Tabitha's Truths

A Day in December

2011-12-07T12:43:00.001-06:00

Maybe you have heard about missionaries and subscribe to their updates, maybe you have gone on mission trips or been a missionary. I wanted to unravel some of questions of what does a missionary do with a look at a day in the life of Tabitha.   This is not what every missionary´s life looks like and it is of course only one day, Tuesday December 6th 2011.

8:00am Drag myself out of bed and to the coffee maker wondering why I'm so tired yet again. Soon the rich frangrance of only the best coffee in the world comes wafting through the house, yes that is right - ecuadorian coffee, the day is already looking better.

9:00am At the office for our morning prayer time.

9:15- 10:15 Frantically answer and send messages to people asking why I have not written them and why I have not completed projects that they have asked for. Also lets not forget about the email saying that that there is still room to send one of our ecuadorians to the OM Ships in Jan!! YES!! Also the summary of all the things that I do in OM for the lawyer who is preparing my visa renewal papers.

10:15am Leave for the Children's Hospital where I go every tuesday for ministry. This time Marcy, Mafer and Yessi went with me, it is nice to have a team. We walked in the hot ecuadorian sun to the first bus stop to catch the #12. There are no seats so we squash ourselves into the already overcrowded standing room. A little grandmother gets in after us and starts her speech on why we need to give her money.   We slide between the people to get off at our next stop for the #42. Thankfully less people.

10:45am Upon arriving to the hospital I put on my light purple smock that the volunteers use, explained to the guard that the three ladies following me were also volunteers though they didn't have the purple smock. We waited for the only working elevator to take us to the fifth floor. A little lady about the size of a tall gnome stared up at me the whole way, I think she was trying to figure out what a gringa was doing in the hospital. We arrived to the newly painted wing for children with Infectious Diseases.

Here I asked the nurses about Melissa. I had talked with and prayed for Melissa several times before. She was so thin and the last time was hooked up to many machines. They told me that she passed away just a few days after we lasted visited her. The last thing she asked me was to bring her coloring pages of butterflies the next time I visited.

11:00 - 12:00 We divided up and began to talk with the children and their care givers. I got to talk with Michelle. She is 13 and was there with her uncle. She also was very thin and her face was very swollen. She seemed to be in pain. Every time I visit I bring a picture children's bible to read stories to the children. I asked her if I could read to her about the story of Christmas and she gave me a small smile and moved her head slightly on the pillow to indicate yes. We read about Mary and the angel, Jesus' birth and the shepherds, then I asked her if she knew why it was so important and joyous that Jesus was born. When she said she didn't know why, I read to her the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. She told me she wanted to know God too and we prayed together, she could barely breath out the prayer after me but I assured her it is what is in her heart that counts. After praying she had a beautiful smile and a small tear in her eye. I hope to visit her again before I go home on the 15th.

12:00 -12:30The head doctor calls me into a surprise meeting with her and two other foreigners. They want to do summer camps for children with illnesses in Ecuador and are looking for an organization to partner with. They are not religiously affiliated but are not against working with groups that are. Interesting possibilities. The return home was uneventful in #13 bus.

1-2pm LUNCH! only I haven't had time to go shopping lately so it was peanut butter and crackers, good thing I like peanut butter!

2-6pm Back in the office. emails about the OM Ship, training, insurance, people interested in our mission school, other interested in the volunteer program, a couple of error messages from my computer, freezing screen, unfreezes, more error messages, screen freezes, stays frozen, hard shut down and go home.

6-9pm Turn on my laptop. Open my email, 2 minutes later it opens. For the next 2 hours I try to respond to personal emails and catch up on current news in the world. Got the fan on high as there is no airconditioning and the computer overheats easily. It wouldn't be such a problem but as it is dying a slow and dramatic death, well it is only slightly frustrating after realizing what it would be like without a computer all together!  Went out to a yummy little hole-in-the-wall empanada shop two blocks away to get supper for me and my roommate, still need to get groceries. Get frustrated with the computer, turn it off, there's more to life than internet.

9-10:30 Draw a picture of a little boy from another orphanage where we used to work while listening to Jars of Clay Oh My God. I wonder where he is now? He was so little then and already so hard hearted. Why are there so many injustices in the world? I read three chapters in a book loaned to me by a friend called Note to Self.  It tells me to keep singing, I like that. Look out all you who get sick of me singing the parts of Christmas songs that I know, over and over again! Time in prayer. Ok I think its better to go to sleep now. Tomorrow it starts all over again.

The song stuck in my head: Joy to the World

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Going to Baños

2011-11-19T16:36:00.001-06:00

19 youth, 10 leader, 4 days, 13 hours of traveling... 1 incredible trip.

We went to Baños (it means baths not toilet!!!) for the second annual Santay Youth Retreat. This little town full of waterfalls nestled in the andes mountains approximately 6.5 hours from Guayaquil was officially the furthest that these 19 youth had ever traveled in their lives. Thats a little hard for this Texas girl to understand considering that with 6 hours of travel you haven´t even gotten halfway across my state.
This weekend retreat had the theme of Freedom. They heard maybe for the first time about what it means to be free in Christ. We also got to see some awesome waterfalls, a huge volcano and natural hot water springs. I absolutly love nature and seeing the raw beauty that God created.

On Saturday night we went up to a lookout point, it was dark so I am still not sure of the point but it was fun! We made a fire and cooked hot dogs while trying to stay warm, keep in mind that the coldest that Santay gets is the low 70´s and it was in the 40´s that night. At least 10 of the youth came up to me super excited at different points saying ¨Tabita, tabita, LOOK¨ Then they exhaled very deeply, ¨Look! SMOKE!!!!!¨ It was the first time that they had ever seen their breath visibly.

The good news is that we arrived back to Guayaquil and Santay Island with all 19, I kept counting in the bus everytime we had a bathroom break. Scary realizing that you are in charge of the well-being of so many, not just physically but also spiritually, a bit sobering. I loved the time that we spent together but left the weekend with a stronger burden for these young people to truely encounter the Living God. Though we had several good sessions, there was not much outward response from the youth. However, we did see some pretty neat things happening with one of the girls. She had struggled with gastritis for years, during the weekend several of the leaders prayed for her and for healing. The next week when we went back to the island, Mafer was so excited to share with us that she was healed, she was no longer taking the medicines and had no pain at all!! Little by little they are seeing the hand of God at work in their lives! Keep praying for the youth of Santay!

The lame will walk!

2011-09-26T16:47:00.002-05:00

I would like to share with you three short stories of what God is doing in one of our ministries.

OM has been working with Santay Island for over three years now. There has been many attempts at discipleship but little response in these years. Many on the minstry team were begining to get discouraged from the lack of response that we saw in the people, until about two weeks ago. On the 12th of September once again the weekly ministry team went to Santay for a small bible study and program with the children and youth. I was walking along one stretch of island together with a visitor, Deborah who was going to share with the adults that day. We managed the trails and the creaking 2x4 raised walkways and at the very end of our route Señora Elsa called out to us from her little house. She invited us to come up as she had a story to share with us.

When we walked in, we saw that one of the other teams of two, Riana and Steve were already inside. But we sat down on the few chairs that she owed as she began to share her story. About two months ago, She was going from one side of the island to the other but because there was so much mud she went by canoe. In this little canoe Eva (a very young mother, also a resident of the island) and her little baby girl of about 1 and a half years were also going with her. As they were rowing, they noticed that the waves were very strong that day. [The island of Santay is located between two rivers, as the rivers are connected to the ocean the river also has a tide and certain seasons the river is a bit rougher than others]. At the moment Elsa paused her story to explain that in her 59 years she had lived on the island for over 30 of those. When she got married she moved to the island, but she had never during that time learned how to swim. Because of this she had a great fear of the water, that only got worse when her husband suffered from a heart attack and they found him dead in the river about a year ago. Back to the story, at that point a large wave hit the canoe just right and turned it over. Señora Elsa went over one side (towards the center of the river) and Eva and the baby girl on the other side. Elsa told me "Even though I couldn't swim, I couldn't think about me. There was that little baby who needed help. So I began to yell, 'save the baby' as I struggled to stay above the water." The young mother was frozen with indecision, save her baby or save Elsa. However, the baby was not visable as the sinking canoe trapped her under the water. Elsa went under several time and was taking in water, though still shouting for someone to save the baby. The nearest neighbor, Veronica, wanted to help but she had a little 2 year old clinging to her leg and for fear of her child following her into the water could not help. At this critical moment another large wave came and pushed the canoe just enough for the baby to come loose and she popped up to the surface of the water. Eva grabbed her baby and swam to the shore. But Elsa had gone down and said that she wasn't going up anymore. "I figured that it was the end for me" She said. She had been struggling with feelings of uselessness and loneliness since her husband died. But as she was preparing herself for her final moments, a miracle happened. She doesn't know how but the next thing she knew she was at the surface of the water and swimming! Her neighbor, Veronica confirmed that later saying "We were sure that she was lost for goodk, yet there she was dog-paddling to the shore." Elsa told us when she made it to the shore there was not a doubt in her mind that God saved her, Eva and little baby. "Tabita," she said, "I knew, I KNEW at that very moment that God had a plan for me." She decided that going to the bible meetings and just listening was not enough for her. She began to pray, and not just in her house but out in the community. This is almost something completely unheard of for the Santay people. Right then she prayed with us as well. God has great plans for Elsa and Santay!

Just when I thought this one story was amazing enough, we went to the next house to invite Veronica to the meeting. Veronica greeted us from her porch and asked me "Tabita, did your co-workers tell you about what has happened recently with my family?" I didn't know what she meant, so I asked her to tell me. She told me that her husband was working on Santay so their family moved to the island about six months ago. She has two little girls. But things were not going so well between the two of them and as her husband began to hang out more and more with the men from Santay he was falling into some bad influences. They began to think about seperating. They were sure that there was no way to work it out. Then some guys from our team challenged the Santay men to a soccer game, and surprisingly they won! After the game, they invited the men to come to watch a movie, the movie was Fireproof. After watching the movie, Veronica's husband, approached one of our workers, Darren. He told him that he needed to talk to him. Veronica didn't tell me what they talked about, I am not even sure she knows. But he came back a changed man. He quit hanging out with the bad influences. He began to work on his marriage and things rapidly improved between him and his wife. He began to read his bible in the morning and evenings and he prayed. Veronica was astounded by the change in her husband and grateful that God made a way to keep them together.

My heart was overflowing at this point! There is no way that things could get better that day! Or so I thought. Deborah and I walked back to the place were we were going to eat lunch together and Riana came up to me extremely excited. "Tabitha! You will never guess what happened!!" And the third story of the day began. Riana explained to me that she along with Steve had been visiting an elderly man for the past three weeks. Like Veronica and her family they were new to the island because of the recient construction. However, this man was in a wheel chair. This situation has a greater impact when you realize that everyone lives in houses 10 feet off the ground with basically a ladder to get to the house. The paths are in the dirt and the majority of time it is mid-calf mud because of the constantly rising tide. The places were the mud is too deep you have to walk on narrow, rotting planks that are raised up about three feet off the ground. It isn't exactly handicapp friendly. The first visit that Riana and Steve made together to this man, Modesto, was exactly three weeks before. It was in this visit that they realized that he was handicapped as before those who visited him just thought he was sitting on the porch. Riana urged Steve to share the whole bible study with Modesto as he was not able to go to the meetings. So Steve shared everything. Then they both felt strongly to pray for healing for him and his legs as he had a lot of pain in his legs for the last 13 years. He cried as they prayed for him. Then they left him with the instructions to get up everyday thanking God for healing him even if he felt pain. They returned the next week but they were not thinking that he would actually be healed. When they got to Modesto's house, he was waiting for them. He was so excited. He shared with them that for the first time in 13 years the pain had left and he had stood up. He was not walking yet but this was the first time he had not had pain. They prayed with him again for complete healing. It was here that Riana got really excited! That day when Steve went to visit Modesto, once again he was waiting for Steve to show up. This time he greeted Steve with "I want to know your Jesus, please tell me how!" They prayed together and he gave his life to Christ. He was still afraid to try to walk but was very excited to show Steve all the things that he could now do without any pain. We are trusting that complete healing will come to Modesto!

What incredible testimonies, all in one day! It was about a work that has been going on for years and finally we are seeing fruit. God is so good! It is through His awesome work that will draw the people of Santay to Him! We serve a mighty, powerful and living God!

¿Hablas Español?

2011-09-08T11:49:00.000-05:00

I decided that I was not busy enough so it was time to add something new. SPANISH CLASSES!! I have only taken one class in literature since finishing my basics in February 2009.. Most people who hear me speak spanish say that I speak well, that is until they begin to listen to the grammar! Anyone that knows me realizes that I like to speak, and if I am quiet there is something wrong. This has helped my language skills immensely. But is also means that I have picked up the local accent after speaking for so long without correction. Some might say that is it great but when I tell you that the local accent here sounds a bit like innercity slang in the states, you might change your mind.

The obvious thing to do after deciding that you want more classes is to go and take the test to see which class you will end up in. Ok, I have to admit that the perfectionist in me was thinking, "oh great, even after 3 years of speaking spanish they are going to put in the basic class because of my grammar.." I was on pins and needles to find out what really is my Spanish level! Then came the email, "We are inviting you to join in the Spanish for Forigners Program in the Intermediate II class." YAY!! I don't speak like a kindergartener!! This class includes a lot of studies in the subjunctive form and contiditional, which is good cause I avoid using them (we don't really have subjunctive in English).

I am taking the class every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30pm to 6:30pm. Becuase of this I have to rearrange my work schedule a bit. For my first day, yesterday, I left my office at 3pm on the dot. First, I took the city bus #12 and then the Metrovia. The Metrovia is a innercity bus a bit like a subway but in bus form. In my three year in Ecuador I have not had much reason to take the metrovia. There are several reasons to avoid it if you can. #1 it is always packed. When I say packed, I mean you are touching at least five people at all times on all sides unless you are blessed and get to stand next to the wall, then it is only three people pressing into you. #2 at 3:30pm it is hot, bright sun, and no airconditioning.... a hundred people packed in... you get the picture. #3 it has the highest percentage of pick pocketing than any other place, as everyone is always touching someone. #4 when I get on alone, I am the only natural blonde in the whole bus.. Thankfully my stop is the second one after I get on the metrovia!

I was greeted to the university by a little iguana on the wall. I meet my teacher, Janett and my fellow student, Iris from the Netherlands. It feels a little strange to be back in classes, it reminds me of my time at Dallas Baptist University. I even start to put my clothes out the night before as I did in University, as I am going in to work earlier thus getting up earlier. And anyone who has seen me in the morning would know why I shouldnt trust my judgment directly after waking up. In my class, we had a mini-debate in spanish. Iris and I had to choose a profession and then debate which of two would have to jump off of the balloon so it wouldn't pop. Instead of choosing typical profession she decided to be the Queen of Holland and I was a Helecopter Pilot bringing aid to the hungry and needing in Somalia. We both had some good points but eventually I bit the bullet and jumped.. but only because as a pilot I had a parachute!

I hope that this new time of studies will be a blessing to my other areas of work and that I will have opportunites to share God's love with my teacher and classmate.

Seeds Sown & Planes Flown.

2011-09-01T18:08:00.000-05:00

From the 30th of May until the 30th of July we held the 2011 Transcultural Communication and Mission School in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Fourteen student participated from three different countries. It was an incredible time. I was highly involved in the logistical details and the classroom side of the school. This school was such an encouragement and blessing to me as I had been praying for the students by name since March. Truly lives were changed during the school, and not just the students! There were four weeks of outreaches throughout Ecuador. They ministered to churches, schools and a children's foundation. Some of the fruit is already showing from this school as we sent out one of the fourteen this morning for the OM Ship. There are three more scheduled to go out in January, plus several others who are still working on the details on where to go. It is days like these that I LOVE my job!

On the other side of the coin we have had a lot of goodbyes lately. First we had to say goodbye to the fourteen students who are wrapped firmly around our hearts. Next the three short-term helpers who were here in June and July: Kyndall from the USA, Niklas from Germany, and Marcel from Switzerland. I had the privilege to lead the team of short-termers and they not only helped to fill in the gaps that were left by our staff needing to teach and mentor in the school but they also added greatly to the ministries themselves. We were able to do a special empowerment program in the Children's hospital during those two months. Also our dear friend and co-worker Seth Rikard, has finished his two year commitment and is heading for Oxford to study apologetics. We are so excited for him but yet sad for the gaping hole that is left here in Ecuador.

Our dear friends, Seth and Wendy

May God bless you with a restless discomfort

2011-05-24T00:49:00.004-05:00

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Savior,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide,
be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

AMEN

It has been two days since I first read the Franciscan Blessing, and I cannot get it out of my head. Then this morning in our team devotional this scripture was read that to be honest I never recall hearing before.

Jeremiah 22:16
"He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means to know me?"
Declares the Lord

For months, years, my heart has been crying out for those who are oppressed, for the injustices of the world, for those in poverty and the hate and bitterness that causes us to lash out blindly at anyone weaker than us. Where we are working these atrocities pour out abundantly, in a personal way that makes it hard to ignore and forget like we might do with the stories on the news or the horror stories that are beginning to be so common in families and communities now days. But it isn't enough. What we are doing isn't enough, you must join in this fight. I don't want to tell sad stories but trust me I have plenty. It would be pointless if guilt pushed you into doing something in this fight. I plead with you to fall on your knees and beg God to cover you and fill you with this blessing. Only with Him will we be able to make a difference.

Another recent reason that is adding to my burden for the oppressed is a new project that we will hopefully begin implementing in the local children's hospital where I volunteer every week. The majority of patients are from families in extreme poverty, often needing to choose between buying food or medicines. I have been discussing with the doctors possible opportunities and projects that we could put into place during the two months were we have short-term volunteers. Just last week I agreed to write up a project concerning patient empowerment, but not just in relation to their situation as a patient but also in their everyday lives as well. I have struggled in writing this project as we will be facing many challenges, such as a high turnover in the participants, varied age ranges, some participants with illiteracy, and most who are not from the area. However, these are the desired results from our project:
- Empowerment leading to more personal responsibility for health situation thus creating less dependence on the doctors and staff leading to a more holistic health care.
- A presence of more positive attitudes and an improvement in staff/patient relationships.
- An understanding how God desires to see empowered people turning away from hopelessness and helplessness.
- A deeper understanding of the role of community in our personal struggles and how we effect our community.

Tomorrow I will present the idea to the head doctors on the wing where I volunteer. I appreciate your prayers towards the success of this endeavor against the mindset of poverty.

A mealybugs life...

2011-05-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

Some of you may already know this but I love plants. I love mine so much that most have names and they get talked to in two languages. I adopt new ones as often as I can and have to be torn away from plant stores. Once when I was walking to the local pharmacy to cure a current sickness, I passed a man pushing his flower and plant cart. I resisted the temptation on the way but just couldn't help myself on the way back. The new addition was called Orphan Annie. No worries she has a home now. One of my first plants was Rosa (picture) and her sister Maria. There have been times in which my plants have died because of the heat of Guayaquil, and even the emergency treatment of being put into the fridge for the third time didn't help. Poor Meryl. Then there have been the plants that have died in my absence, I like to think that they missed me but I have a feeling that the soil got a little too dry. And there have been others that have succumbed to pests. One of these being, mealybugs. They are nasty little bugs covered in a white cottony substance and seem to multiply overnight. One of my plants, Aqua, was almost furry from the sheer abundance of mealybugs. I was sure that I was about to lose another plant when beholding the wonders of google, I found a solution that didn't involve chemicals. Dish soap and warm water. So I gave my plant a scrubbing like it has never known and now three days later it is relatively free of mealybugs. According to the instructions I will have to repeat the process in a week and then keep an eye out to see if they come back. I tell you this whole story to explain what I was thinking about. Our bad habits are a bit like mealybugs, better liked by some people than others but completely disastrous to all. I don't know about you, but I seem to have a lot of bad habits. Yes it should not surprise you to hear that a missionary has struggles too. Experiencing this situation with my plants made me realize that I tend to fall for the same patterns and listen to the same lies. I work through it with God and then for a while things are good but then I get distracted and busy not allowing God to examine me and wash off the lies. Then I turn into a fuzzy gross messy only realizing when it seem that I have caused damage what has happened. Then here comes the spray bottle and God helps me to clear out the lies again. The funny thing about mealybugs is that if you have a plant infested with these you must separate it from the others, especially the weak plants, because they will transfer and start to grow a colony there. We should be careful who we are around all the time because as much as we don't like to admit it, their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors begin to rub off on us. Now just as my plants do go moving themselves (yes that would be scary if it happened), we also should be careful about judging others, this is when we need to turn to the Gardener and let Him show us. Because how ironic would that be if we start pointing fingers at someone because they have mealybugs when you are covered with scales... Love others, clean your leaves, and listen to the Gardener.

Cease Striving

2011-04-19T18:17:00.000-05:00

"Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10

2011 Zaruma Ecuador Medical Team

We had the second annual Ecuador Medical Mission trip in March 2011. Our team was made up of approximately 40 people. We had 8 different nationalities and a mix of different Ecuadorian cultures. To be honest, the event seemed impossible to pull off. Starting weeks and months in advance we began to work on the logistics. Then the week before the trip was to start things started to go wrong. One of the team members had to have an unexpected eye surgery and could not travel. Two more were stopped before getting on the plane to Ecuador because of passport issues. In the office in Ecuador, all the electronics began to quit working. The phone and the internet only worked sporadically, my computer (the trip coordinator..) and the computer that was being used for the finances for the trip died completely. The lights started going out randomly and the cell phone of the pastor in Zaruma quit working. Many people got sick right before the trip and Gynecologist fell down a flight of stairs three days before we left. With so many reasons to get discouraged and frustrated, it was an act of God that not only was everyone excited for what was to come but we were also filled with a supernatural peace. I have the tendency to get stressed out when I am in charge of something big. However, this trip was different. We continually placed every part of the medical clinic in the hands of God, as Psalm 46:10 says, we ceased striving in ourselves and let God be God. Things went very smoothly until Wednesday of the trip. Everything started to feel a little off, plus I fell down a flight of stairs. We began to pray over the area of the clinic as the spiritual struggle was strong. By the end of the week we had seen about 1000 people for medicine and eyes glasses. Over 150 people made personal commitment to Christ, for His glory. Our faith grew as we also saw people crippled from arthritis, walking out with spring in their step after being prayed for. One man who had a ringing in his ears for over 4 months was immediately healed when a woman placed her hands on his ears to pray. There were so many things that happened like this. We saw families reunited, marriages restored and a work began in each of us that continues to this day. If you want to hear more about what happened just send me an email.

I am still in awe of the way that I was permitted to see the hand of God at work. A hunger began in me during that week that I am still not able to quench. Not a desire to see miracles but to put it as my friend explained: When Jesus turned the water into wine, it was a miracle. The people closest to Jesus saw the water being changed, and the guests tasted the miracle. They all participated in the miracle though many didn't even realize the incredible thing that happened. I have too often been one of those in the crowd, just tasting God's miracles without seeing them. I want to be so close to Jesus that it is only natural that I would see the miracles instead of just unknowingly experiencing them. Each time I see and realized the amazing ways that He is working, my faith grows and I get closer to Him. I want this to continue I want to know Him more.

Gabby, Kristen, Guillermo, and me

Radiant

2011-02-09T19:03:00.000-06:00

Radiant.

Peace. Joy.

Smiling. Singing. Dancing. Laughing.

"Tabitha there is something different about you" I heard this multiple times since I have arrived back in Ecuador from my almost six weeks in the USA. Yes there is. My roommate looked at me laughing "Tabitha, you are how you were when you first came to Ecuador, over two years ago." Yes I have to confess that by the time I left Ecuador in December 2010, I was stressed, insanely busy, tired, and in many ways worn down. What happened? What changed? God began to work in me starting in December concerning my prayer life. Many of you have heard me speaking about a small little book called "Power through Prayer" by E.M. Bounds. God used this book to alter the way that I live. If you get a chance read this book, don't skim it, read it. 100 pages. It took me two months. Those of you who know how I read should know that this says a lot. I have begun to learn the art and importance of taking everything to the Lord in prayer. I have been back for two weeks now, yet still no stress. Please don't think that I am saying that I have nothing to do because if anything my responsibilities have gotten bigger. Rather, I am learning to trust God, from visas to weather to a bus for 40 people. I would like to share a little story about ways that I am seeing God's faithfulness because I am bringing my worries to Him instead of trying to control them myself.

Since I have been home I have been going to the church service for young people on Saturday nights. It is very common to have services like these on Saturday nights in Ecuador. My church, however, has one of the latest starting times, 8pm. It might not seem like an issue but when you count in that all services last for at least an hour and that they never start on time.. it means we don't get out until 10:30pm. Typically the buses stop running regularly around 10pm. I need to take two buses to get from my house to church, or I can walk about a mile. At night it is not safe to walk so I normally go with friends. These last two weeks none of my friends from the area have been going. But I still wanted to go to church so I decided to go anyways. The first Saturday I took a safe taxi from my house (they are not always available) to the church. When I arrived I realized that none of the 30+ people that I knew at the church were there. So instead of worrying I just asked God to help me find a safe way home. Towards the end of the worship time, a girl appeared out of nowhere giving me a huge hug. "Cousin!" She excited cried. Not quite.. She realized her mistake very quickly and began to apologize profusely as she sat down next to me. I was not offended but found the situation a little funny as I have never before been mistaken for a latina. At the end of the service she took me to meet her boyfriend. After talking for a while he asked me "How will you return home?" I just smiled and said that I had been praying about that as it was too late to walk or take the bus. He was appalled that I would even consider either of those options as I don't really blend in here and they offered to drop me off at my house. If that wasn't enough, the following Saturday the same situation happened. So I took the bus this time, with bible in hand just in case... I prayed as I neared the bus stop "God this is a dark two blocks, please protect me" and at the stop a young man with an 'I love Jesus' bracelet on his hand, also got off the bus and began to walk the same direction as me. Once again after arriving a random friend found me and at the end of the service offered me a ride home. I told them the whole story on the way to my house and explained how they were another answer to prayer. Maybe all those things would have happened even if I had worried about them but I wouldn't have seen the faithfulness of the Lord and my faith would not have grown. I know that God will take care of me. I am not sure what that will entail but I have complete confidence that He will.

Isaiah 26:3 says

"You will keep in perfect peace

those whose minds are steadfast,

because they trust in you."

I believe that this is a constant choice, to steadfastly choose to trust God each day. So to say that I am beginning to learn to trust God is the most that I can say. I guess we will see where this leads. I do know though that a life lived in peace is so much better than the other option!

truth #33: lions, tigirillo and root canals, OH MY

2010-12-08T23:16:00.000-06:00

And there I was in a face down with Pumba's wife and three kids. I was in a dilemma as the bathroom lay directly in the middle of our face down. Yet every move forward I made, she hunkered down as though she thought mauling my shin was the primary objective of her life. I was on the point of forgoing the much needed facilities when Pumba himself stepped in to call his family over. I watched as the trotted off together five tails held high in the air.

South Africa, a land full of interesting animals and the site of the 2010 AIDSLink International symposium. I was invited to this join this symposium about three weeks before it started as the original representative for Latin America confirmed that she could not make it. Then I found myself starting a almost 2 day journey on the 29th of October. The meetings were enlightening and very encouraging as we are all trying to combat this pandemic of HIV and AIDS through giving hope and support. We are hoping to see the presence of AIDSLink growing in Latin America in the coming years. This is one aspect of the work that I do while in Ecuador. As I had three days to wait after the end of the symposium to head back to Ecuador, I stayed at the home of one of my friends. They were extremely kind and hospitable and took me to see many interesting things, like the warthogs pictured above.

Three days before heading out to South Africa, I headed to the dentist for my first check up and cleaning in two years. The dentist can be a scary person to many of you but I was confident that a cleaning couldn't be too bad. Well I sit down in the chair and my dentist starts poking around, next thing I hear after a string of spanish words was a phrase something like this "Well, the only thing left to do is to extract it". My blood ran cold. I am pretty sure she saw the terror in my wide eyes because she grabbed my arm reassuringly and said "Not the tooth honey, the root". My blood only warmed slightly as I realized that the big train bearing down on me spelled out "Root canal" and ten seconds later it had started... If any of you have shared in this wretched experience you probably won't believe me when I say I walked out and hour later a very happy camper. Yes that is right, happy. You see I have had a problem with a tooth on the right side of my mouth for over 2 years and for the first time in two years I could actually chew on the right side of my mouth without pain! I am still adjusting!

About three days after getting back from South Africa, I headed out on a first time ever Youth weekend with the youth from Santay Island. We took them to a beach about 2 hours away from their Island and Guayaquil. As their island is in the middle of a muddy river, this was the first time for them to have seen and swam in the sea. We also stopped by KFC on the way back, also the first time for many of them to have eaten this fast food. It was a great weekend, we were able to make some of those fragile yet highly meaningful connections that make youth ministry work.

My friend Clarice arrived one week later on the 22nd of November. She went on the line-up trip that Darren and I put together for Zaruma. Zaruma is a little town on the side of a mountain to the south of Ecuador. We are planning our next medical trip to this town in the first week of March. We were very impressed with the small church there and the way that the whole community was excited about this upcoming clinic. There we were introduced to the typical plate of Tigirillo. This is the name of a small wild cat that lives in Ecuador (Santay Island boasts of having several that kills the chickens and dogs, I even heard a few weeks ago that it killed and ate half a horse!). But come to find out this typical food is vegetarian! It is fried egg mixed with cheese and mashed plantain. It was good! We arrived back to Guayaquil on Thanksgiving day. The celebration didn't happen for us though until the weekend. On Saturday in line with what we did last year, the Americans banned together (with some help from our ecuadorian friends) and put on a full fledged thanksgiving dinner for our OM family. We had turkey, dressing, hot rolls, salad, fruit salad, green beans, gravy, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and even cranberry sauce!!

Five days later, after Clarice returned home (thanks for the visit Clarice!!!) and after another volcano cloud of ash, I flew to Quito for several meetings with pastors and new missionaries that we will be sending out in January. It was a very fruitful trip and I also did some hunting for a venue to put a HIV conference in May. We did at one point go off on a 4 hour search to find a Convent that has place for events but only found a house of nuns without options for events... Though I half desired to join the convent to escape my endlessly busy life, I reluctantly decided not to on the basis of differences of faith. I returned back to Guayaquil just in time for the start of the holiday season. Sunday we celebrated Sinterklaas, not to be confused with Santa Claus as Sinterklaas is turkish, claimed by the Spanish yet honored by the Dutch on December the 5th. We pulled out our wooden shoes... oh wait we didn't actually do that part.. We pulled out the mystery gifts from Sinterklaas and the poems attached. After everyone opening their gifts we all began to guess our Sinterklaas. It was a fun event for all of our team. Soon we will be on to Celebrating Christmas with our families. I am very excited about this part. Christ's birth is such a great time to renew hope considering that it was His birth into the world that brought us the long awaited hope. It will also be nice to see my family...

OH MY! Yes it has been an incredibly crazy time! I would say that this part (the OH MY) would represent my just about sinfully crazy schedule. I must stop! I am snatching times to read a book by EM Bounds called Power through Prayer. I want to have that kind of prayer life. It is hard to do so at times when you are running all the time. Sometimes I need to just stop and realize that I must take time for my relationship with God, that is what it is all about anyways. What am I working so hard towards? Sending missionaries? Why? So that people can hear about and know God like I do? But if I am not taking the time for a relationship then how can I preach to people about knowing God? Ministry is important, yes, but always, remember what it is all about. Knowing God!

South Africa

http://picasaweb.google.com/tabk219/SouthAfrica?feat=directlink

truth #32: locked in

2010-10-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

The day started as normal. Eyes barely open, a cup of coffee and off to work. After a brief office meeting, we hear news that the police are demonstrating in Quito (the capital). They said that the police were going on strike. Quito felt so far away so I just though, ok Quito. Then ten minutes later our leader informs us that it isn't just the police in Quito, but the police nation wide decided to go on strike. I don't know about you but when I think about strikes, I think about factorys, nurses, and construction sites.. not police. A day without consequences, a day without security. Four banks were robbed before they could shut down, multiple local businesses looted, vandalism, assaults, murder.. The buses stopped running, the taxis too as they were being robbed right and left. The streets were left empty, a very eerie calm on the largest city in Ecuador. We stayed together in the office working on the normal activities while keeping one eye on the news. In the afternoon we started to get a bit more concerned as all the channels were taken over by the government channel. The events kept unfolding, the president in the hospital, the hospital being surrounded by angry police, the president rescued. Was it an attempted coup? Was it political? Was it just angry police about their benefits being cut? Who knows?

We don't know all of the implications that this event will have on the future of Ecuador but it has brought to light something that we had wanted to put as our prayer focus for October before this even happened. Violence in Ecuador has been escalating. And as Ephesians 6:12 says "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." We want to combat these occurances with prayer. We are asking for you during the month of October to pray for the situation of violence in Ecuador, in Guayaquil and in Quito. Pray for the safety of our team as we travel almost daily in public transportation to our different ministry projects all over the city.

truth #31: By Faith... they were sawn in two

2010-08-10T22:48:00.001-05:00

"By Faith" or "Por Fe" is the motto of one of my friends here in Ecuador, Quicke (pronounced Kee-Kay). I have thought hard about how to update all of you on my last two months. So much has happened, so little time to consider it all. I think that this motto of "by faith" helps to sum it all up. The summer has been extra busy with four extra short-term helpers and a mission school going on. We are also in the process of sending four missionaries. And you would think that a person who has done some of the things that I have done would find this whole idea of living by faith a little easier.

Maybe it is my perfectionistic tendencies that sometimes make me a bit of a control addict.. Maybe it is my rationalism that quickly adds 2 and 2 which we all know equals 4.. Maybe it is these things that are working together to keep me from seeing or make me doubt how God can work. What saddens me is that when I am faced with seemingly difficult to impossible situations my first response is "Yes, God can do it" until a little times passes and my doubts set in. Then it seems that the moment that I give in to my doubts, God opens a door I thought was shut and sealed. Why am I so easy to lose faith?

My friend, Quicke, who I mentioned earlier is the last of our four missionaries that we are sending out this August to get his visa. In fact, as of this very moment he still doesn't have his visa and he needs to be boarding a plane at the latest in 12 days! He waited a little late to start applying for the visa, it was one and a half months. They wouldn't even give him an appointment at one european consulate until after his leaving date! So on the off chance that another consulate from another european country would grant him the visa, he went up to the capital, Quito, to try. We were all praying for him and then we received the call. "They said that I had all the right papers, only that they couldn't give me the visa, it has to be the first consulate that we went to, the one who wouldn't give me the appointment until after my leaving date". I was so discouraged, everyone was. Why did it seem that God who has been leading Quicke for the past 10 years into service with OM would shut the doors at the last moment? Within two hours I got another call from Quicke. "Tabitha, you will never guess what happened, the first consulate called me to tell me that I have an appointment with them tomorrow morning!!" I was ashamed for my doubts. The next day I was anxiously waiting (last thursday) to hear if he got the visa. Instead he told me that they asked for more papers and told him to come back the 18th, five days before he had to be leaving Ecuador... After explain the situation again they agreed to give him an earlier appointment, tomorrow morning at 10:30am, Wednesday the 11th of August, twelve days before he needs to leave. So once again I am torn with the fear that they will deny his visa or keep asking for more papers until it is impossible for him to go. But it cannot be, we know that this is where God is leading, we know that He can open impossible doors. Another friend who knows Quicke well said to me, "Tabitha, Quicke has always said about situations, 'por fe' now it is time that God is testing that faith".

I have been thinking hard on the subject of faith now for some weeks. In doing so I have read Hebrews 11. Verse one says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." In parts of this chapter good things come to those who are living by faith, and to other some pretty bad things, like being sawn in two. So what does faith mean? That if we pray for something and have faith that God will give us what we want? That isn't faith. Faith is putting every hope we have in the very character of who God is. It is believing with everything that we have what He tells us and holding to it, obeying it, no matter how silly it might seems like building a big boat in the middle of dry land before cranes and semi-trucks. I want faith like that but I still think a little part of me is scared of it.

Please pray for Quicke today, for peace, the right words, and for a visa because at this point the visa would be a miracle.

Quicke

truth #30: Kidnapped and still I hope

2010-06-16T23:28:00.000-05:00

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us and eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison..
2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Monday morning comes around again just as is has every week this year. Our team met together to study 2 Corinthians 4. It was my turn to lead the devotional, we talked about the physical dangers and trials that Paul and his companions faced. It amazes me how a man who was shipwrecked twice, beaten, mocked, insulted, and suffered much could call it all "momentary, light affliction". Little did we know what would happen in the next 36 hours.

Darren (South African) had his birthday last week but as a group of us were in Saraguro again we had been unable to celebrate together. He invited everyone to go eat with him at a nice restaurant in a nearby neighborhood. Seventeen of us ate and laughed together until all the food was gone and we were all stuffed! It was a great time of fellowship. As we left the restaurant we realized that the 17 of us would not fit into the three available cars. So after a moments discussion the remaining eight divided up. We girls sent the three guys in a taxi and we went with our friend in his car. I felt bad that they would have to pay and almost asked one to change with me but then decided not to. We arrived at my apartment to watch a movie together and after about 30 we realized that the three guys who took the taxi were not yet at my apartment. Darren, Michael (the married Dutch guy) and our Ecuadorian friend Christian were still gone. I called Darren. No answer. I called Christian. After two rings a man answered in rapid Spanish saying that he was busy and would call me back. I thought that was strange. So I called Darren again. The same man answered saying the same thing. The voice was not from any of the guys. I began to realize that something was very wrong. Michael's wife Anneke also realized that something was wrong and became very worried. After another hour, many phone calls, and three cars out searching the neighborhoods, we got news from the police. Yes, the guys were fine, and yes they had been victims of what is called 'express kidnapping'. Their taxi driver was friends with other guys with guns. He drove the three unsuspecting guys to a street with few cars and another taxi blocked their way. Two gunmen entered the car with our friends, putting a gun to Michael's side and to Darren's head. They were robbed of everything, Michael's six dollars, watches, eye glasses, cellphones and Darren's ATM card. They demanded his PIN number and then drove to an ATM to make sure it worked. They took out several hundred dollars. After driving them around for a while longer they stopped and told the guys to get out of the car. They got out and ran like crazy until they found a police officer. They returned unharmed but a bit shaken. We were all a bit shaken.

Tuesday morning we left to visit the Children's hospital. This has always been a hard ministry as we see very sick children, some terminal and hear their situations. This day was difficult for me. I saw as I passed the first room a little boy, Kevin. He was the very first kid that I talked with when I first came to the hospital in February. He has not been in the hospital all this time but has come, gone and come again. I asked one of the workers what was his story as this seven year old with arms and legs just skin and bones and a bloated stomach, didn't talk much, despite of his beautiful smile. She told me "ah yes Kevin. His father died, his mother has basically abandoned him and he lives with his aunt. She doesn't take very good care of him and doesn't give him his meds on time that is why he is getting worse and has to return to the hospital. Kevin has a brain tumor and it is effecting one of his eyes now too. He is also HIV+." This precious kid who is just seven years old is "decaying", he is being robbed of life. I don't know if he is being renewed spiritually but that is why we go and keep going.

These days I am faced with how little hope this world offers. It preaches health and safety and how these things will bring you hope. But they don't, because they can be taken away, in an instant or over many years. It is not my intention to do things stupidly, we will all take more care in choosing taxi's, however, my hope and my trust is in the God, the I AM, the Creator. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but it doesn't matter because I will choose to live today with my trust in God and my eyes fixed on Christ. Wherever He leads I will go.

truth #29: The angel and the demon

2010-05-28T22:20:00.000-05:00

The last evening of our adventures in Saraguro, we took a little trip South of town. Darren and I went to visit Angelita, the sister-in-law of one of the church members. Angelita is a wife, mother, and grandmother. When we arrived the young grandchildren were playing and laughing all around the porch. She greeted us with a huge smile and absently waved the grandkids aside as she set out the two chairs for us to sit down. As we started to talk with her it became obvious that she just considered us as kids. "Now marriage, you shouldn't believe what everyone makes that out to be! It isn't rainbows and butterflies." She had a very cynical view of marriage as her many years had only brought her pain. He husband was a drunk and always came home in the same state. Any time we tried to break in she would begin again on another diatribe. Then her face froze, she whispered almost to herself "he is yelling". Then she said softly to us, "my husband is coming home and from his yelling I can tell that he is drunk." She jumped up and began shooing the grandkids into a back room, ordering them to hide. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable so I asked if we should leave. She said "No, don't worry." So we just waited as the yelling got closer, conversation was pointless as we could focus on nothing else. Darren then asked me quietly if I would switch seats with him as my seat was next to the entrance and his was a little further back. I complied and then the husband arrived. He was yelling all sorts of curse words in Spanish, I knew a few as those are not on my vocabulary list! Then as he reeled into the entrance he caught sight of Darren. He yelled "He PUSHED me!" and then began to pummel Darren with drunken blows. We were a bit in shock over what was happening but Darren only calmly raised his forearm to protect himself from the blows. It was a trick that he was taught from his previous roommate from the Netherlands who had been a police officer. Angelita jumped at her husband and her two daughters came out to help. The wrestled him to the stairs where he slowly quit yelling. They then shoved him up the stairs the whole time telling him to be quiet and just go to sleep. During this part the kids came out again, very subdued. We smiled reassuringly and shared the gospel to them through the Evangecube. Darren also explained to the kids how to best protect themselves if the drunken man tried to hit them.
When Angelita came back and sat down with us she was also very subdued. She quit trying to deflect our questions as I shared with her how special are the children of God. How those who are His children are princes and princesses and that He cares for them. She listened quietly, soaking in our words. We prayed with her before we left. She prayed to give control of her life to Christ. God used such a horrible situation to open her ears and eyes to see God's love for her.

truth #28: God heals

2010-04-26T20:09:00.002-05:00

OM Ecuador planned its first medical mission trip to Saraguro, Ecuador and completed it this last week. There are four people missing from this photo to make a total of 29 people who were on our team. 10 people from the USA, 1 Colombian, 1 South African, 2 Dutchies, and 15 lovely Ecuadorians. We worked with a local church in Saraguro and many of them helped us during the clinic as well. Starting April 18th at 3:30pm our clinic officially began. We had two general doctors, an OB/GYN and a vision center. All the meds and glasses that we gave out (including the consulting) was absolutely free to the people that came. The clinic continued for the complete days of Monday-Thursday. We saw 766 people in the medical side of things and 830 eyes in the Vision clinic (ok, ok that would be 415 people..). Everyone worked insanely hard and put everything in their work. I would ask any one of them (and probably will!) to come back on another trip! So here is a thanks to EVERYONE!!!

Our team in Ecuador had been specifically praying for Saraguro for over two months now and specifically asking that God would open doors in Saraguro. This people group has a tiny percentage of Christians and is notorious for being very closed to the gospel. They are strongly catholic but with a mixed animistic beliefs. There is a lot of witchcraft that also goes on there. OM Ecuador has done past campaigns there but with little response from the people. So we knew what we were facing and that is why we all went down on our knees. God is greater than any any evil, He can break any chain and HE can even speak to hearts that have been cold and hard for centuries. That happened this week. Lives changed, people who were hardened and bitter became soft and full of hope. We did a 'normal' evangelistical message for each group of people that came though, asking for a response at the end. To the best of my knowledge there was not one response to these mass messages, not one. Instead people were responding one-on-one, praying with the workers in triage, or Enrique who was sitting in the Pharamacy, or Dr. Eddie who was a general doctor, or Dr. Ana the ob/gyn as she saw through to the pain that was deeper than flesh and blood. God who is so mighty choose to speak to each person through an individual and 205 of the Saraguro people responded to His message of hope!!! I am overwhelmed to share that with you, the HUGE response that we received for the countless prayers for this precious people. We asked God for 200 and He gave five more! I thought it was too much to ask but we asked anyways knowing that the God we serve is bigger than any evil and any plan of the evil one. A people who have been locked in darkness for hundreds of years, opened their hearts to hope, to peace and to real love.

Please join us in praying for these new believers and for the local churches as they will start follow-up this week. We have a responsibility to these people who we now call brothers and sisters and it is not one that we can take lightly. Praise God for His work, stand in awe of it. He is God

truth #27: love your neighbor... and his dog

2010-03-09T22:54:00.001-06:00

Rrrauuggraugraugraug raug.... Better than the roosters crow, the next door neighbor's dog sounds the wake up call. Unfortunately this alarm doesn't have a snooze button. I cannot count the numerous times I have laid in my bed thinking up ways to murder the dog that lives under my second story bedroom window. Crossbow with flaming arrows, poisoned meat, a half ton of sleeping pills... my bare hands... This isn't just any breed of dog, it has been born with built in loud speakers and a barking switch that doesn't turn off until a full 20 minutes has been reached and can go off at any given moment. Skype conversations have been interrupted because they cannot hear me above the dog. My boss who lives across the street tells me that they can hear this little beast of horror. The time that I went to my next door neighbors house to ask if they would make the dog be quiet because I had a terrible migraine... the kind neighbor-lady gave me a headache pill and sympathized with how annoying the creature was with his endless barking.

Then last week, after nine months of living next to this sleep stealer, I was sitting on my bed reading my bible and off he went.. Raaauug raugraug raugraugraug.. Murderous thoughts once again began to build in my yet-coffee-deprived brain, when through the racket God spoke to me, -Love your neighbor Tabitha.
-WHAT? You have got to be kidding God! I do love my neighbors, look at the work that I am doing with the orphans, kids in the hospital, giving of myself every day! This barking dog is an injustice, it is inconsiderate and just plain rude!
Then even softer, "Tabitha, love your neighbor, this neighbor."

Love cannot pick and choose. I cannot say that I love but only love those who are easy to love. This neighbor and their dog is an allegory for me. I cannot say that I love my neighbor and hate his dog, because really hating his dog means I think things towards my neighbor like "What idiot gets and dog and never trains it", basically very uncharitable and leads to hating my neighbor. It is the same with the people I am around who have annoying traits or are doing things that hurt me. It means not just loving the kids in the orphanage and hospital but going out and giving soup to the fathers who live on the streets in a life of alcohol and drugs.

Just last Thursday evening we were out serving soup when four young girls approached the car with the soup taking the bowls and bread that we offered. I was standing near and started up a conversation with them. We talked about where they lived and what they were up to, just the basics, when one of the little girls leans in to say softly to me "You do know that you are giving soup to theives? Everyone here is a thief." I just smiled slightly as I began to explain to her that we all have bad things in our lives but the beauty of it all is that no one is soo bad that God cannot love them, like a little girl who doesn't always obey her mom or a drug addict throwing his family to the side or even a neighbor with a really annoying dog.

truth #26: Addictions

2010-02-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

On Valentines weekend, Sharon and I went to a Christian camp for young people as the following Monday and Tuesday were a holiday (Carnival). This was the first time in eight years that I have attended a camp as a participant! There was also another first that I had during this camp... the first time to play futbol in 20 years. I played at age six on a little kids league. I haven't played since. The girls in my cabin talked me into being on their team even though I told them I had not played in years. Once on the field I find that they are putting me in the forward position (whatever it is that they call that position these days). Whew! I had a chest cold and we were in Quito which is for me going from 5ft altitude in Guayaquil to 10,000ft... Our team lost but during this feat I learned something about byself. I like futbol! A lot! New addiction! I also made many new friends and contacts. One great friend who I met up with again and was reminded how much I enjoy her company is Candy.

Next.. My 26th Birthday

This year I decided to go all out, well all out for me, and have a real birthday party. I invited lots and lots of people and still missed a few with the instructions of bringing a plant if they wanted to bring a birthday gift. You might ask where this desire for plants comes from. Some might say my Dad who is the expert of all green living things or the lack of green that we have in my concrete world of Guayaquil but honestly I don't know. On my trip to Saraguro the two weeks before I picked up to rose bushes and another flower that I don't know the species. It was during this short time that I realized I actually enjoyed having plants around. I like talking to them, watering them and even talking to them by name. Yes, all my plants have names. You might think that is silly so did most people who brought me a plant but by the end of the night everyone was wanting to know the name of the newest arrival! In this picture you see me with Michael and Anneke Bolt and their beautiful gift. Her name is Rebecca. And the other picture with Sharon and I is our 'christmas' present from Isabel. He/she does not yet have a name though we are all calling him/her by a different one. Those names include Ursela, Henry and Kevin.

I of course still have other addicitions like coffee, reading and vegetables but it is nice to find new things to like as well! God has been so good to me during my 26 years of life, I have been blessed by the family that I have, true friends and the blessing of getting to know so many different believers from all over the world! I am excited to see what this new year of life will bring around! To God be the Glory!

truth #25: On your mark, get set, GO!

2010-02-28T17:08:00.000-06:00

February 5 - 7

I have never understood the inner workings of the set up of a short-term mission trip until now. Budgets, options, legal issues, where, what, who, when and how.. After putting together the basic line up of what will happen April 17 -24 on the OM Medicial Mission trip to Saraguro, we decided to make a visit to the town to pull together the final details.

Roberto, Cira, Michael, Anneke and I took a flying trip to Saraguro on Friday the 5th of February. We looked at hotels, talked in-depth with the pastor of one of the two evangelical churches for 15,000 of the Saraguro community and began finalizing things. The Church Light and Truth is very exciting about the fast approaching trip and the practial ministry opportunity that this will provide them for their community. We are still looking for volunteers from the USA to come and partner with us. If you are in the medical field and would like to help pray about coming. If you are not medical at all... NO WORRIES! We also need you! There are many jobs that need to be done on a medical trip and as long as you are willing and flexible then you are perfect for the job! Please contact my uncle, Dr. Eddie Moore - eddie_moore@yahoo.com , for more details and you will need to go to this website to fill out an application http://www..omusa.org/go/medical-missions/short-term-trips. It would be great to see you!

The Church Light and Truth

Pastor Miguel and Michael

Saraguro

Just a sighting of Llamas on the way to Saraguro.

truth #24: I am my own worst enemy

2010-01-17T17:07:00.002-06:00

For some reason, I had thought that looking to Jesus was a one time deal, now I am more convinced than ever that looking to Jesus only makes us look more. It seems that I could almost feel proud of my accomplishments this week, the way that I looked to Jesus in a very frustrating situation instead of letting the situation take over me. Instead I find that my knuckles are still white with my grip to Him, my eyes so dry because I am afraid to blink, because if I do then maybe I will fall again. Oh how easy it is to fall. This week has been fascinating in a practice of what I talked about last week, looking to Jesus.

There are 60 seconds in each minute with 60 minutes in each hour with 24 hours in each day and 7 days in one week.. That makes for a lot of choices in just one little week. So, I would like to refer this conversation to a specific event that occurred this week. Most of you who know me well, understand that I am an independent person, stubborn at times, and in a word a somewhat strong personality. My grandfather used to say that I could argue with a fence post, which has gotten better over the years. Also, I HATE it when something is done unfairly, to me or to others. YES mom, I do realize that this world is not fair! (a quote that I heard daily during my teenage years) It is thus in my nature to fight against those injustices whither it be by educating poor children or playing by the rules in a board game.. And though I do realize that there are exceptions to the rule, for the most part, these things are like rubbing a cats fur the wrong direction to me. I have a friend who has an unfortunate habit of saying things that irritate me. One of such occurances happened during this week and I must be honest and confess that my initial reaction was not good, I was angry at the rudeness of the statement made by my friend. Then I heard that small voice asking me "Why are you so angry?" then I recognized that it was not anger but rather hurt. I was deeply hurt that this person would treat me in such a manner. So I asked God an either/or question, should I do this or that? He simply told me to pray. Pray for my friend, not that they would see 'the light', not that God would fix them but instead to pray blessings, protection, wisdom, peace and joy over them. The hurt began to fade, forgiveness and healing were possible. Was I able to do this myself? HA, not at all, like I said previously, my eyes are still dry because I am afraid of blinking and falling away.

Maybe this all seem childish to you, maybe you don't have the same struggles as I do, but I must admit it was the way that God so clearly showed me 'my way' vs 'His way' that was of importance and not so much the event. Because, it is when I surrender that He holds me, when peace comes, and when it all works out. I am sure that there is a way to look to Jesus and still be able to blink but I have to admit that I still don't trust myself. You see I realize that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to looking at Jesus. I am struggling against my selfish reactions and desires, my independence, my idea of justice. I am struggling against me. As long as my eyes are on Him my 'self' has no power. So if I have to go through this life with dry eyes and cramped hands then so be it, as communion with Him is worth every second. And do I fall? Do I mess up? Of course, but as I said previously He tells me to look to Him and not at what I have done, bad or good.

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:7-8

truth #23: less of me is better

2010-01-09T17:17:00.002-06:00

Many of you know that shortly after arriving back in Texas on the 19th of December a surprising event occurred. Early in the morning of the 21st, I was in the hospital having an emergency laparoscopic appendectomy after a night full of the worst stomach pains I have had in my life. This event led to a lot of firsts in my life...

-being a patient in the ER
-having morphine
-wearing one of those airy hospital gowns for more than 30 min
-having surgery
-eating hospital food
-having to politely call someone to take me to the bathroom every 3 hours
-having a panic attack.. silly I know
-staying overnight in a hospital
-having saline solution pushed through my dry IV... OUCH
-being in public with my pant unbuttoned on purpose

It was a very interesting week before Christmas let me tell you! I passed that whole week under the influence of prescription drugs so my Christmas day was a little hazy. When people kept pointing out how often they caught me with my eyes closed, I just simply said "I'm awake! and just resting my eyes!" They didn't tend to believe me. My parents took great care of me and I will forever be grateful that they insisted that I go to the ER. So many friends and family have mentioned how good it was that the whole thing happened after I got back home instead of in Ecuador. That made me start to think about things a little more closely. I realized that if this had all happened 48 hours earlier, I would not have gone to the hospital, at least not until my appendix had burst. That could have been very dangerous and possibly deadly. And this whole thing happened at the beginning of my trip giving me two weeks to recover before I flew back. Also, Seth from OM Ecuador was back home in Georgia with Lennart and they were returning to Guayaquil on the same flight as me. Meaning that they helped me with my bags as I am under strict orders not to lift anything over 15 pounds.

I am two days from the three week mark and have only three more weeks of careful living until I go back to normal. I am doing much better and healing fine. This whole situation really helped me to see once again how God is orchestrating everything in my life even when I don't see it at first. Thank you for your prayers as I know and see that God is answering them!

When I titled this post as 'less of me is better' I was just thinking in the sense that I am now better off without my appendix as it was giving me all that trouble. However, this also ties into what God has been teaching me lately. I have found my self very frustrated over the last few months with my own self, work and others. I had been praying about the situations so much and it felt like so little was happening. It wasn't until I was sitting in the airport on my way home and writing in my journal when I began to realize that my mindset was wrong and thus my prayers were also in a sense wrong. I had been praying so hard for God to fix things, to give me the strength to fix things to do, and fix, and about every other active verb you can think of when the only thing that He desired for me to do was to look at Him, not at me and not at my problems. It sounds so simple, just focus on Jesus and everything will work out. But what does that mean, to focus on Jesus? I am still figure that one out. But I am learning as fast as this stubborn person can, that my job isn't to fix everything in life but to look to Him and He will show my in His time whatever it is that He wants me to work on. It isn't and easy thing for me to learn and I am spending everyday seeking to hear His voice and what it is that He wants to tell me in that moment. Life is a lot more peaceful that way.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."
Isaiah 26:3

truth #22: Tabitha says: Gordagordagorda

2009-11-28T16:59:00.025-06:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We have so many things to be thankful for. Here is a short list of things I am newly thankful for this year:

-Family (especially after seeing the lives of the orphans)

-Supporters (Couldn't do the things that I am without you!)
-Electricity (not having it several hours each day makes one thankful)

-Running Water (again our water has an electric pump.. connect the dots...)
-Internet (to talk with my family, friends and keep up with the world news)

-That God is always good (not said lightly)
-Daily food
-Cold weather
-Good friends

-Letters in the mail

-Nights were you can see the stars (never here..)

-Silence (learned to appreciate this one cause of the little dog next door with the big voice)

We had a night of celebration Friday the 26th of November in my house. Let me just preface this by saying I never truely understood all that went into a Thanksgiving until this year, my mom and my aunts are my heros! Seth, Sharon and I began cooking at 1pm for the 20 guests we were expecting at 7pm. Did I mention that we still are under power cuts and it goes out everyday from 4 to 6pm... just another little glitch in the preparations. Thankfully we have a gas stove!! Also there is not such thing as cranberry sauce, we looked in almost all the stores! However just for your future knowledge, blackberry jam is very similar. You also cannot find velveeta cheese, the kind that Seth needed for his mac and cheese. So we made it, yes that is right we made velveeta cheese. It turned out well but not quite the same.

First came the turkey. Yes Sharon and I voted unamously for Seth to get the turkey struggle, he didn't even get a chance to say no! It turned out great and two hours early!! What can I say none of us have ever cooked a turkey.

Then I made my family's famous dressing and for those of you not from the south it is similar to stuffing but not made inside the turkey. Sharon helped me with the tasting.

Sweet potates - recipe courtsey of my Aunt Etta. These are a little different as the sweet potatoes here are purple instead of orange. Funny isn't it?

We also had mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, steamed green beans, gravy made from turkey drippings (yay Sharon!!), my mom's famous rolls (already becoming famous in Ecaudor), and salad.

We all stood around the very long table (no kids table this time!) and prayed, then explained the tradition of Thanksgiving and the foods. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know each other better.

Shura and our friend Isabel brough pie: Pumpkin and apple. As you can see Seth is really enjoying his pumpkin pie!

Then last but not least the HUGE clean up! Thanks everyone for helping!!!

truth #21: The Ecuadorian Turkey says: Gordagordagorda

2009-11-17T13:32:00.005-06:00

Thanksgiving is a week and a half away. I love this holiday, I think that it is my favorite of all the holidays. Mostly because it is hard to commercialize as Thanksgiving is made up of Family, Friends and Food. I am sad to miss my third Thanksgiving with my family. I think that is one of the hardest things about being a missionary. I really like my family: my Papa and Earlene, Uncle Eddie and Aunt Jeanette, Uncle Gerald and Aunt Polly, Uncle David and Aunt Cynthia, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Etta, Erin and Jeremy, Ethan and Sarah, Bryan, Deborah, Delancy, Jessica, Brandy and of course my Dad, my Mom, my incredibly intelligent favorite older brother Jason and my incredible cute, favorite little brother James. I just wanted you guys to know that I am thinking of you during this time.

Well the three North Americans currently on the team, Seth (Georgia), Sharon (California) and me (TEXAS!), we decided that we would like to share a little of our culture with the OM team. So on Black Friday we are going to put together a little Thanksgiving dinner. We are trying to keep it small as none of us have ever cooked the whole Thanksgiving meal! So we think that there will be around 13-15 people. The current menu look like this:

Turkey - Seth (First time for all of us to try and cook one so if you have tips...)
Dressing - Me (family recipe)
Mashed potatoes - Sharon
Sweet Potatoes - all (recipe from Aunt Etta)
Rolls - me (just guess, yes that is right Tina's famous rolls aka Mom's rolls)
Green Beans - all (no recipe, we will just make something up)
Gravy. all (another experiment)
Macaroni and Cheese - Seth

Pumpkin Pie - Shura (My field leader's wife. She is an AMAZING cook!)
Apple Pie - Isabel (Good friend and I hope that she is an amazing cook :)

We will search high and low for the cranberry sauce but... no guarantees . I hope that all of you will enjoy your holidays. Oh and just for the record in Spanish Gordagordagorda means Fatfatfat.

truth #20: A day in Santay Island

2009-10-12T19:52:00.002-05:00

My first note of this day is to inform you that our team has officially grown by two people. Seth Rikard and Sharon Heathorn have joined us for respectively two and one years. Also a volunteer from the USA for a sister organization called Cristo Vive, Mindy Wormwood is staying in my house and has worked with the OM ministries for the last three months

Much has changed since I last gave information about Santay Islands. The majority of these changes rest in the fact that I now speak communicatable Spanish. Let me share with you this weeks experience as it was a great one.

It all started with me bartering the taxis to get a $3.50 ride instead of $7, evidently that taxi thought that blonde hair does equal stupid. 30 minutes later five people pop out of the little yellow taxi buffeted by the smells of decaying fish guts, fresh fruits and fried meat. We meet with our little team there in the friendly neighborhood fish market and then attempt to gracefully step from canoe to canoe until we settle in the one that will take us across the river. Thankfully this week the waves on the river were not too high, at least until going home so I didn't get soaking wet.

We eat a quick lunch of sandwiches and juice in the local restraunt, which looks just about the same as the other houses in the island just with a bigger porch. Then the division, that is dividing out team into three groups as we now meet with the adults in three different divisions of the 36 houses, 12 in each group for those of you wondering. I have been working with the middle group of houses every week since last April and this time Seth joined me. I love these ladies but you can never be sure who is going to show up (including the lady of the house were we normally meet, Valeria). Last week we were giving a discipleship lesson on Who am I in Christ only to realize that none of the people attending were Christians. So it turned into more of a 'Who I am in Christ and Who You could be too' lesson. After this lesson I talked with one of the girls who attended and Paulina accepted Christ!! Praise be to the all powerful God! So this week I was not at all sure what we would run into with the topic of 'Spiritual Warfare'. Holding my breath we walked down the dried mud path past the puppies, chickens, ducks, goats and pigletts to Valeria's house and surprise of the month SHE WAS THERE! I was very happy as she is one of my favorite people on Santay. Isabel came about fourty-five minutes later to join us. And so we began into the deep topic of spiritual warfare. We talked about the devil and demons and God and angels. But when I was talking about how we have nothing to fear if God lives in us because He is more powerful than anything, Seth leaned over and said "Maybe we should also see if they are christians... like the last time" So I carefully asked them if they had ever decided to trust Jesus with their lives and both timidly shook their heads no. So we talked about what it meant to be saved and what exactly Christ did for us. After much discussion, I asked them if they wanted to make this decision. They both looked at each other and then shyly looked at the floor, no answer. Then Valeria spoke up quietly, "I would like to make this decision but I have no idea how to pray." It was the fear of praying outloud that was stopping them. So I thought for a minute and then asked them, "Do you remember when I first came here and how I couldn't speak and spanish so I just smiled all the time?" They both giggled and said yes. "And now look at my spanish, not so great grammaticly speaking but you at least understand me, right?" Again they giggled their agreement. "And what would have happened if I had never tried to speak spanish with you? Would I be able to speak now?" That made them think and when they said, "No you would not have learned anything" I could see that they understood that this was the same about them praying too. And so we prayed. Me first, then Valeria, then they repeated after me as they were still unsure of how to pray. It was sincere, they understood what we talked about and I could see it in their faces. There is not a church building on Santay or a pastor only us who come every Monday to teach them. I will be very excited to see how these two new believers grow in the coming years. They still have so much to learn as the children and youth on Santay have a good and rather complete knowledge of the Bible but the adults know very little. They didn't know the stories of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the disciples. So starting next week we will begin on a new stretch of teachings over Bible stories. I am excited to see what God will do next week!

Then kissing my Bible study ladies and new sisters in Christ goodbye, I went off to teach my class of teenage girls. Paulina was there, the new believer from last week. And two other of my Loca chicas. Honestly, these girls who live on a secluded island in bamboo huts would fit in fine with any of the junior high or high school girls that I know back in the states. Well they also cook, clean and care for their siblings daily along with the permanent attachment of their hand to their cell phone. We left the island as always to multiple goodbye kisses, lots of 'chao's, and them running along the shore waving until we are out of sight. Another day, beautiful day. Thanks for sharing this day with me!

truth #19: NEW APARTMENT!!!

2009-09-22T00:06:00.003-05:00

I have a new apartment, though now I have lived in it almost three months now... It is very conviently located as it is directly across the street from my field leaders house and the office. It is also HUGE. Well maybe not in American standards but for single missionary ladies, it is more than enough. Let me explain the house and then I will explain what changes I think that this will bring.

It is a top floor apartment. The bottom apartment is rented by another family who is rather quiet all except for their dog. We share a front gate with the family but then I have to enter and unlock two more doors before we get inside of the house.

The FIRST photo is the view when you just open the front door. Immediately to the left is a small guest bathroom. The first opening after the bathroom is the dining area (SECOND photo). The area across from the dining room, to the right of the door is the living area (THIRD photo). It is rather empty and still is pretty empty as furniture is very expensive here. There is also a balcony attached to the living area. The door way directly infront of the front door is to the kitchen (FOURTH and FIFTH photos). This is one of the largest kitchens that I have seen in Ecuador. I actually enjoy cooking here. And lastly the opening directly to the right of the kitchen is the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

The only two door on the right side of the hallway lead into the large bedroom (two beds but we have put three people in there) and the private bathroom. This has been the room of Johanna, Kony, Lisette, Kristen and now Mindy is staying there. The first door on the left is one of two smaller bedrooms and is currently changing room owners quite frequently (Yashira, Lilibeth, or Cira). The second door on the left is my bedroom (the photo with the bed, picture and nightstand). This room has also housed Vibeke and Cira. Carmen has also stayed over at my house. This makes a total of 9 people staying over one month and two people who have stayed once or more. That is quite a change in just three months.

First and second small bedrooms

My bathroom that I share with the occupants of the 1st small bedroom.

Laundry room! YAY it is indoors so we can actually hang things to dry during the rainy season! The open door that you see is the maids room, just big enough for a matteress and a shower/toilet (yes, the toilet is INSIDE the shower).

So maybe you can see that this house is HUGE. I feel that it is not an accident and that God has plans for us to use this house to His glory. We would like to use extra rooms to offer hospitality and even a place for rest and recovery from the busy lives that the ecuadorian women seem to lead here. We have been using our huge kitchen to invite people over and have meals together. Yes, that does mean I am voluntarily cooking. I enjoy the fellowship and believe that it is vital for the Christian believers to do even simple things like eating and talking together so that we can better work together in ministry. We even have more space to receive more single people called to missions! Now I just need to actually decorate the place. It is always nice to have a comfortable and warm place to invite people to (and I am not talking about the heat because we definitely already have that!). I am praying for furniture and know that God will provide what is necessary. We do have plastic chairs and an extra plastic table so we are not eating on newspaper on the floor like the first meal I cooked for people! Thai-style is what I call that sort of table. You should have heard me trying to explain why I wanted just any newspaper to the owner of the little tienda (store) just down the street. When she realized that we were using it to eat on, I think she took pity on me and started to just give me all of the old newspapers that she had. Fun memories.

Ok, come and visit me! I have room now!

truth # 18: I am older now

2009-08-02T17:27:00.005-05:00

CS Lewis' book Perelandra includes a very interesting character, the green lady. When she would learn something or gain more knowledge in an area she would say something like "I believe I am older now." This is exactly how I feel. It is not everyday that I grow older, but the last four months it feels like I have turned from a baby to an old woman. What is it about knowledge that makes us older? It isn't that the knowledge didn't exist before I knew it, only my awareness had changed. In some ways it is nice to be oblivious to some knowledge but to knowingly avoid these things would be to live in denial. Some might claim that we are all self deceived and are probably thus living in denial. I am not sure that I would agree. I think if I were to turn from what I have learned and gained, that would be deceiving myself. Not all knowledge is nice.

Ah what a nice uncomplicated start. This has only taken me five hours to come up with. I am not sure how to describe my last four months only that now I am older and it was not an painless process. Today has been very nice for me. It has been almost a debriefing of the past few months, a time of allowing myself time to think. I am not ready yet to put it all into words.

I have had many many changes during this time. In May we had a lovely couple visit for two weeks considering joining our field. And with everything in the Lord's hands we are expecting them to join us around January. Then the first of June three Germans arrived to work with us for the following two months. Philipp, Becky and Jonny were a wonderful addition to our team and we already miss them. Yashira and Johanna came in the first of July each staying a month more or less. Yashira taught english in our mission school that OM Andean Region puts on every year (I will write more about that soon). She also was an incredible help in my new apartment that had at times 8 people living in it. Johanna worked with the Germans in our ministry projects and was a great encouragement to all those who worked with her. And then my old roommate, Vibeke from Norway, came back to Ecaudor for a month to visit her fiance but she stayed with me during that time. It has been a busy but very interesting time.

truth #17: el equipo Ecuador (The Ecuador Team)

2009-08-02T15:18:00.015-05:00

I wanted to give you a profile on my current team as it will be changing in the very near future. Right now we are 8 full time people in our office. There are numerous volunteers as well but for today I will just talk about the full time people.

First, Roberto Facanha and his family. His wife, Shura and four children: Gabby (12), Emily (7), Michaela (5), and Sebastian (1). Roberto is the Field Leader for the Andean Region (Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela). This sounds like a simple title but it includes so much. He has also be working as the Area Communications Coordinator for Latin America. Also any position that is empty on our team, he fills in. He is a great leader and both him and Shura have been a great help to me during my time here. Roberto just discovered last week that according to the Myers-Briggs Personality test that I have the same personality as Shura, ENFP (if you want to read more about this go to this website www.metaphysicalzone.com/types/enfp.shtml) . His response was "OOOHhh, now I understand!"

Carmen Gonzalez. She has been with OM for over 10 years now. She is the person in charge of Communications. She is very talented with graphics and design. I even saw her transplant a face on a photo, she is incredible! This is only a small part of what she does as all of us spend time in ministries outside of the office too. She works with a discipleship and evangelism with prostitutes, the children's foundation and teaches a sunday school class at her church. She is a great friend and has recently learned the word "loopy" from me as this is how I like to refer to her when she gets tired.

Cira Zambrana, also with OM for over 10 years. She is our Finance lady and irreplacable! Majorly overworked but always smiling! I cannot imagine doing half of what she does. She works all week with figures and errands, also with the orphanage and on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday she attends university classes the entire day! I imagine she spends all her evenings working on homework. She has been great blessing to me with her encouragement and inspite of all she does she never complains!

Darren van Rensburg, from South Africa and has been with OM Ecuador for 2 years. He is the Evangelism Coordinator but very sadly he will be going back home for a sabatical of 6 months on the 18th of August. He will return the 1st of March. He has been a great encouragement to me. Also he has put up with my constant asking of definations of Spanish words (his Spanish is very good), help with writing in Spanish and of course the random talking to myself out loud (which he sometimes thinks is pointed at him...). If you haven't guessed, he has the desk next to mine. When he comes back we will be looking at sending a team to another town to increase our impact on Ecuador. He has felt a call to go and work among the Saraguro people. He has been the one in OM to head up the Santay Island ministry team but now has finished his time in this area.

María José Baños and Johanna Jaramillo, these lovely Ecuadorian ladies joined the OM Andean Region team the very same week as me! Mariá José, aka. Majo, is the administrative assistant and helps in various thing in the office. She also is very active with the children's foundation, works with Santay Island, has a ministry with children on the streets and is also active in her church. We had great fun together my first few months going out to lunch and trying to have conversations. Her English was at the same level as my Spanish during this time making for lots of crazy mistakes and lots of use of the dictionary! Johanna, aka Johi, is involved with Church Moblization. She contacts the churchs in Ecuador and helps us to set up presentations and workshops. She helps Darren with the Evangelism training, works with the Children's foundation and is very active in a outreach ministry of her church to the neighborhood Parabamba. She is the only one in our office who is currently involved in a relationship. I enjoy going out with her and Romeo her boyfriend. They are a very intelligent couple and fun to hang out with.

Lennart de Vries from Holland has been with OM Andean Region for one year now and will return from a six week visit to home for another six months. He has been in charge of heading up the work with the Children's foundation and hopefully with take up the responsibilty for all of our social ministries once he returns. He was a police officer while he was in the Netherlands and even after a year in Ecuador he has not lost those police instincts. He has taught a couple of self defence classes. I signed up for one of those after my robbery but after several practises he told me that it would be better if I just remember to scream next time...

My name is Tabitha Moore, I am from Texas in the US of A. I have been with OM here in Ecuador for 10 months now.. half way to 11. I started out with my first three months just studying Spanish. In January I accepted the position of Personnel Coordinator. That means I am the contact for all those going from the Andean Region and all those coming as well. I get to help with Visas, insurance, application, screening, hiring, job descriptions, appraisals.... Also I have taken the position of Global Challenge Coordinator. This means that I am in charge of all the short termers, coming and going. I also help with Member Care, that is taking care of the current members in Ecuador and checking up with our Missionaries on the field. I also help with the work in the Children's foundation and the discipleship on Santay Island. I still have the intention of taking Spanish lessons but have not had time in the last three months to continue. I am praying for someone to come along and help me with the positions that I hold as I never seem to have enough time to devote entirely to a project. I enjoy my work and hope to continue to help wherever it is possible.

truth #16: there and back again

2009-06-27T11:14:00.007-05:00

I took a trip. I went home. If any of you are wondering why you didn't get previous notice of this whirlwind trip let me give a small explanation (that is really a bit longer than I intended). When asked by my mom the week before my trip back to the states "Tabitha are you ready to come home?" My response was "Home? Well I have only had the chance to think about it for approximately 30 seconds every two days." Busy, hmm that might be the word to describe it but it seems to fall short for my life here in Ecuador most recently. I began to get busy, I began to get stressed, and I also began to get sick. When all of these things occur, especially together, my response is to withdraw. So I did. For about three weeks before June 11, I began to withdraw from everything that was not my work. I quit emailing home, I quit updating my blog, I quit hanging out with friends. Yes, I know, not healthy. My parents finally emailed me saying "Tabitha, just send us an email and let us know that you are alive. We understand if you are busy but we are worried". Lets just say that this trip home was a life saver for me. I finally started packing for my 11 days home at 2am on the morning of the 11th. My plane was due to leave at 9:30am.

I arrived at the airport exhausted only to find out that my flight had been delayed 40 min which would mess up my layover in Miami. So I had to change my flight from Miami to Dallas to 6pm instead of 4pm. I was a little irritated, which the lady misunderstood for fear and uncertainty.. "Its ok dear there is nothing to worry about." Well, don't worry, I bit my tongue. :) After arriving to Miami I realized that the whole incident was a blessing rather than a trial as all the flights to Dallas had been canceled except the 6pm! There were over a hundred people waiting on standby!

I didn't go straight home when I got in Thursday night as on Saturday my cousin, Ethan Moore, was getting married to Sarah Shelton. So we went to Corsicana, TX. The next day my little brother arrived back to the USA from Mozambique. He was on a two week mission trip working with an orphanage. That night we had the rehearsal dinner in which all the family of Ethan cooked and served the meal. It was in a room full of stuffed animals that is why James and I are pretending to be animals...

The wedding was beautiful but a tiny bit warm. It was so nice to see family, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, siblings of grandparents.. I am also very happy to say that I have a new cousin Sarah Moore. She is a wonderful woman, bright, athletic, loves God and is a lot of fun to be around.

This is the family, my uncle Eddie (brother to my dad), my aunt Jeanette (sister to my mom), their son Ethan and his new wife Sarah, then their daughter Erin and her husband Jeremy Walker.
I also got to see my Papa and Earlene at the wedding. It always makes me happy to see them.

The first of the family photos is the Moore Family. The second is the Walker family.

After my adventures at the wedding, thankfully not similar to my cousin Erin's wedding two years ago when my skirt blew up to my chin... And strangely enough the parking attendant who witnessed that event was a friend of Ethan's and was at his wedding too. I made a sure to steer clear of him, recognition might have been embarrassing. My family took a vacation to the lake. It was a nice three days of rest and hanging out with them. I spent my final weekend catching up with a few friends (sorry I didn't have time to see you all!) and gave a short presentation in my church on Sunday morning about my work in Ecuador. My return to Ecuador came around rather quickly and I now find myself back in Guayaquil right back in the thick of things. I am about to move into a new apartment and will update you on the going ons of July.

PS. Thankfully no more robberies.... yet

truth #15: i had two kids

2009-05-21T09:41:00.010-05:00

Yes, for one day I understood what it would be like to have an 8 AND 9 year old boy! The kids of the foundation for children that we have been working with does not sent their kids on field trips very often. So last Friday, Lennart (the director of all our work with the Foundation) planned an outing to the IMAX and a park for all 31 kids. In doing so he have around 18 volunteers. 15 of us were attached to two kids apiece for the entire day. My kids were Miguel and Joel (in the photo above). Before this trip I loved these kids, or I thought I did, but now I think I have a small understanding of how parents must feel towards their kids.

So we arrived at the orphanage around 10am. I went into the kids main room where they were all everywhere trying to get ready for their mystery outing. I couldn't see my boys but I began saying hello to the kids. Evidently someone had already announced who belonged to who because the first set of kids where asking me "which kids are yours today?" or saying "I want to be with you today!". I would just smile and ask who they were with and then say something like "wow that is so cool you are going to have so much fun with them!" Then I saw a little head running around the corner at full speed. He came right up next to me and slid his little hand in mine with a little shy smile and said softly "I get to be with you today". It was 8 year old Miguel. He was happy for the next few minutes to stand quitely beside me just holding my hand. Then sure enough the word had got out that we were there and here came Joel. He headed straight to me and in almost the exact manner he slid his hand into mine and said "I get to be with you today!" I have never seen them so subdued! I don't know if it was the awe that someone specifically was theirs for the whole day or what. I told them that because they were mine for the day that they had to listen to everything that I said, the nodded very seriously and when I gave then their nametags they touched them with respect and awe.

We headed out to the bus and were going by 10:45. On the drive I would point out buildings like the airport and bus station, We even saw a plane (they found that so exciting). Lennart had his camera to take photos and my Joel would say "Professor Lennou, take a photo here!!" and it would just be a car intersection. He was so cute because he would be so serious about each picture. Miguel hardly spoke at all because his eyes were glued to the passing roadside. It made me wonder how often these kids actually get out of their little building! I learned on this trip that 9 year old Joel wanted to be a laywer when he grows up. He is so intelligent and cares deeply about little kids. Miguel is the youngest of 5 or 7 kids and none are with him at the foundation. We saw so many cars going by so I asked them if they could own a car what it would be and what color. I gathered by the way that they looked at me that no one had asked them this question before. They sat and thought for a while then as we were passing some cars Joel stated "I want a car like that one but white!" Miguel still being shy said he like the same car but wanted it to be red. While they would stare mesmorized by the outside world I would just watch them, praying that they would have a chance in their future to see their dreams come true. I am not normally a very emotional person but I had to fight to not cry then and there. How can people misuse kids like this? How do they tell them "I don't want you!" How can they not care?

We made it to the IMAX and the kids were in awe of the huge theater. Miguel calmly told me that he had been to one before. Joel said that he had been there too but only on the outside. The movie about fish started and we were zooming across the landscape of South Africa. Joel was holding tight to my hand the whole time. He said several times during the movies "ITS LIKE WE ARE FLYING!!" When the sharks showed up he jumped several inches and grabbed even tighter to my hand (ok yes I may have jumped to...). Miguel was just sitting there calmly and every now and then would lay his head on my arm. It was a nice movie.

So then we had an hour to explore the park that was a could of km long.. Ok, let me tell you something about my boys, they want to see everything! and they want to be the first ones there! So the second that they said we could go they took off running (with me handing on to their hands). Now, I will say that I am in enough shape that I can outrun an 8 and 9 year old so I was just running easily betweeen them. Another set of kids/their person was next to us so we began to sort of race (3 against 3). We just barely lost and I heard to my disbelief Joel saying "Well we would have won except for the girl" Haha the pride of guys shows even at a young age. It was funny whatever the case. Then came the tough job of keeping an eye on both of the kids. Miguel was fairly easy to watch (sort of) but Joel wanted to see EVERYTHING and figure out how it worked. Once I lost Miguel for a couple of minutes but someone pointed him out to me as he was laying on the walkway about 100 feet away. Then I lost Joel for a while! I was beginning to get nervous and started to think "Great, I am the first one to lose a kid." Then I saw him way off in the distance with another adult holding on to his shoulder and I ran up behind him grabbed him in a huge hug and said "WHERE WERE YOU!" He kind of did that shrug like "aww, I'm too cool for this" but I could also see that he was a bit taken aback that someone actually cared where he was.

Everytime we passed by water I had to keep a firm hand on each of them, several times if I was not hanging on the the back of their pants they would have gone headfirst into the water! As it was they were having so much fun dipping their whole heads into the water. One kid, went a bit far and as he was falling into the water his person grabbed the back of his pants, holding him mid air with the kid wildly waving his arms and legs. It was a funny sight. I decided that the next trip we make it should involve water in some shallow and fenced in place (to keep them from drowning or running off!!) as they loved the water so much!

Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day including the kids! This is the first time in the last 4 months of working with them that i have seen them fight so little. I think it was because there were tons of other things to do other than fight. They acted like normal kids for a day! For those of you who know me, you know that I don't just love kids. I have never been very sure if I would ever have kids but I think that day changed my mind. It is hard to explain but sometime considering the lives of these kids is overwhelming. I try to take in just one of the stories of these kids then I realize that each of the 27 kids has a story equal or worse, then I realize that there are thousands of more kids like this in Guayaquil, then in Ecuador so many more then in the whole world! It is overwhelming to see how I can help when the problem seems so big. ADOPT KIDS! LOVE KIDS! We can't do enough. How many kids are going to go to sleep tonight knowing in their head that no one wants them, no one cares? Pray for peopel who will commit full time to work with kids like these. They need people, good people who will not abuse them and who will love them to show long term commitment.

Standing in line once we made it to the park/IMAX

My boys

truth #14: I am fine

2009-05-06T21:27:00.003-05:00

I am fine.

I have repeated this to myself hundreds of times since 6:30pm. I think I can honestly say now, I am ok. This morning I asked God to speak His truth into my life, little did I know how that would come about.

I am not afraid.

Today at 6:30pm, I was robbed.

I was just walking home as always, maybe a little bit later but that was only because I had a meeting in the office that lasted longer than I thought it would. On my way home I passed my friend Lennart, who was going grocery shopping in the little tienda (shop) down the street. I said hello and asked him what he was cooking for dinner. Then I turned the corner onto my street. The street where I have lived for almost 8 months now, the street that feels a little like home now. Sitting on the curb were two guys. One had his pant leg rolled up and what hanging on to his knee like it was scraped and hurting. His friend leaned over him very concerned. In the back of my mind I thought how weird it was that he got hurt there as there was nothing to trip over. I just figured he must be a clutz like me. I just ignored them as I tend to to do all ecuadorian guys on the street. But as soon as I walked past them, just five steps from my front gate, the guy jumped up and ran up behind me. He stuck something in the small of my back like a gun and grabbed at the strap of my mini backpack. I had just taken the keys out of my bag to unlock my gate so only one strap of my backpack was on. I knew as soon as the guys got up that they were robbers but it was too late. I was rather clear headed and had absolutely no fear... but then again these two scrawny guys didn't really have what it takes to strike fear into the hearts of people. So I just pushed the guy behind me away and turned to face him and take my backpack away from him. I saw that he had something in his hand but it was not a gun like he hoped I would think. It was one of the folded knives with other gagets on it, and it was folded not opened. I kept asking them to just let me take my identification papers out, I just wanted my id card! But they wouldn't listen to me. I eventually let go of my backpack when he began to open the knife and the voice of reason won in my head. So off they ran with my little backpack, my cell phone, my wallet with my id papers and the huge sum of money ($10), my pin drive, my sunglasses that are falling apart, my favorite lipgloss and.... most depressing.... my camera.

One friend said to me "Tabitha you are suppose to be trying to stay safe." I immediately replied " I was being safe because I didn't follow my immediate desire to kick him in the.. shins and then break his nose." But I didn't do that only because there were two of them and I was one. They really were scrawny... After they ran off, I walked to the little store where Lennart was buying some potatoes. He was ready to tear off after them but they had already gone, he was a policeman in Holland before becoming a missionary in Ecuador. My field leader sent a text message to the stolen cell phone saying something like "Shame on you, you stole from a missionary!" The funny thing is that someone replied! We don't know if guy who replied really is an innocent bystander who just happened to find the sim card of a cell phone on a well traveled bridge after dark or if he is the robber who actually felt bad for stealing the stuff of a missionary OR if he is the robber who wants to find out where I am and steal more or worse.. He ended up calling my house phone but I said that he would need to talk with and meet with Roberto to give back the stuff because I was trying to be cautious. Whew. I guess we will see what happens.

At the beginning of my blog I said that I had prayed that God would speak truth into my life. Here is the truth that He has taught me if you haven't already guessed it.. I am fine. What happens to me doesn't matter, I am His responsibility. I don't belong to me. I don't have to worry or be afraid, even when bad things happen because He is still there, He always will be. I just need to look to His face always, nothing else matters. I think that we normally use another word for this concept:

Trust

I am fine.

I am not afriad.

truth #13:thieves sunsets and broken hearts

2009-04-25T18:08:00.007-05:00

THIEVES:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..." John 10:10

Macas, Ecuador - March 2009
During the first part of March I took a short trip to see a bit more of the country and diverse culture of Ecuador. Basically up until this time I had only seen Guayaquil, in other words - concrete and cars... Two good friends, also missionaries in Guayaquil invited me to go with them, Dave and Lolly Erdel. Dave was speaking at a church in Macas (a good 12 hours bus ride from Guayaquil) in the evenings for a week. We took a day on the trip to Macas to stop in Baños and see the hot springs and waterfalls and during our time in Macas we had many opportunities to see parts of the jungle. I have many pictures on my Picasa Web Albums which I will post the address to at the end of this blog. During our stay in Macas, the church took very good care of us. Every lunch and dinner we went to a the house of a family from the church. I must admit that I had some problems at first with some of the traditional Ecuadorian food and for about four days straight I had a stomach ache.. I began praying about two hours before each meal that I would be able to keep it down. God definitely answered my prayers and I also got a taste of some traditional jungle foods! It was amazing to meet so many people in this small town in the jungle. They were so hospitable and when I left I truly felt sad, almost as though leaving my own church back in the States. This is one area that I would appreciate your prayers in as I have not found a church like this here in Guayaquil and I am currently looking for a new church that I can join as family! This trip was very encouraging to me and I grew so much in my understanding of Ecuadorian culture and in my love for the people here. As to the references to thieves... Yes, I had my first personal encounter with crime in Ecuador during this trip. We were almost robbed at our hostel! For those of you who are interested in hearing more I can write you the story but honestly this is one that makes a great story in person :)

SUNSETS:

"Accept one another, then just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise
to God" Romans 15:7

Costa Rica - HIV and AIDS Facilitator Training - March 21-29 2009

I embarked on a training expedition that when I began had no idea how this would affect my life. Honestly, I think I must have had very simplistic and shallow motivations for going to this training, however, God used this week in my life to change my thinking and my heart. I will not be the same. I will endeavor to impart this change but as it is still growing in me, I am not certain how well I will do. This week was basically to teach me how to facilitate workshops and presentations on HIV and AIDS. This is an area of huge need where it seems many times the Church fails to show the love of Christ to those in desperate need. This is only one area though, and I see ideal and stereotypes in my own life that does not reflect the love of Christ. During this week we talked about how we are to love those who are HIV positive - no matter how they might have contracted the virus. To love those who are different. To love all people including those from other religions, homosexuals, drunks, criminals, etc... All, to accept and not to pass judgment. This does not mean that we condone sin but since when were christians, saved from the death of sin, to pass judgment on someone else? Have I forgotten from where I came? Where Jesus saved me from? Even though I have been a follower of Christ since I was 6 years old - my importance and status it at the exact same level of the evilest sinner who is just saved from their sin! Can I pass judgment on those who don't claim to be Christians, when they are still in their sins? Why is it that I expect those who are lost to keep the same values as followers of Christ? Since when did it become my job to give out love, grace and acceptance only when I think that the person is significantly worthy of it? What would happen if I loved freely every person, even those who abuse, hate, drink, are with the other political party, have sexual diseases, lesbians, homosexuals, and those who are just different from me? What would happen if I gave grace not depending on the level of sin of the person but according to the incredible grace that God gave me? What would happen if I accepted people as they are without requiring them to become something worthy of my acceptance? Jesus himself said

>

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not
sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners" Matthew 9:12-13

What would happen if I really examined my stereotypes and how I really view other different from myself? What would happen? I hope to find out. It is my goal everyday to think of me less and Him more. It sounds so nice here in words but I think the actions are much harder. Please pray with me in this and walk with me. I would love to hear how God is teaching you lately.

BROKEN HEARTS:

"Dear children, let us not love with words of tongue but with actions and in
truth" 1 John 3:18

Foundation for Children - Guayaquil, Ecuador

I wrote once before about this children's home. I have now been many times and know most of the children. This photo is of Joel. He is three years old and is the youngest of four siblings, who are also at the home. Their father killed their mother and now he is in jail. We are not sure if the children witnessed the murder or if they only saw the aftermath, however, both are horrible. He is smiling his cute smile in this photo, the one that makes you want to take him home and drown him in the love that every three year old should feel. But the orphanage is understaffed, there are so many children and so little time to spend with each of them. We are trying to teach them concepts like love, forgiveness, respect, sharing, and encouraging. These are fairly new ideas to them. Also the spiritual warfare over these children is intense. Let me tell you more about Joel. Who like many children without supervision does not try to behave or act obedient. One day when Lennart was working at the foundation, he was sitting at the table with Joel and another little boy. Joel stole one of the beads from this boy for a craft that they were doing. Lennart told him that he had to give it back. Immediately, Joel stuck the bead in his mouth. Lennart said once more "Give the bead back to Anthony" Then Joel took something out of him mouth and threw it across the room. Lennart then said that Joel would have to help him look for it until they found it to give it back. So they found something that Lennart thought was the missing bead. He then told Joel to give it back and say he was sorry. Joel very loudly and firmly said "NO" Then Lennart doing something that is not so normal for him said "In the name of Jesus apologize and give back the bead" Immediately without talking back or protesting further, Joel removed the real bead out of his mouth gave it to Anthony and said contritely "Perdoname". This shock Lennart and began to show us some of the realities of the spiritual warfare that is going on in this place. Many children have also complained about the nights in the foundation and claim that there is something or someone that walk around their rooms. Then the last trip to the foundation, Cira shared this story with me about Joel, the three year old. He told Cira that he sees the devil. That the devil carries a big knife. They kept telling him about God's love and how God is stronger than the devil but this little child is convinced that he belongs to the devil. He told Cira that the devil wants to hurt him. Pray for these children! We are not fighting again flesh and blood here! This is only one of the 30 stories.

More Photos, lots more!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tabk219/

truth #12: La Concordia

2009-02-23T17:03:00.002-06:00

My first real trip out of Guayaquil! I was so excited to go this last weekend to La Concordia! It took us about 7 hours to get there from the city. It is north of Guayaquil, almost to the city of Esmeraldes. It is number 3 on my map at the bottom. So after spending almost the whole day of Valentines in the car we arrived! Oh and Valentines Day is a little different here than in the states, it is really a day of love and friendship, just as much for friends as for lovers. I explained the joke of 'Singles Awareness Day' to my friends here and they thought it was quite funny. Well back to la Concordia. Five of us from OM went on this trip, Darren, Johanna, Carmen, Maria Jose and me. We lead two church services on Sunday about missiones, and also had christian books for sell at cost at the back. Christian literature is not so abundant here as it is in the States. I got to stay with a real ecuadorian family during our time in the town. Each of us was sent off to a host home for two nights. I must confess at first I was really nervous. Well, the pastor walked with me down the street to the house where I would be staying. It was very dark that night and just as we got to the door all the electricity in town went off. The pastor still knocked on the door and eventually a lady opened it. She was holding up her cell phone for just a little bit of light but it was held at an angle where she could kind of see me but I could see her at all! So the pastor just introduced me to Jenny and then he left. I think at that moment all my Glowing Heart training utterly left me and I was just about speechless. In a home, in a strange town, in the dark with a lady who I had never seen and who could not speak any English... You get the picture. Well finally I got my tongue and the lights came back on. She began to tell me about her daughters, one who was studying in Canada and the other who I was going to share a room with that night. Shortly the daughter, Karlita, arrived with her boyfriend and several cousins. We sat around and talked until after midnight. It was very fun and also very interesting for me to see what lengths of conversation that my spanish could stretch to! My grammar was not at all perfect but we understood one another. I spent most of my time in la concordia with Karlita and her cousins.

Now let me share a little about my ecuadorian family. I stayed in Jenny's house with her, her daughter, son and husband. However we did not eat in her house but instead walked across the patio in the back into the back door of another house (Jenny's mother, the Grandmother). She had a large table that could seat about eight people. Then the cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, nephews, nieces, daughters, sons, grandchildren, brothers and spouses started showing up. I used practically every word I could think of to describe this family because whenever I was getting introduced it was always a different person introducing, at one time they would say this is my sister, but to someone else it was the aunt or the cousin... So confusing! After the whole weekend I still cannot quite separate the family into sub-families but I can say that I love my family from la concordia! During meals we would eat in shifts as the whole family eats at the Grandmother's house and there are far too many people to sit at the table all at once. I was always put in the first shift as I was the guest.

I would stay up at night chatting with Karlita about her future, her desire to go into missions and about what mission life is like. She is a very sweet girl. Also, the grandmother confided in me that she is sure that another one of her granddaughters, Miriam, would be going into missions too one day! I am not sure what Miriam actually things of missions at the moment but it was sweet to hear that from her grandmothers!

We made it home from our trip on Monday evening without any problems... unless you call the car driving itself at one point a problem.. I did pick up some sort of stomach problem from this trip as the rest of the week I had trouble. I am finally better now. My 25th birthday on Thursday February 19, was a wonderful day. I got tons of notes and e-cards that were so fun to get. Also I received so many presents from my Ecuadorian friends, it was a pleasant surprise. Also some close friends here in Guayaquil, Dave and Lolly Erdel, made me supper and a cake that was shared by half a dozen friends.

Here is a list of my trips in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Peru (see map below)

1. Salinas (1 day in November 2008 - this is where I got burned)

2. Playas (1 day 7 Feb 2009)

3. La Concordia (3 days 14-16 Feb 2009)

4. Saraguro (2 days 24-25 Feb 2009)

5. Baños (2 days 27 -28 Feb 2009)

6. Macas (9 days 28 feb - 9 March 2009)

7. Quito (2 days 10 - 11 March 2009)

8. Costa Rica (9 days 21-29 March 2009)

9. Peru (9 days 4 - 12 April 2009)

truth #11: grace is amazing

2009-02-06T21:33:00.001-06:00

Fundacion Jesus Por Los Niños... This is the orphanage that I went to on Wednesday. This is now Friday and I am still not sure what I think of my time there. Here is what I wrote in my journal after coming home:

We went to the orphanage today, Lennart, Maria Jose, Marina and I. 10am to 5pm. I must confess it was a LONG 7 hours! 30 children live in this orphanage.. that honestly feels more like a jail. All the children are locked in the building that consists of 2 large bedrooms (one for the boys and one for the girls), a bathroom for each, a large closet with clothes thrown all over making it almost impossible to find the right sizes for each child, a dining area and a kitchen that is kept locked. There is a 'jail keeper' who keeps the keys for the door between the children's living area and the office. While we were there the lady in charge didn't come in for more than five minutes. I get the feeling that the children spend most of their time alone. I have started to get to know the girls and a few of the boys. My heart hurts for them. They are hurting and lonely and yet because they don't know now to express it, it comes out in anger! They are soo angry. They don't listen to any instructions, the only look to you to see how they can use you. One of the girls around 7 years old asked me, "Are you a Christian?" I replied "Yes." Then she goes on to ask me the question that Lennart said they asked him the first week he went. "Did Jesus come in the spirit or in the flesh?" I believe the answer is both, however I didn't respond like this as I knew they were looking for the 'right' answer (which to them was 'in the flesh') and would say that you are not really a Christian if you cannot give them the answer that they want. Instead of appeasing them or getting caught in the trap, I simply asked "Why would you ask such a question? Don't you know what matters is that you know God and have a relationship with Him?" They couldn't argue with that and then went on to another subject. Hopefully we can help them to see it is
about a relationship not about religion or 'right' answers.

We plan to go to the orphanage each Wednesday to help with the children. As we get more people to help hopefully we can go other days as well. There are so many opportunities to help and to minister to people in a real way. We also are going in the evenings to work with the children in the streets, those who sell things on the corners and who basically have a sad and lonely life. We will also continue working with the Island Santay, teaching, playing, and discipling the people there. We have several economic projects beginning on the island. My dad is helping with one, a garden on the island that floods a 60-80% of the time in this season. The people don't get much to eat and go without when the fishing is bad. I will post more about that later.

As for the title of this truth... I am currently reading a book by Philip Yancy called "What's so amazing about grace?" Wow, I am only just in the first couple of chapters but already it has been speaking to me. Some of you know how much of the 'middle child syndrome' that I have (well mostly my family...) and from some of you I have hidden it quite well... I want things to be fair, for each to get what they deserve. But that is completely opposite of what grace is. I think before I read this book I would have said that I understood grace but some how I think I separated it in the spiritual sense and in how I see life each day. How can I say that I understand grace and yet become impatient with each thing that is so unfair, like having to wash someone else's dishes or clean up their mess or even do these things but with irritation in my mind... I cannot say that all these things will be fixed overnight but hopefully during this journey I will understand the grace that God has for me and be able to show the same grace everyday!

truth #10: visas, languages, and headaches are not impossible for God.

2009-02-03T12:17:00.004-06:00

This truth will definitely take some explaining.

I will start with the visa... As many of you know, we have been praying like crazy for my visa situation. I think now that I have all the details I can give you the complete story. Here it goes. Laws changed in Ecuador right around the time that I entered Ecuador in September with my tourist visa. Which before the laws changed would not have been a problem. However, now the person entering the country cannot change visa types except in their home country. In more simple words, I could not change my three month tourist visa to a two year missionary visa in Ecuador... Then came the words from my field leader in October when we became aware of the situation, "Tabitha, I hate to tell you this but you are going to HAVE to go home for Christmas." My three month tourist visa would end in mid-December. Well, I was not too sad as honestly the holidays are the hardest time for me to be away from the states. Having to return home for a short period of time, however, was not the biggest problem that we faced. To obtain a missionary visa in Ecuador you have to fulfill about 8 or 9 requirements. One of the biggest was to have letter and documents of the supporting missionary organization. Well, when the laws changed concerning the visas, they also changed concerning what makes an organization a legal organization in Ecuador... Making it next to impossible for me to get the necessary documents because my supporting organization no longer qualified as a legal organization in Ecuador. So I came home in December having no idea when or if I would get the documents. Finally, five days before I left I got the documents. So my dad and I drove down to Houston on Monday, January 5, 2009 to apply for the visa. After the office worker in the consulate looks at all my papers, it seemed that he had problems with two of them. What was slightly irritating was that I had called the office three times before coming to make sure exactly what they wanted in the documents and they wouldn't give anything more than general things. Yet the problems that this guy had was specific things, one of my papers was not a date within the last 15 days, and another paper didn't have a signature or seal (did I mention that he did not tell me about either of these necessary things on the phone?). Well after about 3 hours and a fax later, I had my visa! Amazing, right? Now it is over and I could go back to Ecuador.... Ha, the fun had only just begun. On arriving back to Ecuador with my new visa I had 30 days to register my visa and to get my censo (a governmental id). At the visa registration office, it became apparent that there was a problem with my visa, instead of the beginning date being 5 January 2009 for my two years it said 5 January 2008. A whole year different! So, I then with the help of a very patient friend began a week long process of getting the year corrected (with one document having to be changed and resigned three times because they could not get the name right). I finally got my visa registered on Friday morning (yes this last Friday morning). We then decided to stop by the immigration office and see if they had any openings to get the censo (governmental id). With the past foreigners it has taken around three days of standing in lines and correcting of documents before they received their censo. We walked in around 10:15, went straight to the counter, he looked at my papers, took my picture, printed out my id card, had me sign it, laminated it and gave it to me. We were out of the door by 10:30. I was stunned! With all the other problems that I had faced I never imagined that I would get this card so quickly... So now, as of January 30, 2009 I am finished with visa things for the next two year!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! Maybe this will give you a little more insight to the Ecuadorian processes.

Language, I struggled so much at the beginning of my time with miscommunications and the inability to really talk with people. I took classes three to four times a week and would listen to Spanish during our meetings, church services, prayer meetings, outings with friends, movies, and in the office. I am not at the moment by any means fluent but I am able to communicate and I even am writing daily emails to people interested in missions in Spanish! Of course I always get someone to check it over before I send it... :) God has been so good in helping me in this area and I need to make sure that I continue to study and learn to be better able to work and minister here in South America.

Headaches. I don't understand them. I don't like them. I had at first a great struggle when I returned to Ecuador with a consistent headache that just kept getting worse. After about a month and a half of this headache, it is finally getting a bit better. But even more importantly I am beginning to trust God more in this time. Please keep praying that I will find joy and strength each day no matter what comes my way. I had a long talk with some friends last night that really helped to to gain perspective on my situation and gave me great encouragement.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which
surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

My goal this week is to be constantly giving thanks and praying.

truth #9: clothes don't dry in the rain

2009-01-14T15:04:00.005-06:00

I have been thinking for quite a while about what to write this time. I probably have enough to talk about for two or three blogs, however, I will be efficient and put them all into one. :)

First, I returned from my three week trip to the states last Thursday.

Second, it was with my two year Ecuadorian visa! Praise the Lord for that one!

Third, it has been raining here ever since I came back.

In fact, at this very moment I am soaking wet, but I will leave that story until later. So many of you were encouraging to me during my time at home. I think I was blown away by all the interest in what I am doing in Ecuador. Well back here in Guayaquil things are as crazy as ever. Another thing... not all the visa stuff is finished, as I found out today. Another Ecuadorian process is to register the visa after you get it. So I went to register my visa today, only to find out that when I was at the consulate in Houston they forgot to give me a document necessary to register my visa here. Now we are in the process of obtaining that document, of course in the one-month-after-entering-the-country deadline : FEBRUARY 8, 2009! Another thing to add to your prayer list. :)

And now to be really honest with you. As strange as this sounds to many of you who know that I value honestly, it is sometimes really hard for me to be entirely open about all that I am going through. This last week has been a really hard week for me. I am having trouble with my headaches again. It is beginning its fourth week with me, a very unwelcome companion. Normally at this point a bit of a depression begins to hit me, part of it could be sleep deprivation, I am not sure. It is hard to get up in the mornings, almost impossible to sleep, every moment reminding me what a blessing it is to have a clear mind, it carries me in endless circles that I honestly have no idea how to get out of. Really what I desire most that you pray for me about would be that I have the strength for each day, that I will not believe the lies that Satan constantly throws at me and that I will not give in to fear. It has been a while since I have had a headache for this long, other than three weeks in October it has been almost two years since I have headaches that lasted longer than three days. I think they are getting better but who knows since no one can seem to figure out why I get them in the first place.

Well, I left the cold cold weather of Texas to what I thought would HOT weather... instead I got rain, rain and more rain. And the funny thing is that they say we have not really entered the rainy season. Every night it rains, every morning it rains, most afternoons it stops rain for a brief period (but no sun), then it rains in the evening. Today, during the afternoon the sun began to come out! I was so excited! I decided that I had better wash my clothes and get the on the line to dry while there was a break in the weather. So after two hours of washing clothes I get it all finished and get back to work. I was not in the office for 20 minutes when it began to rain... and I mean rain! I stood up from my desk with a involuntary yell, causing everyone in the office to turn and look at me. I responded to their wide eyes with "MY CLOTHES ARE ON THE LINE", comprehension dawned and they all looked at me with sympathy. If the clothes get wet again, I would have to go through the entire washing process again but this time there is absolutely no sun to dry the damp clothes. So I grabbed my little purse size umbrella and dash to the door... not really sure why I bothered with the umbrella as the tiny size didn't stand a chance in the downpour! I practically ran the three blocks to my house, though at this point my clothes would have been soaked! But as I got through the second gate, none of my clothes were on the line! One of my friends had seen my clothes on the line and had taken them down right before it started to rain cats and dogs! What a blessing! Such is life in Ecuador.

truth #8: South Africans call it a 'bathing costume'

2008-12-10T10:37:00.015-06:00

On last Thursday, Darren's sister, Kerry, came to visit from South Africa. She will be staying in Ecuador until the day after Christmas. It was nice to have a roommate again, even if only for a short while. We hit it off immediately. During the course of the weekend, Kerry joined us in our usual activities. This included Santay Island. First, let me preface this by saying that the children on Santay are absolutely wild and crazy but at the same time very cute. As Kerry was getting to know the kids, of course solely through playing with them and the interpretations of others as she does not speak much Spanish, she would tell them her name. However it seemed that they could not quite get 'Kerry' out so instead she became 'Kiwi'. I, now, call her by this name and will refer to her as 'Kiwi' from now on. Also during this trip to Santay, I had great opportunity to practice my newly found skill of communicating in Spanish. I had several long conversations with some of the girls that came to help at Santay from a nearby church. And also some conversations with the mothers of the children on Santay. And for the first time ever, I could actually understand most of what the children were chattering to me... One little kid, Leonardo, who strangely reminds me of Lennart (the OMer from Holland) particularly talked with me a great bit. I think that both of these boys have more in common than just the name.

Let me tell you a little story: When I got my sunburn two weeks ago, my legs swelled up horribly! Well one of those days, Lennart decided to give me a hard time. So he started calling me 'Chub-itha' instead of Tabitha... No worries it was all in good fun and I will get my revenge one day :) Well when I was on Santay this weekend, little Leonardo, would ask me "What is your name?" I would say "Tabita", then he would respond "oh, Chub-ita", I would say "No, Tabita", then he would say "oh, Aug-wita", I would then quite firmly respond with "No, with a 'T', Tabita" then he would say "oh, Tabita". You might think oh how cute, he finally learned to say her name correctly... No, he knew the whole time what my real name was as we went through this process at least 10 times over the weekend... Kids

Kiwi loved the weekend and the children of Santay. After we returned from Santay on Saturday morning we went to a Historical Park in Guayaquil. It was very nice with lots of the native animals from Ecuador, some of the original buildings and a walk through village/farm from the 1800's. It was fun but also SUPER hot. I think we finally introduced Kiwi to the weather of Ecuador, but the nice thing is that once you experience a real 'hot' day here all the other days feel cool in comparison.

Also during the weekend we went to several church services and also to an Evangelism workshop. Darren was not able to be right next to his sister during all of these things so it actually turned out that I was the translator for her quite a bit. My translation was by no means perfect but I could at least tell her practically all that was going on. I never understood how hard translation is until I had to actually do it, and I mean really translate and not what I did in Peru but as the person is speaking I had to translate even though they never paused... wow! One of the hardest parts was remember which language to actually speak in, if they were talking in Spanish for example about how Jesus is the Light, He would say "Jesús es la luz", I would translate that into English in my mind 'Jesus is the light' but then my mouth would get confused about which language I was suppose to say it in and it would come out like "Jesus is the luz.. I mean light, which is luz in Spanish". Once they were talking about Jesus being Lord over us and they used a word that I only knew to translate as 'landlord' so I turned to Kiwi and said "Jesus is our Landlord, but that doesn't make sense.. but that is the only way I know the word" then I just kept going. Kiwi was laughing so hard at me the whole time about my translations. I am laughing at myself about my translations and now my English. I have digressed, I say things like the sister of Darren, instead of Darren's sister (yes I erased and corrected that at the top of this blog). I hope one day they will finally separate themselves in my mind, English and Spanish, however, they all tell me it will never happen..

Though I greatly enjoyed the company of Darren's sister (they both left for the jungle yesterday morning and I will be leaving for the states before they return) I will not see her again this trip. We had many fun times together, especially over the differences in our English. First, she has an amazingly fun and beautiful South African accent. Second, they say things like "I am going to take my bathing costume with me to the beach". I tend to just turn and stare when she says things like that.. then we have a long discussion about the differences between SA English and American English. It is crazy that even though people speak the same language there are so many differences. But then again I love it as things would be much more boring without all these fun surprises! (let's hope that I still hold to that when it comes down to the wire with my visa!).

truth #7: Change will come

2008-12-09T16:13:00.004-06:00

Buenos Dias my friends and family. Finally I can say that I am WELL! After two complete weeks, the worst of days happened to be on the day that I last wrote on my blog, my sunburn is completely gone. I must say this is the first time in my life that I have been SO excited about seeing my own beautiful WHITE (mind you, NOT red) skin... Honestly if being in hell is like being in an eternal fire... those who do not know Christ have never been burned... I was not able to walk for four, almost five whole days, then it took a week after that for all the pain and swelling to completely leave. I think that even all the nasty peeling has finally quit as well. Praise God, I am now so much more thankful for the ability to walk without pain!

Many of you know that one of the most frustrating things about moving to another country (non-English speaking) is the language barrier. This one area has been a HUGE struggle for me during my three months here. More than I ever imagined it would be. I am finding out that my experience here is entirely new and different from my experiences in Thailand. My lack of Thai in Thailand didn't bother me or get in my way of ministry near as much as my lack of español here. Maybe it is because my job in Thailand revolved around English, as an English teacher of course, and my job here requires Spanish. This has been quite a bit of stress for me, especially since my English speaking, Norwegian roommate returned back to Norway a month ago. I think I floundered for a bit, and I am talking the frustrating floundering! It seemed that everywhere I turned there was some sort of miscommunication (normally it had to do with me agreeing to do something that I had NO idea I was agreeing to) which now looks a bit funny but at the time just made me want to pull out my hair and cry... I say all of this to add a HUGE

HOWEVER,

This week, something happened, something clicked. Suddenly I am talking in Spanish to people in the office, I am understand my non-English speaking Spanish teacher entirely in her explanations, I am talking with children, young people, older people, ok, basically everyone! Mind you it isn't always pretty or even the correct grammatical form but I am COMMUNICATING! This is mind blowing! I even shared my missions testimony in Spanish, talked with a woman on the Santay Island about her life and God. I know that these things must sound so simple to you. Most of you are able to do this with EVERY single person you meet in a day. I think that sometimes we don't realize what abilities that we actually have until they are taken away from us. Just think, you have the ability to walk outside your door and have a casual conversation with your neighbor, to share your testimony of God's work in your life, to impact someone by showing interest in their life! At times I find myself even asking God why I couldn't have stayed in the United States and done ministry that I know I can do. Why do I have to come and work in a place with a language that I don't speak and ways that maybe I am not used to. Why? Because He has called me, because it is Him that works in me, because when it is all said and done it will not be the work of Tabitha that is being done but His work! I don't know all the outcomes, I don't know all the changed lives, I don't even know how this will change my own life but I can tell you this, change will come. What is it that God has called you to do? Don't give up, LET Him work in you, listen to His voice.

truth #6: ¡the sun in ecuador is very strong!

2008-11-26T20:32:00.006-06:00

Ok, so I actually cheated with this picture.. No worries though, it was for a very good reason. Sadly for this same reason you will not get to see anymore pictures either. It has been some time since I have talked with you and so much has happened.

First, one of the changes that has happened since we talked is that I will be returning briefly to the states Dec 15 - Jan 8. There is a very good reason behind it, other than the very nice one of getting to be home with my family over the holidays. A lot of the laws have changed here in Ecuador, that also included the visa laws. Before I arrived in September it was perfectly ok to change your visa type from Tourist to Missionary in Ecuador. But then after I got here we found out that this is no longer possible. So that meant that I would have to return to the states to get my visa within three months. That put the date right at Christmas (my family is really excited about that). However there is still one catch. They also changed the requirements of what makes an organization and official one here. That means that the organization that will supply the documents for my missionary visa now has to re-prove that they are an organization. We are not sure how long this will take, it has already been a month that they have been working on this. So keep praying that the documents come in time for my trip back to Texas or I may be spending more time at home than planned!

Ok, as for the story about truth #6, honestly, I have a bit of trouble telling it. It is probably my pride (which I am losing a lot of this week..). On Sunday, I visited the beach with a friend. We spent the whole day there and before you ask or even think it, YES i did put on sunscreen! We had a lot of fun during our time there, playing in the ocean, going on a boat ride, seeing a dolphin, and just having a day off. It was not until the two hour bus ride home that I began to realize something... THE SUN IN ECUADOR IS VERY STONG! I am very burnt, the worst in my whole life in fact. The worst would be my legs. I say this because this is Wednesday night and I have not been about to walk since Sunday night... Ok, well I do walk but lets just say one of those granny walkers would be a GREAT help.

First, let me describe how i have to get up off my bed, which takes a full five minutes (yes, I timed it). I begin by taking my poor swollen legs carefully off of the nice fluffy pillow and just lower them by a few degrees every 20 seconds. You see, if I were to just put my feet straight down on the floor what happens is an excruciating wave of pain hits me and liquid comes out of my tear ducts. Still the lowering by degrees is quite painful (excruciating has become my favorite word this week) but at least it is bearable. Then after I finally get my little feet -well maybe my chubby, swollen feet would be a more accurate picture- I do this funny rocking thing where I end up leaning over holding on to the bed (this is where is walker would come in handy as I already have the posture down completely). From there I do this shuffle walk/hop/dance thing that must look totally ridiculous, therefore I keep my door shut at all times and have REFUSED to take pictures! I also have this lovely pain medicine that also makes me a bit loopy, this also adds a bit of fun to the mix of things. In fact, I am on the medicine at the moment so I hope that I am writing in understandable sentences... There are some good things that have come out of this thing though. First, I realized how much pride I still have in my life and am learning again to be dependent on others. Second, because the pain in my legs has been so bad I have hardly noticed the burn on my arms and back. Third, it has given me a lot of time to sit and think (did i mention that it has already been three days?). Fourth, I have learned to avoid the sun in Ecuador at all costs!!!!!

I also wanted to give all of you a run down on what I do here with OM in Ecuador or more accurately what I have been doing. Mostly, I have been studying the language like crazy! I feel that I am getting a grasp on things but my speaking and listening is still rather slow. I will need to be able to communicate well for many of the things that I will be doing. The other part of my work has been focused on the Personnel side of things. I get to work with the new applicants to OM Ecuador, the ones who are already out on the field and the ones here in the office. I also have been doing in on our weekly projects, the University English Club and the Santay Island project. Then as this is Latin American, you never know from week to week what might pop up. I have participated in a Mentoring clinic, dressed up as a Swedish girl in a missions parade, participated in an Evangelism training and many other things. I have pictures from all of these things but as those are in my camera which is in a place currently unknown and as each move I make at the moment is weighed carefully against the certain excruciating pain that it will bring. I am not going to post those pictures at the moment.

Please pray for these following things:
1. The visa situation - that all the documents will come in time
2. My health and the health of our team here (sickness has been hitting all of us!)
3. The unity of the churches here, they are very individualistic

Muchas gracias mis amigos! Dios te bendiga! Y espero te voy a ver pronto!

truth #5: I'm not in Ecuador anymore

2008-11-03T20:05:00.010-06:00

October 17 - 25 Pucusana Peru - Medical Missions

From one Latin country to another in one day and though so close together, Peru and Ecuador are very different. Please as you read this do not try and figure out which one I love more as I view countries like children.. not that I have any of those.. my love for each is different and deep. This was the third medical mission trip that I have taken to Peru and yet was very different from each of the ones before. Before I began my journey to Peru, I was asking God what it was that He wanted to show me, what the reason was that He wanted me to go on this trip and I was given the answer in so many ways.

The group consisted of around 20 people from the States, some from Texas and some from Georgia, and 8 Peruvians. Our first day we unpacked the suitcases and began to arrange the small church into a medical area. Let me give you the basic run down of how our clinic worked. First, the people would line up infront of the church doors. Then we would take around 30 people into the Evangilism area where the gospel would be shared with them. From there was the Triage where basic information and basic complaints were written down. The person would then be sent inside to see the doctor. After the doctor the person would move on to the pharmacy where the prescriptions were filled. If the person came with an eye complaint they would be taken to the eye screening line where they would take an eye test and depending on how well they read it would either be sent home or would be given a 'golden ticket' to see the eye doctor. Also we had several people work with the children, coloring, face painting, making balloon shapes.... some of them even had the bright idea to make balloon swords...

Yes, that is me buried under the gazillion balloon swords, no worries Terri, I don't hold grudges. :) We also had a brilliant team that helped with interpretting as the language of Peru is Español. Three from the United States also spoke Spanish fluently and worked as intrepreters. However, the first day of clinic we had a minor crisis because three of the intrepreters were either sick or had to make a trip back to Lima. The next thing I knew I was nominated to help translate in Triage... yes that is right, me the Spanish beginner worked as a translator. Honestly it was rather funny and sometimes downright embarrassing (I must admit that I have a much greater respect for what nurses and doctors have to hear about and see). It did seem that all the awkward problems ended up in the chair in front of me, making for some funny stories as my vocabulary is not so advanced. The pictures below are of the Peruvian team and then one where I was working as a translator for Van.

The next four days I helped to screen the eye patients with my new friend 'Vanna White' or better known as Carla. I got to inform the person where to stand, to cover one eye and to read the letter that Carla was pointing at. Then if we did not give a 'golden ticket' to the patient, I got to hear the reason why they were sure that they needed glasses even though they had perfect vision... Keep in mind that all of this happened in Spanish. One of our greatest moments was when we gave a pair of reading glasses to an elderly woman who had probably not been able to see up close in a very long time. Her face turned into sunshine as she realized that she could actually read her bible! Then tears running down her face and with the biggest smile she proceeded to kiss and hug each of us.

Each day after we finished the eye screenings for the day, we would go to the pharmacy to help out... And we did actually work...

This is Any, giving the evangilism message to the people. She is an incredible speaker. Even though I cannot understand everything in Spanish I am completely hooked when she speaks. People responded to the message of hope and out of the 874 people we saw in the clinic, 124 prayed to recieve Christ! That is absolutely amazing! So much more than just helping to heal earthly bodies and give better sight went on during this week, lives were changed forever. Each person could tell so many stories about how they saw or heard God working during the week. Also during the week we were able to establish a good relationship with the authorities in the area. They were very impressed with the work being done in the community and the way that this church was trying to meet the physical needs of the people. We pray that these relationships will continue to grow between the people of God and the authorities.

Another huge part of my week in Peru consisted of working with the children. This was one thing that I was definately not expecting. Most people that know me well know that I like kids ok but they would not be my prefered ministry. In Pucusana, however, I didn't have much of a choice. They were drawn to me almost as though I were a magnet. We colored together, painted faces, talked, fought with balloon swords, played games, sang songs, told stories, and basically just loved on each other. God really spoke to me about putting everything into where He puts me, even if I don't preceive it as my talent.

My aunt and uncle were also on this trip. I would like to brag on both of them for just a moment as God has used both of them incredibly in bring me to work in South America. My uncle, Eddie, is an emergency room doctor and has been working a great deal with medical missions in Latin American and more specifically with Peru. I went on my first trip to Peru with them last September, just two weeks after returning from a year long trip to Thailand. I felt called to this trip from the emails that my aunt had sent me about her previous trips to Peru. After hearing her excitement God began to place a special interest in my heart about South America. I have also been so impressed by the way that my uncle puts everything that he has into what he thinks is important. He is even working on learning spanish, and it is not afraid to try and use it even if he doesn't know how to say what he wants perfectly. This trip because of the close proximity of the pharmacy to where he was working, I could hear him ask each person at the end of their visit with him "puedo orar por ti?" Which is "can I pray for you?" It was a great blessing to work with him and my aunt.

Overall, I would say that this was an awesome trip. I don't have the room to mention each person that I interacted with and the special stories that happened. I made so many new friends, got to know old friends better and even had the chance to work on my Spanish. I am so blessed and going on this trip helped me to see that even more and to realize that God uses all types of people in all types of circumstances.

I hope that each of you will have the blessing of
seeing God work in another country!

con amor,

Tabitha

truth #4: Row, row, row your boat

2008-10-12T19:51:00.014-05:00

In the couple of weeks that I have not posted, many things have happened. First, I was sick with a cold, then I had stomach problems, then headaches - and all during the two weeks of being sick (with one thing or another) I kept having my low blood pressure spells. I must admit that it is really frustrating to be sick just are you are entering a new country and work environment. Thankfully that seems to have all passed. I have now been in Ecuador officially for one month and one day. It seems like the time has flown. This week our whole office is at a Mentoring Clinic. This is a four day clinic where we learn about... yes, mentoring. Unfortunately for me - the squirmy kid - we are at this conference area from 9am to 9:30pm cada dia (each day). It has been two days already and I am dying of having to sit still!! On Friday, I will leave directly from the conference and go to PERU! I am joining a one week medical mission group that is flying in from the States. My uncle and aunt (Eddie and Jeanette), Heather Noga and Carolyn Butcher will all be in this group as well. I am excited about ministering in Peru again and also to work with these amazing people. I wish that I could say that my Español is good enough for me to be a translator there but unfortunately I am still in the beginning phases of speaking. ¡Yo quiro a hablar español rapido! Soon, hopefully.

There are two sets of pictures below that I wanted to share with you. The first is from a local attraction in Guayaquil. It is a very nice, 4km long. riverside park/tourist attraction. In this trip we were saying goodbye to Giuliano as he was returning back to Belgium.

Here is the whole gang, Darren, Lennart, me, Giuliano, Vibeke, & Daniel

Vibeke, me and Sarita - we are sporting the new style

The boys had lots of fun playing on the playground equipment..

The following is my first trip to the Island of Santay.

The trip really began once we entered the fish market on the side of the river opposite Santay. We needed to rent a boat to carry us to the island. I cannot say that I am very fond of fish markets but it was an interesting experience. Then we boarded a tiny boat (even smaller than the one in Peru) and slowly crossed the river. I have been rather curious about this project since early this summer and finally I was approaching the real thing! As we landed, several children came running to greet us with bare feet and huge smiles. The island has limited electricity (as we would see that evening) and no running water. The buildings and houses for these 200 people are built out of bamboo with tin roofs. Everything is built up on stilts as it floods quite often. This year is bound to be at its worse since El Niño is coming again. The children were much more shy with me than I expected but as the night came they began to warm up. We first split into groups and visited almost every house on the island inviting them to the adult service and youth services. The last house that we visited was quite fun to find as we had to walk across a narrow bridge made only of bamboo to get there. In the afternoon we had the adult and children services. Around a dozen adults came to sing and listen to Darren (or Dario as he is called here) speak. I help with the children. I have been contemplating for several days exactly how to explain the children here. They remind me of the lost boys from Peter Pan - completely lovable yet 100% wild. There was not 5 seconds that they could sit still to listen, and believe me, I even counted!! At one point five of the little boys attacked Lennart and he had quite a bit of fun holding them all down with one hand. Mostly I just played the games with the children, held their hands and let them sit in my lap - once they quit staring that is. It is sometimes frustrating to me how little I understand in Spanish and this weekend had me the most frustrated yet. Five Ecuadorian girls joined Darren, Lennart and myself to work on the island this weekend, Betsi, Vivian, Maria José, Ruth, and Diann. I love them but to be honest none of them speak English very well, so that left me to try and understand with my small knowledge of Spanish. So you might be thinking 'well this is great, Tabitha can practise her Spanish as well as minister' but then you probably forgot to take in account the fact that they are girls and speak quite quickly, not only do they speak fast but they NEVER stop speaking! Literally! One would pause for a breath and another would pop right in with something else. My head was spinning by Saturday morning! We had the youth service that evening but the electricity was broken in the school so we had the service outside in the soccer field by moonlight. It was quite fun. Afterwards we went to bed, more so I went to bed and the girls stayed up past 2 talking. I also woke up in the morning to the same speed and consistency as they were at the night before. If any of you remember what a wonderful morning person I am, you can only imagine my response... I also learned that the mosquitoes are a totally different breed on Santay! I still have the scars to prove it! I have added a few pictures so that you will get an idea of what I am talking about.

This is the playground to the school on Santay, in the back are the nice toilets...

truth #3: I do not blend in

2008-09-25T09:31:00.009-05:00

Who would have ever guessed that a 5'3" woman with light skin, long blond hair and blue eyes would actually stand out in a country of dark skin, hair and eyes? Yes, you guessed it, me. I don't know why I thought that this time and this country would be different but I didn't really prepare myself at all and was caught by surprise. Let me explain briefly. After four days in Guayaquil, I was feeling pretty comfortable with my fellow workers, my house and even the office. I was ready to explore a bit. My roommate Becky offered to take me to see the mall after church on Sunday. So off we went, just the two of us as Lennart made it very clear that he would rather have teeth pulled with out anesthetic than to go shopping with several women. I don't have a clue why.

So off we went to the mall. Here is where I recieved my first culture shock. The mall contains several stores that malls in the US have, there is almost any product and brand that you can think of, minus Starbucks and Dr Pepper. I was have shock over how similar the mall was to ones that I have been to in Texas! After we walked through everything we decided to drop by the grocery store on the way home to pick up just a few items... Now that I think about it we could have done without them for a day or two... We were in the produce section when I asked Becky a question from several feet away. There was an Ecuadorian man standing between us and some how decided that my question to Becky was his opportunity to talk with us. One problem, he spoke only Spanish and I only speak basic Spanish ... Becky ended up translating all of the conversation for me. To make a long story short, he tried to take advantage of the Ecuadorian greeting with me (a kiss on the cheek), quoted poetry about how my eyes captivated him and ended up following us around the store until we left. Poetry in the produce section!?! After returning home I told Darren and Lennart that I would never again visit the grocery store without one of them! They are quite protective and agreed whole heartedly.

One other interesting experience this week, was on Tuesday, at lunch. We were invited over to my Spanish teacher's house to eat lunch with her family. Lennart and Becky almost didn't go once they heard what was being served. I tend to have a rather strong stomach so I was looking forward to trying a new dish - how silly I was... The dish that we were going to eat is made with the stomach of a cow. Don't ask me which stomach but after my experience I am not sure that it matters! As most of you know I can be rather stubborn, here is one of my moments. I should have known after the first bite not to continue but I was determined. It took me at least half an hour to eat a dozen bites. To say that it isn't my favorite food is far too watered down. It took every once of determination to keep each bite in my mouth... I am breaking out into a cold sweat from just remembering the experience. However, I can now say that I have eaten the stomach of a cow.

The pictures below were taken on Saturday. We were having two people over to cook and eat with us but some how 6 turned into 9 and we ended up having a party. I think that happens a lot here. The key is to always make extra food!
Yes, that is us playing Uno. As many of you know that is my new favorite game. There is a picture of Sarah (Sarita) and me, then one with Becky and her Ecuadorian boyfriend Daniel. The last two pictures are Darren and Lennart before they went to get a haircut and after the haircut.

truth #2: What goes up DOES come down

2008-09-18T17:44:00.008-05:00

As you probably guessed I am talking about the multiple airplanes that I took to arrive safely in Ecuador. I had two worries as I checked into DFW on Monday evening, one that my bags would not survive the three different planes that I was taking and the other that no one would be at the airport in Guayaquil to receive me! After my first flight I slept for 4 1/2 hours on the floor of the Miami airport. I made it through that flight to arrive in Bogota, Colombia. After waiting around 7 hours I boarded the plane for Guayaquil, praying the whole way that all my bags would make it and that someone would be there to meet me. Let me just reaffirm again that prayer is so powerful - thanks to all those praying with me through this process! I not only arrived with all my bags but I basically walked through immigration then to the baggage claim where all my bags were already out and waiting for me and straight through customs with no waiting! Never in all my travels have I experiences such an easy entrance to a country! Then as I walked out the doors apprehensive - don't ask me why as God had already answered so many of my prayers. I noticed so many Ecuadorian waiting then I saw this tall, obviously foreign young man standing in the line of people waiting, as I walked closer sure enough he was holdin a sign that said "Tabitha OM". I was so relieved! God is so good, even in the seemingly little things.

Now I would like to share with you about the people that I will be working with. Vibeke, or Becky is the woman in the first picure. She is 27 and from Norway. She meet me at the airport along with Lennart - the second picture. Becky will be my roommate until November, when she returns back to Norway, she has been here for a year already. Lennart is from the Netherlands, he is 26 and has been here since June. He is the one who was holding the sign for me at the airport, quite a welcome sight.

Darren is from South Africa. He has already been here one year as well and has plans to stay for at least two more. He is 27 as well, making me the baby of the foreigners at 24. The two ladies in the second picture are Joana and Cira, both from Ecuador. I have not spoken with them as much as the foreigners so I will be adding more about them as I learn it - also as my spanish improves so I can talk with them more. These two pictures are also two thirds of our office. Becky and Darren are at the portion at the very back, Joana and Cira are in the middle portion and the first part is more of an entry with doors on both sides. It is rather small as we have been added more people to the staff but I like it.

Now let me share with you about my apartment. First, I need to inform you that I live in the largest city in Ecuador, Guayaquil. This also means that we have the highest rate of crime. Everyone here takes great precautions to stay safe, that is a good thing as everyone who does these things as has not taken risks has stayed safe. Please do not fear for me as I know that this is where God has me, but if you do have anxiety please just pray for my safety. Our apartment is situated about two blocks from the office, which is very nice. I share a room with Becky, Darren and Lennart also share a room. We have a common area with kitchen and a living space. It is much safer to live in groups so I am very satisfied with the arrangement. To enter into my apartment I have to use three different keys. First, I much unlock the outside gate to get into the house area from the street. Then I need to unlock a gate to go through a passage way to arrive at the back area of the house and the stairs up to our apartment. Then after climbing the narrow stairs I much unlock the door to get into the house! I am finally getting the hang of all the keys but I am rather slow at unlocking.. Here are some pictures of our apartment. First the picture from the doorway, the door on the left is to the guys room and the one on the right side is to Becky and my room (we do have a locks on all the inside doors as well). Second is a picture looking back towards the front door. Third is the kitchen - we have an OVEN!! Fourth is a picture from our bedroom door, my bed is on the left and Becky's is on the right. Fifth is from the bathroom door looking at our closet. And finally, the bathroom. We do have hot water but so far I have had little desire to use it as the weather here is rather warm.

I appreciate your continued prayers. Please add these specific things to your prayers
- my adjustment to Ecuador
- that I would learn the language quickly

"Lord, You will establish peace for us,"
Isaiah 26:12a

truth #1: Everyone rides bicycles in Holland!!

2008-09-02T14:19:00.009-05:00

First, I must confess that I did not ride a bicycle the whole time I was in the Netherlands. Second, I did not get any pictures of the masses as they rode their bicycles. And third, if you ever travel to the Netherlands the bicycler gets the right of way over the person on foot. In other words MOVE OVER!

My time in Holland was rather limited to the scenery surrounding our conference center as I was in sessions most of the time. However on two different days I went out, once by van and the other by foot, to view the country. I saw several windmills including the one in this picture that is the second oldest windmill that is still in use. The flowers were absolutely beautiful though the tulips were not in bloom. For the most part I was quite impressed with the beauty in the Netherlands. One day I hope to return to see more of the country including Amsterdam. The people are quite friendly and many speak English.

This picture is of the quaint little town of Dalfsen. It was a Sunday afternoon when we visited so none of the shops were open. And the flower below is a passion flower. I found it one of the most unique flowers that I have ever seen! My English roommate was quick to tell me, however, that they have these all over England...

This finally brings me to the subject of the conference. It was great and provided me with so much information on joining a new culture. We had lots of hands on experiences and activities to see how we adjust to working and living with people from different cultures, with different values and even different languages. One of the most beneficial ways that I have learned about culture has been through my roommates. We came from four different coutries, cultures and languages (yes, British

English and American are very different!). Yet during the week we bonded in a very deep and special way. The pose that we are taking in the picture to the right is our mosquito catching pose. Everynight during our conference our British roommate was determined to kill every insect in the room (including the poor innocent moths!).

After two weeks of training and making new friends (and leaving the new friends), I think I am just about ready to head to my field. I will admit that it is a bit overwhelming right now to pack up my life into two bags and say goodbye to all my family and friends. There are still so many things to do before I leave. God has been teaching me a lot about rest during the past weeks. Rest and peace come from trusting completely in Him even when we are not certain of the future.

"The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace
because he trusts in You." Is 26:3