Farnsworth Forum

Christmas is coming!  Here we are in Quito enjoying the decorations in the shopping malls! Making funny faces. This is Elias and Jacob's response when they realized the presents were not real!!! Every Christmas the children read a Bible verse and open a small gift each day from December 1 to December 24.  Call it the 24 Days of Christmas. Amelia helped Elías open his first Christmas bag. Posing with their Looney Toons figures. Yesterday the church folks joined with the Ecuador Project Hope volunteers to fill Christmas bags for the senior citizens luncheon this coming Monday.  A smile from Kim! Please pray for us as we share Jesus' love from the folks on Monday. The Christmas tree went up yesterday at the Ecuador Farnsworths. Merry Christmas to all from Farnsworth Family Forum.  Feliz Navidad para todos.

We are hard at work for the Christmas play that goes between the choir number in our cantata Felices Fiestas.   Amelia is one of the participants; she plays Paty and Christian's daughter Lea. Andrea, Emilia and Diego are the other actors in the drama. As the date for the first presentation nears, we moved into the church sanctuary to practice.  Currently we are finalizing all the details for the publicity, permits, sound, lights, costumes, etc.  Please pray for the following presentations: IGLESIA "PUENTE DE AMOR", Ibarra, Sunday, December 13, at 8 and 11 AM. TEATRO GRAN COLOMBIA, Ibarra, Fridady, December 18, at 8 PM. IGLESIA "AMIGOS EN CRISTO," Cotacachi, Sunday, December 20, at 8:30 AM. IGLESIA "EMANUEL", Atuntaqui, Sunday, December 27, at 9:30 PM. Thanks so much for your prayers and support.

Greetings from Ecuador!   ¡ Saludos desde Ecuador! We thank God for you!   We celebrate you this Thanksgiving.   We also thank God for His grace and mercy in our lives.   Recent events have reminded us to cherish what we have and work to maintain our relationship with God. Le damos gracias a Dios por todos ustedes.   Celebramos con ustedes este Día de Dar Acción de Gracias; también damos gracias a Dios por su gracia y misericordia en nuestras vidas.   Tenemos que apreciar lo que tenemos y luchar para mantenernos cerca a Dios. Please pray for the Christmas cantata that Ned is directing.   Amelia is part of the play that goes between the songs.   We have five presentations: two at Puente de Amor Church in Ibarra on December 13 (8 and 11 am); one at the historic Gran Colombia Theatre in Ibarra on December 18 (8 pm); one at Amigos en Cristo Church in Cotacachi (8:30 am); and one at Emanuel Church in Atuntaqui (9:30 am) on December 27....

In September the new German Impact team arrived.  They traveled around to the different churches to introduce themselves.  Here they are in Cotacachi: (from left) Niklas, Constantin, Tobias, Aenni, Tabea, Regina and Thomas. And Beate, too, playing the piano to Niklas' guitar. The whole team together.  Welcome to Ecuador, Impacts!  We look forward to working with you during this next year.

Sometimes I feel so behind that I am racing to keep up with the world.  That happened recently when I posted about my son Joel's birthday in July.  Well, here I am again, celebrating our thirteenth anniversary on the blog.  God has blessed my life so much through Marisol.  She is my friend, my confidant, my helpmate, my lover and my conscience at times, helping me see things about myself and my walk with God as well as my ministry that I cannot see myself... On July 7 we celebrated thirteen years as man and wife. Joel and Amelia were at a sleepover with some German volunteers, so we put Jacob and Elías to bed early and had a rare night at home alone. So we decorated, dressed up, made a snack... And went "out on the town" here in our own dining room.  It was nice to laugh together, reflect on the past and energize for the future. Thanks, God, and thanks, Marisol, for the memories.  Now on to year fourteen!

 Joel and Amelia trained for the 500 meter crossing of the Yahuarcocha lagoon which was today at 8:30 am.  After they finished the race, we rushed home, ate breakfast, showered and changed and headed off to church.  Elias and Jacob went prepared with their trusty binoculars. A couple weeks ago, one Saturday morning, Joel and Amelia joined their teammates and their coach Jorge for a practice run. Before the practice swim they did warmup exercises. Our swimmers posed for a photo before their practice turn in the lagoon. The first swimmers came in with a splash. Joel and Amelia came in strong and sure. Here is a picture of the group today before taking off for the race. On your mark, get set, GO! Joel and Amelia did very well, earning their participation medals with flair.  We are very proud of their performance in the race!