Servants In Ecuador

Family on board Delta aircraft...

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Monday, June 25, 2012 4:24 AM

I was worried about Weston on the flight from Atlanta to Charlotte. He had to sit by himself as there were no rows of 3. He was just across the aisle from me so I knew he would survive. I was more worried about the women he sat with.

Weston is a talker. He will say anything and everything to anyone who takes a moment to how interest. A simple "hello" is an invitation to converse. I love that about him. I wasn't sure how well his seatmate would appreciate it.

At some point he leaned over and asked me how to say miracle in Spanish.

I answered, curious about why he needed to know, and perked up my ears to try to eavesdrop on his conversation. He and a woman leaned their heads together, intently talking. I could hear nothing.

The plane landed.

We stood to leave when she put her hand on my shoulder.

"You have the most lovely son." she told me in Spanish.

"Thank you. I hope he did not bother you too much." I responded

"He tried to tell me the gospel." she said.

She went on to tell me that she was already a believer and active in her home church in Guayaquil.

She was a stranger, in a strange country, surrounded by a strange language, and found, sitting next to her...

a little brother.

Category:

SWDOF

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Saturday, June 23, 2012 4:11 AM

There is not a whole lot going on in our lives, though, I feel I must share some good Loja related news. Co-worker and art teacher Jenny reported on facebook that 12 children gave their lives to Christ.
Co-worker and mentor Sheryl reports that they are expecting well over 100 people at a special family day in Cangaracha )I am SURE I spelled that wrong).

and.... drum rolllll...
El Sendero project was chosen to be in the annual Christmas catalog for SIM which will prayerfully raise us some much needed funds which will allow us to buy some much needed restaurant grade appliances.

Keep praying for Loja. Pray for Edgar, for Estellamarise, for Sandry and David and the rest of Sendero staff.

So, that is that, but what has the King family been up to you ask?

Well, we have:

We ate at a Red Robin. Becka was so scared she would gain a hundred pounds just by entering the doors that she turned down that bottomless basket of fries. Dustan however ate so many he had to pull out his "fat jeans". Not kidding.

Fulfilled the mission of SIM by Sitting In Meetings. All of which were entirely encouraging to us. SIM home office staff can not be beat in kindness and hard work. We love them all, but a special shout-out to Sandy Rendel who continually encouraged us while we were on the field and to Donna Griffeth who fixed every single one of our financial crisis with a big smile and a hearty southern accent.

We froze. Air conditioning is not as nice as one would think.

We took baths! Yay! Plenty of water, and hot when desired!

We ate Reeces and drank Dr. Pepper.

We took a 5 hour road trip. In a car. Not a taxi. Not a bus.

We ended at the beach where our children saw the ocean for the first time.

We woke up at 5:30 am to see the sunrise.

Category:

Stuff we did on furlough (SWDOF)

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Saturday, June 16, 2012 4:50 PM

Well, since most of the stuff I see from now on will be stuff you all see on a regular basis I will have to change my TIST (Stuff I saw) series into stuff we did on furlough (SWDOF). Try to say THAT!

1. We ate tuna sandwiches on the sidewalk outside a strip mall. It wasn't planned that way, but who knew that the ATT store would take 2 hours??? When phone stuff ran into picnic time, we decided to picnic outside the store while daddy finished his purchases. For missionaries needing phone plans in the near future, we went with the ATT go phone plan. It does not require a contract. We will see how it works for us the next month. We were able to use a phone Amanda gave us and also use our phone we brought back from Ecuador.

2. We saw a lake and thought it was the ocean. It doesn't matter how many times I tell the kids that the ocean is HUGE, they continue to think small scale. We could see all the way around this lake.

3. We fed a water buffalo. And giraffes. And pot belly pigs. Anyone in the Charlotte area should make a stop at the Lazy 5 Ranch. The kids give it two thumbs up and maybe even a big toe or two.

4. We played the radio game. This is a game that has two rules. You must listen to one song on every radio station unless the station is playing a commercial, or unless the song has a bad word in it. After the song is over you are required to change the station. We only heard two songs we knew. Dad, you will be disappointed to know that my kids hate classical music.

5. We went to a Walmart. No tears, but I did nearly have a meltdown when we could not find sunscreen. When I say meltdown, what I mean is that I nearly sat in the floor and began to weep. However, I prayed, and God kept me upright. I hope to never enter the doors of a Walmart again. Every single one of my kids stated how much they missed Supermaxi (our local grocery in Loja) (and yes, our store's name is Supermaxi) (yes, I get how funny that is)

Category:

TIST (things I saw today)

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 5:45 AM

Can you see her? She looks so tiny from here, but she walks around the neighborhood with a bell and a herd of goats. If you want goat milk, all you need to do is bring out a glass and she will milk a goat right before you very eyes. Talk about fresh!

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A Day in the Life

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Monday, May 28, 2012 7:19 AM

Missionary days are often a lot like non-missionary days. Full of meetings, hard work, and taking care of family and personal needs.

But sometimes we get to do fun things like chase the garbage man down the street, write letters to Awana kids who want to know what being a missionary is like, and helping prepare Guata, a traditional Ecuadorian meal made with intestines.

Today is one of those interesting days. What will I be doing?

Well, I am going to start off in a normal boring manner and get all my emails written, then I am going to progress into preparing my house for someone else to live in (We leave for furlough in exactly 2 weeks), and then... (exciting stuff)

I will teach a lesson to a young Ecuadorian man getting ready to enter, as a missionary, a closed country. He must be proficient in English before he leaves and so, I spend several hours a week teaching him English.

At some point today I must practice my "cutting a woman in half" skills. I found out last week that this week's Awanas (oansa) falls on the Day of the Child and we will be holding a circus. The following conversation was overheard.
woman in charge: Karine, you will be a juggler.
Karine: I can't. I don't know how to juggle.
woman in charge: Not important. It doesn't matter.
Karine: But I can't juggle.
woman in charge: Okay, well, just spin some plates on a pole then.

I was laughing my head off at Karine's predicament until the woman in charge turned to tell me that I was a magician and she would like me to cut my assistant in half. Yeh, bet that wouldn't happen where you live.

So today, after I practice the three magic skills I found online (including cutting a woman in half) (a paper woman mind you), we will celebrate my birthday.

Dustan and my friend Vivi have planned an evening out for myself and her husband Luis who celebrates his birthday at the same time as I do. Conveniently for them the plan is that Luis and I will cook Dustan and Vivi a special meal.
Don't worry though, it will actually be a spectacular gift for Luis and me. Luis is quite a chef and he will be teaching me to make a fantastic Peruvian dish. I will be sure to take pictures and write down the recipe so I can share the yumminess with all of you.

So, that's my day today. As we have wrapped up the majority of our ministry work, our days will consist more and more of getting ready to go. Saying goodbye, passing on ministries to others, and packing our bags. My to-do list was far longer than the hours I have left here, so I threw it away. My to-do list looks like this.

Revel in the joy of the work God gave me for the past 2.5 years.
Hug every person I see.
Avoid making any decisions.
Only speak of positive things.
Soak up the mountain scenes and splash in a puddle.
Drink coffee on the roof.
Pray. Pray some more. Grab someone to pray with me.
As the security guard I pass every day what his name is. (I really want to know this man's name. We have greeted each other every single day for the last year and it seems shameful that I don't know his name. However, for some reason I am overcome with nervousness everytime I think about interrupting his work to ask him his name.

I think it's a pretty good list.

So, what is on your to-do list today?

Category:

How to pray for a missionary (Guest blog)

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2012 5:51 AM

My sister-in-law, Amanda is a missionary in Loja Province and she recently sent the following in her newsletter. I thought it was valuable information for all missionary prayer supporters. Take some time to pray for missionaries today!

Have you ever wanted to pray for your missionaries but not known what their needs are? Maybe you couldn't remember what their last newsletter said and you weren't in a position to look, or maybe you desired to pray for them but all their requests are for others or the ministries themselves. If this has ever happened to you, I pray that this will help.

First off you should know that in many aspects, the prayer needs of any missionary are the same as your own. For example, if you are a parent and the missionary you are praying for is also a parent, you can easily pray for those needs related to parenthood that you are facing or have in the past which you can imagine the missionary is also facing.

Another example is for growth in their personal walk with the Lord. It isn't always easy to guard your time with God from distraction and being a missionary doesn't make it any easier.

Beyond these daily life prayers and those specifically mentioned by your missionary in their newsletters, are needs that I'm going to call "Missionary Realities."

Reality 1: Relationships with locals and teammates - we are all human and make mistakes. It is important that we remain humble, especially in our relationships with others. This means compromising on ideas, giving and seeking forgiveness, putting God's glory above all else, etc. Pray for strong, healthy relationships for your missionaries.

Reality 2: Constant change - while this creates the atmosphere for adventure (which I love), it also creates a need for extreme flexibility and steadfastness. This could result in a change of plans for the day or for an entire ministry. It could be caused by the coming and going of teammates, changes in national law, or a number of other things. While change isn't always bad, it can be difficult. Pray that your missionaries will have strength in the face of change and that their faith will continue to grow as they seek God in each change.

Reality 3: Foreign living - over time, missionaries more or less adjust to living in another place, but there are instances where even the new "normal" becomes overwhelming. Here are a few examples: an inconsistency in water and/or electricity, the inability to drink or eat whatever is before you without thoughts of what it may do to you, and the constant need to function in another language. These things really do become normal and expected, but on hard days they can be very irritating. Pray for your missionaries as they deal daily with these and other cultural differences. Pray that their attitude and response to their living environment will always be honoring to God.

Reality 4: Sleep & Sickness - because of the stress involved in the previous realities mentioned, many missionaries struggle with sleeping well, staying healthy, or both. Stress is not the only reason for sickness but it is a major one. Depending on where said missionary is living, there may be sicknesses caused by the water, food, mosquitoes, etc. Don't forget that we are all in a spiritual battle and this is another cause for illness among the Lord's servants. Pray for good sleep, good stress management, and the Lord's protection of your missionaries.

Serving God with you,

Amanda King

Category:

Picturepalooza

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Posted by Becka | Posted on Monday, May 21, 2012 9:13 AM

It's a picture fest! Did you know that one of the most common questions I get asked is, "What does your house look like?"

Well, there is a couple from Canada who is extra curious. They will be moving to Loja to help teach at the Loja MK Academy and since our family is moving out for a year, and since they will be here for a year, we thought the timing would be perfect!

So Cook family, this is what your new place will be like!

This is the living room. Television won't be included since we borrowed it and will be returning it. However, cable tv is included. Hahaha. (and sorry)

This is the dining room. My favorite place to sit and pray. It has a gorgeous city and mountain view.

Esther's bedroom. No one get overly concerned that her mattress is on the floor. It is a new development as we let the neighbor's borrow her bedframe while we are gone. This room has built in closets on the left wall.

If there is ever a contest for ugliest bathroom in the universe, we will win! That is Weston's pet snake you see peeking from the shower curtain. (It's plastic) (and therefore better) (Plastic snakes neither bite nor poo) (which is more than we can say for the live cate)

If you ever need plumbing help, don't call Dustan. It is very functional, but OH SO UGLY! THis was a conversion from an electric water system (called a widow maker) to a gas one. Hot water (or even water at all) is never reliable in Loja, but this one works fairly well.

No need to wash clothes by hand here. We have a washing machine. We do not however have a dryer. We use the god old fashioned sunshine. Which works very very well when it stops raining.

The master bedroom. Which barely fits the bed. That's a queen size. A rarity. I admit, I miss my King.

The kitchen. No hot water. We boil water for dishes, as do many families in our city. Hot water is a luxery. The drawers won't close. After Dustan fixed the plumbing I wouldn't let him touch anything else.

Nothing, NOTHING, beats our view on the roof. It's beautiful! Our neighbors have a rooftop garden planned and it should be started by the tim the Cook's arrive. I am jealous!