Getting ready for Christmas

Sharon and I headed out to do some last minute Christmas shopping this AM. We noticed several things that make the Ecuadorian experience very distinct to the Canadian experience.

1. No sales - yeah, forget about even 10% off. It just doesn't happen here.

2. Buying paper - check out these photos. You can by wrapping paper in the mall, but it is more expensive. This was on the sidewalk outside a hardware store.


3. Temperature - according to the sign at the mall, it was 18 degrees C. Nice warm sunny day here right now, but dark rain clouds are forming. I see on the Weather Network that southern Ontario is about -16 right now . . .

4. Greater emphasis on the Nativity and birth of Jesus. He is at least, if not more, as prominent as Santa.

So, there are lots of bonuses of not having the white Christmas we are used to!

The gifts of God

At Christmas we often think of God's gift, especially that of Jesus whose birth we celebrate in just a little bit more than a week. But there are other gifts for which we need to be thankful.

This past Thursday through Saturday, our local radio station here in Quito (and the one on the coast in Guayaquil) celebrated "Mision Compartida" (Shared Mission). The purpose of this is to strengthen the relationship between the ministry and the listeners, to raise funds for the coming year, and to call the local church into greater participation in the Great Commission.

As we ask our listeners to donate to the radio ministry, we often get very unusual gifts. The video shows one such gift. We received about 500 donated chics, and they were consequently sold with the proceeds going to the radio ministry.

We thought you'd enjoy seeing this to help give a little bit better perspecive of some of our reality, and because it is so cute.