WHY BETH IS LIKE A HOT DOG

A friend recently said being a missionary is a little like a hot dog. Everyone knows what a hot dog is, but we're a little unclear about what all goes into it. Dave's work as a Bible teachers is kind of like an all-beef wiener... we can pretty much picture the ingredients. But Beth? More like a mystery-meat frankfurter. There's a neat freedom in being able to fill up my time with a variety of ingredients, and I'd like to share some of the joys of the mix of my life recently.

Some of the main ingredients in my hot dog:
Levi, Dave and Luke on the slopes of
the volcano Cotopaxi

In January, I taught four classes of moms from the Alliance Academy International about sharing the gospel with our kids. What a thrill to see the lights go on as we discussed that the gospel is bigger than just saying a prayer for salvation; it means the power of the kingdom of God has entered history to renew the world! I've got four more classes coming up in April (topic: praying for our kids) and am planning some informal gatherings for moms who want more.

Beth (middle of top row) with the smallest of the four classes
that meet for Entre Nosotras (Between Us Ladies)

A favorite ingredient in my life is Wednesday morning moms' playgroup. Anywhere from four to eight moms regularly gather at our house to share lives while the kids romp. One mom told me, "There's no place else like this group, where everyone understands what it means to be a cross-cultural family, to deal with the family dynamics, the paperwork... Wednesday is my favorite day of the week!" I agree!

All these playgroup moms are blessed (and challenged)
to be in cross-cultural marriages

Music is another key part of the hot dog of my life. I fill in directing music at our church from time to time and recently had the honor of playing in a special prayer meeting for "Freedom Sunday" to raise awareness about human trafficking. This issue is very real in Quito and I invite you to join me in making it a focus of prayers and action.

Playing with an amazing Ecuadorian violinist, who
also happens to be one of Dave's students at school

Finally, there's a dash of this and that to spice life up: lots of hosting, some mentoring, some work in the school nurse's office, and some communication with friends like you... who I hope now have a better picture of what goes into this busy Ecuadorian hot dog!

PLEASE PRAY WITH US!


We need YOU to stand with us in prayer about the following issues:

• The government is moving to increase control over private schools like ours, which may affect our ability to teach Bible as we do now. Meetings and paperwork are still in process.
• Spiritual Emphasis Week just wrapped up at school, with some of the strongest chapel speakers we've seen. There were good responses from many students; now the task is to have good follow-up from staff. 
• Dave continues to mentor a number of young men, several of whom are not believers. He desires wisdom and insight for navigating these relationships. 
• Dear missionary friends here are on a rescue mission to provide a home for 60 orphans. Many obstacles remain before they can take guardianship of these needy kids. Read more here about how to help them out. 
• The Latin American Region (LAR) or our mission is in a time of seeking and prayer for the future. As HCJB Global shifts to focus more on unreached people groups, we need to determine what this means for LAR, a largely evangelized area. Some of our fellow missionaries are relocating to other regions, others are focusing on training Latin American nationals for mission work among unreached peoples. 

The powerful Creator of this volcano is also
powerful to answer our prayers!

JOIN THE TEAM!

It's simple to partner with our work with HCJB Global. Check out how below or on the side bar. And thank you!

Aaron enjoys a volcano of a different kind: cake!

Evangeline is blessed to be part of
a community of people like you!