Last Stateside Blog Entry - We're Ecuador Bound!!!

YES!  We fly to Ecuador on July 2, 2011!  God sent us a great couple to rent our home, we got our visas and our tickets!  We'll keep in touch from there, but, besides packing, here's what we've been up to...spending time with special people!

On May 21 we had an amazing day as a family at Philippe and Laurie Sadio's wedding!  Glenn and I were thrilled to be in the wedding and to have Senagalese attire provided for us for the reception!

praying for the new couple

Our children, Josh and Rachel

after the reception - with Josh

On Memorial Day we were able to reunite with two of Susie's college roomies, Kathy and Pam, and their families!  What fun we had together!

On June 11th we said goodbye to our neighbors and they met our new renters at our moving sale.  That night we were honored to have a small goodbye party coordinated and hosted by Susie's sister and our good friends Stan and Sandy Nagahashi.  What a joy is was to be surrounded by those who love us and pray for us!  Our children, Rachel and Josh, and Susie's dad were among the wonderful guests!  Thanks to our "adopted daughter" Allison for setting up this pic from that special night!

Finally, we've been "spending time with" our nephew, Eric, via letters, but Susie's sister Gail recently sent us a picture of him...PLEASE continue to keep him in your prayers as he goes through Boot Camp with the Army!  Your ongoing prayers for us are appreciated too!  We'll write from Ecuador soon!  :)

Family Times!

As Glenn and I seek to spend time with people and say goodbye before we leave for Ecuador, God blessed us with a wonderful visit with Susie's extended family!  On our way home from visiting the Westmoor Church Of Christ family in Wilkes Barre, PA, we dropped in on Susie's dad's sister and her husband (Aunt Jean and Uncle Eddie) in Topton, PA, and were happily surprised to find that Susie's TWO 2nd cousins, Kris and Jenny, and Kris' family happened to be visiting!  It had been over twenty years since we'd seen any of them! We had a great time catching up!

 
We also had the blessing of having the four of us together for our now-traditional Hibernia Park Mother's Day Picnic and hike!  What an amazing family time!  We're cherishing every moment we have together these days!

 

Finally, we celebrated Josh's 20th Birthday in the traditional style (Glenn's Fettuccine Alfredo dinner followed by miniature golfing with the Stells at Village Greens) and had a send-off for Eric - who left for Boot Camp with the Army on May 16.  We LOVE famly times and have been SO blessed by living SO close to the Stells here in PA!

Please continue to pray for us as we say our goodbyes and make decisions about selling or renting our home so we can leave for Ecuador asap/in God's timing!  Thanks!

March Celebrations!

 Susie's father turned 80 in March! We celebrated with the Schille/Stell/Wittmann family,  Dad's neighbor, and our cousins - whom most of us hadn't seen for 20 years!  What a great day we had together and what fun it was filling Gail's house with through-the-years pictures of our Dad!!  We're SO thankful for the blessing of our dad and our great family!

In Ecuador the Cayambe church celebrated by baptizing NINE new believers!  Pastor Pablo and Deacon Vicente had the joy of baptizing and then they turned it into a full day of celebration as a church family!  We're anxious to arrive in Ecuador to help disciple these new believers!!!

Finally, the Young Adult Group at Calvary Fellowship Church gave a going away party for us at the end of the month!  What an amazing time we had together talking, eating, praying and sharing about what God is doing in Ecuador!  They surprised us with generous financial gifts towards our ministries in Ecuador and WE'RE now celebrating with God's FULL provision of our financial needs for Ecuador!  He is SO good!

Please keep praying that we'll SOON be celebrating the sale of our home and the purchase of our tickets to Ecuador!! Thanks!

Panama and PBU!

After 2 years of asking God to send us to Panama on a short-term trip, God opened the door in February!

Here's our team - Edyl Cunampio (his wife Kersten was on our team but stayed in PA due to her pregnancy!), Matt (our translator from Panama City), us, Owen and Amy Davison, Carl and Patsy Green

We were invited by Edyl's tribe, the Embera, to teach on Biblical Marriage.  Teaching was a process!  Owen, Carl, Amy and Patsy taught in English and then Glenn, Susie, Matt and Marianella translated into Spanish, and then Edyl, Bienvenido (the pastor), Cornelio, Loida, Elisabet and Leonora translated into Embera!

Glenn and I were able to shorten the process by teaching in Spanish...and then only needing the Embera translation!

Several weeks before we arrived, many Embera couples decided that they wanted to get married legally and in the church!  Here are 12 of the couples patiently and happily going through the process of meeting with the judge and then getting fitted for their wedding bands!

While the couples were waiting, the wedding ceremony preparations began!  Twelve children were "painted" - an Embera celebration tradition - so to serve as the ring bearers for the twelve couples!

Glenn and I were given the opportunity to be painted by Edyl's sister, Mara, both for the wedding and in preparation for our PBU Cross-Cultural Understanding Seminar!  Wedding preparations continued, including the weaving of a palm branch wall to hide the food service area, the painting and decoration of the gazebo and the preparation of the food!

The wedding ceremony was finally ready to begin!  Here the grooms pose with Edyl (who was beyond himself excited to see his father (below), grandfather, brother AND pastor get married!

Approximately 250 guests were present to hear Carl preach (and Matt and later Edyl translate) on Biblical marriage and then witness the 12 couples, who came forward three at a time, exchanging their vows and rings!

The youth not only did most of the wedding preparations, but they wrote and performed a song for the couples at the wedding ceremony!

After the wedding it was picture time!  Above, Glenn and I pose with the family who allowed our team to eat every meal in their home!  Below are the couples (minus Edyl's Grandpa who was taken home immediately after the ceremony due to his health).

 The food at the wedding reception was incredible!  Below is Edyl's sister Raquel serving yet another plate!

 The Panama trip ended all too soon, but we were able to share what God had done with 30 PBU students as well as teach them some of what we learned in Portland in January!

 What a joy it was to learn together with the PBU students as they shared their questions, stories and experiences, and participated with us in our teaching!  Below Susie poses with two members of her Bosnia team after the seminar!

January in Portland!

Yes, we spent the ENTIRE month of January in Portland, Oregon with these wonderful people!

 The training was entitled "Creating Understanding"...the goal was to learn how to understand ANOTHER culture, while better understanding OUR culture, so that we can communicate Biblical principles in a way that is culturally accepted, understood and makes a lasting impact.

We did this by spending ALOT of time in the classroom, as well as in smaller study/project groups...here's our group doing homework (recording our observations) late one night...

 We focused our studies on the Chinese culture in Portland and spent time in the community observing, interacting and learning!  Here's a short video of our time in a Chinese tea room...

 We have no pictures of the classroom where we spent MOST of our time, nor of the incredible foods we ate at the Worldview Center where we stayed...nor of all the amazing staff and residents who made our stay so enjoyable...but here's where Glenn and I slept and did homework...

 In between classes or on Saturdays (our day off!) we got outside as much as we could!  Because the Worldview Center is located at the base of Mt. Tabor, we often climbed it, and on a clear day we could see Mt. Hood!

 We even got to climb to the top of Multnomah Falls which looks out over the Columbia River in Oregon!

God blessed us with the chance to study with a long term friend from our home church and with many new friends and MANY new tools to use to communicate His Word clearly in Ecuador!  To Him be the glory!

More December Blessings!

 Wittmann Family time in Florida!!!  Josh with cousin Jessica and Aunt Laurie!

 Glenn and his mommy!

 Rachel, Glenn, Grandpa Wittmann and Josh at the Manatee Viewing Center! 

Cousin Jason, Marley, Mya and Uncle Tim!

       Josh, Rachel, Susie and Glenn on Clearwater Beach on Dec 22nd! 

 A Wittmann Family Christmas!

 Then back to PA for Christmas Day with the Stell and Schille families (cousin game time!)

Lauren, Melanie and Rachel!

December Blessings!

It's been a super-busy month so far, but also a super-blessed one!  Let me share via fotos...

 The month started out with some great friends helping Glenn put up the ceiling in the back side of our basement!  Thanks Dave, Doug, Chris and Junior!!!

That same day we, the four of us, went to our favorite Christmas Tree Farm and got our tree!  Great family time!  We thank God for great kids!

Then we had the blessing of having TWO friends from Spain stay with us for awhile - TerriLynn - who's been a friend for awhile - and our new friend - Laura!  What a wonderful time we had speaking Spanish, laughing, and learning about each other's culture and language differences!  Rachel and Josh BOTH got to meet "the girls/las chicas" - but we only got a pic with Rachel!  Fun!

Thank you God for family and friends!