Christmas in April

We had our first FAMILY visitors to Ecuador!! We had planned to have Christmas together with Dad and Mom Ellison here in Ecuador, but they were unable to come as planned. It was such a treat for all of us when they were able to come in late April for 2 weeks. We bought a turkey, made some stuffing and had a Christmas feast together as a family. Jordan thinks we should celebrate Christmas every month just so he can have turkey! The term 'better late than never' rings true! It was a lot of fun; the kids insisted on making a whole bunch of Christmas cookies.
Dad was a tremendous blessing to our ministries while he was here. He was able to preach 3 different Sundays at La Iglesia Bautista El Calvario with Pastor David Vasconez and to share in our Wednesday evening Bible studies. One man stated, "Jeff, we are glad to have you with us every week, but this guy is really good!"  We already knew that!  We really enjoyed the time together sharing our new country, home and ministry with our parents."

Ministry in Otovalo

We had a tremendous opportunity to do a week of personal evangelism, children's vacation Bible school, ministry and translation in the town of Otavalo. Translation was a real stretch, and we all really felt that our ability with the language grew from the experience. We worked with Word of Life Directors, Daniel and Anna Gonzalez to translate for a church from Atlanta, GA who brought a large group during their spring break. The kids made some great friends with the other Ecuadorian translators and with the American visitors. God blessed and many doors were open to the Gospel. Following the different meetings, we had the chance to counsel in small groups. There were many opportunities to share the Gospel. God was truly at work that week.

El Mitad del Mundo - The Center of the World
Ecuador is named after the equator. We took a field trip today to "see" this invisible line that divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. El Midad del Mundo or the Center of the World, is a great place to learn more of Ecuador's culture and diversity.  In the cultural museum, we learned about all the different people groups of Ecuador including their habitat, dress, and daily life. There was live Andean music to enjoy and artisans selling their goods. We took the opportunity to mark the occasion at the monument and take some photos on the imaginary line that circles the globe. When you have the chance to visit us in Ecuador, we would enjoy taking you for a trip to Mitad del Mundo.  We may even feed you deep fried guinea pig if you like.  It's a delicacy!

Swiss Family Davoll?
We have had many new adventures in Ecuador. We have had the opportunity to make many new friends. Sometimes, these two things overlap and things really get interesting. We met the Schole family around Christmas time and they invited us to their home. They are directors of a beautiful retreatcenter, El Refugio, just north of el Mitad del Mundo, the monument on the equator.  When we arrived, they offered for us to go on a hike. We enjoyed it immensely. When we reached the top, they showed us this incredible treehouse. We enjoyed our time with their family and our exploration immensely. Everyday is a new adventure. Isn't God good.

Fanesca - A "Semana Santa" Tradition

An Easter tradition that is unique to Ecuador is the soup, Fanesca. It is served all over the country but only during 'Semana Santa," the week before we celebrate Resurrection Sunday. It is the thickest soup I have ever tasted. It is made of 12 different beans, many of them native to Ecuador. The story is told that the tweleve different beans represent the 12 Apostles and the salted cod fish represents Christ. Although every family has their own recipe of this traditional dish, here is a list of the twelve beans and grains which are cooked along with potatoes, and squash.

1. chickpeas
2. great northern beans

3. black-eyed peas
4. yellow split peas

5. brown lentils
6. adzuki beans
7. black beans

8. wheat berries
9. quinoa

10. barley
11. sweet corn

12. green peas

With all of these ingredients, you can imagine how thick it was. My favorite part was the presentation. The bowl we were served was just amazing. There were three strips of cheese, two small dough balls, three slices of plantain, a mini empanada, a wedge of hard boiled egg, a hot red pepper curl, and a onion flower. It was almost too pretty to eat! We take every opportunity to learn more about the people and the culture where God has placed us. It is a great blessing."

Celebrating Easter in Ecuador

We celebrated in our new country in new and different ways.

First, we were privileged to spend Good Friday with 4 ladies who had been working in an orphanage in Riobamba Ecuador and were getting ready to leave for the USA.  It was a great blessing to spend time with them as they had been praying for us before they came and they even brought us candy from the USA...definately a special treat.

Second, we attended the processions in Quito.  Good Friday is anything but "good" in Quito.  There is a great procession, or parade, called, "Jesus the great power."  During this time, 120 are chosen to be apostles, 200 chosen to be the weeping Veronica, and more than 2000 chosen to be "cucuruchus."  The cucuruchus cover their faces with a big purple hood and walk barefooted, carrying heavy crosses, chains, wrapped in barbed wire.  Both years I have seen the processions, one of the heavy crosses falls on people in the crowd injuring them.  Noone is quite sure as to the origine of the purple hoods, but the idea is to walk this great distance in this procession to earn favor with God.  The blacktop was so hot they had to stand in puddles people would pour for them or stand on papers their helpers would tear up and put down.  One cucuruchu in the photos is talking on a cell phone.  I was profoundly struck by the name of the parade, Jesus the great power, and those in the parade trying to earn something from God.  The music is earry.  The procession is sad.  I am reminded that the scriptures tell us, it is finished!  The debt has been paid!  Jesus in reality is the gread power, He paid a debt I could not pay!  it is time for celebration, not penance.  Praise be to God who has given us his unspeakable gift.

Thirdly, we celebrated the Resurrection by observing a Seder supper in our living room with 16 Ecuadorians.  The Spanish was bad, but the message is great!What a blessing to rehearse the freedom from bondage the Israelites recevied form God and the freedom from sin past, present and future experienced by the blood of Jesus Christ that liberates us death and hell for eternity.  To God be the glory!

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!

Amanda's Quinciera - Turning 15
Amanda's Birthday -- Her Quinciera was celebrated in Cumbaya! Amanda's birthday is Valentine's day. She has been a party waiting to happen since she was born! This year she turned fifteen. We have been looking forward to her birthday since we first started learning about the Latino culture. A 'Quinciera' is a very big deal for a young lady. It is the 'Sweet Sixteen' of the Latin world, but it goes way beyond our celebrations!

We enjoyed this celebration with our family and many of Amanda's new Ecuadorian friends. Traditionally, a quinciera is done in all pink, but for Amanda it was ALL PURPLE, or course. In a Quinciera, a young lady passes from a child to woman figuratively and there is a special time when the dad presents his daughter her pair of high heels to signify that she is a woman now. Well, in Ecuador it is very difficult to locate larger sizes of shoes, and we searched for Mandi a pair of shoes............. but we didnt find one. Instead, we presented her with a gift of amethyst jewelry. Perhaps this was the story of Cinderella's slipper, but instead of looking for a princess for the shoe to fit we were looking for the shoe to fit the princess.

It was a very fun evening. We took pictures with her guests. They went on a video scavenger hunt in our urbanization and then we watched the fun tour of the neighborhood. We played lots of games and of course, had lots of food including Amanda's favorite Red Velvet Cake." Congratulations Amanda. We are so proud of the lady God is making you.

The Kitchen is Open!


One of Deanne's heartbeats is to use her kitchen as a means of outreach. This sounds simple doesnt it? And it is! God has given each of us things in our hands, just like Moses had his rod, we can use what we have.

We began "Cocina Contacts" ministry this month of December by making Christmas cookie wreaths for our neighbors and different people we have met. Since we did not have our shipment yet, we were limited on pots and pans. We got a little creative and found a stovetop recipe that we could make in large quantities. We made 48 Christmas cookie wreaths in all.

When we do a project, we make it a WHOLE family project. We put everybody to work on our project. We had cookie makers, wreath formers, sprinkle decorators, and wrappers. We put a small candle in the middle ,and Jeff made a Christmas card telling about Jesus being the light of the world.

We wanted to make something a little bit "American" to draw the two cultures together. We have found Ecuadorians to be friendly people who are as curious about our culture as we are about theirs. By making a recipe from our culture, we are inviting them into our world for a moment through our kitchen door. Then, we took them around our neighborhood and delivered them personally. It was a great time to get to know our neighbors. Deanne even had a request to teach a neighbor how to make banana bread just from our Christmas cookies, but more on that later. We are so glad to be living here and to be getting to know our neighbors.

A Special Visit with Bob and Lynne Trout

February 6-10 brought our second visitors to Ecuador missionaries Bob and Lynne Trout, Spanish Speaking South American Regional Administrators. It was a blessing to have them here with us. We were so glad to welcome Lynne to Ecuador as it was her very trip to our new country. BIENVENIDOS A ECUADOR, LINA!

Ecuador is ABWE's newest Spanish speaking field, and we value the input and leadership of our these veteran missionaries. The Trouts were a great encouragement to our family and we enjoyed our time with them. We appreciate their input and direction as we launch the work here in Cumbaya. The kids especially enjoyed Uncle Bob's passion for icecream!

Their friendship and mentorship is such an asset. The children really enjoyed having them with us. Uncle Bob enjoyed watching the Superbowl with the boys, and Aunt Lynne enjoyed shopping, playing with our two bunnies, Pork chop and Butterball, and getting "Facebook" pointers from the girls. Thank you for your ministry!

Carnival - alive and well in Cumbaya!

Another new experience was waiting for us in early February as we approached "Carnival". Cultural traditions are different in every country. We have heard many stories of Carnival, and in some countries the celebration is to be avoided. In Ecuador, it is a kid's dream come true. In the weeks that precede Lent, people "let it all out" and put on a "water fight" in the streets. People throw water balloons, and spray crazy foam at unsuspecting strangers just for fun. At every store you can buy this crazy foam spray, and it seems to sell out fast. It was rather sporadic at first until THIS WEEKEND! All the children in the country have a few days off, and many people take it as a big family vacation and go to the beach or have family over for a few days. It is a huge time of fiesta!

Let me sum it up for you, THIS WEEKEND, STAY INSIDE OR PREPARE TO GET WET! Kids and adults are into this Country-wide water fight! Water guns, hoses, water balloons, cups of water, full size buckets..... nothing is off limits! Our next door neighbors invited Bethany, Jordan, Amanda and Lukas over for an afternoon of water craziness. We wanted them to get to know the neighborhood; Im not sure this is exactly what we meant. They sure had a good time. If you are a kid, could there be a better holiday? Sorry....... gotta go. I have four cold, wet hungry kids to feed. It seems they worked up quite an appetite!

Enjoying the Coast of Ecuador

Our family took a brief trip to the coast of Ecuador to the small village of Same (pronounced like the name Sammy) for a few days after New Years. It was far different than our daily surroundings in Cumbaya. Hot, humid, rustic, sandy were the days. We bought fish and shrimp right on the beach and cooked it for dinner. We enjoyed picking shells and relaxing in hammocks. Jeff, Jordan and Lukas were able to do some fishing on a river for a few hours. They watched :dug out" canoes go up and down the river. It was a reminder that we are living in a third world country. It was a great privilege to reconnect as a family including some late night monopoly contests. We were reminded during our few days on the coast of the majesty of God's creation through the crashing waves, the swelling tides, the magnificent mountains; the views were around us on every side. We are truly blessed! Psalm 19:1 The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.

Field Team Leaders Conference in Arequipa, Peru.

Jeff had the privilege of attending our Spanish Speaking South America Field Team Leaders Meeting in Arequipa, Peru.  It was a great blessing to be with the other leaders learning and growing together.  The best part of the conference is to have time to interact and ask questions of other veteran field team leaders.  It was a great conference set up by Steve Douglas who helped in our training in prefield ministry.   I was privileged to be at a table with Andy Patton from the jungle area of Peru and with Scott Russel from Santiago, Chile.  I roomed with Don Fulz from Argentina.  Ate with Bob Trout, Johnny Bolin and Tim Bilbry from Colombia, was encouraged by Paul Fields from Paraguay, enjoyed jokes from Tim Farly who leads the seminary in Iquitos Peru.  I enjoyed music from Andy Pace and even got to play the electric guitar for a time with him.   It was also a blessing to be out of the snowy climate of Ecuador...NOT, we don't have snow except on the tops of our volcanoes!  Dale Marshfield from South Africa and Jim Ruff from China led our team training.  If I missed anyone, I hope they don't have time to read blogs. Thanks men for the time of Iron Sharpening iron.

Our house is now in our home!

We praise the Lord for His great blessing. On January 8th, our shipment from New York arrived on our doorstep. Praise the Lord! It has been held in customs for more than 4 months. What a joy to combine little treasures from our life in the United States with our new life here in Cumbaya. In only fifteen minutes, our 60 boxes were unloaded from the truck and up the stairs into our living room.

Lukas, our foreman, was calling out the number of each box to cross off our inventory list. Some of these boxes were first packed 2006. What a journey we have enjoyed since that time. It felt a little surreal at that moment to think that we were really Home in Cumbaya. It was time to finally "unpack". We took time to pray together......in a circle, just as we had on that night in 2005 when God moved in our hearts to make the family step into career missions. Another milestone in our journey. We are "officially" settled in Cumbaya. I took a few minutes to "take in the moment" to gather my thoughts, but the kids jumped right in as fast as they could find their boxes. They were unpacking and proudly displaying treasures in no time at all. Deanne began with a box of her mother’s china in the kitchen. When the delivery truck had opened its’ door, we noticed that our shipment had been packed half right side up and half upside down. Quickly we identified that several of the inverted boxes were fragile boxes from our dining room. Deanne opened her mother’s china timidly, but the pieces were intact. It is another reminder of God’s provision for us down to the smallest details. The next box was even more interesting. Containing antique plates and a stack of glass platters; amazingly, there was only one small little chip in the entire stack of antique dishes, but the platter directly beneath was broken in half. It was not a special platter because it was bought at a garage sale. These are the little things that we will always remember. Thank you for sharing the journey. God’s goodness is something to celebrate.

First Quarter Returns
Just a brief Video of our first 3 months here in Ecuador. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. Part of our responsibility is to learn as much as we can about the language and culture. What a blessing to be able to explore and learn!

TORO, TORO, TOROToday, Jeff, Jordan and Lukas went to a MAJOR cultural tradition in Quito. The first week of December the toros come to town in a BIG WAY. This afternoon there were 12,000 people around as the 3 of them watched the elaborate show in the ring. We learn much about culture by what people deem as "entertaining". All we can say is that it was quite different than a day at the ballpark. There were definitate cultural rules, and when one on-looker got rowdy at the wrong time, the entire crowd turned against him by "whistling" and yelling which is their equivalent to "booing". Another cultural note, "Panama hats" which are actually an Ecuadorian industry not Panama, are worn by everyone at the bullfights. Jeff got into the new fashion, Lukas opted for cowboy style, and Jordan, well, he was the "Americano" of the bunch.

VIVA QUITO.............

This is quite a week to be in QUITO............

All week is leading up to December 6-- the day Ecuador celebrates the Independence of Quito from the Spanish in 1534. It is a national holiday......and it is a HUGE party in downtown!

We are a little removed from it in the Tumbaco Valley, but we needed to go into the city a few times this week to get our vehicle registered; so we were able to see just how crazy it can be.

There are street vendors everywhere. They are selling all kinds of things. This is a special week for the TOROS. For just this week, there are bullfights in Quito. Outside of the bullrings, there are rows of booths selling hats- every kind of hat imaginable, for the people going to the bullfights. Jeff and Lukas each bought a hat. In Ecuador, at street vendors, you are able to negotiate for the true price of an item. Deanne can bargain with the best of them. Jeff...well he just walks away when the bartering begins. If he wants it, he buys it. If he want's it cheaper, he calls Deanne.

There is music playing in the streets. We even saw mariachis singing in a auto repair place. That is a new twist on culture for sure. We have also enjoyed all the little vendors selling Christmas decorations that have shown up everywhere. They built little shacks just for the month and live there while selling their wares. Yesterday, we found several locations to buy Christmas trees. When we got out of the car, we saw that all but two of thh trees were artificials set up on the lot. The live trees are cyprus trees quite different from the evergreens of North America. All of this is quite new to Ecuador-- as a developing country.

We are learning quite a bit about our new country and it's culture. Thank you for sharing in our journey with us.