Pirate Pizza Painting Party

After two changed dates, we finally celebrated Jordan's 6th birthday!! He wanted a pirate and painting party, and Dominos pizza is his favorite - so we combined them all! It was such a fun time to be with our family and friends - we are so blessed to have a loving family and friends who are like family to us.

Happy Birthday Pirate Jordan - you did a great job decorating for your party. We love you so very much!!

Tanky

This past summer when we started discussing Ecuador with the boys, Jordan made one statement - well, I guess I better go to Spanish Camp. After that, he would not talk about Ecuador. He would either change the subject, get quiet, or run off. As you can imagine, I was so upset and battled with the "what are you doing, Lord?". Jordan has an incredible imagination and likes to tell stories where Tanky, his teddy bear, has been exploring. About 10 days before Casey and I were to leave to go to Quito, Jordan was telling us about a great adventure Tanky had been on in Paris, France.

That's it!! We asked Jordan if he would like for Tanky to go exploring in Ecuador with us. His precious little face lit up, and he thought that Tanky would love that adventure. So...we made Tanky a passport, and he saw all the sites of Ecuador. He met all the boys at Casa Gabriel, Jordan & Luke's future principal, some cool bugs from the jungle, and best of all, Tammy the monkey. When we returned with pictures and video of Tanky's adventures in Ecuador, Jordan could not stop talking about Ecuador. God is so loving and faithful that He used a teddy bear to make a huge transition a little easier for my Jordan.

What, Where, When & Why?

WHAT?

The ministry we are joining is called Youth World. You can visit its website to see all the great things they are doing: http://www.youthworld.org.ec/

WHERE?

Quito, Ecuador - right on the equator in South America. We will live in the southern hemisphere where the water in the potty flushes counterclockwise - in case you were wondering. If you come visit us, we will take you to the equatorial monument where you can straddle the equator line and be in both hemispheres at the same time.

WHEN?

We plan to go to our sending mission agency's (International Teams - http://www.iteams.org/) training on June 1 in Elgin, Illinois for 5 weeks. Our goal is to be in Quito the first of August. This will give us a few weeks to find a house and get settled before Luke and Jordan start their new school.

WHY?

Our specific focus with Youth World will be with Casa Gabriel. Casa Gabriel is a home for boys who lived on the streets and a training/discipleship program for them to know Christ as their Savior. God has given us a love for Latin America and for teenagers. There are 250 million youth in Latin America.

On the days when I want to say forget this, one statistic always rings out: 95% of the world's youth workers live and work in North America where only 5% of the world's youth live. The Lord does not need us, but we are excited to have the opportunity to share His love and grace with youth in Ecuador and watch many of their lives be radically transformed.

One of my favorite pictures of all times is Tammy the monkey with Tanky, Jordan's teddy bear. That story is for another blog day...

New blog!

Well now that we know we are moving to Quito, Ecuador this summer, we thought it was time to start a blog to keep connected with everyone.