Home in the USA

We have left the land of sun,

We arrived to the cold! The climate of winter and snow our first week here. The kids loved the snow! Other then the temperature, the welcome we have received from family and friends has been very warm.

 We had bought a new house that could fit our size family in Burlington. Living in Colombia though we never saw the house except by internet and through the eyes of Nathan Heafner, a friend of ours. He went and inspected the house, and acted as our power of attorney to buy the house. So we are excited to see the house in person and to see that it is as good or better than we imagined. We had faith in the abilities of Nathan, and are thankful for his friendship. After we purchased the house Nathan and his wife Julie put in many hours getting the house ready for us to come home. Nathan had to get the well going after being dormant for two years.
We were hoping the the house would have beds so that when we flew in we could just walk through the door and go to bed. Our church, however, exceeded expectations with furnishing the whole house. Chrissy Hahn organized cleaning and scheduling to put the house together so that it would be ready when we got here. They even had food in the fridge and meals for the next weeks to help out.
 We have been blessed beyond what we would have thought. We are thankful for the love and sacrifice of those that have helped out in our transition to the states.
 We are finally getting internet and the other utilities set up. Our communication will pick up now that we are "connected" again.

'Than has learned all about the mail system here in the United States. He has already sent two letters.They think mail is a pretty neat way to communicate.

The kids were given a gift of a basket ball goal and balls. Now they are outside more than they are inside. They love playing a game of ball with Nate.

Another thing the boys have realized is that American beef franks are much tastier here verses a Colombian hot dog. The kids have been picking up broken sticks and making bonfires. It's a win win situation for us. They pick up sticks, logs, and branches. We provide marshmallows and hot dogs for their reward.

The girls have enjoyed the traditional American treats. Of course the first thing we had to make was some chocolate chip cookies. :) Praying by the time we return to Colombia they will import chocolate chips.

I wanted to take the boys on a field trip. Of course we thought the fire station was the best choice. My boys enjoyed themselves and got a grand tour of the station. We are lucky to have our old neighbor on shift that day. He made sure the boys had a great time.

Back in Colombia, Luis and Adriana have moved into our house with Debbie to watch over things. They will be continuing the work over the next year. They are excited for the this new season, though it will be a lot more work.

 Thank you for all your continued support. Pray for Luis and Adriana in Bocachica. We are going to be giving a report at 7:00 pm, at Antioch Community Church in Burlington NC on Wednesday, February 24 . If you are in the area stop by and see us!

With love,
The Ariels

Moving along

It has been a while since we updated. We have been very busy on many different fronts. We have a new born in the house, and this adds to the daily routine.
 The exciting news is that we are back in the USA for a year to rest and catch up on many things. We have been in Bocachica over four years now so some things have changed, but there are many things the same that our kids haven't experienced. The boy's school books have pictures that match to spelled out words. The problem is they don't know some of the pictures. We have to explain what a mailbox is, or what a barn is used for. A garbage truck takes your trash away for you. Many things they may have seen, but don't remember.
 We also have girls getting ready to move toward university. They need to catch up on learning to drive, expectations of the first world society, and things like that. So the whole family will have some growing.
 We also haven't had a family vacation in at least five years, so we need time to rest and see family. We are excited to come home and see friends, family, and catch up on many activities. We hope to be able to see many of you during this time!

 In Bocachica, Luis and Adriana and family will be taking over the leadership and care of the work. They will continue to host visitors at our house, but also keep up with working at El Shadday. They will continue the filter project as well. So they are going to have a big load this year. Pray for them to have the energy for all this. Pray also that perhaps the Lord would send them some help for this time.
 If you would like to support them and their work please let us know.

 This month we have lots of visitors. We had Hannah Burkhardt from Germany come visit.

Juan Bastidas who partners with us came to see us and the boys he disciples.

Some young guys we mentor with in another village that is about a half days travel away came to visit Luis and I during News Years week.

A new friend, Andrea Osorio from Bogota, stopped in for a day to see the projects.

Luis and Adriana had 6 of their family come and visit for a week on the 5th of January. We were hosting up until we left!

Debbie had a friend from Medellin come visit as well.

We have loved having visitors and meeting all the people that have come through our home. It is going to be something that we miss living in the states.

In other news, Vincent broke his arm while practicing his jump while swinging. It wasn't a bad break, but the doctor decided to put a cast on because it would help it heal faster.

Being back in the states is great and we will be sharing more about that soon.

 Thank you to all who support us! We are grateful for your work that enables us to work here!