About Me

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In October, 1997, my husband Mark and I, decided to move to Ecuador. We settled in Cuenca, the third largest city. It is nestled in a valley surrounded by the Andes Mountain range. It has been an amazing aventure.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Out of the Mouth of Babes

This is Mark, making a rare appearance on the blog, at least as the writer, but I really wanted to share this experience.

A few weeks ago, I was walking downtown toward the post office in the middle of the main park in Cuenca when I bumped into Irene, a colleague who works in another school whom I had met at a couple of seminars for English teachers. She told me she was in a hurry but she wanted to let me know about a seminar that was upcoming where she thought I might be interested in giving a workshop. As we sat there on a park bench, I was suddenly smothered by two young kids from our congregation-Michael and Angie. They are in the above photo- Michael with glasses and Angie in the yellow shirt. They were downtown with their mother Vielka, a sister in our hall, and when they saw me from a distance, came running and inundated me with hellos and hugs. Well, I introduced them all to Irene and after they left, she said, "Who were those children? They just love you? And, why did they call you Hermano Marco? (Brother Mark)." She asked me if I was some kind of minister, and I said yes, and that they were in my congregation. She said, "Well, I have never seen such affection lavished on a priest, but they obviously trust you and it is obvious that you love them too!" I explained that we were witnesses and that this was an example of the christian love that we enjoy, even though we are not from this country. Irene is from Canada. Well, what was to be a brief interchange with a woman in a hurry turned out to be a 2 hour long informal witnessing opportunity. She didn't know anything about Jehovah's Witnesses. But I was able to contrast our beliefs with those of the other churches. She is also a clinical psychologist and was asking my opinion on a situation about a young girl she had been treating. I mentioned some things which I had read in an Awake article on the subject and she was impressed. I told her that all the information was based on Bible counsel. She then said that a young girl had approached her in English in that same park and had invited her to the next meeting of the English group here. She had not really planned on going but said that she was very impressed by the sweet young girl who had talked to her. Now, she wanted to get the location of the hall and the date and time of the talk. I encouraged her to attend. if possible, and after that a couple of weeks passed and I didn't see her again. Well, about a week an a half ago I took a few of our friends to a little town called El Cabo to eat chicken. When we got to the restaurant there we saw several brothers and sisters. Among them were two large families that serve in the English group. One of the brothers asked me if I knew Irene, When I said yes, he said that she must have been talking about me. She explained to them about our conversation in the park and had attended the meeting and had apparently enjoyed it quite a bit. In fact, she had agreed to a study! I haven't talked to the family since then, but I am anxious to hear how it goes. Knowing Irene, who is quite a pistol, if she ever were to come into the truth, I believe she would take to it like gangbusters. I will monitor the situation and let you know what happens. But it impressed upon me once more the value of the "love for the whole association of brothers" which characterizes and certainly distinguished us from the rest of the world.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

CHUQUIPATA



Last Sunday Mark gave a talk at a small congregation about 40 minutes from Cuenca. The congreation is called Chuquipata. A lovely congregation of 35 publishers. Sunday there was an attendance of 53. Although small, they sang the songs so well that they could be heard in the whole neighbor hood. I had to video a bit so you could hear. It may not seem like a big deal, but many times the brothers are shy or don't sing loud at the Kingdom Hall. Mark and I thouroughly enjoyed our time with them.


Friday, October 16, 2009

Jethro

Jethro is a new member of our little family. In fact, he and Baby got married two weeks ago and are getting along quite nicely. They have already started building a home for their future little ones. Here's a picture of our handsome guy.



Saturday, October 3, 2009

My Morning With Luz

Let me tell you all about Luz. She is a 68 year old widow. Only one son that lives in the States. Took care of her mother until she died 3 months ago. Walks with a cane because she needs a hip replacement.

Luz started studying the bible about 11 months ago. But, because of taking care of an invalid mother, she wasn't progressing rapidly. That all changed when her mother died. It was very sad because Luz felt not only the loss, but also felt alone. The death of her mother made her appreciate the resurrection hope and she decided she needed to make progress, rely on Jehovah and become an unbaptized publisher which she did.

She had been in the ministry a total of 4 times. This morning was the fifth time and it was my turn to work with her. Let me explain that working in the ministry here is nothing like doing city territory in the States. You very often are in the country walking on dirt roads or paths and on very uneven surfaces many times without a car. Luz didn't let that stop her. With cane in hand, and arm in arm with me, she was determined to preach this morning. It was slow going, but what a joy. We had such a wonderful time together. She is still nervous so the first thing she tells me is that I will have to do all the talking. Okay, I said...no problem. But, just like Jeremiah, Luz couldn't keep quiet. Once I started the introduction, she jumped in and started preaching. It was so much fun to watch. We spent the morning laughing, talking and enjoying every moment together. She thanked me for being her partner, but I must say, I think I got the better end of the deal this time and I came home happy, encouraged and anxious to share the experience with you guys.