We celebrated birthday with our Spanish teacher, Esthela last Thursday. Her favorite food is pasta so we went to an Italian restaurant to celebrate her birthday. We have learnt Spanish with her for about 10 months and we have improved a lot with her. She is a patient teacher and I can feel my Spanish improving after learning 10 months from her. We took the opportunity to appreciate her during her birthday. Below are some photos:
Name of Italian restaurant
Nice decoration in the restaurant
Colourful counter
Esthela with her pasta
Zoom-in on her pasta
Phoebe’s pasta – Yummy!
Esthela’s birthday cake – Tiramisu
Birthday dessert – Crepe with apple… really delicious!
Here are some photos from WL and WP’s visit to Ecuador, the church and us. They are mainly from the last week that WP was with us…. it was really a hectic week as there were so many people they wanted to meet and also so many people who wanted to meet them… hee..
They had lots of good food and good company. Really thank God for their strengthening visit (strengthened and encouraged us alot!) and also thank God for strengthening them physically! Amazingly, they travelled 42 hours, battled jetlag and still managed to meet so many people, encourage all of us, and travel back another 42 hours to SG, back to work, without falling sick, away from swine flu! PTL!
We really learnt alot from them during this visit. They taught us not just spiritual lessons but also practical lessons such as how to clean our house, manage our marriage and more! Wholesome shepherding indeed. Thank God for this inspiring couple!
WL, jet-lagged but still even happy to spend time with us. :)
WP arriving in Ecuador, walked so fast because she wanted us to go to church quickly!
WP happy to finally reach beautiful Ecuador
WL hugged his beloved wife WP so fast, I didn’t manage to catch it on camera…
Big hug from Carol
Hugz fr Katty
Katty and Carol welcoming WP at the airport
Girls singing a reggae song to welcome WP during service.. Wan Phing Phing Phiiiing….
WL and WP enjoying the welcome reggae song.. haha
The coreteam and us enjoying WL’s fish porridge and more…
Carol’s yummy prawn ceviche!
Daniel’s thumbs’ up for his mum’s ceviche
Betty and Rosa very glad to see WP :)
WL and WP at Claudia’s house
Claudia and her enchilada
Yummy Claudia-made enchilada… slurpZ~
Claudia’s spread of Mexican sauces. mostly homemade!
Laoban’s spread of food – chicken soup, 3 diff fishes, nian gao, prawns y mas!
About 2 weeks ago, we received the following article that really encouraged us… and we received it not once, but TWICE. It came at a time when (some of you may know), we were going through a tough period of growth, rethinking our convictions, learning to pray and depend on God, learning to be patient and persevering, re-looking at our core values of loving God, loving people, counting the costs of serving and following Him… etc.
Well, the process of growth especially since we became “solo” here on the field of Ecuador has not been an easy one. It was a steep learning curve, it was tiring (physically, especially during the moving to the new church place; emotionally, especially when we felt disappointed, received criticisms and etc.; mentally, learning and more learning of spanish, of planning, praying over the numerous decisions to make; spiritually, serving week in week out, day in day out… wooh..), it was draining, and we know it’s not over yet. Afterall, it’s a process! But we really thank God for it because now we are learning to see it as God’s beautiful, refining fire. If not for how hot the fire is, we would not be as pure as God wants us to be. And if not for how difficult it is, and how patient the Refiner is, we would not emerge stronger than we are before.
Thank God for tests and trials that purify us and make us stronger than before!
ARTICLE: Malachi 3:3
Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver as being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
–END OF ARTICLE–
And here’s to share a beautiful song that’s been ringing in my head… “Refiner’s Fire”
Luis and I followed-up on a new believer, Pablo yesterday and after that we watched the live telecast of the South America Recopa Final in our house. This is like their Champions League Final and the Ecuador top team, Liga was playing against the Brazil top team, Internacional de Porto Alegre. Liga won the away game 1-0 in Brazil and just need to draw yesterday in Quito to win the Championship. Pablo, Luis, Carol, Daniel, Joshua, Phoebe and I were very excited during the match and we were shouting when Liga scored the goals against Inter. The final result was Liga won 3-0 and we were all very happy. Btw, two of the Liga players stay in the same place as us. Below is the video of the goals yesterday:
Weeleng visited the gym for the first time on Monday. He cycled 10km on the bicycle machine while I jogged on the treadmill. It was a great workout for both of us. He has been cooking good meals for us too – curry chicken, Teo Chew porridge, and many more good food to come. Our meal time is usually quite long as we share and evaluate many things in church. He also helped us to clean up the kitchen and fix many things in the house. It is really a blessing to have him around in the house. Looking forward to serve with him as we are going to teach the V&P these 2 saturdays in our new church place.
Watched the bullfight with my wife at the Plaza de Toros in Quito. It was an eye-opener for us. A man was almost killed by a bull just now. 16 hours ago
5 families down with different sicknesses. Our church camp is postponed to next weekend so that all the families can come. Do pray for us... 2 days ago
Mixed feelings after watching the bullfight..liked watching the beautiful and strong horses dance.The bulls were valient and powerful too... 16 hours ago
retreat re-scheduled... but believe God has His good plans. :) Pray for all to be healed, in good health and more to join us next wk!! :) 2 days ago
To go or not to go... Chiva night. To go or not to go... bullfight. Questions.. questions.. 1 week ago
Her favorite food is pasta so we went to an Italian restaurant to celebrate her birthday. We have learnt Spanish with her for about 10 months and we have improved a lot with her. She is a patient teacher and I can feel my Spanish improving after learning 10 months from her. We took the opportunity to appreciate her during her birthday. 
Our meal time is usually quite long as we share and evaluate many things in church. He also helped us to clean up the kitchen and fix many things in the house. It is really a blessing to have him around in the house. 
Looking forward to serve with him as we are going to teach the V&P these 2 saturdays in our new church place. 
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