small stories and prayers

I was taking my "siestita" today and thinking a lot about what's happening here at Casa Victoria. We've had so many exciting events recently (as Jon so wonderfully shared), yet we've also had some very difficult transitional moments. Let me share some of our praises and prayers with you.

* School: Jorge Meza (see previous post) has enrolled in school! This has been a huge prayer of ours, as Jorge is 18 and needs to finish a few more years of high school. He is attending on Saturdays and is currently trying to find a job to help support his mom and 3 siblings. Please continue your prayers for Jorge as he continues to find the Truth about himself through following Jesus.

* Safety: Esteban, Javier, Ricardo, and a few friends from the neighborhood went on a wonderful hike on Saturday. They wanted this time to be a time of reflection, prayer and sharing. Once at the top of the mountain, they met 3 people who were also on a hike. They all sat together for 20 minutes of sharing about the Lord until one of the 'strangers' stood up and shared, "I believe in God too, but I need money." With this, he pulled out a gun and proceeded to rob the guys and friends from CV. This was an incredibly frightening moment (obviously) for everyone involved. Crime is a rampant problem in Quito - it's frustrating, scary, and unbelievable at times. Many places are becoming more and more unsafe. Please pray for all of our safety, and for the hearts of the youth that are so caught up in crime. Just so you know, everyone in safe, no one was hurt, and the landrones only got away with a few cell phones, money, and a camera. Also...Casa Victoria has a great alarm system. We're safe here.

* Christmas: The Eshleman family is coming! YAY! Thanks for everyone who made this possible. It's a incredible blessing.

* Health: For the last 2 months, there has not been a day when everyone in the house has been completely healthy. Join us in prayer for the complete healing of EVERYONE'S health at Casa Victoria. We long to serve this community fully, yet it's difficult in the midst of sickness.

* Furniture: We bought a couch! This is the first couch that Casa Victoria has seen since it's beginning. Through the wonderful donations from friends in Santa Barbara, we were able to purchase an L-shaped couch, chair, ottoman, and table for our living room. We're already breaking it in during movie nights, house meetings, and reading/prayer times. Thank you! Thank you! We're only about 1/5 of the way to furnishing this house completely. If you're interested in donating to the Casa Victoria "Couch Potato" fund, please email us and let us know. We are grateful for ANY help at all. We're still looking to purchase: new mattresses for the guys, a queen bed for the guest room, a new LARGE dining room table, rugs, etc.)

* One on Ones: Jon has been taking the afternoons with each of the guys for one on one time. We're blessed to have a wonderful cafe (Cafeto) down the street from us - a perfect meeting/retreat place. I truly believe that this is one of Jon's greatest gifts from the Lord. He's an amazing listener (lucky me!), and a wise counselor. The guys have been able to open up and share their lives with Jon in incredibly vulnerable ways. I trust that the Lord is using Jon to speak truth into these young men's lives. As we continue to flesh out our purpose here, we continue to be reminded that "loving God and loving our neighbor" covers over any other purpose we might see. Our prayer is that God would continue to soften our hearts to these guys and that we would be able to REALLY love them. Also, because we're still in the language learning process, please pray that God would give Jon ears that can hear, as he tries to dig into the lives of Spanish speakers.

* Cooking: I am right in the midst of an incredible blessing that I didn't know I would experience. At home, Jon and I loved to host friends for meals in our home. I thought I would miss those moments greatly, yet God has provided them here. I am blessed to be able to cook the meals for the guys and friends in the house each day. Breakfast is nothing creative...eggs, fruit, coffee, oatmeal, etc. Lunch, however, is my time. I have taught myself to make homemade mac and cheese for 12 people. I make an Ecuadorian soup called Locro (potato-cheese with avocado). I LOVE to feed people. Food seems to make  everyone SO happy and I love experiencing the JOY that comes with that. At times I think..."Lord, is this what you've brought me here for? To cook and clean? To be "Mama Anita"? What about the community? Am I not supposed to be getting my hands dirty with the rest of community?" Yet, daily, I'm reminded that I'm just supposed to love those I'm with - and if that means cooking yummy meals...then, by all means - take me to the market! I praise the Lord for slowing me down...erasing my schedule...and allowing me to find peace and JOY in the kitchen. (If you have any great recipes to cook for 10 guys...please share!)

* Date Nights: Jon and I make a goal each week to take one night away from the house. This is difficult as we get caught up in the Casa Victoria activities and the  nights escape us. For all you married friends, you know how important it is to take time away to nourish your marriage. Please pray that the Lord would help us carve out some time for this and that our times together would be rich and live-giving. We're coming up on 2 years of marriage on Oct. 28th. Can you believe it? We're just so thankful that God has brought us to Quito together. This truly is a dream come true - and our marriage is growing more than ever. Praise the Lord!

* Reading: I've just started a wonderful book called Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love. (Thanks to the Becks!) I LOVE what the authors have to say about hospitality and LOVE. I marked these few sentences in the book and am making them my prayer this week. 

When we accept, we take an open stance to the other person. It is more than merely piously tolerating them. We stand in the same space and we appreciate who they are, right now at this moment, and affirm the Sacred in them.

We love you all. Thank you for joining us on this journey. It's so much of a blessing to do this alongside our friends. Please continue the emails, notes, Skypes, etc. They continue to encourage us and give us the strength we need. We miss you. 

Love, 

the Eshlemans