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S E R V I N G I N E C U A D O R
We live in Calacal, a town about 18 miles northof Quito. It takes about 35 minutes to an hour todrive from Quito depending on the traffic. It ishigher up in the mountains and is quite a bit colderhan Quito. Its also much quieter, and it is our
home.
The first thing I need to mention about our homes how amazing it is that God answered our prayerso directly. We werent overly worried about findinghouse in Calacal, but we knew that to find a really
deal option God would have to step in and bringbout the perfect timing. I can honestly say thatsxactly what He did.
The short version of the story is that Pauluggested we make a quick drive out to El Refugio
on Christmas Eve day to pick up a couple things andto see the property again, as we hadnt been out
there since our vision trip in August 2011. On thedrive back to Quito, Paul noticed a car at the gate ofour (now) home. He told me that hes been keepingan eye out for someone at this house for years. Hedleft his phone number as well as notes and hadnever heard back.
We drove over and found out that the ownersused this house as their vacation home. Thehusbands mother lives in Calacal, and they onlycame out to the property once or twice a year. Paulasked them if they would ever consider renting thehouse. And as it happened, indeed, they werelooking for someone to rent the house.
Calacal already is feeling like home. We attendthe only Christian church in town which averagesabout 30 people per Sunday in a town of close to3,000 people. We walk to church each week and passthe same toothless man who waves to us and stop atthe same womans house on the way home to buy atreat at her restaurant and talk. And as I regularlywalk to work at El Refugio, I notice the homes thatindividuals are building getting one step closer to
being ready to live in.
Were intentionally taking things slowly from thestart. We are slowly getting to know more and more
people in Calacal and are excited to see how Goduses us in this community!
Jim, Suzy, & Kaia
M A R C H 2 0 1 3
Please Pray For Us1. We would like to get internetour home, but have not been ato yet. Please pray that mlines or ports would open in our area so that we can connected!
2. That the Holy Spirit would
us with discernment and wisdo
as we continue to engage in nrelationships with our neighbo
Finding home in Calacal
Arriving in Ecuador in mid-December may have seemedunconventional, but it was a great decision for us. It was nice nothaving a gap in our spanish learning, and it was great being aroundteam members over the holidays; being able to spend quality time
living life alongside each other. Kaia really warmed up to Jack andCarleigh, Paul and Beths children; it was as if she was spending theholidays with her cousins! Paul is the El Refugio director and it wasreally beneficial for us to stay with them upon our arrival, as Bethgave birth to their son, Tilghman, 3 weeks early. It was fun to bethere to lend a hand with their kids and cooking. When the holidaysended, we bought a car, found a house, and moved on to the nextstage of our introduction to Ecuador.
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M I N I S T R Y W I T H E L R E F U G I O
To follow us or give online visit: www.olsensinecuador.com . [email protected] . Call us for FREE in Ecuador at 607.256.6894
Roblealto
One of the big draws that brought us tocuador was the prospect of being deeply
nvolved in Calacal, the town directly next tol Refugio. Though weve only been here aouple of months, were trying to take somententional steps forward and developelationships with people here in town.
The first thing weve decided to do is tottend the Baptist church here in town. We
want to support the local church through allhat we do and this has been a great way toonnect with some people who live in Calacals well as learn about the churchs presencend history in the town.
The other intentional thing weve beenrying to do is simply walk around and beginonversations with people who are out andbout. Theres a central square where peopleather throughout the day, and a few differentlaces in town where you can buy lunch or
miscellaneous items. These locations haverovided good opportunities to strike uponversations.
Our goal is to continue to set asidententional times each week to walk aroundur neighborhood and build more and moreelationships and connections.
Local Gift Giving
Every year Youth World sets aside aweekend to gather together to worship, share,and grow as a team. We were blessed to be a
part of this years event, which took place atEl Refugio during the last weekend of January.The conference provided a neat opportunity tohear stories of what God has specifically doneover the past year in the six different areas ofministry that comprise Youth World. It wasalso a joy just to spend time soaking in greatmessages, worshipping alongside other
believers, and getting to know our teammatesbetter in a relaxed environment.
The other big thing that took place duringthis conference was the unveiling of theupcoming transitions that our team is goingthrough. As always, there are missionariescoming to and leaving the field. Brad Miller isour current team leader, but after 12 years herehe and his wife Sandi are heading back to theStates to work with International Teams as theDiscipleship Coaches in Elgin, IL. YouthWorld has been aware of this transition forsome time now and we took time to celebratethe Millers and the ways God has used themduring their service here. Were excited forGods plan for them as well as for the future ofour team and the arrival of our new YouthWorld Team Leader, Aaron Passmore.
It is such a blessing to be a part of a teaaddition to the Annual Team Conference
as an El Refugio team, have had some times together since our arrival. In Janand February we had a total of four daymeetings in which we intentionally evaluour values as an outdoor adventure minand started to define our characteristics,how we can go about accomplishing the and vision for the ministry moving forwOur last meeting was off-site and doubledone-day retreat that allowed for meaningful bonding time as a team.
The first weekend of March Jim took phosting two Ecuadorian groups that cam
use the property for retreats. Its been seeing (and being a part of) all ofintentional planning and that goes creating the experiences that groups encouwhen they come here. Hes excited to smore time with groups in the future, too.
A few weeks back he also made a trOyacachi, a small town about a 3 hour dfrom us. El Refugio has a partnership witPastor in this town and we will now bmain contact for him. It was great to visi
beautiful place and begin our relationwith the local Pastor.
he whole Youth World Team at the Annual Team Conference
Y o u t h W o r l d s A n n u alTe a m C o n f e r e n c e
O y a c a c h i & ER e f u g i o S t u f
I n t e n t i o n a lC o m m u n i t y T i m e
http://www.olsensinecuador.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.olsensinecuador.com/http://www.olsensinecuador.com/
