Walking in the woods

A few from the congo got together the other day and went for a walk in the bush. Seeing I miss walking up the mountains in Ecuador, I decided to go with them. Mark was busy working at the Assembly Hall so was not around to hold my hand - it was fortunate there was some very nice young bros to look after me - as you can see, even tying my shoe laces for me (quite possibly I was taking too much time trying to bend over)

Not sure who we think we are in this photo -

I was humbled having to be helped when the brother in the photo next to me managed to do it ok -and he's 85 years old!!!

Great excitment this morning when we were woken at around 4pm with news that a Tsunami was on it's way due to the big earthquake in Chile. As we are living on a low lying area we moved to higher ground and got a nice breakfast cooked for us in the process (went to my Mums house and my sister did the cooking). The Tsunami was a non event but it is always advisable to to cautious in these cases.

We are really hoping our friends in Chile are ok and our thoughts and prayers are with them especially Ruben and his family and also Jorge and his lovely family. We hope to hear that they are well and safe as soon as possible.

UPDATE: Just got an email from Ruben and they are all fine - so glad to hear that!

Eewwwhh!Gross! I just have to tell you this story about what happened to me yesterday - reminding me that we live in a farm shed. I popped my hand into the bag of dried apricots and pulled out two - one went into my mouth and I was just about to put the other one in when something caught my eye....a cockroach! What worried me was - you know the old adage - see one cockroach and there are 20 more behind the wall - was the one I saw part of a twosome and I had just eaten its mate???? Oh I feel sick just thinking about it.
Funny thing is - when we moved out of our house before we went to Ecuador and came into the shed -I had the thought that it would condition me for all the bugs I would meet over there. Hah! I am telling you I did not see one cockroach the whole time we were there!

mmm -passionfruit season!

A very kind brother gave us a bag full of passionfruit after witnessing today and as you can see I tucked into a plateful for my lunch. They are not unlike the granadillas we had in Ecuador although there they are a different colour and different size (much larger). They taste very similar though with the seeds and pulp being eaten. I remember trying to make a syrup to top a cake with the granadillas over there (like we can do here with the passionfruit) and being quite embarrassed when the seeds after cooking, turned out to be like eating little stones so that taught me that even if things look the same and taste the same - they are not actually the same!
Hey by the way - you know how I said that 2 of my calls were potential studies? Well one of them has definitely turned into a regular study so I am really thrilled with that. Honestly the mentality really has changed here and it seems like not only the potatoes and passionfruit are ripe for harvesting!

Harvest time has started

Well the potatoes are ready (ish) to get dug up so Mark has been having a go at that. Having spuds just out of the dirt is quite a treat - so much better than the store bought varieties - however they sure don't taste like the South American ones. That is of course because New Zealand spuds have been bred for looks and not so much for taste. Over in Ecuador we got to try some of the 200 different varieties they have and most are pretty yummy! My favorites are the tiny little ones that are either boiled up or fried and you eat it with a slab of Queso Fresco (fresh white cheese) - mmm I can almost taste them now - "oh the leaks and the watermelons...."

Finally back online

Hey everybody - did you miss us? Aaron came through Tauranga on his way up north (he has the weekend booked on the team putting air conditioning into a KH - won't the congo there be pleased - it's so hot here at the moment) and he spent the day fixing the computer problems - so now we are finally back online.
Really not much to report here but I thought I would show you how we spend our time lately - playing cards. The thing is everybody has really taken to a game Chad and Michele taught us - 9 hole golf, they called it - and now we even have championship nights. Chad and Michele - I have also showed them "Nerts" (is that how you spell it) but only the game ones want to play that. Good thing as I am likely to end up with Nerts Shoulder all over again!
As I said - it is really hot here at the moment as February is the hottest month in NZ. Pretty hard going slogging it out on the streets going from door to door and we have to have lots of shade appreciation moments under the lovely trees dotted around the place but it's all worth it. Have met some lovely people and gotten lots of calls. Yay!

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile!

Hi everyone - just a brief update to let you know we are still alive and kicking! We have an internet problem back at the farm where we are living so I have not been able to sign on for awhile. It won't be fixed until my techie son comes through from Taumauranui next week (hope he doesn't charge us mileage). In the meantime I have a few minutes while waiting at my Mums place to be picked up to go on another study so hear I am.
We have been just busy in the ministry this week (having had the CO last week which was very encouraging) and I have to say we are having quite a good time. People are really concerned with the problems of the world that they are opening up and allowing us to explain things from the bibles point of view. I have had two very good return visits this week that are definite potential studies so feeling very pleased about that. Also went to see an Argentinian lady the other day ( I used to call on her before we really learned any Spanish) and she was with a friend talking about how she knows her folks are in heaven - what magazine did I have in my hand - yep you guessed it "Do all good people go to heaven" We also made arrangements to go back and go through the chapters in the Que Ensena Book on what happens to the dead. By the way did I say that this was all in spanish? It was great to speak it again and what I really liked was that I understood them both!
Today I have been with a young pioneer on her study with a Philippino lady and it ended up being very emotional because she explained that she is here away from her 3 young children and husband because of the political situation in her country. Seems that people just disappear if they don't buckle under to the regime and it was quite eye opening. This world sure is screwed up in a big way - roll on the new system!
Anyway that's it from me - no word on the house selling but I really feel that Jehovah will make things work for us when the time is right. He sees the big picture after all and all we have to worry about is keeping busy in the ministry here. Still I can't wait to get back to Ecuador and our life there so maybe I just have to learn more patience. Hasta proxima vez!