Rain, rain, go away . . .

Mowing in the rain . . .

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. =)

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!!

We've gotten used to lots of things being done differently in Central and South America, but lots of things still surprise us regularly.

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.

However, once and awhile, a visit to the bathroom is extra shocking! Last week, when reaching for the light-switch, this bug surprised me!

Then this grasshopper deterred Katelyn from using the washroom on our drive back to camp this past week.

Oh my!!!!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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!

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!).

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.

Our friend's shop and home in behind . . .

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.

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.

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.

Blessings to you! We pray for you often, too.
=) the Murrays

Happy 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).

We have been on the road a lot in the past few weeks!
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.

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!

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.

This is a picture of Ethan beside one of the "viejos muneos" that was later burned on New Years Eve.

When we got back to camp, there was sooooooooo much to do!!!
The roof of our little house had been leaking, and our mattress was soggy . . .

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 . . .

The bamboo shoots had been shooting-up, and needed to be chopped before the grass could be mowed . . .

There are acres and acres and acres of grass to be cut. Ethan will be busy indefinitely!

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 . . .

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.

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.

The three Canadian volunteers came back with us to Camp Pallatanga. Don did a fantastic job of driving 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!

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 . . .

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!

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.

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!!!!

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.

Blessing to you,
Amanda and family

Christmas in an Ecuadorian mountain village

We'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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Wishing you a joyous Christmas this year!
Love from the Murray family