The New Year has come

We had a nice family Christmas and it was interesting trying to keep the focus on God's gift to us in Jesus in the midst of the empasis on Santa Claus and consumerism all around us. It is nice to hear that some of the favorite stories of Keilah and Kendra are the ones about "baby Jesus".

The New Year is always an interesting time here in Ecuador where the tradition is unique. Here it is the custom to put together a life-size doll (more or less) called the "old man" representing the past year and put it in a small hut out by the street with different happenings of the past year described therein. The kids (traditionally the boys) dress up as the widow of the old man and ask for donations of the passers by to help bury their old man. At midnight the old man is burned to bring in the new year. As a testament to the degradation of the world, each year there seems to be less emphasis put on the tradition and reflexion on the past year and more put on the widows and the asking for money. Some of the widows take it farther than before and almost seem to relish the opportunity to dress in drag and make it more sexual. Please pray for the lost here in Quito and for the opportunities for us to make a difference for Christ with those we meet.

This month Pauli has been helping organize and translate materials for a course hosted by the Community Devel0pment department through the Wheaton Graduate School, so has been very busy.

She has also been continuing her teaching of the three to six year olds in Sunday School. Many of the parents are happy with what their kids are learning and one mom even mentioned that, even though the dad was sick one Sunday, that she didn't want her son to miss class and brought him in to church so he could attend his Sunday School class. Please pray for the lives and hearts of these little ones. Pray that God would touch them and their parents and that He would give Pauli the wisdom and strength as she continues this ministry.

Each year after Christmas is a time for pranks (I think it starts on December 28th, but I'm not exactly sure) and it culminates on January 6th Día de los Inocentes (day of the innocents--comparable to April Fools Day). This year we didn't have much of that going on with Pauli and her family as one of her sisters (Pepi) was diagnosed with cancer. Pauli and another sister Magui reached out and helped with Pepi's two kids during the time of surgery and recuperation. We were hoping that she would see her need for God during this time, but aren't sure that anything of the sort happened like that. After the surgery the biopsy came back negative. Please pray for Pepi and her two kids (Romi and Carlitos). Pray that God would touch their hearts in a big way.

Steve finished up teaching the course for Academia Cristiana del Aire and is working right now on implementing a new system for backing up the important computer systems and data. He is also helping with the evaluation of a new radio automation system that he helped put in place in a station in Nogales, Arizona and will be going to Arizona at the end of February to help refine the installation there. Please pray for wisdom and guidance with the investigation and implementation of these systems.