Hola!

Yes, we are still here. I tried to read over everything that I´d previously written but this computer is soooooo slooow! And I had not the patience to keep trying to see it on here. One thing I did notice though, is that my spelling is crazy! I have a very good explanation for this, which is that I am typing on a keybourd that is mostly rubbed off and has many different Spanish symbols! Okay, that enough of that!On to the good stuff.
It has been a while since we´ve posted because the day after I last posted Judah got very sick ( 103 fever,stomach issues...I won´t go into details ;-) And after that Josiah became sick and then Jonah...we came to the conclusion that it was a virus. It only lasted about 3 days but really scared us. They would not do anything and barely even had the energy to cry...that is scary for 3 little , usually very active boys! But they are fine and just to be sure it was not some rare disease we took them to see Joselito´s pediatrician. They are currently back to their very active selves...it is good.So, that said, here´s what else happened. I got to stay at home for many days...I lost count:-). But James was still able to take the girls with him to church on Sunday where he had the oppurtunity to teach the kids Sunday school class and then was asked to preach!! From what I hear , he did very well.Prasie the Lord! On Monday we went to the Dr. and stopped by the Cathedral...they only call it the unfinished Cathedral, I don´t think it has any other name. It was beautiful, but unfortunately I did not get pictures. Fear not! We are going back and I will take many pictures. On Tuesday we went to a place called Chicauco...those of you at Ninth and O who have kids coming here on Friday...this is where they are going. It was an awesome experience...that´s all I can say. It was very good all the way around.The place is beautiful, the ministry is wonderful, we could really see God working in that ministry and through those people. We wished that we could´ve stayed longer but becuase we arrived a day late(due to the sickness) we had to leave yesterday as scheduled, we only got to stay one day. It was fine though, we still were able to talk to the missionaries that run that place. We recieved some very valuable advice and greatly enjoyed our talk with them. We headed out yesterday afternoon around 2 and went to the orphanage. We arrive there at about 4p.m. and stayed until almost 7, we got alot of pictures of the kids. Our kids(Tiemans and Orellanos) were able to help in everything! What a tremendous blessing it was!There are about 24 children , ages 0 months-4years, at this orphanage. They were in need of help with the babies and asked us to stay to help fees and get them settled for the evening. What a joy to see our children serving others. They loved it, we loved it,but we all left with very heavy hearts. It was a joyful experience but also a very heartbreaking one. The workers explained a few of the kids circumstances and what brought them there. I can only agree with Joselito when he said last night as we left that his heart was very heavy for these children, mine is too. So were all of our children´s hearts. Please pray for these orphans.I can´t even describe to you the look in some of the older children´s faces as we tried to interact with them. Most of them were very joyful but some were very withdrawn and it made me wonder what they´d been through already. Pray for them...may your heart be burdened as ours is. We know the Lord loves them and keeps them close to Him. We pray that they would know that. Well, we arrived home very late last night and slept in a little this morning(until 7, we were so tired we missed the rooster´s crow at 4a.m. , praise the Lord).Today, we are supposed to meet with some IMB folks that serve here in Quito and talk to them a little about their experience and what they are doing here(their ministry).
I cannot say enough what a blessing it has been to be here. We have loved seeing all of the different ministries going on here in Ecuador and talking to the people about what they think the greatest needs are here...there are many. We will share all of this with you when we get back. Until then, thank you very much for every comment, every prayer, every word of encouragement, and all of you support . It has meant so much to us.
Bendiciones,
Heather and The Tribe