The Holidays Abroad // Part 1

The holidays are always the hardest time to be away from family, whether you are a few states or a few thousand miles away.  As we faced the upcoming holidays here in Ecuador, we received some very good news.  We had visitors on the way!  What a blessing to have family near on our first holidays away from home (really in all of our lives)!  Yes, we have been super spoiled!

It started with a visit from Kurtis’ sister, Kristina.  She showed up the day before Thanksgiving with suitcases packed with treats from The States!  She even traveled with a cooked turkey breast and a homemade apple pie!  (Unfortunately, the turkey didn’t make it through customs, but thankfully the delicious pie did)!

Kurt's sister, Kristina (or "Aunti Na" as we like to call her) and Malachi, exploring the equator together.

Malachi loves to watch "Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown" and because of this he is SURE that Thanksgiving meal consists of popcorn, jelly beans, and toast!  Well, Auntie Na came through and brought us Jelly Belly's from home! We were all pretty excited for him to enjoy them, but felt so bad when the first Jelly Belly he popped in his mouth was a ho cinnamon one.  Boy was he surprised!  I am sure it is not what he imagined when he was thinking about jelly beans!  He quickly got over it, though, and enjoyed the rest of the bowl with us.

Our best "Charlie Brown" faces.  He's kind of a grumpy dude!

On Thanksgiving day I looked up "Thanksgiving meals made with Chicken" since we were short some turkey and found a great recipe that did end up tasting quite Thanksgiving-ish.  We enjoyed the day, Skyped with family, and thought much about all we have to be thankful for.  It all came together great and it felt like home!  

Auntie Na's famous zucchini stuffing and traditional green beans :)  Yay for big suitcases!

We even got to set up the Christmas tree while Kris was in town!

A little sibling rivalry

You can't set up the tree without some delicious hot chocolate!

While Kris was still in town, we had the privilege of spending a really big Quito holiday with our neighbors.  The 6th of December is Quito's birthday and we found out that birthdays are a really big deal around here!  There were fiestas in the streets a whole week before the actual day; people in party busses, celebrating the birth of their town.  

On the night of December 5th, our neighbors took us through Quito to see all the fun.  We visited the beautiful historic center of Quito.  There were people everywhere!  It was fun to witness all the excitement.  

Exploring the city

We ended the night with a late dinner (11pm) in a beautiful restaurant at the top of a local landmark hill.  We enjoyed delicious empanadas, potato soup, and even tried hot chocolate with cheese.  Yep, you read that right.  Cheese!  I'll just say I prefer to stick with marshmallows :)  It was a beautiful night and we are so thankful that Kristina got to be a part of it with us

On the 6th of December, we were treated to a personal parade in our own little neighborhood! 

Happy Birthday, Quito!

This is not about Ceviche...

In a few short hours I will be venturing in to the kitchen to make a traditional Ecuadorian soup called Ceviche.  For those of you that know me, this may come as a bit of a surprise. For one, I have never been much of a cook, although I do believe God is changing that in me. I have really been enjoying sharing the responsibility of cooking with our roommates and will soon be the main cook for 14 people almost daily.  The other reason this might surprise you is that I am not a very adventurous eater, especially when it comes to seafood (cheviche is made with shrimp…), but I really enjoy this soup and have been a little more open to seafood lately.  Good thing because we are moving to the coast in 6 months.

This blog post really isn’t about seafood or cooking, though.  One too many surprises? :)  It is actually about friendships.  Kurtis and I have been blessed over the years with many wonderful friends.  God has always placed people in our lives that we can laugh and cry with and we are so very thankful.  In the decision to move to Ecuador, leaving our friends was one of the hardest parts.  We miss you all so much.

But… God is so faithful.  We have moved in across the street from probably the nicest family in all of Ecuador :)  Our friendship began because our boys are close in age and really enjoy each other, but it just so happens that us parents really enjoy each other also (even with the language barrier). Hey, if the kids can do it so can we!

 Doesn't Malachi just seem to fit right in :)

 Boys will be boys

 Giddy up

 Friends

Our neighbors have blessed us by bringing us many traditional foods to try, letting us practice (and at times slaughter) their language, they have welcomed us in to their home on traditional holidays with their extended family, and have supported us through this time of huge transition!

 

Enjoying a traditional Ecuadorian dessert made by our neighbor

A few weeks ago, my friend (and neighbor) Elizabeth invited me over and taught me how to make some wonderful traditional food so that I can have some meals under my belt when I am cooking for a team that will be 1/2 Ecuadorian.  We made Ceviche (as mentioned above), Fritada (a traditional pork meal), tortillas de papas (fried mashed potatoes with cheese in the middle),  fried plantains, and a sweet dessert with tomate de arbol.  

                                         

After spending the morning watching/helping a pro, rapidly writing notes (admittedly with mixed spanish and english depending on the facil-ness of the word) and stumbling over my verb usage, Kurtis and Malachi joined us and we all shared lunch together.  It was a beautiful time and a day I will not forget.  And everything was really delicious (muy rico)!!!

Lunch time!

I am so thankful I serve a God who cares about the little (or big) things, like our need to be relational and the importance of friends.  Thank you, Lord for providing in each moment.

Our neighbor Elizabeth and her daughter Emalia 

In less than a month we will be leaving our current house to move in to the home where we will be staying with our team while they are in language school and seminary classes.  Thankfully, we are still close enough that we will be able to visit our neighbors, but we will soon be moving far away.  It will be hard to say goodbye to such sweet friends, but we are trusting that the Lord will provide just what we need in the next place we live and I pray that we can be that kind of neighbor to someone else no matter where we live.  We have learned so much from them!

We are so thankful for Pablo, Elizabeth, Emalia, and Andres!

A Day in the Life of The Strunks

 A view from the Basilica in the historic area of Quito

We have been in Quito over a month and we would love to share with you what life looks like for us now...  

Nazarene Theological Seminary where we attend our language classes

Monday through Friday Kurtis and I wake up around 6:30am (4:30am for our Phoenix peeps) and get ready for language school.  We are attending classes at the nearby Nazarene Theological Seminary.  The Seminary campus is about a 15 minute walk from where we live and we walk most days.  Quito is very hilly, so this started out as a pretty big challenge, but it is getting a bit easier and I am thankful for the time of forced exercise, and for some moments  with Kurtis. 

We are in a class with 5 other students who are at a beginning to intermediate level in Spanish. Our “Professora” speaks very little english, so we are doing our best to keep up!  We started class a couple weeks late due to the issues we had with our Visas, so we have had a lot of catching up to do.  We have about 1 month of language school down, and we are finally feeling like some parts of it are starting to click (at least in understanding.  Speaking it is a whole other story)!

While we are in class, Malachi spends time with one of our wonderful roommates, Angela.  He has a lot of fun with her!  They color, read books, and go to the park that is in our neighborhood.  We live in a gated community in Quito that is nice and peaceful.  Thankfully, we live on a street that is not a thru-street, so Malachi spends a lot of time outside playing with us!  We love being outside!  Its beautiful here.


When class lets out around noon, Kurtis and I make the walk back home.  We get home in time to eat lunch with the kiddo :)

Our awesome roommates: Angela, Trevor, and Kindra

We can find a lot of the same foods here as in the States. We shop at a big store called MegaMaxi which is comparable to a Super Walmart.    There are a few interesting food items we have experienced her so far: we drink milk out of a bag, avocados and bananas are cheap and delicious, and there are many delicious fruits here.  Most interesting and surprisingly delicious fruit: Granadilla (also known as “snot fruit”). It's gross to look at but yummy to the tastebuds!

After lunch it is time for Malachi’s nap.  This is Kurt and my time to get work done, do devotions or rest.  Our brains are pretty full after studying a different language all morning!  Once nap time is over, the rest of the afternoon is spent having fun with Malachi at home or at the nearby park.

Malachi has made a great friend across the street named Andres.  He is 4 and they have a blast riding tricycles around the neighborhood.  We get to spend quite a bit of time with his family while they play, which is a great opportunity for us to practice our spanish!

Having fun at the playground in our neighborhood

For dinner, we take turns making meals with our roommates.  Our roommates are all great cooks!  We have enjoyed yummy foods from Peru, Ecuador, and the U.S.  We really enjoy dinnertime with our roommates.  It is a great time to sit together and learn more about each other.  We are very thankful for their humor and willingness to teach us during this time.

Once Malachi goes to bed for the night, the homework begins for us.  Some nights we have just a few things to do, other nights, we feel a bit overloaded; but we get as much done as we can. We are anxious to be able to communicate with the people here.  Pretty soon, our roommates are going to start speaking only Spanish.  That will be a challenge, but will be really good for us!

On the weekends we enjoy time as a family.  Next weekend we are headed to Ambato, Ecuador to spend time with another cluster coordinator family and their team of young missionaries.  We are excited to see a team in action!

We will be in language school for about 3 months and then in mid-January we will welcome our team to Ecuador!  We ask that you pray for our team as The Lord gathers and prepares them for this ministry.  If you know anyone who has a call to missions, please let us know if you think they might be interested in ministering in Ecuador.  We would love to talk with them!

Our trip to The Basilica in Quito

Snapshots and Tidbits

(Or at least that was my intention when I started writing. Maybe we should re-title it, 

"Almost Every Detail From Our Trip Thus Far")

Thursday, August 22nd

We arrived in Quito late last night, and after a very windy ride to our new home for the next few months, we settled in for a good night’s rest.  Today we have just been taking it easy and trying to get things somewhat organized.  I have a feeling that we will just start to feel settled when we will head to the next place!

We wanted to share just a few of the happenings from the past couple days:

We met our family at Garcias for lunch before we headed to the airport on Tuesday.  This worked out wonderfully!  We got a whole side-room to ourselves and we really loved the time with our family!

Precious moments with our amazing family

At the airport we were informed that we would need to pick up our checked luggage in Houston for our layover.  (I had called the airline earlier and was told they would keep it for us overnight since we were on a long layover).  It was a little stressful trying to figure out how we were going to handle 6 large checked bags, 3 carryon suitcases (all too large for Malachi to help), 3 extra-stuffed personal items, a car seat and a 3 year old!  But with no choice, we had to make it work, and God provided.

Both of our dads prayed over us before we left and our youth pastor from our teen years, Kevin McGinnis (also part of our extended family) prayed over and anointed us.  Very special moments for us all!

Goodbyes were said and we tearfully trekked through the crazy world of airport security.  It was an extra blessing to have Kristina and Donny, Kurtis' sister and brother-in-law (both flight attendants), come along with us to help us manage it all.  We also enjoyed getting to be with family a little bit longer.

Malachi did a GREAT job on our flight to Houston.  Thankfully it was a short flight!

Staying entertained 

After tracking down all our luggage (we were relieved it at least made it that far), we waited about an hour for our shuttle to the hotel.  Although we were tired and hungry, we both had an understanding that this was just a little preparation for what we could experience in a new culture.  So we embraced it as much as possible and entertained the little guy as best we could.

We rested well at the hotel and then had to check out by 1pm, so we slept in, swam a little, packed up and headed back to the airport on the final part of our trek.

We got to the airport about 5 hours before our flight.  I have to admit, I was a little frustrated we had to go so early, but it ended up being a good thing.  We had time to put important Ecuador contact info in all of our luggage, Malachi and Kurtis got to go on a fun tram ride for free, and we were able to sit down and eat some of the best airport food I think we've ever had!  

Getting all of our bags labeled with S.A. contact info

Kurt & Kai Kai enjoying the tram

Although our large amount of luggage was hard to manage, God always provided a cart (or 2), or a person to help us any time we needed it!

A sweet moment

We boarded our flight knowing that we had a 5 ½ hour journey ahead and we were a little nervous about how that would go with the little one.  He once again did great, which was impressive because he was exhausted and in rare form by the time we got off the plane.  We needed all the patience we could muster as we stood in line after line to get through immigration and customs.  The poor kid was just done by then!

Two of the missionaries that we are staying with from Extreme met us at the airport.  Definitely a welcomed sight!  They handled finding two taxis for us and joined us on the hour long twisty-turvey ride home.  Malachi and I were quite a pair in the back seat...  

Malachi doesn’t get carsick like I do, but we have found that when we mix exhaustion with a vehicle, things can get messy.  So  I sat there, holding out a wet wipe incase he couldn’t keep it down, while at the same time trying to keep my cookies.  Sorry if that is too much info, but I’m glad to say we both made it with all cookies intact!  Malachi fell asleep and the last 15 minutes of the ride was a breeze. (I am learning I need to always keep an extra bag with me, just in case).

We are living in a room with a bathroom attached in a home being rented by one of the missionaries of Extreme.  This home is where they hold a 40 day retreat for young adults with a desire to seek our God’s will.  We are so thankful for a nice place to stay with people who can help us get accustomed to life in Ecuador!  We didn’t do much unpacking last night, just crawled in to bed and we all slept like babies!

This morning we woke to cheerful laughing from two kids of another Extreme family.  They are hanging out here while their parents go on a much needed vacation.  We are thankful God provided some friends for Malachi to play with as he gets settled in.

Here are two favorite quotes from our travels so far:

*As we were taking off from Houston:

                  Emily heard Malachi say enthusiastically (with a pacifier in his mouth): “Mommy, we are going to die!”

                  Emily: “What?” 

                  Removing the pacifier from his mouth, Malachi said: “We are high in the sky!”

                  Emily:  "Oh!", with a huge sigh of relief.  
                  Boy the difference a pacifier can make!

*Kurtis’ favorite quote from the trip: 

Emily: (Sternly during final landing) Put that pacifier in your mouth!  Your ears are going to hurt if you don’t suck on it, so suck your paci now!

*Just now Malachi walked over to the OPEN window in our room and said:  “Ahhh, what a beautiful day!”  (Guess he appreciates being out of the heat as much as we do)

We are taking about a week and ½ to get settled and then Kurtis and I will start language school.  Looking forward to getting familiar with the beautiful city of Quito!

Much love to you all!

A view of the city from our new home

The Countdown

Every day as I look at my calendar, my heart skips a little beat.  Some of it is from excitement for where God is taking us and what he wants to do in us, and some of it is total panic! 

God willing,  9 days from now, we will be boarding a plane to start the actual travel part of this journey!  We will be flying first to Houston, staying the night with a 21 hour layover (chosen on purpose for the kiddo's sake), and then we will head to Quito, Ecuador. 

God has provided in some amazing ways to help us get to this point!  Thank you to each of you for your prayers, encouraging words, and financial support.  I can not even express how much God has used you to encourage us! 

It was a year ago this month that we were in Kenya learning about what it means to be a missionary and learning about this intriguing opportunity in South America with Extreme Nazarene.   Before we left for Africa, I NEVER would have imagined we would be here today.

This past year has definitely been a journey as we have made a practice of parting with our things that we once thought so important.  The surprising part is that it hasn't been as hard as I expected.  The things I felt so attached to at the time are now just things.  (That isn't true with everything, and the special things we have kept.  Don't worry Grandmas out there, we still have lots of stuff for Malachi to look back on and enjoy someday) ;)

Our time has been a bit of a roller coaster.  Some days have been overfilled with things we need to accomplish.  We created a wall calendar and I love pulling each sticky note "to-do" off as we get things done.  There are other days we have intentionally stopped to take time to rest and spend time with family and friends.  We are so very thankful for these moments!

As you probably would assume, our emotions have been the biggest roller coaster.  There are moments we feel total confidence that this is where God has us and other times when we wonder what we are getting ourselves in to!  There are days when we are so excited to get out there and share the gospel with people, and days where we wonder why we're going to Ecuador to do it!   We realize we are not adequate for the job the Lord has given us, so we are trusting Him to use us in our weaknesses, in spite of ourselves, so that God gets all the glory!

We would really appreciate your prayers as we face this next week and 1/2. We are experiencing some nervousness as we anticipate all that is to come before we leave and the transition to a new culture.  We will miss our family and friends dearly and we are trusting God for his grace in each moment!

Catching Up

One month from today our plan is to board an airplane and start a new journey in Ecuador.  ONE MONTH!

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this blog.  Some of it has been because of busyness. Some of it is due to writer’s block.  I just haven’t been sure what to write.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a lot of things to write about over the past couple months, but when I’ve sat down to do it, the words just wouldn’t come out.

Let me get everyone caught up:

In March and April, Kurtis and I both finished up our jobs. I said goodbye to all my friends at Helen’s Hope Chest/Mesa United way, and our church did a beautiful “send off” service for us at the end of April (based on the original date we were supposed to leave for Ecuador).  I admit that we questioned God some on the timing of it all, since we learned that we wouldn’t be leaving until August. 

We moved out of our home of 9 years and got it rented out. Turning it into a rental became doable when we refinanced.  Praise the Lord!  Even though we sold most of our furniture before we moved out, it was amazing how many boxes we still had to pack up!!!  Our parents really helped us through this process and are both storing some of our things for us while we are away.

A wonderful missionary family from our church offered us a home to stay in, free of charge, during the months we are in transition!  This has been a huge blessing!  Although we have been very busy preparing to leave the country, this home has been a place of rest and retreat for us.  If you want to learn about this family’s ministry to pastors around the world, you can check that out here: The Meeds

Kurtis and I have been spending most of our days working on things like Visa paperwork, applying for the spanish school in Quito, getting caught up on vaccines, writing and sending out newsletters and thank-you’s, and sorting through/selling most of our things.  In the meantime, we have an incredible little one who loves having both of his parents home and wants to play, all the time! :)  It is a balancing act for sure!

Speaking of that little one, he turned 3 this month!  We have had a ton of fun celebrating the day of his birth!

 Waiting for a delicious breakfast with the Pescherines

 Riding the Verde Canyon Railroad with the fam.  Malachi loved being on a REAL train!

 Spending some time in California and sharing a birthday cake with Grandpa!

We have been so blessed and thankful to see the funds for our ministry coming in.  The task seemed so daunting when we first heard what we needed to raise.  I remember saying early on, that although we were overwhelmed by the amount, we were kind of glad it was so big because God would have to get the glory if we raised enough to go. We are at over 80%!!!  (There are still times when I think that I can chalk that up to effort, but I am reminded that it is God who calls and I am so thankful that our friends and family have been part of this journey with us!)

Because we reached 80%, we were able to buy our plane tickets!  There are not flights out of Phoenix straight to Ecuador.  We either needed to fly out of a place like Houston or Miami.  As I searched for flights, I was hopeful for one with a long layover for Malachi’s sake and I believe the Lord led me to just the right one.  We have a 21 hour layover in Houston.  Enough time to get a good night’s sleep and some rest before we head to Quito.

We have also had the blessing of spending quality time with family and friends.  This has been the most precious thing for us and we are trying to eat up every minute of it!  Here are just a few pictures from recent days.  

Thank you for all your prayers over these past couple months and thank you for being patient with us as we process all that is to come.  This month is going to be full of last minute preparations along with a lot of “See you later”’s.  We are excited for what is to come and grieving what we are already starting to miss.  We are thankful we serve a God who can carry us through it all!

In Christ,

Emily

Rest

God has led me to a passage in Isaiah three times in the past two days!  The third one was kind of comical, like “Okay, God. I’m listening.

Isaiah 30:15

            ¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,    but you would have none of it".

I am working on reading through the whole Bible (not in a year, just eventually) and right now I am in Isaiah.  I came across this verse the other day and it really stood out to me, because my life does not reflect this right now.  I was getting all worked up about many things and was NOT finding rest in Christ.

The next time I ran in to it was later that evening, I was reading a book called “Firsthand” by Ryan & Josh Shook.  It is about going through a faith crisis and coming out with a faith in Christ that is all your own.  This book literally showed up at our doorstep… okay, the churches doorstep with Kurtis’ name on it.  I have really been enjoying it. and then came across this passage again about rest, quietness, and trust.  Seems like such an odd concept when I have SO MUCH to accomplish.

Starting this week, I am officially a “stay at home mom”.  I have been enjoying sleeping in a little and have had some great times with family and friends. *Let me say that sleeping in and hanging out with friends and family does not characterize being a stay at home mom!  This was just the first week.  I have been thinking a lot about how early morning is really the only time I have for some alone time in the Lord's presence, so this morning I decided to try to get up early (6:30am is early when your kid sleeps till 8:00)!  I opened up the devotional Jesus Calling, and today’s was about spending time in the Lord’s presence.  And then guess how it finished:  “My spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring. In quietness (spending time with me) and confident trust (relying on my sufficiency) is your strength”. Isaiah 30:15

There it was again!  This time I had a chuckle.  He obviously wants to get a point across! Forgive me, Lord, for trying to accomplish this myself.  Help me to rest in you!

Deployment Update:  While we will be wrapping up at Mesa 1st at the end of this month, our departure date has been delayed by about 3 months.  We were supposed to leave at the end of April.  THAT’S THIS MONTH!  (I can’t even imagine what life would be like right now if we needed to move in 24 days)!  Instead, the date has been moved to August 1^st, 2013.  We are excited to have a few more months to get so many things done and this will also hopefully allow us some moments of rest as we prepare for about 10 months of training and 2 years of missionary work in Ecuador.