Odds and ends

There have been a number of interesting things here of late that I thought I'd just lump together today.  First, Tungarhua, the volcano 30 miles away in Banos that I've written about recently, has been spewing out an amazing amount of ash lately.  The locals say this is the norm; I think it's just wild to watch.  This morning I captured this picture at about 8 am.  The white clouds are just normal clouds.  The higher up gray one is the ash from the volcano.  This is the view of it from behind our house and the playground that sits behind it. 

This is a picture of Selah petting one of the neighbor's chickens.  These gals are so tame that they'll let the kids catch them and hang on for a while.  Selah and the boys used to ask for chickens but now Selah wants a pet pig.  She thinks a quick run to Quito is in order.  She doesn't understand that if it took us two months to make it as far as Ambato, then Quito is not really feasible. She may have to settle with a kitten or a bird.  Both are in baby form here on the compound. 

This is a picture of Selah standing next to my new bike.  I bought it from the ten year old that lives next door.  He's now graduated to a larger one.  Me, I'm not picky.  I just need a set of wheels. I'm hoping to buy a set of pegs so that Selah can stand on the back while I peddle.  I'm trying my best to make the mile walk to the orphanage more Selah-friendly.  She dreads it every morning and on some days it's tough getting her out the door.  One day this week we both donned purple capes and went running through town telling everyone we met that we were "Superheroes" on our way to Casa de Fe.  Anything to get her there.....

Sethy's turn at holding the chicken:

This week at Bible Club I solicited the help of Sethy and Doug to present my lesson.  Sethy volunteered to be Jesus who was spending 40 days in the desert.  Doug adeptly played Satan who came to tempt our Savior (a little too adeptly, actually).  Here Doug' s attempting to intimidate Sethy and in the picture further below he has put Sethy (Christ) on a mountain top to tempt Him to desire the treasures of this world.  As before, the kids were glued.  I was thankful for the help.

How'd you like Doug's too small bathrobe worn backwards?  I really need to get bigger props.

 

This is Antony from my three year old class at Casa de Fe who is out to eat for his very first time.  He ate everything in site and when he didn't like something, we would spit it out and try to put it back in the bowl or on the serving platter.  We got him some juice which he scarfed down in no time.  Then he had to go to the bathroom three times in quick succession.  Precious.

This is a picture of Sangay, our closest volcano, taken yesterday morning.  It is the most beautiful thing but we get to see it so rarely since it's usually covered in clouds.  I caught it early though.  It looks just like a postcard (except for the powerlines, of course).

Last night the entire missionary community of Shell met up for a going-away party for a family that has been here for five years; their youngest son was even born here in Ecuador.  These two friends--both pilots working for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) which Nate Saint worked for decades back--serenaded them in fake wigs and with big buck teeth singing a song called "Mamas, don't let your sons grow up to be doctors".  The husband and wife are both doctors and will be sorely missed. 

 Just yesterday he had to put one of Selah's friends to sleep so he could pull the Polly Pocket shoe out of her nose that she had shoved up it the night before.

 Today Selah is showing great improvement in her bike riding.  Now she only needs a little push to get her going before she's able to go a few yards.  She can even make turns on her own.

Finally, here is a picture of us on that Sunday two weeks ago when we went fishing for our dinner. We're all fairly wet due to the rain that was steadily coming down. The friends that took us there captured this shot of us.  Since I lost all the pictures from my camera card that day, it's the only thing we have from that outing besides the fond memories. 

 Praise God for friends and their photos.  Blessings, kim