The McCrackens' News

Monday, December 29, 2008

Reflections and News

Yes, we are still alive. And as we come to the end of the year, we reflect on the changes that have happened to our family.

We started out the year with Keilah in kindergarten and our family looking forward to a year similar to the prior ones. Then came Spring when HCJB Global asked us to fill the position being vacated in Information Systems in Shell, Ecuador. We hadn't really had this in our plans. God is funny like that. He doesn't always work in the way we plan. As it says in Proverbs 16:9, We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

We didn't plan to leave Quito. We had signed up to work with HCJB for the long haul. We had bought into a townhouse in Quito to start getting some equity rather than just paying rent. We had.... We had.... But God had some other things in mind.

In May we made the decision to follow what HCJB Global had asked of us and started planning the transition to Shell. (But God, what about the townhouse?) We started looking for someone to rent our place in Quito, but it was always too far away from the mission area (5km) or too small or.... After we had accepted the positions, the job description changed. (But God, this isn't what we had thought we were getting into.) Steve went down a couple of times to start learning the position from the one who was leaving the mission, but he was always busy with other things and didn't have time to show Steve the ropes very much. (But God, how am I going to handle this without much orientation?)

In July, we had some friends (the Stevens--Bill, Tammy, Emma, Grace, Jake, and Holly) come down to visit us before the actual move and we spent some time showing them around the ministry in Quito and some sites in the Sierra region of Ecuador. Because Tammy was pregnant, they took it easy some days and then helped us pack up our stuff. (Thanks, God, for providing them to help us move.) We moved down to Shell and on the way out of Quito, the car we had borrowed didn't want to start and Tammy didn't feel well. (What's going on, God? Is this the right thing? a really bad start? Satan trying to make it rough on us?) We finally got to Shell and things into the house and that night Tammy had a miscarriage. We called the hospital (about 200 meters away from the house) when Tammy passed out and they were able to assist her and get her well. (Thanks, God, for the timing of this to have her cared for so well and so quickly with us being right behind the hospital.)

After the Stevens left, Steve had the first two weeks of August to learn what was necessary before the prior missionary left the position. In September, we had the 50th Anniversary celebration for the Shell hospital back to back with the Annual Members' Meeting for all HCJB Global missionaries and training for the new hospital system. On the first of October, the hospital changed the whole software system used to run the hospital. And then, from the middle of November through the middle of December, Steve was put in as Administrator in charge of the hospital when the Administrator (who only took the position in July) left Shell for a month.

At the end of October, we found an Ecuadorian family to rent our townhouse. (Thank you God for once again providing for us according to your time.)

We were finally able to take some time off and relax as a family the last two weeks of December and will be returning to our responsibilities on January fifth. We were able to spend time visiting Steve's folks as we met them in Mexico for Christmas week and have been with Pauli's family these past couple of days. We will pass the new year in Shell with probably a few of Pauli's family visiting us there.

It has been a bit of a trail by fire for us here with the hospital software transition being a perfect study on how not to do a transition. But, we can see how we were needed here with all that is going on. Pauli has been doing a great job as the manager of the Guest House putting more effort into making it a pleasant place to stay rather than just scheduling guests and receiving the money. Steve has been able to help the administration as the hospital tries to get back on track with the new software system. (Thank you God for your strength through these past few months.)

The kids have adapted well to Shell and to their schools. They love the freedom to run outside and play with their friends.

I'm sure there is news that we have forgotten, but as we reflect on these past few months we want to especially thank you for your prayers even while we haven't kept everyone completely up-to-date with the news on the website and through other means.

May God provide each of you a time to reflect on his blessings and mercies that he has shown you this past year as we all look forward to the new year.

Steve, Pauli, Keilah, Kendra, & Kyle

Our new address:
Hospital Vozandes de Oriente
Attn. Steve and Pauli McCracken
Shell, Pastaza, ECUADOR

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Hello from Shell, Ecuador

Well, we've had a very busy summer, like many of you. We had a family visiting us in July and then moved to Shell and have been settling in:

Our family moved down to our new location July 29. God provided a safe move for us to our new home here on the mission compound of HCJB’s jungle hospital. It is a 28-bed hospital serving the Amazon area of Ecuador, bringing health treatment and evangelistic witness to patients and their families.

Steve’s new assignment is being the Information Technology person for the hospital compound. With projects to install networking to make Hospital Vozandes de Oriente (HVO) systems compatible with the Hospital Vozandes in Quito, plus constant other requests coming in to him, he is kept exceedingly busy.

Steve has also been asked to be a representative for the hospital on the Nate Saint Memorial School Board.

Steve is also in the rotation for the administrative on-call for HVO that decides on admission when the patients don't have the money to pay right at that time. One recent call that he took involved an accident where a pregnant mother was taken to another hospital where they didn't have an anaesthesiologist at the time and waited for the mother to die and then sent her to our hospital where we did an emergency C-section to try to save the baby.

Pray for wisdom for Steve in his new responsibilities and the witness of the hospital to the patients and their families.

Pauli has been busy with setting up the home at Shell and hosting guests. Besides having the Bill Stevens family from the USA in July, family members from Quito have spent several weekends visiting. Pauli and the children have interacted with other mothers and children there from the mission compound going on swimming outings, picnics, and having library time.

She will continue helping with translations as the 50th anniversary celebration of the hospital is coming up.

She has also been asked to help oversee the Shell Guest House, help with the school in Spanish or other areas, and to see if she can help out in the Community Development department.

Pray for Pauli as she oversees establishing the home in Shell and helps with the other ministries around.

This weekend the family will travel to Quito to make arrangements for some painting in the home there and advertising the property more widely for rental. Keilah, the 6 year old, commented, “I don’t want to go to Quito. I like Shell better.” The children have adjusted well and are happy at their new home. The children love playing outdoors on the mission playground, in their “clubhouse”, and riding their bikes with the other missionary kids. Thanks for your prayers for the transition for the family from their home in Quito to the new location in Shell.

Kendra will be starting preschool in September at a local Christian (missionary run) preschool. Keilah will start First Grade at the Nate Saint Memorial School (NSMS) on September 3. Pray for the teachers and staff as they have had to make adjustments in combining grades when one teacher on whom they had planned is not returning to Shell. Pray for a good school year for all involved.

Thank you for all your prayers as we have made this big change of assignment. God has been so good, and faithful throughout the resettlement. Pray that our home in Quito will soon be rented. We need the financial help it would give as our salary has been reduced since losing some supporters from deaths and tough economic times for others. We would appreciate your prayers for increase of supporters. We know God is faithful to meet our needs.

Our new address:
Hospital Vozandes de Oriente
Attn. Steve and Pauli McCracken
Shell, Pastaza, ECUADOR

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Ready or Not...

Ready or not, the time of transition has come.

The summer is here and whether we were ready or not, here it came. (We were ready for this one as here the "summer" is the end of the rainy season when it is sunny and dry most the time. We had a lot of rain this "winter".)

Keilah has now graduated from Kindergarten and is a FIRST GRADER!

Also both Keilah and Kendra finished up their AWANA books this year completing all their memory verses!

The time of transition has also come as we are being transferred to Shell, Ecuador from Quito. For a good summary of the town, you can see this article. It is about 95 miles or five hours South-Southeast of Quito on the edge of the Amazon Jungle:

View Larger Map

Steve will be concentrating mostly on the Information Systems work at the beginning while replacing Keith Isbell, who is leaving the mission. During this time there will also be a transition from the current software system the hospital uses to the system the Quito hospital uses. As things settle down, there will be more opportunity to work within the Community Development context with various training opportunities in the communities.

Pauli has been asked to help out in the school there as a Spanish tutor and she is also looking into helping manage the Guest House for all the teams and visitors that go to Shell.

Another part of the transition is that we need to find someone who can rent our townhouse in Quito while we are in Shell. While it is only about three miles from HCJB and many missionaries feel that it is too far and want to be within walking distance to the HCJB compound God allowed us to make a contact at the US Embassy here in Quito. They are building a new Embassy about five minutes (10-15 minute walk) from where we live. We were able to make contact with the housing coordinator who will be coming to see the house tomorrow. Please pray that God will provide someone to rent our place in Quito.

As we look for someone to rent our place in Quito we also need to start packing up things and getting ready to move to the place we will be renting in Shell. (We will have an extra bedroom there for anyone who would like to come to visit.)

We're expecting some friends to come in July to visit us and will be spending a bit of time in July with them. They will be helping us move to Shell toward the end of July.