More pictures (mas fotografias)

Ok, this is another one of those jobs where you'll have to turn your head a bit to the side. Anyways, last week we were walking along to the hot springs and lo and behold-a Texas bluebonnet in Ecuador. That was a surprise, but a pleasant one. We just saw that one there but then we saw more on the way back to Quito. I'll have to find out for sure, but I am pretty sure it is the same or at least a similar species. I have heard they grow at different times of the year and can get quite big. TEXAS!!!!

Here goes the beginning of the farm animal tour of all the animals that we saw on our long walk to the hot springs.



Black Beauty

Moo!






PEFC-Pre-Ecuadorian Fried Chicken



Look at the guard dog watching over these little piggies...






Spot




A river up by the hot springs








Here is a picture of an indigenous guy that was playing music on some pipes, his guitar and with his voice. The music was so beautiful. I wish you could have heard it...it was a glad alternative to the people that usually sell stuff on the bus. This picture was taken on the way to the university and is a trip that we take everyday (it takes about 45 minutes). Now the time of the trip will be reduced because we finally found a house and may be able to start driving this week. That is big news, that we found a house. thank you all for praying. We will have to post pictures later on. It is a really nice place.


Here is a picture of the crew that went with us on the retreat.








Here is a picture of Christine at a flower farm where our friend works. It was so amazing to see so many flowers growing. They also had a ton of roses (95% of which will be on the way to the US for Valentine's Day).

Here is a picture that was taken outside of the window of my Spanish conversational class. The campus and the surrounding area is really beautiful.

Psalms 16:6-"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

I guess this is all for now. Christine may write a post later and I'd like to put a nice picture of Cotopaxi on here as well. Again, please feel free to post any comments or send us email. -Ben

Hello again

Hello again everyone. Yes, we are alive. We have not dropped off of the face of the earth. Here are a couple of quick pictures. We hope to put some more on here later, but it is taking a while to upload the pictures. We have just been continuing with classes and house hunting (we have a couple of prospects on that front-continue to pray that God's will is done in that situation.) We also got to go on our first trip out of the Quito area. We really had a wonderful time. It was so nice to get out of the city and get some fresh air. We went on a retreat with some students from our university to a place a couple of hours from here called Papallacta. It is an area up in the mountains (elevation approx. 12-13,000 ft) that has some hot springs as well. On the way back, we were able to visit some friends in Tumbaco that we had met in the US while they were visiting the States before we came here. The first picture here was taken in Papallacata. This next one was taken outside Tumbaco and it was a really powerful symbol in a way, as we saw the light descending on the Valley and the Quito area. It really became a prayer request, that we prayed and I hope you all would lift up this prayer request as well.

Isaiah 60:1-3-"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

Please pray these verses with us; that God's light will shine in the midst of the darkness.

You can see the light falling down the area, but one thing that was not shown in the picture (in the dark area of the picture) was a field of these small seedlings. How amazing!!! This picture doesn't do justice to what we were able to see, as nice as it is.

I guess this is all for now. I do hope to add some pictures later on, we have a lot more that we would like to add. Feel free to put any feedback in the comments section and especially feel free to email us any time at bchaley222@yahoo.com We love to hear from you all.
Take care and God bless. BEN

Pictures and a bit of update

Yummy!! Roasted pig anyone? We saw some other guys like this one at a local market and I sampled a bit of chicharron (pork rind).






Here's a picture of us at the Panecillo (a hill overlooking Quito, where they have a statue of Mary...it is also where a pre-Incan ritual site was).





Here is the Calvert family, that we are working with. They have been here for about two years. Pray for them and us as we work together.

Forgive me for not being able to turn this picture upright...so, bear with me and turn your head a bit to the side so you can see it. It is a picture of Christine on our first day of school. I'm also sorry the outlay of these pictures is a bit disorganized. I'm just glad I was able to get them on here. We have been having a lot of computer issues. Sorry I haven't been able to do much email...bear with me-I will try to write many of you asap. We haven't had much computer access and when we do, they don't seem to work very well. However, we are doing well. We had a nice weekend. I played some soccer and Christine went shopping and then we went to the Panecillo with the Calverts. Today, Christine wasn't feeling well, so she rested and I went to church and then a Bible study out in La Merced. Just getting ready for another week of classes and activities. Please pray for us as we continue on this journey.

Here is a picture from the university where we are taking classes. As you can see, it is quite beautiful there. Pray for us and our time there. Also pray for the ministry that is going on there. There is another couple that is working there-their blog is jeffandkelly.blogspot.com

small update

Hello everyone,
This will just be a quick update. Sorry we haven´t had one in a while. Our access to computers and, or the internet is quite limited. We hope to post some pictures and a longer update next time and a little article about Narnia. Anyways, we are doing well. Please keep praying about the house issue. We thought we had found a place and now it looks like it may not work out. Also, we are at back at school...it is so strange because I thought when I finished my master´s degree at seminary that would be it. However, I was so wrong and God had other plans. I am taking a couple of Spanish classes and Christine is taking a class on the oral literature of Ecuador. We will have to post some pictures of the university, it is in a beautiful area. Take care and God bless.
Benjamín (my name in español)

ps-here is a quote from a Rich Mullins song and a verse that I have found really relevant here recently.

R. Mullins ¨Hard to get"-
"we can´t see what´s ahead and we cannot get free from what we´ve left behind...I can´t see how you´re leading me unless you´ve led me here to where I´m lost enough to let myself be led."

1 Peter 2:9-"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of him called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
Isn´t that amazing?!? We are priests...that is one thing that sets biblical Christianity apart-we have direct access to God. In many or most other world religions you have to go through a priest or intermediary to appease God. He has also brought us from darkness to light.

New Territory

Yesterday we saw The Valley for the first time. Basically, we will be helping to coordinate the work in the area seen behind us. As far as you can see to the left and and as far as you can see to the right (approximately 40 miles) seems overwhelming. However, we only have east and west between the mountains! This area includes several older towns and then a lot of new construction as well.

The climate is warmer and drier than in Quito due to the lower elevation. Yet, nestled between the green-covered mountains, it is a beautiful place. As you can see, "the boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places." Please pray for us a we look for permanent housing and ways to develop relationships in this area.




Please pray for the people of Ecuador as well. Ecuador is approximately the size of Colorado, but has areas of jungle, mountain, coast, islands and volcanoes (but don't tell our mothers!). The people are very diverse as well, including descendants of pre-Colombian mountain tribes, Spanish colonialists, former slaves and people who live in the jungle even today. There are also distinct extremes in this country. For example, there are malls that would shock even the well-shopped person from the United States. But just outside there are small, dirty, cold children selling gum in the streets. Pray that the upper class people will see a need for spiritual things in addition to the materialistic things and that the poorer people will see that they are valuable to God.

we've arrived!

Hello everyone,
We just wanted to write a quick note to let everyone know that we have arrived in Ecuador and that we are doing quite well. This is really a beautiful place and we are enjoying our time here. We will have to write a longer post next time, along with pictures. Take care and God bless. Keep praying for us as we begin our lives here. One particular prayer request for now is that we will find a permanent place to live. We do have a nice temporary place but are looking for a place in the area we will be working and studying.

Winter wonderland

Sledding in a winter wonderland! As you can see, I had some fun flying down the hill. It was fun while it lasted. It was also quite beautiful, just seeing how everything was white. That's all for now. I hope to include an entry next time about C.S. Lewis'-"Chronicles of Narnia, Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe," a book that I finished reading recently.

ben

snow pictures

We've finally been able to add this picture from when we were in Virginia. As you can see, there was snow and that was quite nice. I really enjoyed playing in it at that time (will try to add a picture of me sledding as well). A couple of weeks after the time we were in this snow, I had my fill of it as we had to drive in a snowstorm from Missouri, on through Kansas on our way to Texas. Fortunately, we made it. "Jesus, take the wheel" was our theme song that day. I hope to add another entry before we leave, tomorrow, on Monday, January 2. Take care and God bless.

Ben