreams and ideas about our year away. We also have lots of questions about the upcoming year. So we'll keep you posted.<br />
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Our plan is to leave this July, 2011, and return next July, 2012.murraymomelkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15734007489308534736noreply@blogger.com0