New phone number and new pictures!

Dear ones, greetings to you...

Just a quick note to let ya´ll know that I have a new phone number posted in the sidebar. Also, I posted new photos that you can access through the link at the bottom. Enjoy!

Besos y abrazos,
m

If we love one another...

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us."

John 4:11-12

Hola, hola...

Peace to one and all. I write to you from the city of Quito tonight. We arrived early this morning and will spend the week researching various topics that have come up over the last month (information on public health nursing, therapy for a little boy with cerebral palsy, materials for teaching NFP, how to teach English to the misioneras, how to help the foundation financially, etc) as well as taking a little extra time just to be still and to pray...reflecting on what has passed and preparing for what is to come.

It was a blessed week in Òlon. The children at the base are getting used to their new nurse (the gringa with the name they can´t pronounce), and I am beginning to be a familiar face to the people of the surrounding pueblos. I learned about the vaccination schedule used by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health this week and last while attending children at two daycares in more isolated villages, and I learned to remove stitches. Four new children were brought to the base this week from a violent and unstable home situation. They seem to be adjusting bit by bit and are receiving plenty of love...not to mention regular meals, medical care, and clothing.

Well, for now, I shall go. I will post again this week with my photos from the past month.

Hasta pronto, with much love,
m

A mission of love...

Go forth to the ends of the earth...

My dear family and friends,

Once I again, I come to write to you of the latest adventures of this little missionary nurse. Thank you all for your love from afar; it is such a blessing to receive your messages of encouragement and to know what ya´ll are up to. I have found that in trying to think, speak, and live only in Spanish, my grasp of the English language is, well, leaving me at times...so I will really try to focus in writing this post. Ha.

There is much to write of, as always. I will be returning to the little village I spoke of before every Thursday with a local physician. We have started house visits, doing a health census of sorts of this community of about 150 people. We treat the people as we can, and also, once we have a better idea of their needs, we will be having classes on different health topics. At the mission base, Maribeth and I are getting a bit more accustomed to the 4:30am wake-up siren to start the day. And our hand-washed clothes finally dried on the line in the few days we had without rain or mist! But today, I will spend my time telling you a bit about my dear little Victor.

Victor is 9-years-old. From the information I have gathered, he had been living in the streets of Quito (the capital city of Ecuador, where I lived last year) for two years before he was taken into a foster family, passed through a few different foundations, and has now found a home here with us. When he was in the streets of Quito, he had been kicked out of the house by his family to go "make" money, which usually means beg or steal. Victor loves just to be hugged. His affect is slightly off, and he has difficulties interacting with the other children. This child has become a special friend to Maribeth and me. He looks for us at daily Mass, often to come sit within our embrace; well, this often means he ends up sleeping in the most awkward positions (even when I am standing with his arms wrapped around my waist), bringing great laughter to my heart. He had a cut on his arm that I helped the doctor stitch the other day, so I receive a status report on the wound and its bandage nearly every time I see him. (I love being a nurse!) Today after Mass, he brought a mini-chalkboard to show Maribeth and me that he could write his vowels. After years of no schooling, he is now receiving his education at the school here, in the special class for kids who haven´t had previous schooling. Victor is a treasure. Many of the children here have stories such as Victor´s. What brings immense joy to my heart is that these children, like dear Victor, have now found a loving, stable and safe home, where they are free to be kids and to grow in an environment of love. Thank You, Lord. Thank you to all the parents who provide a loving home for their own children. Thanks to my parents for their love. The importance of family life to the stability and development of persons and communities is so evident. I am blessed to be working with a foundation who helps these little ones, like my dear Victor, with such Christ-like love. The love the misioneras (the consecrated women here) give these children and the love they put into all the work they do, is such a beautiful reflection of the overflow of love from their prayful relationship with the Lord.

Well, I must be off. The foundation also has "family houses" where a misionera lives with a group of younger children who are siblings. Today there is a birthday party for a few of the little ones, so Maribeth and I are headed there...to celebrate and to do what Ecuadorians always seem to do at parties...DANCE! :)

May you be blessed in your own mission of love...

All my love from afar,

Mariya

PS: Happy Sunday of Missions!

PPS: We are headed to Quito next week when the kids have a week of vacation from school. I may be able to catch-up with ya´ll a bit more at that time.

PPPS: Please pray for us, that the Holy Spirit may inspire everything we do!

Embracing every moment...

"All over the world people are saying that Mother Teresa is spoiling the poor by giving them things free. At a seminary in Bangalore, once a nun said to me, ´Mother Teresa, you are spoiling the poor people by giving them things free. They are losing their human dignity.´ When everyone was quiet, I said calmly, ´No one spoils as much as God himself. See the wonderful gifts he has given us freely. All of you here have no glasses, yet you all can see. If God were to take money for your sight, what would happen? Continually we are breathing and living on oxygen that we do not pay for. What would happen if God were to say, ´If you work four hours, you will get sunshine for two hours´? How many of us would then survive?´ Then I also told them: ´There are many congregations who spoil the rich; it is good to have one congregation in the name of the poor, to spoil the poor.´ There was profound silence; nobody said a word after that." -From Mother Teresa´s book, Total Surrender

Hello to one and all!

Peace and blessings to each of you. I hope that all is well for you in whatever adventures you are in the midst of!

Wow, I now realize that it has been just about two weeks since I have last posted, although it seems that much time has passed! Not wanting to be too verbose but still wanting to share sincerely a bit of what my life is here, I will try to pick out a few of the highlights.

One of the most beautiful experiences in the past few weeks was visiting the sick in their homes in a few of the surrounding villages. In one very special visit, we met a dear elderly man so full of light. He is blind and lives alone. His wife and sons passed away years ago, and he has no family in the area. With the obstacles he has encountered, he is not a bitter man. Much to the contrary, he greeted us warmly and before he received Jesus in the Eucharist, he prayed one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever witnessed. I hope to return to his side soon, to learn at his feet and to alleviate the pain of his solitude. Visiting and caring for the sick in their homes will most likely become my morning activity.

Another very special experience was our trip to an isolated oceanside village this weekend. We are in the middle of many, many days of rain, and, therefore, the countryside is mud. There is a road to enter the village by car, but the terrain being as it is, we had to enter from the ocean. We donned great black mud boots (FUS missionaries to Ecuador, you know what I speak of!) and marched along the beach at low tide, meeting many families out on this Saturday morning catching crabs and other such creatures in the tide pools. The ocean is their life. Arriving at the village - called Rinconada because it is in the corner, or "rincon" of the province - we met some of the people and were invited to lunch, where I ate my first prawn. :) I have much to learn about this place, but what I know is that they just built a new little chapel a few years ago and are eager to learn more about their Catholic faith. It is to this village that I will most likely be returning to a few times a week, getting to know the people, helping with catechesis classes, and caring for their health in the ways that I can. I love this little village.

The other major development of the past weeks is that I have started helping the doctor who cares for our children who live at the base. He sees patients three afternoons a week, and I will be working with him to take care of the health of our little ones.

Well, this and many other things (such as dealing with a monster spider in my room, learning to wash my clothes by hand, experiencing the hilarity of learning Spanish, etc) have been my life here thus far. As ya´ll probably have much to do, I will draw this post to a close. Thanks for your love and prayers from afar...they carry me through the work I am called to do here.

Be sure to check out Maribeth´s blog as well for more details! www.missionarymb.blogspot.com

LOVE, LOVE,
m

PS: Family, I am excited for your visits! I am constantly thinking about sharing this place with ya´ll. Little Sammie, I am praying for you today on your day of Baptism!
PPS: I posted my mailing address and phone number in the sidebar. I can receive mail here, but I must send from a bigger city...so hopefully I can work that out sometime soon.
PPPS: I hope to update my blog and check my email every Sunday, on my days of rest :)...FYI.

Living la vida...

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life."

John 6:27

Saludos to all!

Well, here I am on this peninsula on the Pacific! We have been in this place which is our new home for three days now, and all is well. Living amongst this community of missionaries has been an incredibly joyful experience thus far. The missionaries have this astounding joy that overflows into all that they do...the laughter and smiles are shared in abundance here. For example, last night during supper, the lights went out in the dining room. This became a great opportunity for making hand puppets on the ceiling and the wall with the light of a cell phone (yup, many people here have cell phones).

As you may know, one of the main outreaches of this foundation is the school that they run. Many of the children who either live very far away or who are abandoned in one sense or another, live in houses on the base. These children have stolen my heart, and it is a joy and an adventure to spend time with them...playing futbol, bathing them, doing the hair of the little girls. They are adorable and full of hugs...and they love the guitar, so this is a great inspiration to learn more!

Basically, in these next few weeks, we are really just learning all the outreaches of the foundation and continuing to study our Spanish. From there, we will learn how we will fit into the work they are doing. It sounds like I will be starting to work with a doctor who sees patients three days a week and then working with one of the missionaries who visits the sick in the surrounding pueblos. We really want to immerse ourselves in the people{s lives here, assessing how we can best serve them with what we have. It is a beautiful, beautiful challenge, this mission life.

I should be posting some pictures in the next few weeks, so you can get a better sense of life here. Also, I have added lists of prayer intentions and of needs of the base to my blog, if you care check it out.

Most profound moment thus far? I would have to say just hugging these beautiful children, embracing these little ones of God who are so hungry for love. Hug those around you today!

All my love,
m

***For those of you who have visited here before, you each are remembered very fondly!***