Work & Travel (part 2)

Since Monday, we have been working on power washing, moving and reassembling a new office for the Community Development program here in Shell, Ecuador.

this week we have made incredible progress with the projects and tasks that have fallen right into place.
We have moved and consolidated three bodegas (storage units / shop buildings) into a new location in the maintenance building here on the compound. In moving the CD (Community Development) bodegas, we re-organized the entire inventory of pipes, tools, containers, roofing materials, and ropes that make up the equipment that the CD team uses out in the villages to create clean water sources for hundreds of people.
Near the maintenance building a pipe broke recently and we dug it up and replaced the old, cracked, rusted pipe with a new, more durable PVC plastic pipe that would last longer.

The new office has been power washed, prepped for priming and is ready to be moved into and has already accommodated all the office supplies and files of several of the CD staff. The doors have been trimmed, sealed and fixed (more than once), and desks, cabinets, and shelves have been moved, screwed in, and unscrewed to be moved again and be re-assembled somewhere else. An area for a new septic tank has also been prepared, blocked off and dug into the mud and grass. Trenches have been dug, roots have been chopped, pipes have been laid, and all we have to do is install the tank and fill in the hole on Monday. The entire building is ready to be primed and painted on Monday. Be praying constantly and praising the Lord for his providence and his helping us along with our work this week!

Work & Travel (part 1)

God has truly proven that he wants us here in Ecuador! On the way down, we were delayed a total of 9 hours and changed a flight. We arrived in Quito at 2:15 Saturday morning with all our bags!
After a short good night's sleep, we traveled to Shell after visiting the country's equator memorial called Mitad de Mundo (The Middle of the World). Today, after a rest-filled Sunday, we dis-assembled part of the old headquarters and storehouses for the water projects development program here in shell. We moved almost all of the furniture, desks, and shelve assemblies into the new building.
In the morning, the team attended the chapel service at Nate Saint Memorial School.
This has been an amazing trip so far! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next!

Flying out Friday, January 9th, 2015

What: Work Team to Reach Beyond ministry in Shell, Ecuador
When: January 9-21, 2015
Who: Team Coordinator: Kenny
Team: John, Ted, Neil, Matt, Rod and myself

Friday: Depart Omaha, Arrive in Quito
Saturday: Drive from Quito to Shell

Are You Smarter Than This 4th Grade Teacher?

 

For our going-away party, our teammates put together a mock version of the TV show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Dr. Paul Barton, game show host extraordinaire, emceed the evening as three 5th graders faced off against the departing school staff (below: Jenny Joy, principal; Lynnelle, 3rd & 4th grade teacher; and Shari Muesser, 5th & 6th grade teacher). 

It was a wonderful evening of laughter and good byes.

In round two, departing children played. They had to answer this question: What did Mrs. Allison have to do at 5am when she was a child? Angelyn got the answer correct: Milk cows.

Later in the show, the departing doctors played a round. Angelyn decided her dad needed some help so she climbed on his lap and became part of the team.

Above: Dr. Mattias Egberth, surgeon from Sweden, Dr. Joe Martin, family practice from Texas and Jay with Angelyn.

Here's the studio audience at the Nate Saint Memorial School library.

The docs mimic the emcee's bushy mustache! It was a great evening!

Adoption Dream Come True

A touching story is unfolding at the orphanage this week. Edwardo is getting parents. He is so excited! When they arrived, he was waiting outside with his suitcase. He didn’t want to go back in the building, to --in anyway -- slip back toward the life he’s known for most of his 13 years. It’s not that his orphanage life wasn’t loving, warm and well fed. It’s that his dream is coming true and he’s ready. 

It’s amazing really. To get parents when you are not a cute little baby or an adorable toddler and when you are deaf and emotionally and socially younger than your age because you grew up without a family. But God is bigger than all that. He brought Edwardo a mom who knows sign language. He brought Edwardo a dad who is opening his heart and home to a second family after seeing his paternal children into adulthood. Actually, God’s amazing. Three cheers to Casa de Fe (House of Faith) orphanage and Edwardo and his new parents!

By the way, I’d like to honor my son Dane by telling you what he’s up to. He’s at Casa de Fe orphanage working with a team from Mississippi. They are digging ditches for water pipes - by hand. It’s rained every day. The mud and rocks are abundant and Dane is right there digging in. Go Dane!

 When we first visited Casa de Fe in April of 2012 the green school building on the right was under construction. The students finished this school year in it and a work shop was built next door as well.

Here on the compound, we have new neighbors yet again. We love the revolving door of short-term missionaries who touch our lives, contribute to ministry and then take some God stories home with them to inspire others to give, go or pray.

This time our neighbors are the summer college interns. In the house to the left, five young ladies (including one Cornhusker from Omaha!) are staying while they work and learn at the hospital. In the duplex on the right, three sharp guys, engineering majors, are working with the Community Development crew learning to survey land and working on a project to update the propane supply system at the hospital.

Last week all of them flew into the jungle to better understand how ministry happens there. They drank chicha, ate a lot of yuca and some even had monkey or squirrel soup.

I wish I had known about a summer internship like that in college: oversees, in my career area, with a bunch of fellow Christian co-eds and safely under the shadow of some great missionaries. Tell your kids!

Please pray for the Thompson family who will be moving into our home here. They are raising support in their home state, Texas. They have three boys and a girl just like we do. Doug will be the new principal at the school here. Pray for protection, encouragement and fortitude, and for their support to come in. Thank you.

See you soon! The Allisons

Goin' Fishin'

There is beautiful scenery everywhere in Ecuador. One Saturday a couple months ago we went fishing with friends on a mountain river about an hour from here. If you know Jay, you know that the fishing poles went into our luggage last August.

Jay and surgeon Mattias Egberth tried their best to catch a trout or anything else for that matter but nothing was interested in biting those funny looking North American lures.
 

 So the kids and I enjoyed climbing boulders and chasing minnows.

 Here's Jessie, Sam and Mark, Dane's buddies.

'And here's my buddy. We celebrated 19 years last week. When I said "I do", I never knew our faith and marriage adventures would take us around the globe. Who knows where we'll go next!

Wipe Out - Making Waves at the Compound

The Barton family threw their son, Nathon, a Wipe Out birthday party mimicking the TV show by the same name. Parents and older kids manned an obstacle course for Nathan's classmates.

Angelyn helped blast kids as they ran the gauntlet

Dr. Barton starts the timer as Natalie waits on the starting block.

Miriam runs through the noodles as Adrian and Lydia keep them slapping.

Nathan scoots up the soapy slide.

Randy, Dane's teacher, revels in getting his daughter with a pie in the face.

Miriam, Josiah and Angelyn enjoy the pool after the relay is over. Wet watery fun!

Don't Touch the Caterpillars!

In Ecuador, caterpillars mean business! 

Sometimes a "mean business" as just brushing their fuzz can be dangerous. We take pictures but every child knows you don't touch caterpillars here. The fuzz of some varieties will penetrate your skin. 

There is an all white caterpillar in the lab at the hospital. He is a harry fellow. The caterpillar's diameter with all that white fluff is wider than a plump bratwurst! If you brush against him, your arm will go numb. An ailing patient brought it along to the emergency room.

I wish I knew the butterflies and moths that come from these crawlers. Unique butterflies abound here but catching them on camera has proven very hard.

One of the joys of living here is experiencing the diversity of God's creation on another continent. I keep a camera handy in case we find a new, unusual bug or flower. Jayson has caught onto this idea and he takes many insect pictures for me. We'll share those another time.

When God Goes Before You

       

   
  
       God

Some of us talk to God. Walk with Him day by day.

To others God’s just a 4, no, 3-letter word or what goes after “Oh, my…”

Both groups look at each other and wonder just how can the other have that perspective…. or…. lack of it. Over the centuries volumes have been written to explain the path I walk. But I don’t need to be a Bible scholar, pastor or priest to explain why God is real to me.

It’s because….

When we arrived here… the book our pastor had used in his last sermon series was waiting on the shelf. Just for me to finish.

It’s because…

Last year the 8^th grade class here had one boy, five girls and a female teacher. This year there are 5 boys and a male teacher who they respect and honor and admire. Dane is in the 8th grade.

It’s because…

The night before we left Nebraska, I finally made up my mind that despite their bulk and their weight, I would pack Angelyn’s in-line skates…. (You know she wants to be a skating waitress someday  : ) …and pull them through three airports and a minivan and a bus. And, minutes after we arrived in Shell, she wanted them. That's because the first girl she met, Bella, skated up to introduce herself. Angelyn couldn't find the right suitcase fast enough.  Roller blades in Ecuador? At the edge of the jungle? Who knew. God did.

These aren’t big things. Not even miracles, however, I think I have even seen a few of those in my life. It’s these little things, little coincidences or God-cidences as some call them, that show me almost every day that God is not a three-letter word.

He is.

He knows my name.

He knew the color of the sheet set I was bringing. It happened to match the linens in the closet here.

He knew my daughter’s new buddy loves roller blades just as much as she does.

He knew my son and four other boys needed just the right teacher.

He is.
He is risen.
Feliz Domingo de Gloria!
Have a blessed Easter, everyone.

Artwork by Miriam, Olivia, Bella and Angelyn

Bugs - Big and Beautiful

Despite what you might think, we actually see fewer bugs in Ecuador than we did in Nebraska. Think of summer nights in Nebraska and how the bugs swarm any light bulb outside or even inside the house. Here in Shell, the street lamps might have a dozen bugs circling the glow but that's it. We eat outside without screens or bug spray. We see one mosquito a month. However, while we may not see a great number of bugs, the larger sizes of the ones we do see and their uniqueness makes up for it.  Here's a sample:

 

A hand-ful of rhino beetle.

  

A

 

Neighbors caught this giant jungle cockroach. Eeuwuh!

Jayson's hand. Giant leaf bug.

3" Moth 

This leech was crossing the cement outside our backdoor. It was washed up by a hard rain.

end

Life Snapshot from Shell, Eduador

Jayson enjoying what we call "dragon fruit."

It was a busy week in Shell. The internet is working so well today! Amazing! What a blessing to upload photos quickly... after I used a new tech trick to get the computer to start... a hair drier. Yes, it's so humid the connection between the hard drive and the PC has been having trouble. After 10 minutes under the hair drier, it's good to go.

Birthday party Friday night for one of the teens. Dane and friends keeping up with Dance Central on the Xbox.

Angelyn and Joshua keeping a beat.

It was crazy hair day at school. This is my class. Check out Miriam in the blue sweatshirt in the front row. She belongs in a Dr. Suess book. I added balloons and ribbons to my hair.

Pink princesses at Angelyn's sleepover for her birthday.

Katie taught everyone to make balloon animals. I woke up at 1:30 a.m. to squeaking plastic sounds as the girls got creative.   

Elizabeth, Bella, Angelyn and Miriam decorating the board in my classroom.

It's the rainy season so we don't get to see the volcanoes very often. Here's a rare glimpse of Sanguy.

Jay was helping to take care of this little guy who needed surgery.

Jay wrestling with Luke, Joshua and Jayson in ascending order : )

A visiting ministry team threw a ladies breakfast for the missionaries. It was a great time of sharing and.... eating! See those bagels? Mmmm. I hadn't had a bagel since last summer. What a treat!

The visiting college students introduce themselves at the ladies breakfast. Several of them have been shadowing Jay at the hospital.

What a week. Life in Shell is never boring. God keeps it full all the time.

Continuing our adventure with Him, Lynnelle for the Allisons