Lorena's Latest July 27, 2008

It feels like summer is finally here! We have dry and dusty days and clear skies so that you can see the mountains (and volcanoes) clearly. Beautiful!

David, Danny, Adriana (Danny's sister) and I went to Guayaquil (Ecuador) to visit friends from the Galilea church that came to El Refugio in February. It was such a nice visit and so much warmer than Quito. We all laughed when they told us they were cold. We were able to visit the Santay Island where the church has a ministry to the 204 people who live there. We were priveledged to be a part of the Awana program that Saturday. The youth pastor Markos and his wife have some vacation time next month and are planning to come to El Refugio for a visit. My friends Alice, Omar and their children Jared and Aizza are coming, too. Adriana and I stayed at their home while visiting Guayaquil.

Roberto (an environmental student from a local university) has come to El Refugio twice for Bird observation. He has located 25 different types of birds, but we have many more! The first observation went well with lots of birds, but difficult to get a close look. The second was dry and not many were out, but we did locate a Merlin Falcon eating its catch. He is coming back out this week for another observation and we'll start at night to find nocturnal birds.

We have a youth group on the property from California, Emmanual Faith Community Church. They are working on a trail project in the cloud forest Maquipocuna which is 20 minutes away from El Refugio. They will be camping Monday to Wednesday. Please pray for safety and great opportunities to deepen their walks with Christ.

This week is finalizing plans for the facilitator retreat August 3 to 8 and the El Refugio (our team) retreat August 9 to 12. Please pray for new facilitators and that God would place it in their hearts to come, serve and draw closer to Him. Pray for the Emmanuel Faith youth group and safety while working as well as a profound impact from God on their lives. Pray for my week of organizing and planning that it would be glorifying and God-directed. Lastly, pray that God would direct and guide me in the research for environmental education, specifically the birds section at this point.

One of my devotionals this week (humility) "The richest testimonies come from people Christ has made whole and who still remember what it was like to be broken." My prayer to God is that He help me to accept His gift of grace and never think it is by my ability to be good or righteous. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" Romans 3:23-24.

God bless you all. Thank you so much for the support you give for me to be able to serve our precious God here in Ecuador. I wouldn't be here without you! Love, Lorena

Lorena's Latest July 6, 2008

Happy Independence Day! The Scholl family invited our team and some guests to celebrate with fireworks and sparklers. It was a good reminder of the freedom we have in the United States and the blessings of being a citizen.

The First Baptist Church of Geneva (youth) left last Tuesday. They were able to help us with many projects like work on the new low ropes course, pour cement for a new maintenance building, dig a trench to help with water run off, 2 day VBS program for local children, and much more! It was a good experience for some of our facilitators to work and play together with them.

The wedding for Zarina and Jose-friends from my local church-was lovely. The senior and youth/singles pastor both officiated the ceremony encouraging the couple that the bible was their manual for a successful marriage. There was also a Mariachi band and lots of blessings stated to them. I hope to have pictures soon.

Praise! A facilitator brought out a fellow college student who is in a similar field of study. He is planning to do part of his internship at El Refugio by observing birds and giving us a report his findings and on the best locations for bird watching! Thank you for praying.

This weekend (July 12) El Refugio is hosting an adventure race where we are in charge of control points. This is a one day race and a great opportunity to invite people to help and learn more about what we do. Please pray for the facilitators and the El Refugio team to have opportunities to share Jesus and do our job well.

The first week of August we will have the next Facilitator training. Please pray for wisdom to improve the program and that God would send the right people to participate. One of the current facilitators (began in March) has been having some struggles at home, college, personal and is asking to break her year agreement with us. Please pray for her (Gabby), her youth pastor, and me for wisdom to know how to help her.

A prayer request on a personal level...humility. Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." My desire is to live out this verse.

I don't believe I can thank you enough for the support you give me and the ministry at El Refugio. Thank you! I would not be here without you. My prayer is that God overfills your cup with joy and that you know how blessed you are.

Love, Lorena