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S E R V I N G I N E C U A D O R

A d v e n t u r e C a m p 2 0 1 4

OlsensJ i m , S u z y, K a i a & E s p e

Th e

and development of a missionary. In our preparations, we have beentrying to find that balance. We are very excited to share about whatGod is doing down here, but are equally as excited to learn about whatis going on in your lives, too! We have friends house!sitting for the nextthree months, our kids vaccinations are up to date, Espen hasrecovered from a recent tongue surgery he had "hes now back to100#$, and our kids have begun to experience what Autumn looks likehere in the US! Kaia has already developed a strong love for pumpkins,weve been able to spend time with family members, and weve alreadyexperienced some brilliant fall colors while driving around Connecticut!

It is incredible to think that its already October! The month or so has definitely been defined by being in a s

of preparation. We left Ecuador on Oct 1st and are now in the first week of our first home miniassignment "HMA$or furlough. For those that have not heard, the primary purpose of HMA icommunicate with and strengthen relationships with family, friends, financial supporters, andsending churches. We will be doing some fundraising to meet our monthly financial goals as wefor some special projects in our ministry, too. So its not a vacation, but also should not be so heascheduled that it becomes exhausting. Its not optional and is essential to the on!going he

When most people hear camp, they immediately picture a kid with packed bags and a sleeping heading off for a week in the summer. If you were to ask an Ecuadorian to describe what cometheir mind, they wouldnt describe that same picture. Its not a part of this culture nor commonsend kids away for a week of camp in the summers. In spite of that, we have had success launchinweek of classic summer camp for the past two summers&and this year we jumped from one wee

two weeks!

Our theme of I am Phoenix seemed to reconnect with campers this summer. Lookintrospectively and challenging the kids to loowhere they might be on the spectrum of the lif

the phoenix provided our counselors with grstarting points for deep conversation during tcabin Bible study times. The use of our ropes coand team!building challenges led to unity withingroups campers were placed in. And ultimately,greatest part was to hear about multiple campers ewe ek acknowledging their need for a Savior asking Christ to be Lord of their lives for the

time. At the end of the day, thats why we do camp, retreats, programming, hikes, and everything that comprises our ministry. To know that even just one more person will be with Christ for eteris a reason to keep doing what were doing and is a cause to celebrate!

September !October

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C a l a c a l i C h u r c h R e t r e a t

M I N I S T R Y H I G H L I G H T S

P r a y e r

R e q u e s t

Pray for our family astravel to 13 cities over the three months.

Pray for our kids ! that would sleep and adjust wethe traveling.

Pray for our chuleadership in Calacal and the members continue to gas a body of Christ.

Pray for the youth tattended the adventure caand accepted Christ in Aug

Pray for our level of monsupport. Whether thronew monthly g ivers orincrease by those curregiving, we need to raisadditional amount per moto continue doing ministrEcuador.

Pray for good health safety for our family astravel.

In the second week of September we had the privilege of attendinga church retreat with 12 other people from our church in Calacal.We boarded the bus and drove 2.5 hours to a town in the middle ofhigh altitude jungle to the childhood home of one of the women inour group. Her family had been inviting the church to visit for over

a year and in preparation for the weekend, specifically raisedchickens to serve during our meals. The town itself was a cluster of6 or 7 homes, a small tienda that mostly sold candy and cooking oil,and a waterfall with a swimming hole nearby. In recent years thefamilies in the area received new cinder block houses that wereheavily subsidized by the government. The arrival of this new homewas the catalyst to invite our church to spend a night with them.

Not knowing exactly what kind of adventure we were about toexperience, our family brought our tent and we boarded the vanthat had been rented for our one night excursion. We swam in thewaterfal l, harvested bananas and yucca straight from the land,laughed a lot, led music during two services, watched our churchmembers deliver clothing to a poor family nearby, had some reallygood and insightful conversations, and simply lived life alongsideour church friends and this family for two days.

Unlike church retreats that weve attended in the U.S., there wasnta theme for the weekend or any organized activities. Despite that,there was genuine fellowship with authentic people who, despitefacing all kinds of adversity in their lives, have a real desire to learnmore about God and His love for His children. Repeatedly

throughout the weekend we were so glad that we chose to embarkon that unknown adventure, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable anddependent on our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters in Christ, and tohave the space to go deeper in conversation and live life withmembers of our church.

October 11 & 12: Long Island, NY November 18 "22: Fergus Falls, MOctober 12 " 17: New York City November 22 "28: Eau Claire, WIOctober 17 " 28: Ithaca, NY Nov. 29 " Dec. 5: Door County, WOct. 29 " Nov. 1: Elgin, IL Dec 6 & 7: Minneapolis, MNovember 2 " 8: Minneapolis, MN December 9 " 14: Coeur dAlene, November 9 " 17: Fargo, ND December 16 " 29: Everett, WA

Where Well B

To follow us or give onlinevisit: www.olsensinecuador.com . jimandsuzyolsen@hotmail.com . Call us for FREEin Ecuador at 607.256.68

mailto:jimandsuzyolsen@hotmail.comhttp://www.olsensinecuador.com/

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