Reegers in Ecuador

Happy Birthday Kaidz

2009-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Kaidan turned five years old several weeks ago. I am amazed at how fast she is growing up. She is definitely Miss Independent, and Justin and I both feel as though we are looking in the mirror when she gets sassy. It makes us want to laugh but we work hard at keeping a straight face and help her see the error of her ways.:)
Kaleb continues to grow and develop his little personality. He loves adventure and can't seem to stay out of trouble. We can only pray that God continue to surround him with angels so he doesn't hit the ground too hard each time he falls.
Justin went on a jungle trek with about 30 students from the School of Bible after a men's conference that took place here. They seemed to do all the things guys do in the jungle. They swung from vines, swam in the river and killed a bull. What other kind of male bonding could a man ask for.
The Church has been such a blessing for our family as of late. The members here love our Father so much and it's so exciting to be a part of their new lives. Several weeks ago the men organized a bonfire and game night. It was a great turn out and a very fun time. We also played softball this last week after the Church monthly potluck. I was a little skeptical at first, but I must say they learned very quickly. We got several ladies to play and all did great. We'll have a team ready to challenge any Americans who come our way very soon.
Last weekend we also had a parents day for the kid's program. Many parents came and gave us really positive feed back. As many of you know we started to play some creative thinking games with the children several days a week and also began teaching English. We asked how they felt about the changes and they seemed to be very excited about what their children had learned. So, that was very encouraging for us. I was nervous about the whole English class thing and God seems to be using it despite me so that's awesome.
We want to thank all of you again for the love you constantly show our family and the people here. We pray God blesses each of you as you continue to strive to be more like Him.

Busted Tooth

2009-09-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

The night before last Kaleb fell and busted one of his front teeth. It was the strangest thing because for once he wasn't doing anything extremely dangerous and was just playing on top of some refrigerator magnets in the kitchen. He was holding onto a towel over his head, with both hands, playing superman and fell. Rather than catching his fall by letting go of the towel he caught himself with his face and his tooth reeped the consequences. So, yesterday we spent all day at the dentist. They put him under and extracted what was left of his tooth. Poor boy, now he really looks like Dennis the Menace. We were blessed to have a very nice Dr., he worked very well with Kaleb. Thank you all who were praying for us yesterday. Kaleb seems to be doing great this morning and has had very little side affects from the anestesia.

School Shoes

2009-09-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Adult 2 class at Broadway Church of Christ. We were able to hand out 18 pair of school shoes and socks. The kids were so excited to try on their new shoes. What a Blessing! Thank You for your sacrifice and love.
(I posted this again because the pics didn't show on the last one....sorry!)

2009-09-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Just a little update view of our family!:) Kaidan and her friends were playing dress-up and Kaleb insisted on joining in!:) Justin is going to be so happy I posted the pics of his son. The picture of Kaidan is after we took ALL of her braids out.....she looked awesome. And then the last is just of us two.

Clothes Closet

2009-09-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

We want to thank all the groups, South Lake Blvd Church, Twickenham COC, Fort Walton Beach COC and Niceville COC, who came this summer and left behind clothes for the community. We also want to thank Julie and Alicia for helping us organize and get the clothes and shoes ready to give. This last Sunday we opened the rooms and the members from Church were able to pick out items they needed. There were many happy faces. Many will be blessed through your donations. Thank you!

Summer Fun

2009-08-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

We just back from our family summer trip to the beach. It was wonderful to just be with family and watch the kids play. Now, we must begin real life again. The kids program will begin in two weeks so we have to begin planning and looking for material ect. We hope all is well with each of you. Thank you for your prayers and love.

Summer Coaster

2009-08-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

I know I have once again let down on my blogging job. I apologize. It has been another roller coaster summer and we are finally getting off to take a breather. We were blessed with the opportunity of hosting four work groups and two large youth camps this Summer. The camp session we direct each year went really well. Our hopes were to have 70-80 youth and we ended up having 110, so a total of 130 people attended. It was a great time and we pray God was blessed!
Justin's brother and sister came down to visit for several weeks in July, and my best friend Alicia also came to see us. It is hard to put into words how wonderful it is to have family and friends come and share in the work here. We enjoyed the moments we had with them. They deserve a medal for surviving the chaotic times with groups.
It is now time to start gearing up for another school year. Our goal is to begin teaching English and some other skills in addition to helping with homework this year. This is a little intimidating for me because my degree is not in education. However, we see the need and are going to do our best to teach what we can. If any of you have beginning English material or know of cool Bible curriculum in Spanish please let us know. I have been looking on the internet for a while and it's not the same as walking in a book store and finding material. Any advice is welcome or if you just feel God is wanting you to come down and help we would love that also!:)
Kaidan and Kaleb are doing wonderful. Kaidan was able to spend a month with Keith and Dana, Justin's parents, in the States and she loved it. I have to say she came back a little spoiled, but nothing out of control. Even though we missed her like crazy it was good for her to have that time with her grandparents. Kaleb is definitely showing a little personality. When he wants something he has no issues with letting you know. He and Kaidan are finally at the age where they can play together and that has been wonderful for us. It is so fun watching them!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and love. I will be writing at least every two weeks to give you little updates on the work here and our family. We pray each of you have had a wonderful summer. God Bless.

Up at Night

2009-06-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am up at 2:30 in the morning not able to sleep. My family has been gone four days now and I feel a big chunk of my heart is absent. The last few days have been a wonderful yet hard learning experience. God is showing me how blessed I am. He has blessed me with an incredible partner in this life that loves Him more than anything and two wonderful children who are so fun to be with and so easy to love. I am a truly blessed woman.

The work here continues to grow and flourish. God seems to be blessing it despite our weaknesses and inadequacies. This month has been a wonderful month full of events and people. We hosted a medical group who offered services to the Tabacundo and surrounding communities. This group from Arkansas helped and encouraged many through their sacrifice and love. During this same weekend, a wedding also took place here. A young lady who I have had the pleasure of knowing since she was three years old joined her life with an Argentine who recently graduated from the Bible School in Quito. It was exciting to watch them dedicate their lives to each other. This was the first wedding to take place here at the camp, but after seeing how beautiful a wedding can be in the midst of God’s beauty I think we’ll be seeing many more lives joined here.
We have entered our last month of the children’s program before we take the summer break. Recently we have been busy celebrating Mother’s Day and Children’s Day. For Mother’s Day the children made cards for their mothers, and they also helped cut out and decorated cookies for their mothers. Now I have to say, that was a full day. Organizing cooking and decorating for 100 children is a much bigger task than I thought. We had very limited supplies, so we all used the same cookie cutter and we could not make a whole lot of icing so we had four colors and one by one, they chose what color they wanted and then decorated their cookie. At the end, it was totally worth it. They were all so excited to take their finished cookie to their mother. God continues to grow the program and send us children who are in need. Please continue to pray we have the wisdom to work with each child and provide them with their needs. I want to thank all of you who have been praying for the man who is raising his four children on his own. His youngest baby seems to be growing and doing much better health wise. He is still very behind in motor skills, but is gradually making progress.
God keeps showing us He is in control of the church here. Our new brothers and sisters continue to show us how blessed we are. Their love for God and desire to follow Him is so encouraging and often humbling. They remind us how blessed we are to be sons and daughters of the King. Again, we thank you for your prayers for the people here. God is at work and we are thankful we have so many partners in this work who love Him.
Before I close, I would like to share a special prayer request. We are facing more and more teen mothers in our area. Often, they drop out of school and begin living with the father of their baby and his family, not out of love or a commitment, but necessity. It is a sad but very common situation here. The local children and family protection service has repeatedly contacted us asking us to give temporary housing to children living in abusive and neglectful situations. Currently, we do not have the facilities or the personnel to help the way we feel God wants us to. As we look for what He desires for us to do in this situation, we know we cannot shut the door. We have begun thinking about possible housing opportunities that we could offer as a temporary living assistance for those in desperate need get their feet back under them. Please pray for God to guide us to His will and share with us your thoughts. God is good and I believe He will supply us with what we need to follow His will.
We pray God is blessing each of you.

Pacho

2009-05-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

We had a tragic event happen several days ago. Justin and Gonzalo, man who has been coming out some to help with our horse, were trying to help a sore on Pacho's nose heal. They had been putting some cream on it, but it didn't seem to be getting better. So, they decided to give him an antibiotic. Justin didn't realize Gonzalo had brought penicillin. To make a long, hard day short. Gonzalo gave him the medicine and Pacho died about 5-10 minutes later. We looked everywhere for epinephrine to help fight the reaction but could not find it in time. The vet arrived rather quickly, but still not in time. This has been rough on Justin. He had been working with Pacho whenever he could make time, so he had spent the most time with him. And of course Kaleb, our little cowboy, loved Pacho. Anyway, we thought we would let everyone know since we had written so much about Pacho in the past. He was a good horse and we are already missing him like crazy.

Amazing Sunset

2009-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

This was a sunset we had a couple of days ago. It is amazing how each sunrise and sunset are different. I'm glad we have such an amazing God!! I wanted to ask you all to keep praying for the little boy, Josue, that I have mentioned before. We ended up taking him into Quito the other night because he got so sick. The Dr. was concerned not only about his cold but also his weight. He asked us to give him treatments with a nebulizer for about a week and he put him on several antibiotics. We just ask that you all pray for his health and also for his Dad's sanity with the four children he has.
The other pictures are of our Kaidan and Kaleb egg hunting at my parents house on Easter. They seemed to have fun....I have to say Kaidan is a much nicer sister than me. I would fight for my eggs, she enjoyed helping Kaleb find eggs for his basket....so sweet! Not sure where she gets that!:)
All continues to go well here. The ladies from the congregation went to a ladies conference in Quito and loved it. It was a good time for all of us to spend time together without our little ones. We are busy planning for the youth camp we will host this summer and organizing the groups who will be coming to stay at the camp for various work projects. If anyone is wanting to come and work for the summer or part of the summer but do not have a group. Don't worry about that. We can use all the help we can get. There is much to do and we would love for anyone who feels God wants them to come here to COME!! We will put you to work and you will love every minute of it!! We pray each of you are doing well and God is blessing you daily!

Daddy's Cowboy

2009-04-22T05:41:00.000-07:00

This is Daddy's little cowboy! Kaleb loves the horse and loves riding with his Daddy! He is such a little man. We are still working on his allergies....he continues to have a cough and we are hoping to find the right dosage of inhaler to give him..please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Little Blessings

2009-04-10T04:32:00.000-07:00

I thank God for my children. He has blessed Justin and I with two wonderful children. I pray He gives us the wisdom to raise them in Him. I pray He shows them His Truth despite our inadequacies. "Father we lift these little ones to you and pray you guide each step they take. Thank you for your love and ever constant presence."

Exciting Times

2009-04-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

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We want to thank all of you once again for praying for Kaleb. He has been on antibiotics now for almost a month and seems to be doing much better. The Dr. is almost sure he has allergies, we just do not know to what......So, I have taken all smelly things out of our house, all flowers.....and Kaleb is no longer aloud to go horseback riding. It has not been fun, HE LOVES THE HORSE and gets so excited every time he sees it. If any of you have gone through this with a little one and have learned some valuable lessons from experience we would love to hear from you. We obviously want to protect him from getting so sick, but also hate to take away things he enjoys if there are ways to test and know exactly what is causing him to react.
We have had a very full month. The night Kaleb was released from the hospital we began hosting a group of 22 people here at the camp. My mom came to take care of Kaleb, and that was a huge help. The group was wonderful and were a huge encouragement to us and the work here. We had some more guests come in soon after that from Bellevue, and they just flew back yesterday. It is always an encouragement to have visitors come from the States.....especially when they bring me buckets of Red Vines!:)
We also had a children's overnighter this last Friday. We use these nights as rewards for those that attend the program frequently. A total of 82 children, ages 5-12, spent the night and seemed to have great time. (We will have a seperate overnighter for the teens. ) After dinner we turned all the outside lights off and played hide-and-go-seek in the dark, they loved it and we decided it was a great way to drain energy before bed time. Saturday, after the kids program we had our last finance class for parents of the community. Overall, I think they learned a lot and hopefully will put some of what they learned into practice. Sunday, the Church had a potluck here and we did the meat. There were over 140 people who attended. It was a wonderful day of fellowship! Many stayed to play sports and just hang-out, I think the last people left around seven that night. To say the least our heads were ready to hit the pillow that night. We wish all of you could personally meet and know all our new brothers and sisters in Christ. They are such an encouragement.
Kaidan continues to do wonderful in school. We let her take a week off and spend it with my mother. I think she learned more in that one week with mom then she has in a month of school, so it wasn't at all a waste of study time. Her little personality keeps us on our toes and brings us many moments of laughter.
The picture of Kaleb with a little boy is of the little one we have been watching once a week. His Dad is a single Dad taking care of four children. This little boy, Josue, had been staying in a children's home in Quito until recently. So, he's very delayed and needs to put on some pounds...now I know what your thinking he looks chunky, but it's just his cheeks, the rest of his body is very,very skinny. Justin's parents bible class at Broadway has been financially helping this man take care of his little ones, because of them we have been able to take by formula, diapers, and food. Please keep this family in your prayers. The man's name is Adrian.
We love you all and pray you had a wonderful Spring Break. God Bless.

2009-03-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Dr. just gave us the go!!! Yeah! Thank you all for your prayers. God Bless.

2009-03-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

We want to thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement. The Dr. came in this morning and was very happy with Kaleb's progress. He took Kaleb off oxygen in order to see how he does breathing on his own. So far so good! Kaleb seems to have more energy today and just looks much better. If all continues to go well we might be going home tomorrow. God is good! To answer some of your questions. We are in a hospital in Quito, it's suppose to be the best. It's been very nice and feels very clean so that's good.

Kaleb in Hospital

2009-03-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

As many of you know our little Kaleb has been off-and-on sick for about seven months now. We brought him in to see the Dr yesterday because Kaleb once again got really bad with fevers reaching 104. He was also taking very short breaths and coughing until he threw up. To say the least we once again got very worried and brought him in. We were thinking the Dr. would just put him on another antibiotic, but that was not the case. After listening to Kalebs chest and reviewing his charts...seeing Kaleb has only gained two pounds in the last five months, he insisted we hospitalize him. Poor little man had to take a head x-ray, chest x-ray, and give lots of blood. It was terrible to watch him go through it all. His veins are incredibly hard to see, therefore they did all kinds of stuff to his little hands and arms to get blood and place the IV. Finally after a lot of crying and screaming they finished with him and we were able to bring him to a room.He has improved tremendously in the last 24 hrs. The Dr.'s main concern is his lack of Oxygen and will not send him home until he is able to breath well enough on his own. We would appreciate your prayers for our little guy. God has really blessed us with a great Dr. and we feel very confident in the hospital we are at. Thank you all for your love and prayers. We will have internet here at the hospital so we'll keep you posted on any further news. God Bless. The Reegers

Trip to Colombia

2009-02-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

Our family just got back from a trip to Colombia. I have to admit I was a little nervous to take my children, but all turned out well. We stayed with a friends family and it was a wonderful experience. It made us appreciate our home and hot showers. The family had very little but wanted to share all. It is so easy to live in a bubble, even when working with the poor everyday. It isn't until you actually sleep in their beds and take care of your children under their circumstances do you realize how complicated life can be and how much stronger they are than you. Our family is truly blessed in so many ways. I thank God for all he has given us and pray he gives us the wisdom to use it for his glory.
Justin and some guys from Church have spent a couple of days hiking, trying to find a good hike to take the campers on when they come this summer. Kaleb went with them this last time, on horseback. He spent over four hours on the horse and loved every minute of. He is a true cowboy. Anytime he sees an animal he has to stop and look at it. He loves animals! He is taking more steps these days. He's been able to walk for the last two months, but has preferred to crawl. Just this last week he has taken more steps and seems to enjoy it more.
Kaidan is doing wonderful. She is speaking Spanish a little more than English We were concerned at first but keep her speaking English at home, and that helps. At times she will be speaking English and she'll just subsitute a spanish verb using an English tense. It really keeps us on our toes, because we can't always figure out what she is saying right away. Kaidan can get quite frustrated with us, and doesn't get why we can't understand her......she thinks we're a little slow.
The Church is growing each week. This last Sunday we had a Sunday lunch and then played some games. We were also able to witness two of our teenagers give their lives over to our Father. God is truly blessing the Church and we are so excited and humbled to be a part of His work here. We want to thank all of you who are lifting us and the Church up in your prayers.
We pray each of you have a wonderful week. God bless.

Back into the Swing of Things

2009-01-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

I've decided one of the hardest things to do is have a nice relaxing Christmas and then have to go back to work..... However this year wasn' t as hard as it has been in the past. We had a wonderful time with family and friends while in the States. However, it was nice to take a step back and analize what we are doing and how we can do it better.
Upon arriving back in Ecuador we participated in a week long Medical Mission trip. Medical Missions always have a way of opening our eyes to how blessed we are. I remember the first time Justin went on a trip with me. He knew no Spanish and we had no intentions of ever moving to Ecuador. God's plans for our lives cease to amaze me.
It was great to come back to the Church here and listen to how God blessed it while we were away. The small groups continue to go well and there are many who are excited about learning more about our Father. There were four baptisms while we were away and several others who are really searching for God's will in their lives. All I can say is it's exciting for us to see God moving and we feel truly blessed to be a part of His work in Ecuador.
The childrens program continues to do well. We have some new CDs with fun kid songs and have been teaching them one or two a day. The kids are loving it.
We want to thank you all for your prayers and love. I will continue to try and do better at writing on the blog. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers. God Bless.

In the States

2008-12-04T05:25:00.001-08:00

We pray everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. We arrived back in the States a little over a week ago and we were able to spend the holiday with the Reegers and the Marcums. It was so good to see everyone.
We are now in Seattle and will be here for another week or so. Kaidan and Kaleb seem to be enjoying themselves. Kaidan loves to eat sweets and can't get enough American candy...........She literally fell asleep underneath the dessert table with a Thanksgiving rug as a cover and a Cool Whip lid in her hand......It was a proud moment for this mother!:)

2008-11-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Please meet our new, temporary, family additions. The police brought these children by last Friday and asked us if we could take them.....it was hard to say no. They are a handful but are beginning to adapt. Please pray for our family, it's been a challenge, having four extras in our home. We are searching for a place that can take all four, so they do not have to be separated. Please be praying for them and us. We have a camp of 150 people here this weekend and then are feeding another 150 on Wednesday on top of our normal crazy schedule. We love you all and apologize for not communicating like we should. God bless.

Days of a Mother

2008-10-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe a puppy can be more work at times than a baby. I honestly did not know what I was getting myself into when we gave Kaidan a puppy for her B-day. Yesterday morning I felt like I went from one mess to another between Kaleb and our puppy, Chaska. Chaska broke a beaded necklace of Kaidan's and the beads obviously went everywhere. Well, Kaleb and Chaska thought that was great. They both went diving for the beads and it seemed like they were competing as to who could get the most beads in their mouths. As soon as I freed Kaleb's mouth of beads I had to go to Chaska, and of course as I was getting the beads out of the Chaska's mouth Kaleb seized the moment and dove for the beads again. So, I was trying to pick the beads up while keeping both dog and child from choking in the process. As soon as I collected all the beads I went to the kitchen to put them out of reach and in those two seconds Kaleb crawled over to a plant and had dirt everywhere. What use to be a white dog and clean child changed in a matter of seconds. I honestly thought I was going to loose my mind.:) But, now they are both sound asleep and peace has swept over the house for a while. Love you all.

Happy Birthday Kaidz

2008-10-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kaidan's fourth Birthday with face painting, salsa dancing, pinning the map on Dora's backpack, and of course cake. It was a fun time for all of use. Even Kaleb got into the spirit!:)
Love you all.

2008-10-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our family has a new member! Her name is Chaska. Kaidan has been wanting a small dog for a while now, so we decided to get her one for her birthday. Chaska is very cute and playful. We enjoy watching her and Kaleb take turns torturing each other. He'll make her yelp and she'll make him cry, and yet they still continue to follow each other around.
Kaidan has also been very busy collecting eggs with her Daddy every morning. She is quite the little farm girl. She loves being outside with the animals and her Daddy.
Our last couple of weeks have gone great. We have been very busy with the kids program and small groups and are loving it. It feels like things are finally falling into place and running fairly smooth.
Thank you all for your prayers and love.

2008-09-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

We began our kids program last week, so it's been a pretty crazy week. We've had an average of 85 kids everyday and Saturday we had 111 children. I believe last week went pretty smoothly being the first week. We feel much more organized this year and are excited about all the new little faces we are seeing. On Saturday we also had a parent's day and over 50 parents came. We are hoping to have much more contact this year with the parents through small groups, family courses, and just fun play days with the family.
The last big thing that happened last week was our family and the Cuaran family, family who will be helping with Tabacundo and Cayambe church, began our first Sunday here in Tabacundo. We united with the church here in Tabacundo, which mainly existed of the children's home and the Snyder family. However, through us inviting parents and kids from the kids program and the Snyders inviting families from the school program they run, there were well over 100 people gathered in Tabacundo for Church. Praise God! We were so busy with Bible classes and meeting people we didn't get a count but know we had a least 100 if not 120 people attending. We will be hosting the Church services here at the camp from now because of the number of people attending. It is an exciting time. Please be praying for all of this. We are beginning small groups this week and the family courses will start next week.
Our family is doing pretty well. Kaleb got really sick last week, but seems to be doing better this week. He seems to get colds easily and this time it hung around too long and became an infection, so he'll be on antibiotics for a couple of weeks. Kaids is doing Awesome!! She's loving school and speaking Spanish like a native. I love just watching her play with her little friends. If she didn't have blond hair and green eyes you wouldn't know she was a little gringa. Justin's Spanish is doing incredible. He is taking a major role in getting the small groups started here. Because of our background in running small therapy groups we are both pretty comfortable with running small groups and many of the same principals apply in running small groups. He led the leaders small group last night and taught several vital principals in running groups. Mind you, he did all that in Spanish. I must say I was very impressed and proud.
So, that's about all that's gone on this last week. We love you all and pray all is going well in your lives. Thank you for your prayers and love. God bless.

2008-09-15T06:17:00.001-07:00

So, my goal is to start blogging again! I hope I can do a better job. We've had a crazy but great summer. Kaidan and Kaleb are both growing up so fast. Kaidan began school last week and is loving it. Kaleb is crawling around a little but is mostly wanting to walk and pull himself up on furniture. It's crazy how time flies. We were able to go to the beach for a couple of days after all the camps were done. It was wonderful just being with our family. I think times like that makes one realize how important it is to spend time alone with family as much as possible. We begin our school program tomorrow. We're very excited about this coming year. Thank you all for your prayers. We love you.

2007-10-17T04:04:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kaidan's third Birthday on the 8th of this month. I think we celebrated enough to last us a couple of years. We ended up having three birthday parties.......I don't think we'll be doing that again.:) Now everyday she wakes up and asks what time we are going to have her "party cake". She also got a special visitor from the States that came just for her birthday. Keith, Justin's dad flew in on Saturday night and stayed two days. If that doesn't make a granddaughter feel special I don't know what will. We loved having him here and I know it meant a lot to Kaidan.
Thank you all for your suggestions on names. Lindsey, I'm not sure our new little one can live up to the Rashad legacy...but we'll think about it! We might just take on the Ecuadorian custom of not naming our baby until a month after he's born. We'll just call him "Justincito" until we have to register him 30 days after he's born.
The weekend before last we had a men's conference here. About 160 men and 20 women stayed at the camp, plus we continued our kids program. It was a crazy three days, but I believe all went pretty well. The only major thing that happened was we got robbed. Someone came and stole our water pump and car cd player early one morning. We heard Max, our dog, but did not get up to check, thinking he was just a little anxious about all the men on the property. We learned later that day the children's home had also been hit and one of their dogs had been poisoned. Max also threw up a couple of times, but seemed to be ok after that. It seems the same people came back the next night and tried stealing from the children's home again. When they got up the next morning their big boxer dog was really, really sick. The vet didn't think he was going to make it, but after being on an IV all day and receiving several shots, he pulled through. To say the least we have been on the alert everynight and are praying these people don't come back. It's a little uncomfortable knowing people are walking around our house at three in the morning without us hearing them...... We would appreciate your prayers.
We had another sleep over for the kids program this last weekend and about 50 children stayed the night at the camp. It was quite the exciting night.....:) We'll post some pictures a little later.
Thank you all for your prayers and love. We look forward to seeing many of you soon. God bless.
The Reegers

Road Blocks

2007-09-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

This is Max, our dog, watching the sunrise outside our kitchen window. He is out there every morning. Rough life, huh?!:)
Thank you to all of you for your support and love. We are excited about the new little one. All seems to be going well with him. We are still trying to decide on a name...it's hard to decide something like that...I mean this kid will have to be stuck with it the rest of his life....suggestions are welcome!:)
So, all has been going well here. We had a couple of exciting days with road blocks. The people here burn tires and put huge trees in the road when they protest. This time they were protesting against a government decision to not give them aid with a water canal. To say the least it made life interesting for three days. They put blocks up about every half mile on the Pan American highway and stood beside their baracades with rocks to make sure cars did not try to pass. We had to walk about four miles to get from the last bus drop off to our house. We really enjoyed talking to the protesters at every blockade. Half of them did not even know what they were truly protesting. Kaidan decided we just needed an airplane to fly over the blockades and "the mean guys with rocks!:)
The kids program has been going wonderful. We had 82 children here yesterday for our Saturday program. We've been really happy with the four women who help run the program and teach. Ulf flew back to the US on Friday. So Justin and I are officially on our own. We are excited and look forward to what God has in store. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. We feel like we are on a whole other planet at times so hearing from you all is wonderful.
We will be in the US from October 27 through the 3rd of December, making stops in Seattle, Pueblo, Dallas and Lubbock. We will be in Seattle from the 27th through the 8th of Nov, in Pueblo from the 8th through the 15th of Nov, in Dallas from the 15th through the 19th, and in the Lubbock area for the remainder of our time. We are excited to hug many of your necks.
God Bless,
The Reegers

Summer

2007-09-08T04:25:00.000-07:00

I want to begin by apologizing to all of you who have checked our blog over the past few months and have found no new post. I am not good with this kind of thing, but I know it is important and I am going to try and do better.
Our summer was very full of lots of events and people. We had six groups come, a two day youth conference, interns from the Bible school in Quito stay for the summer, the kids program, and a wonderful visit from Justin's family. To say the least each day was filled completely. Thank you for your prayers. It was a wonderful three months of learning the ropes and getting to know all those we will be working with here at the camp.
This last week we began preparing for the new school year. We are excited to see where all God leads us. Kaidan also began school this last week. We decided it would be good to put her in a school in order to help her learn Spanish and also have time with other children. She wears a little uniform and everything. So far she has liked it a lot. She will only be going 3-4 hours a day and I have the liberty to keep her at home if I want, so that is good. I wasn't ready to commit to five days a week just yet. Justin is still advancing in Spanish and doing wonderful. He will hopefully begin classes again soon. It was hard for him to travel and study with all that took place this summer, but he should now have more time to dedicate to that. I have been pleasantly surprised with how rapidly he is learning....... I am doing great and loving it here. For those of you who we have not been able to tell. We are expecting a new addition to our family in December. We decided to wait until the end of the summer to spill the beans just because of all that was going on. But, now it is no secret. I am not able to hide it any more, I believe I am showing much more this time around...not sure why. But, we are excited and Kaidan is ecstatic. She makes sure she tells everyone she has a little brother in Mommy's tummy. I think a sibling will be good for her and she will make a great big sister.
Please know we love you all. Thank you for your prayers and your patience concerning this blog. I promise I will try and do better. God bless.

First Week of Camp

2007-06-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

We survived our first week of camp last week. It actually went rather well. We had two different groups here at the same time so that made it exciting. We were blessed to host a medical campaign for two days and I believe all were happy with the turn out. They saw 700 plus people of our community in the day and a half they were open. It was wonderful to see the facilities used by so many. We had passed out around 2000 fliers in the weeks before letting people know about the campaign, so we were excited some decided to show up. That same week we also had a group from Tennessee stay at the camp and they worked hard helping with the medical campaign and the orphanage. It was a crazy week, but one in which we pray God was glorified. Thank you to all of you who came and showed Jesus' love to those who live here.
Our family is doing wonderful. Justin just got back from a jungle trip with my dad and some of the people who came down for the medical campaign. Justin came back with some good stories. They had to cross a bridge like the ones you think only exist in the movies, a very narrow plank with a thin cable on each side, dangling over a strong river. The trick was getting Max, our dog, to cross. They attempted having him swim across the river below with the horses, but the current was so strong it swept him down stream three different times. So, Justin and another man ended up carrying him across the "bridge" while balancing themselves. I'm just glad I wasn't there to watch. He returned safely with a bag full of clothes literally covered in mud. I had to wash them four times before I could see the colors again. Justin said they hiked through shin-deep mud the majority of the time. It sounds lovely doesn't it?! I promise we won't take any of you there on your first trip down. It guess it was the perfect "manly" adventure.
Justin's parents, Dana and Keith, will be coming to visit us next week. We are so excited to see them. Kaidan is counting down the days. Thank you all again for your prayers and words of encouragement. I'm sorry I don't have pictures this time. God Bless.

Field Trip

2007-05-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went with the children from the after-school program on their end-of-the-year trip. There was a total of 55 children on the bus and 9 adults. We sat three to a seat, which wasn't bad considering many of the children are tiny, but it still made for an eventful bus ride. The trip took about two hours to get to some natural hot springs up in the mountains. It was beautiful and I believe the children had a wonderful time. It took some heavy persuasion to get me in the pool. Something about swimming with 50 children in a pool without chlorine made me think twice. I think Kaidan was the only child who felt the need to get out and use the bathroom the whole three hours we swam. I guess it's best not to think about such things and just have fun, which is what we ended up doing. Overall, it was a wonderful day and the children did great.
This week we are preparing for the medical campaign and another group that will be here next week. Ulf is showing us the ropes on how to plan meals and shop. It has been fun so far. Justin is still pushing on with his Spanish classes, I think he is really enjoying it. Kaidan is doing great. She went to a Birthday party the other day and they were playing a game where two teams were racing to see who could fill up a small bucket at the other end of the room first. The catch was they had to use a big spoon to carry the water from one end of the room to the other. Well, when it was Kaidan's turn she ran over to the counter, grabbed a big glass, dunked it in the water and proceeded to the other end of the room to fill her teams bucket. I was so proud! :)
That's about all for now. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. God Bless.

Parent's Day

2007-05-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we had a Parent's Day. All the parents of the children who attend the after-school program were invited to come. We played games, ate food, made crafts, had a time of Bible study, and received input from the parents on what they have enjoyed about the program and things they feel could change. It was wonderful getting to meet some of the parents. Many of them expressed their gratitude for the program and how it has helped them and their children. Several of the parents explained how their children's behaviors have changed at home since their participation in the program. God is working whether we realize it or not. I know this time was encouraging for Justin and I because we saw how much potential this outreach has and are excited to see what God will continue to do with it.
This coming Saturday, the 26th, is suppose to be our last day for the program until September, when school resumes. However, after speaking with Ulf and the teachers, we have decided to continue the program through June and part of July. Summer here in Ecuador is like anywhere else, children get out for the summer but the majority of the parents still have to work. Therefore, we would rather provide a safe place for the children to be rather than have them home alone or roaming the streets. Please pray for the planning of this time. Some of the teachers are a little nervous because we are throwing this in at the last minute. If any of you have any suggestions for additional activities for the summer program please contact us with your ideas. We want to make this time beneficial and fun for the children.
Our family is doing wonderful. Kaidan is learning how to greet people in Spanish and has begun to give a selected few a kiss on the cheek when she sees them. (Ecuadorians greet each other with a kiss on the cheek.) We are proud of her and feel she is beginning to enjoy her time here. Justin continues to press on with his Spanish classes. He is now having to walk 40 minutes each morning and each afternoon to catch a bus. We were borrowing a van that belongs to my parents. However, it is having trouble. We had to leave it in Quito with them and are without a car. It will be an interesting challenge. Besides that we are doing well. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. I am still trying to figure out this blog thing. I need to learn how to respond to the comments you send. Any help would be appreciated!:) Oh, we also have a US phone number that you can call and it will ring here on our computer. Therefore you will only have to pay whatever your phone rate is to call within the US. We thought this might be easier for those of you who want to contact us but can't afford to pay international rates. It was very cheap for us to set up and we only had to pay a small one time fee. So, please feel free to use it. I'm not sure how secure this blog thing is, so if you would like the number just let us know and we can get it to you. Thank you again for your love, thoughts, and prayers. God Bless.

2007-05-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Kaidan helps me make a snack for the children everyday. She gets excited when we go down to the kitchen and make something for "the kids." It has been fun spending so much time with her.
Justin began Spanish classes on Monday and has been catching a bus every morning to Otavalo, a town about 30 minutes away..depending on how fast the bus driver goes. :) Justin is picking the language up fast...it is exciting.
We are loving being here. Everyday has been an adventure. God Bless.

First Weeks in Ecuador

2007-05-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it to Ecuador! We are in our new home and doing our best to get settled. God has blessed us with a beautiful home and incredible surroundings. It is hard to describe the amazing view we have out our windows every morning. God is an amazing Creator and artist!
Our first days here were busy in helping with the children's after-school program and a slumber party. Ulf, decided Justin and I needed to learn to chop chickens. It was quite the experience. I can definitely say I took frozen chicken breasts for granted in the US!:) We are doing our best to learn the ropes, there is no doubt it will take some time.
Kaidan is doing well! The children that come for the after-school program love her. They all want to touch her hair and carry her around. She likes the attention most days however there are those days when the celebrity life gets to her. :) Overall she seems to be adjusting well and the language barrier doesn't seem to exist between her and the other children. They speak to her in Spanish and she says something back in English, they both laugh, and then run off to play. It has been exciting to watch her.
Our days here are spent preparing for the after-school program and then running it. We are doing our best to get to know the kids. There are about 25-50 that come for three hours every afternoon. We are planning a little get together for all the parents and kids the 19th of May. We are excited to meet many of the parents then. Please pray for that time.
Justin and Ulf have been working on putting electricity in the new clinic/meeting hall. Justin is amazed at the little support Ulf uses as a scaffold to run electricity in the high ceiling. I believe he has elected to be Ulf's go-getter on the ground rather than test the narrow boards 20 ft up. He has enjoyed learning from Ulf.
Justin has decided he needs to take some Spanish classes so we plan on getting those set up as soon as possible. He is doing wonderful with the people and is understanding more than most would with only being here a few weeks. Overall, our family is doing wonderful. We are excited about the camps that will be coming this summer and are looking for ways for them to encourage our surrounding community and shine Christ.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. We will do our best to update this at least once a week. God Bless.
The Reegers