WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT

When talking about weekly highlights, it is difficult to shorten the discussion. God has been so good to us. I must say just one of the weekly highlights is our Wednesday night Bible studies. Earlier we have shared of other highlights such as the 2 ladies Bible studies Deanne attends and assists, our Bible study we have with our landlord and his family, and our church family at La Iglesia Bautista El Calvario (Calvary Baptist Church).

Our couples Bible study on Wednesday night is a blessing as attendance ranges between 14-24 people, mostly couples. This lovely group of people have deep burdens for teaching and training their families to love and serve God. We meet in different host homes. This proves a challenge for us as everyone else knows the locations, but often the directions are sketchy for us. Therefore, we solved this problemy by offering a ride to someone who knows the area! We are currently studying God's plan for the family. This is especially exciting as we are doing basic discipleship beginning with the priority of the Word of God as our guide. Please pray with us as we desire to see those needing Christ as their Savior come to him in faith.

On a light note...we also enjoy the Bible studies as we get to sample Ecuadorian food each night. We also are stretched and growing in the language. One night I responded to a question by saying we must all stand before God and answer for our actions. One lady repeated the phrase "before God" (ante Dios). So, I said yes, "before God". She repeated again "before God." I again said, "Yes, before God." She said...I said, she said, I said. This went on for some time. Finally I realized I was not saying it correctly and she was trying to help correct me! I was not saying we stand before God, I was saying we stand before the time when God existed! Que verguenza (how embarassing)! Please pray we keep our theology straight by continued language learning!

Still Dating after 23 years!

We like to celebrate and on March 27 we celebrated...US.  Normally we celebrate other things, but this time we celebrated us. Twenty-three years ago we had our first "date"; so, we have much to celebrate. For our night out, we went to sushi place right here in Cumbaya. Who would think you could get Great sushi in Ecuador, but we found it!   We went to Noe Sushi Bar (not sure baptists are allowed to use that word so we will call it a restaruant).  It is a really great spot for a special occassion, and we had the whole place to ourselves.   We went at 5 PM, but dinner does not get cranked up here until after 7 PM.  We are thankful that we are still dating after 23 years. God has really blessed us. We praise Him for the strong relationship that we share...and the plate of sushi!

WAFFLES, A SPECIAL BLESSING!

We would like to Introduce you to WAFFLES, the newest Davoll member. Here her name is said "waf-less." On March 23, we could resist no longer and this cute little ball of fur came into our lives. Her name is WaffleS. She gets a lot of attention everywhere we go. we have met a lot of new people in our neighborhood with her by our side. You may wonder how we came up with such an unusual name. First, we have always named our animals after food. But, we wanted this dog to represent our step into missions in a special way. It was a big decision, and there was voting and even veting going on in the family, (oh the politics!). The decision was made together. You see, as we were travelling around the United States, we enjoyed a lot of yummy foods. We remember one week in particular in Volusia, Florida, where we ate Waffles every morning for breakfast. Jeff thought for sure that the kids would be sick of waffles forever. Well, the rest of us assured him that it could never happen. In fact, the opposite is so true, that we named our little dog "Waffle." We praise the Lord for our children who have waited so patiently for 3 1/2 years while we traveled and studied in Language school. Well, got to go. That little bark is telling me something...if I only knew what that was!

ROYAL TREAT AT El Cañón del Chiche!

Today was a special treat. One of Deanne's Friends from her ladies Bible study is a chef, and this week after Bible study on Tuesday we had the opportunity to meet her husband.  Jaimie and Paola invited us to their home and restaurant on Saturday.  We enjoyed viewing their incredible property in this canyon between two or three moutains with God's creation surrounding them on all sides. We hiked all over it and enjoyed picking some fruit right off their trees. Lukas got to ride a 4-wheeler with their son. Then, the kids played on a trampoline. We sat down for a lovely dinner which was a mix of Ecuadorian flavors and mediteranean foods.  It was such a relaxing day for all of us.  We never cease to be amazed at the open doors and opportunities we have to enjoy God and his blessings!