THIS IS ECUADOR!!

So many things have happened in the last couple of weeks and it is so difficult to decide what to tell you about, but there are some things that I must definitely include. This is Jon writing by the way! Anna had the pleasure of telling you all about our adventures at Village 235 or Naranjilla as they call it. I am going to fill you in on some of the mishaps and nuances that have added to our overall experience up to now. I'll begin with after our adventure in 235.

So as many of you may know, Casa Victoria is home to a computer lab supplied with 8 new, working computers. In addition, Javier, one of the young men who lives here happens to have a computer repair shop that he runs out of the garage at Casa Victoria. So our house is at no shortage for computers. Because of the amount of computers and their worth, we have a very nice alarm system installed in our home. Well, last week we were able to do a live test of the alarm thanks to 2 thieves that attempted to break in to Javier's workshop below our house. Yes that's right, at approximately 4:30 am our alarm began to sound due to the motion sensors in Javier's workshop. I heard the alarm, but assumed it was a part of some sort of dream I was having at that time and just let it go.

The young guys however were up quick, putting their shoes on and yelling my name. "JON!!!" "WAKE UP!" "THE ALARM!!" So I slowly got up, tripped over some cords and went over to the dresser to put some pants on and try and find some shoes. Anna was up by this time, in a daze, her eyes barely open, with the look on her face that you get when someone turns on the lights and wakes you up from sleep. You know the look. "What's going on?" "I think someone tried to break in" I reply. She's beginning to become frightened and I'm trying to keep my cool as I slip on some green suede vans. I was cool on the outside, but on the inside I was thinking, "I don't want to go out there. What if they're armed? What if something happens to me?" But now I was dressed. "Be careful sweetheart." "Of course," I said calmly. I said it calmly, but inside I was a mess and wanted nothing more than to climb back into our warm bed and hide under the covers. Yes, very macho indeed. So I stepped out the door and looked around for one of the bats that we keep upstairs for protection. Both bats had already been taken. So, I carefully descended our stairs (which are really more like a glorified ladder) and looked around for something to defend myself with. I found a small hand axe that was nicely sharpened and decided that was good enough.

When I came into the main part of the house Jorge and Javier greeted me. They had already checked every room. They assured me that whoever it was had fled. I went back upstairs to check on Anna. I forgot my key so I knocked. "Who's there?" "It's me babe." Anna opened the door and I came back in axe in hand and sat down on the bed. "Is everything okay?" she asked not really able to take her eyes off the sharp axe in my hand. "Yeah, I think so." "Why do you have an axe?" "I don't know, all the bats were already being used." "Oh" she said. "Well what happened?" "I don't know, I guess I should go back down there." "Well, be careful."

So I headed back downstairs towards the front yard to find everyone. Axe in hand, I descended the front steps, went out the front gate and up the street and around to the side of the house where Javier's garage/computer fixing shop is. The thieves had somehow broken the lock to his steel door and were trying to get in to the computers, but were thwarted by the reinforced steel gate behind the door and the alarm that flashed lights and made loud noises!

This was all the evidence left behind. A piece of a giant padlock.

All that was left was a piece of the padlock. That is our only piece of evidence. The garage door was also a little damaged as well. The alarm company showed up finally and took the report. The police never came, which was a bit disappointing. But, we are all well and fine and ultimately feel very safe knowing our alarm system works. It's in these sorts of experiences that prayer is essential and we are becoming more and more aware of just how little we actually have control over in our lives. Things here are unfamiliar and we feel so much less in control than we did in Dana Point. But what we are realizing is that even in Dana Point there was very little that was under our control, but rather because of the familiarity of everything, there was a false sense of control over our lives. Ultimately, our faith is in Christ Jesus, and we are leaving the control up to Him. We are being responsible, but we are also learning to release whatever false sense of control we think we might have and embrace the fact that our Father in heaven cares about us and is "Emmanuel" "God with us." And so we see that our God is not a God who watches from afar, but rather just like in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; our God is with us in the midst of the flames. Learning to become attuned to His presence is our responsibility.

Now some of you might think that there couldn't possibly be anything else all that interesting, but wait! There are other occurrences of which you have not heard. So maybe some of you remember that I took a little hike through the jungle when we were visiting 235. The place where we were staying was so captivating that a morning hike seemed the consummate way to usher in the new day. I set out on a trail that quickly became more jungle than trail. Foolishly, I thought my Rainbow sandals would provide adequate protection for my feet. Well, I was wrong. I was wearing trunks and sandals in the Ecuadorian jungle...and...no bug spray. Admittedly, not a wise move on my part. For the next few hours every bug, mosquito, and creepy crawler had open access to my fair gringo skin, and good heavens did they ever take advantage of that open window. At one point I counted about 34 different individual bug bites. When we returned to Quito I went to the pharmacy and picked up some Caladryl Clear for about $1.20 and started using that to relieve the itching and swelling.

After about a week, I began to notice a bug bite between my two smallest toes on my right foot. There were what looked like 2 different bites that were forming into blisters. I was putting the Caladryl on the bites, but it wasn't really having the desired effect. After another night of waking up in pain, I decided it was time to do something about my foot. The bites were clearly infected, my foot was swollen, and there was redness all around the bites. I was limping everywhere. I asked Mama Alicia if she would help me out and take me to the doctor. My Spanish is still very limited so I wanted someone there to translate. So we walked across the street to a little medical clinic...literally across the street. Dr. Jose Salazar was my doctor.

The entrance to Doctor Salazar's Medical Clinic.

So after about 30 minutes of waiting for the Doctor to show up for work (he was 45 minutes late), we finally got into his office. I sat down on his table and showed him my foot. Alicia told him my symptoms and he began to prod at it. Finally he grabbed some disinfectants and began to clean it. Then after it was nice and clean, he put on on a new pair of plastic gloves and proceeded to try to pop the two blistery bites on my foot with his fingers. Alicia was explaining to me that he wanted to get all the pus and liquid out of there so the infection wouldn't continue to spread.

After he got as much pus and liquid out as he could with his hands he still wasn't satisfied. He was thinking that I must have been bit by some sort of poisonous ant that had maybe tried to lay its eggs inside my foot. Yes...very gross. So he really wanted to get under my skin and scrape and clean. So he started to do that, but it really really hurt bad. I was doing my best to be a big boy, but once he started scraping under my skin I might have let out a little yelp and made a fist with one hand and hit the palm of my other hand like I was starting a game of rock-paper-scissors. Alicia relayed to the Dr. Salazar that what he was doing to me was painful. Thus, Dr. Salazar pulled out a nice big needle full of Novacain. He looked at me with the needle and in Spanish he said, "you're going to feel a little tingly, prickly pain." He started squirting a little Novacain on the wound and then stuck me once with it and it didn't hurt too bad, but then he hit me with it again and that one hurt. After my foot was numb he started scraping out all the "gunk" that was in there. Then he grabbed some scissors and started cutting off my skin. After that was over, he bandaged me up, wrote me a prescription and was ready to send me on my way. First I had to pay the doctor's fee of $8. Ouch...a hefty sum for a minor surgery. Considering my copay in the states is $40, it felt like a good deal.

My foot, post doctor's visit! Yummy!

So I walked across the street (literally) to the Sana Sana pharmacy and grabbed the medication. It was about $13 for the antibiotics, disinfecting cream, and bandages. My foot has since been on the mend and the infection is gone! But what an adventure! Thanks for your prayers, I know that the Lord is taking care of both of us during this time and we are so grateful for the support that you all give us!

The view of Dr. Salazar's clinic from my front porch.

This week I have been reading about humility and I wanted to share with you a little passage: "When you know you are absolutely accepted and valued for whom you are, not what you do, you are truly free. When you believe that all is God's gift, you are truly free. When you know, with your whole being, that there is nothing hidden from God's knowledge of you, and this knowledge does not alienate or shame, you are truly free. Free to not expect more of yourself than God does, free to admit your mistakes because you know that an error does not change your value, free to serve one another because you know God will not let you be with out what you need, free to exercise your talents and gifts for the glory of God and the encouragement of God's body. This freedom allows humility and humility builds community. In your community, you will serve and be served, give and be given unto, know others and be known by others, love and be loved."

I hope it speaks to you as it did me.

We love you all,

Jon & Anna


Prayer requests:

*Pray that Bill Swenson would get a job as a translator so he can provide for his family and still be able to volunteer at Casa Victoria.
*Pray that all those in the house and all those who work at the house would be unified in spirit!
*Pray for continued health and rest for Anna and I.
*Pray that God would continue to raise up leaders in the community for His work.
*Pray for our safety.
*Pray that God would continue to teach us to serve these wonderful people.