Darwin Paccha is a 2009 graduate of The Association of Free Lutheran Seminary. He is from Ecuador and is returning there to minister among the people of his nation.
Querida Familia y Amigos,
Hola! We officially send you greetings from Cuenca, Ecuador. ☺ Thank you for your prayers! We arrived safely the evening of July 21st. Before we share about our trip to Ecuador, we want to share with you what we did in July.
Vacation with the Olsons
For about two weeks in July, we enjoyed a time of vacation with Mark and Debra Olson (Kirsten’s parents). Our itinerary included touring Chicago, visiting the Billy Graham Museum, climbing huge sand dunes in Michigan, eating cherry pie at the cherry festival (correction: Darwin and Debra eating cherry pie ☺), smelling a variety of flowers at the Mejier Greenhouse, relaxing by Lake Michigan and Huron, tandem biking around Mackinac Island, eating fudge (Mark and Kirsten with the fudge, since
they do not eat cherries), and more! We especially enjoyed the view of Chicago from the Sear’s Tower and walking out on the glass floor 103 floors up! ☺ The Billy Graham Museum contained a wonderful ‘exhibit’ that shares the Gospel message. It’s hard to describe, but there will be pictures on our blog for you to see. Mackinac Island was our last stop where we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere since automobiles are not allowed on the island. Tandem biking was a little tricky at first but a fun
time as we got used to it. We were truly blessed to have this time with Kirsten’s parents before heading off to Ecuador.
Our Arrival and Home in Ecuador
Praise God for His answers to prayer! We made all our connecting flights, even the one in Chicago where we walked off one plane and on to another! After going through customs in Ecuador without problems, we quickly found all six pieces of our luggage. Darwin’s parents (Florentino and Gloria) and his niece, Daniela, met us in the airport and we headed off to the mission home in Guayaquil to stay for the night. Two of Florentino’s friends guided us through the confusing and very busy streets of Guayaquil. The next morning we traveled to Cuenca in Florentino’s car. Luis (Darwin’s brother) and Johanna welcomed us to their new home for lunch, and we were reunited with all of Darwin’s brothers and sisters and their families. After staying with Florentino and Gloria for a week, we
moved into a house very close to the Bilingüe to be ‘guardians’ of it and the things inside for the next 4-5 months while a missionary family (McWeeny) is on furlough in the United States.
We are settling in little by little. Many things have changed since Darwin has been here, so he is adjusting as well.
Marriage, Visas, and Work
Regarding paperwork, we are doing very well. Again, praising God for His answers after we faced many frustrations and confusing answers concerning what type of visa we needed for Kirsten.
We are working with a great lawyer who is helping us legalize our marriage here in Ecuador and also helping Kirsten become a dual citizen through naturalization. Instead of having a visa first, Karina (the lawyer) explained how Kirsten could become naturalized right away. We are working through that process in the next couple of weeks and then, we will have to simply wait 3-4 months to receive the papers.
Kirsten met the teacher she will be working with at the Bilingüe (Sara), and they will be working with the 8th and 9th grades. Darwin will be what they call an inspector and will be working with the 9th and 10th grades. An inspector is basically the one who is in charge of discipline and counseling
issues. He will also be in charge of the worship team at the High School and be part of the Bible staff. Classes start September 7th, so please keep us in your prayers as we prepare and look forward to this new stage in our life.
We attended Paz de Dios Lutheran Church on Sunday and are waiting to see what kind of work/ministry we will be doing there. Many members of the church are gone on a retreat to the beach this week.
Prayer
PRAISES:
o Safe trip, easy passing through customs, no lost luggage
o Temporary Housing
o Florentino and Gloria’s help as we adjust to Ecuador
o Karina (our lawyer) and her help with the naturalization process
PRAY FOR:
o Our students at the Bilingüe
o Health as we continue to adjust to food
o Good communication and relationship between Kirsten and Sara
o Continued, successful progress with Kirsten’s paperwork
o Positive attitudes ☺
o Open hearts to the Gospel message
Please feel free to ask us questions! It is difficult to write everything that is happening in a two page newsletter! We can respond to your questions through e-mail or we may include some on the blog. May God bless you as you enjoy this last month of summer!
In Christ,
Darwin and Kirsten
