March 2016 Update

We only have two more months to enjoy this view before we have  to say goodbye to our Balsas family. God has been great to us over the past few months as we have started digging deeper into our relationships with people. We truly feel like we are a part of the family here!  How do we spend our nights in Balsas? When we are not having dinner with other families, we enjoy going out after dinner for a walk through the community sharing with people. The streets are always filled with people to talk to and kids to play with. (Well, except in this picture)

We tried fanesca for Good Friday.  There is a Catholic tradition in Ecuador on Good Friday in which the community goes on a walk together throughout the town to honor the death of Jesus. They also serve a special dish called fanesca. It consists of pretty much every type of fish and vegetable that exists in Ecuador. It is the only thing you can find to eat in restaurants on Good Friday. Easter in Marcabeli There were not any bunny rabbits, Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, or even hard boiled eggs to decorate (Lacey did attempt to boil and color some, however we lost power for two days and they did not make it). We still had a great time going to church in Marabeli. This is the only Christian Church in our area. We found it about two months ago and have actually found a family from Balsas that attends it. This family lived in Spain for 10 years and became Christians through missionaries serving over there. The Church in Marcabeli has about 50 members and has been a huge blessing to our family. This is also the only place near us that celebrated Easter. Therefore we had a great time celebrating with them and also being able to share our faith with all of our friends in Balsas while explaining why we celebrate this day. We also had a great time as a family focusing on the real reason for this special day.  Women's retreat The ladies serving with OMS in Ecuador took a couple days to relax and grow closer together and closer to God. We enjoyed several different spa activities and ate lots of yummy food. We prayed for each other and enjoyed going through a study on Nehemiah. It was a wonderful time to step back and refocus and also to get to know some of the women serving in different parts of Ecuador that we do not get to see often! ~Lacey   Daddy and Sophie week I had a great time bonding with Sophie while Lacey was away for a few days at the women's retreat. I used to get to do this in the States when Lacey would go on short term mission trips and I have really missed this quality time. This time reminds me of how much Lacey does for us and also how blessed I am to have such a wonderful daughter. I pray that all fathers can have this type of time with their children.  We had a great time going with one of our favorite families in Balsas to their farm. We got to catch and cook a chicken, eat a lot of watermelon (sandia), shuck and pluck corn to make a dish in Ecuador called huma (it is similar to a tamale or cornbread), and share a lot of stories.  Family fun day in Marcabeli We spent a few days at our friends farm in Marcabeli. This is one of the first families that we met when we moved to Balsas. We went swimming at their water park, rode dirt bikes, and spent the evening sharing with them while eating some really good Ecuadorian cuisine.  We never know where we are going to end up when we get in to somebody's vehicle. We actually ended up in Peru one day.  On this particular trip (pictured below), we went to a beautiful swimming spot with waterfalls. Final thoughts and Prayer Requests   February was probably our toughest spiritual month as we were trying to find new ways to share the Gospel in Balsas. We wrestled with a lot of new ideas from door to door evangelism to kids Bible studies. One of our biggest fears is that we are not doing enough to reach the community. This is also one of our biggest weaknesses because it could hurt our established relationships by forcing our beliefs on people while trying to rush the process. However, this is also a good battle because it challenges us to be accountable for ourselves and to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to spread the Good News. We do not have anyone near us to hold us accountable so we have to rely on each other. We truly believe that if we have and keep our priorities in order, and that our hearts focused on loving and living for God, we will be successful. We pray and prepare for each conversation that we are ready at any moment to share our faith in a loving and encouraging way. Prayer Requests    We pray that we maximize our time for the last two months here. We also pray for the Church in Marcabeli and that it will continue to grow and reach out to the communities like Balsas. We pray for the future of Balsas. We are uncertain of the future plans for OMS in Balsas and how the seeds that we have planted will continue to be strengthened.  We want to thank you all for your continued prayers and support. It was easy to overlook people praying for us when we were in the States because we were always surrounded by your support. However, now that we are here, we have been able to truly appreciate and understand the value of prayer and having a strong Church family. It brings back memories of when I surrendered and became a Christian and how I got to experience for the first time in my life the love of Christ through His Church laying hands on me. In short: Thank you!!