April Recap

 Hello! Another month has been lived, which means there's more to update. April did not go how we expected it. As mentioned in the last update, both girls got sick, that lasted half the month of April. We now believe it could have been Whooping Cough, as we've been told it was going around the area.  Winnie lost 4-5lbs, she wasn't crawling, just wanted mama holding her. Thankfully that is all behind us, praise God! Winnie is back to crawling, she is working very hard on walking, she is determined to keep up with Josie. Winnie also has two teeth coming in and has decided she needs to eat 3 square meals a day and snacks in between, along with nursing on demand. She is making up for lost time, working on getting that chunk back. 

  

The girls reading books with their Poppy & Mia (Becky's parents).

The biggest and most exciting news we have to share was family and friends got to come visit this past month. We have been looking forward to this for months. Our home church had their first trip to Ecuador, they brought a group of 9 people, 5 being Becky's family. It was such a blessing and encouragement to our family to have familiar faces come and experience life at Ninawachi. Josie loved time with grandparents, I barely saw her that week because she was with someone from the group at all hours of the day. 

 

 The group wanted to use their construction time working on our house, but we felt other parts of campus needed attention. We split the work up, the men worked on guest housing, preparing for other teams. The women painted our house, inside and outside, which blessed us greatly. I forgot how a fresh coat of paint makes everything feel clean and fresh, the house feels like a home and is inspiring me to take on some other aspects of the house. 

 

Micah with Santiago. Pineapple plants growing at Ninawachi, not the ones Gideon and Josie planted, but still fun to see how they grow. 

Micah came on this trip, for those that don't know, Micah is my youngest brother. He has down syndrome and autism, he does not enjoy leaving home, he very much likes his routines. But he also can't be left home alone, so when my parents travel, he must go. He did great, which we knew he would, and he was such a blessing to the staff and students that allowed themselves to get to know him. He served washing/drying dishes daily, cleaning up after meals, setting chairs up, playing basketball with the students, & walked the dinner bell around campus to announce the food was ready. It was good for him to see where our family lives, he now has context for where we are, as he asks my mom occasionally for us to be "home" in Pennsylvania. 

 

I got to attend VBS with this team, which is out of my normal, usually Gideon goes and I stay back with the girls. VBS always falls over naptime and Gideon is translating, so he is not able to help watch them, but since family was with, I had extra babysitters. Josie loved the kids games and crafts, she is our social butterfly. She loved playing soccer with the kids, we have never seen her run so fast and intentionally after something before. VBS for teams typically looks like 2-3 afternoons, for about an hour or so, they share a lesson, sing songs, & have a craft, game, and snack for the kids. It's always a highlight for teams, seeing the kids play, laugh, and come to life as they spend time with them. 

 

Group photo at Middle of the World. 

Other updates from this past month. We have been working on getting Winnie added to our visa, that became a process. We finally got helpful information on what to do, we need to acquire paperwork to move forward and file online first, before having an in person appointment. Also, I have some prayer requests for the Ninawachi staff, Nohemi is expecting her first baby the end of this month and Magaly is expecting her second in June. If you could pray for healthy deliveries for mama's and babies. Venita was having some health issues, she had surgery this past week to remove a cyst and got some life changing news with that. Please pray for Venita's healing on all fronts from surgery. Thank you for your prayers, for loving our family and those we love.