Nate Saint - A fixed part of our life from now on...

The Nate Saint School will be Georgia and Reese's school in the fall.  Before we visited Ecuador in 2012 the name Nate Saint was that of a missionary hero we read about in books and thought about infrequently but with utmost admiration. Beginning in August, as we walk through the town center of Shell a replica of his yellow airplane will hover over us. The girls will benefit from his vision of a school in Shell, Ecuador for missionary kids like ours. And, God willing, we will be working with leaders that have risen up because of Nate Saint's sacrifice to reach the lost at all costs, even death. 

God has the craziest way of bringing the imposible and unbelievable to reality.  Frequently we are caught in a daze wondering how in the world we ended up learning Spanish in Costa Rica to live in a jungle town in Ecuador.  Humbly we look forward knowing for darn sure that none of "our plan" is possible without God's providence (foreseeing care and direction) and provision.  

Exodus 14:14 - "God will fight for you, you need only be still."

We read the books...now we know they are right.

As of today we've completed 9 months of living abroad, submerged in Latin culture and away from the place we called home.

We have researched and prepared for this change of reality and cultural shock.  You can't prevent it, really, but it's served us well to be able to identify the struggles and growing pains as we weather them.

We are already processing that "home" is something we may never feel again. And, to be honest, we love this and we hate this.  The truth is if we are Believers we are aliens in this world. (I Peter 2:11-12) The sense of belonging we felt in the US very well could have been a product of complacency and distraction from how different we are as followers of Christ.

The flip side?  Now we talk with Georgia and Reese about our many "homes"; our many places that we feel comfortable and surrounded by people we love and that love us right back.  Now this list includes - Denver, Winter Park, Costa Rica...and soon to be added to the list, we are sure...Ecuador.