tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46100788217220125162024-03-05T21:47:39.776-05:00Hope as an Anchor for the SoulThis blog is an account of our journey to AND through full-time missions in Ecuador, as well as our reflections on how God is moving in our lives. Hebrews 6:19The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-3195796771959488732012-11-12T17:21:00.001-05:002012-11-12T17:21:37.382-05:00Hello friends and family!<br />
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As most of you know, Noah has arrived, and life has been a whirlwind!! We are learning to be parents and are head-over-heels in love with our little boy. <br />
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The past 6 months have been very emotional for us for a lot of reasons - not only as we prepared for Noah's arrival, but also as changes have taken place within our ministry. For a lot of reasons, many out of our control, we slowly became aware that the time was approaching for us to return to the United States. We have been praying about this decision daily for a long time, and we both feel confident that, although we may feel that there is more to be done here in Ecuador, the Lord is leading us to return to North Carolina. Tomorrow at 8:15am, we will be boarding a plane and coming home for the foreseeable future. We are beyond excited to be closer to our family and friends as we have missed you all so much, but of course these feelings are accompanied by feelings of sadness as we leave the friends we have made here.<br />
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We want to thank God for giving us the opportunity to take this adventure with him and we pray that, by his hands, we may have made a small difference here in Ecuador. We have no doubt that he has been working on us and in our hearts each and every day during our time here and that we are leaving having received from him and from the people here much more than we could have possibly given them.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">We also want to say thank you to each and every one of you. We cannot express the gratitude we feel toward you all for the encouragement, love, and support - financial and otherwise - that we have received from you for the past three years. You have all been right beside us in this ministry and we could not have done it without you. </span><br />
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<b>We will continue to receive your donations through the month of January as we re-settle in the US. After that point, you are free to transfer your donation to the MMI General Fund or to a specific person within MMI, or cancel your donation. <u>If you do not reach out to MMI to either transfer or cancel your automatic donation (</u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">972-727-5864)</span></span><u> it will be applied to the MMI General Fund.</u> Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have: stephanietucker1@gmail.com, jrtucker8503@gmail.com, 910-508-7391.</b><br />
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We look forward to seeing all of you very soon!<br />
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Love and God bless,<br />
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Stephanie, Joshua, and Noah<br />
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The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-49271064956011906072012-09-09T18:26:00.001-04:002012-09-09T18:26:39.921-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We hope everyone is enjoying some cooler temperatures as fall approaches! Josh and I won't get to enjoy any changing leaves or apple cider, but we have been excited to catch the occasional NFL game in the past week on ESPN Vivo! We are counting down the days until Noah enters the world and doing everything we can to prepare emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Praise to the Lord, I have been feeling very well and getting stronger since the kidney stone incident. We appreciate your prayers for our family and we ask for continued prayers as the due date approaches!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We would also like to report on a fantastic MMI one-week project that we had in August. A small team of 11 participants and 2 translators came to the permanent center in Milagro and performed 8 total knee replacement surgeries and completed over 100 physical therapy consults! The week started off a little later than expected because the donated prosthetic knees were unavoidably held up in customs, but this group's flexibility, trust in the Lord, and joy in the midst of difficulty were a real inspiration to Josh and I. Some incredible bonding occurred between the Milagro hospital staff and the North American participants despite the language barrier and, God-willing, they are excited to repeat the trip in 2013. We had far more potential patients than we had space for surgeries, so the team will definitely be busy if they are able to come back! We cannot express clearly enough our gratitude to all of the members of the team and all of the people that made this project happen. It was a humbling experience and we were blessed to have been involved.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Josh is still hard at work every day at the permanent center and is making strides forward in many areas. We have a new student from Haiti in our Ophthalmic Tech program and we are looking for a second student to join him as he starts classes in a couple of weeks. The internal audit of the hospital has been completed and shows that while we have areas in which we can improve, the hospital has been keeping accurate books for the past three years and is in line legally. Josh is also mentoring one of our employees who has serious potential for management in the future and we are excited about the possibilities for him within the hospital. The Lord continues to open doors and we are excited to be a part of serving those in need here in Milagro.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We promise to keep you all informed as the due date draws nearer, and we will post pictures of our new little one as soon as we can! Thank you for your prayers and support!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Love and God bless,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Stephanie and Josh</span></div>
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Rachel and I</div>
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The team at work in the OR</div>
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Jennifer providing physical therapy post-surgery</div>
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The North-American participants and the Milagro Permanent Center Staff </div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span>The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-51160124070652748992012-07-23T17:54:00.001-04:002012-07-23T17:54:23.390-04:00Ups and DownsHello everyone!<br />
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Summer is in full swing and, ironically, we are enjoying some cooler days here in Ecuador! May, June, and July have been busy and we have experienced many joys and a few obstacles, but our faith in God and his plan has carried us through it all.<br />
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We had the privilege and pleasure of hosting Josh's college roommate and friend, James Franklin, here in Milagro for 4 weeks starting back in June. James is currently 1 year away from his Masters in Divinity from the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX and he has some fantastic experience both training and working as a hospital chaplain. This year, he applied for and received a grant to come to Ecuador and work with us at the MMI hospital in Milagro. During his time here, he worked one-on-one with our hospital pastor, had meetings with our staff, and spoke at 4 different local churches to try to encourage pastoral care for the sick and hurting. I worked side-by-side with him as his translator while he was in Ecuador and it was a wonderful learning experience for me as well. He spoke a lot about the importance of spending time with people who are suffering as opposed to only trying to do things for them and how your physical presence can do so much more than just a phone call or Facebook message can. We had a lot of fun while James was with us too! We celebrated Josh's 27th birthday with an Avengers-themed party thrown by our friends here in Milagro (they even made Josh an awesome Thor costume), and for the 4th of July, we had a hot dogs, baked beans, and James made a very patriotic Rice-Crispy Treat American flag! See pictures below :).<br />
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During the last week of his stay with us, we went to Quito for a couple of days so he could see some more of the country, and then we traveled down to Latacunga to participate on the first week of a two-week mission trip there. It always makes such a difference having a spiritual leader on the trips and I think that the participants and the patients really benefited from James' presence. <br />
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Unfortunately, Josh and I were only able to enjoy two days of the mission trip because on the Tuesday evening of the trip, a kidney stone that had previously been tucked quietly in my right kidney decided to make an appearance. After a couple of hours of pain, we decided that I should go to a local private clinic where they realized that I had started having minor contractions. They quickly got the contractions under control, started monitoring Noah, and gave me something for the pain that wouldn't affect the baby. I ended up staying at the clinic in Latacunga until Friday morning when we were able to arrange a flight to Guayaquil where I could be monitored by my OB at a private hospital there. I spent the next 6 days waiting for the stone to pass on its own, but after several ultrasounds, it became apparent that it was stuck just above my bladder and wasn't moving anytime soon. Because I was still having significant pain, we decided that I would have a procedure to have the stone removed. Praise the Lord, everything went well and I was able to go home after 48 hours recuperating. That was my first experience in the hospital, and I do NOT want to be back there before Noah is born! But, Josh and I were well taken care of and I am definitely taking it easy for the next three months. I still have a small stone in each of my kidneys, so we are doing everything we can to make sure that they stay where they are. We appreciate the prayers and love that we received from friends and family while I was in the hospital and we know that we were strengthened by them.<br />
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Things are starting to get back to normal and the next big event on the calendar is a mission project that is coming to the hospital in mid-August. They will be performing knee-replacement surgeries and providing physical therapy for the patients after their surgeries. We are looking forward to recharging our batteries and preparing for the team's arrival over the next few weeks. We know that God has a lot of wonderful things in store for the second half of 2012 and we can't wait to share them with you!<br />
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Here are a few pictures from our time with James:<br />
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James speaking at a church with me translating</div>
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4th of July rice-crispy treat flag</div>
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Josh's Avengers Birthday Party</div>
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A sweet little patient we saw in Latacunga</div>
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Some visitors who came to see me in the hospital</div>
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Love and God bless,<br />
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Stephanie and Joshua The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-50823841703184889692012-04-09T12:20:00.001-04:002012-04-09T12:20:42.316-04:00Hello Friends and Family and Happy Belated Easter!<br />
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April is here and with it, some very exciting news . . . Josh and I are expecting a baby in October! We are completely ecstatic and have been chomping at the bit to share the news. I am doing well and very happy to be finishing up the first trimester. We ask for your prayers for us and our new addition and we will definitely keep you up to date on all the baby news!<br />
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We also just completed the Vacation Bible School that we have been planning for the past few months. We worked with the local Missionary Alliance Church in Milagro and they were incredible. The church sent a team of about 14 people each day, mostly teenagers, who led the VBS and it was so encouraging to see the Lord working through them. They loved working with the kids and the kids loved learning about God.<br />
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As I have mentioned before, the hospital is located in a neighborhood called Las Piñas, which is extremely poor. Most families in the neighborhood live in houses made of sugarcane and reeds. The kids of the area are on their own a lot of the time and playing outside in filthy conditions and so we were really excited about bringing them to the auditorium of the hospital and sharing God's love with them and giving them some attention for a couple of hours each day. <br />
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Thursday and Friday of the week before the VBS we publicized that we were hosting it and handed out fliers, and we got a great response from the parents we talked to. Monday rolled around however, and when the team arrived to teach at 2pm, there were no kids! I was extremely nervous and felt horrible about not being prepared, but the team from the church and some hospital employees happily went out into Las Piñas and rounded up the kids. By 2:45, there were 60 kids in the auditorium and we had 50 to 60 kids come each day after that.<br />
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The team prayed with the kids and led them in songs and stories about missionaries and then split them into groups by their age and told the story of Moses. By the last day, the kids knew 5 or 6 new songs, could retell the story of Moses and were asking when the next VBS was going to be! I pray that we were able to plant a seed in their hearts and that God would grow that seed with his love as they grow up. </div>
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We have spoken with the leader of the VBS team and she is interested in setting up an after-school program once a week here at the hospital to keep up with the kids and continue their Christian education. We told her we would be thrilled to work with them on that, so we will see what the Lord has in store!</div>
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Here are some pictures from the VBS:</div>
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The kids waiting to go in on the last day</div>
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A group of girls ready to learn about the Lord</div>
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The opening session</div>
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Welcome speech</div>
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Kids learning to pray</div>
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One of the songs they learned. The lyrics mean: "Do you know who Jesus is? He is my Savior. He never leaves me, he loves me, yes, he always helps me, he listens to me. Even if I have problems, I can trust in him. It is marvelous to know that he is my faithful friend."</div>
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One of the small group sessions</div>
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Some of the VBS teachers</div>
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We hope everyone is enjoying some spring-time weather and we thank you, as always, for your prayers and support.</div>
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Love and God bless,</div>
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Stephanie and Josh</div>
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The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-50450537446213738372012-03-05T08:53:00.000-05:002012-03-05T08:53:00.942-05:00Leaping into March¡Hola Todos!<br />
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We hope everyone had a wonderful Leap Day and that you are looking forward to some "March Madness"! (Go Heels! - my one and only plug, promise!) Josh and I have been in our apartment for a month now, and we are loving it. We are cooking and having people over occassionally and just enjoying having a place to call our own.<br />
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We are continuing to take small steps forward here at the hospital. We celebrated its 11th anniversary on Valentine's Day and we should have the optical shop moved inside at some point this month. At end of next week, Josh and I are heading to Quito for a Conference with CBM (Christian Blind Mission). CBM has had a partnership with our hospital in Milagro for many years and we are excited to learn more about their organization and how we can continue to work together to spread the gospel and provide eye care to the poor. While we are there, we also have plans to spend time with our friends from Language School who live in Quito. They were so generous to us last year in letting us live in their home, and we were really sad to have to say goodbye when we moved here to Milagro. We are very excited to have this opportunity to get to see them again.<br />
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One of our goals that we have been working on recently is to have at least two MMI surgical mission projects come to the hospital during 2012. Last June, we had the pleasure of working with a doctor from Texas in Baños. This year, he is interested in spending one week in Baños with Susana on her project, and then coming down to Milagro to spend one week doing knee-replacements and other orthopedic surgeries here in the hospital. It was a joy working with him last year and we can't wait to have him back. We are looking for physical therapists, nurses, and an anesthesiologist and/or CRNA to help us on this June project (specific dates TBA), so if you are interested, please email me at s.tucker@mmint.org. There is another project in the works for October, but we don't have any details yet. We will keep you posted!<br />
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Josh and I are so blessed to be here, and as always, we thank you for your prayers for us and for our ministry. Whether in the US or here in Ecuador, every day has its joys and also its challenges and difficulties. Josh shared a devotion with the staff this morning based on John 16:33 which says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." We encourage you to find your hope in the Lord in every circumstance and always remember that Jesus already won the battle for us, so we just have to trust in Him. We are praying for you all as well and we send our love.<br />
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Here are some pics of the flooding that happens outside our apartment. All that rain fell in about an hour! Luckily, we are on the second floor so we stay pretty dry :).<br />
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Stephanie and JoshuaThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-73979214517231132082012-01-26T17:05:00.000-05:002012-01-26T17:06:44.862-05:00Hola 2012!We are back in Ecuador and ready for action! A lot has happened since our last blog, so I will back up a little. When I last wrote, we were preparing for our time in the Dominican Republic. The first week, we were at MMI's flagship hospital in Santo Domingo. Nicole and Janice Hunter were so helpful and showed us every part of their facility. We got a lot of ideas that we believe will translate nicely to the hospital in Milagro. The second week, we were at the MMI Director's Conference and it was fantastic as well! It was a joy to see all of my friends from the Dominican Republic and around the world. It really brought home the fact that we are all a family and, in happiness and in troubles, God has given us a group of people to support and help us.
Not long after finishing the conference and returning to Ecuador, we headed home to North Carolina for Christmas and New Years. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be home for a while. We ate, and ate, and then ate some more! We loved being able to go to our repective churches in Wilmington and Pinehurst, and also to visit other churches and individuals who are supporting us. It was very difficult to say goodbye (isn't it always?) but we headed back to Ecuador last week and we are back working in the hospital.
In the few short days that we have been back, we have been busy! We are beginning a couple of exciting projects here in the hospital based on the insight we gained from the hospital in the Dominican Republic:
Our first order of business was to revamp our optical shop. Previously, the optical shop for the hospital was located about 200 yards from the main building. By the time our patients finished with their appointments, frequently they just got in a taxi or on a motorcycle and headed home without visiting it. We are bringing the optical shop inside the main building and trying to make it a more inviting and comfortable space for our patients. Glasses are something that a patient is going to use A LOT, so we want them to feel completely at ease as they go through the process of choosing frames. Also, if the shop is inside the hospital, right by the waiting room, hopefully more people will want to purchase their glasses through us.
Secondly, we would like to try to develop an audiology department within the hospital. This is more of a long-term goal, but we are trying to take some preliminary steps. At the Director's Conference, we spent a good bit of time with a pediatric audiologist who has worked with the hospital in Santo Domingo to develop their audiology department. She is eager to help us do the same! Unlike severe eye problems, hearing problems can be long-overlooked in children here in Ecuador and frequently, children with hearing problems are misdiagnosed as having autism. We are excited about the potential of this project and will keep you updated on its progress.
Here in Ecuador, the children are out of school for their "summer vacation" until April, and it is my goal to offer a Vacation Bible School for the children of the poor neighborhood around the hospital called Las Piñas. I am working with a member of the local church to obtain materials and teachers for a program in March. Although Josh and I do have the goal of improving business practices and efficiency in the hospital, our primary goal of course is to share the gospel in words and actions with the world around us. VBS is a fantastic way to do that! We want these children to feel the love of Christ and desire to know him more. We also hope that, through the VBS, more people would learn about the hospital and we would be able to help more patients.
On a more personal note, Josh and I will be moving into our very own apartment (first time in 3 years!) either this weekend or next week some time. Needless to say, I am beyond excited. It was COMPLETELY unfurnished - no furniture, no appliances, no blinds, not even lightbulbs! So we have been busy this week shopping for good deals on all of these things :). I can't wait to start cooking again! Once we get moved in, I will post some pictures of our new place.
Yesterday was my birthday, and I was blessed enough to have calls and well-wishes from my family, and not one, but TWO surprise parties! The family that we are living with threw one for me the night before my birthday, and then yesterday the hospital staff had a cake for me. I was definitely feeling the love.
The year is ripe with promise and we are very excited and priviledged to share it with you.
Here are some pictures from the conference and from Christmas:
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Joshua and I in the Dominican Republic with the Ecuador Team
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Willie Hunter, CEO of MMI, speaking at the Director's Conference
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The White/Tucker/Sorzano family in New Orleans for Christmas
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The boys :)
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Josh and I with his Grandfather
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIApucEksJkqisBIcM-DLkZ_G2YBAh4DtQ5eq2jtUFCaOH4Jq14DdfJP5WoPGDgcSi-gu9W6BR52E7_2Y5sHqFE2I6Ym_4gRejDph7ouyKlbNsLGdfMqW_sdZDlT8Uca0YWYgnwEpJLKOm/s1600/photo-6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIApucEksJkqisBIcM-DLkZ_G2YBAh4DtQ5eq2jtUFCaOH4Jq14DdfJP5WoPGDgcSi-gu9W6BR52E7_2Y5sHqFE2I6Ym_4gRejDph7ouyKlbNsLGdfMqW_sdZDlT8Uca0YWYgnwEpJLKOm/s320/photo-6.JPG" /></a></div>
Baya with her Christmas present (A UNC hat!)
Love and God Bless,
Stephanie and JoshuaThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-16258052156441519172011-11-27T16:10:00.008-05:002011-11-27T17:15:47.062-05:00What a Year!10 months and 6 days ago Josh and I arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador to begin working towards the goal of finding a site for a new MMI Permanent Center. Far from being straightforward and basic, this task took us all over Ecuador and required that we investigate way more than just population statistics and pieces of land. We have been humbled by the work that we have done here and we feel confident with the information that we have presented to MMI regarding the potential new center. We know that ultimately, this decision is in the hands of the Lord and that we have fulfilled the job that we set out to do this year.<br /><br />For the past 2 months, we have been working at the hospital here in Milagro, Ecuador and things are moving forward. Our priority from the beginning was to learn first and to act second. This hospital has been operating self-sufficiently since 2001 and, although there are areas that can be improved, we wanted to take the time to understand the processes and the culture of the hospital before charging ahead with changes. We have learned so much in the 2 months that we have spent in the hospital and we have a lot of ideas that we are anxious to implement in 2012. We will be sure to let all of you know how we are progressing!<br /><br />During the past 2 months, we also worked on a week-long mission project in a coastal city called Daule. The team that came down was from Pennsylvania and they came to work! There were a total of 20 people on the team and we saw 1700 patients in just 1 week! Josh and I are so glad to have been able to help out with the Daule project and we are thrilled that we were able to get the hospital involved as well. One of the ophthalmic techs came with us and did general eye checks and also screened patients for cataracts and pterigions. Those patients who needed surgery were given the hospital's information and we are working to help them plan their surgeries.<br /><br />Tomorrow, Josh and I leave for 2 weeks in the Dominican Republic - and not for a beach vacation! :) From Tuesday through Sunday we will be working in the MMI Permanent Center in Santo Domingo, and learning from the administration there. We have had several conversations with them and we are excited to get the opportunity to see how they operate and how we can improve Ecuador's MMI hospital in Milagro. In the second week of our time in the Dominican Republic, we will be attending the MMI Director's Conference in a city outside of Santiago. The conference will give us the chance to meet with MMI staff from all over the world and assess MMI as a whole and how it can improve.<br /><br />We are so excited to come home and see everyone at Christmas - we miss you all so much! We are blessed by all that the Lord has done in our lives this year and we know that this is only the beginning of our work. We pray that everyone enjoys preparing for Christmas!<br /><br />Here are some pictures from the September Sangolquí project:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipO6c0s28WSYoIW9uw902hQPPR3OmM3f_bHZkEokJKt8KOb1mbftbo11w7nG4q9kSutnUBGs1zfmDxKntokgY58XOdDpSuIJFWbhNvdrIwpXy-JC8Fnfn3ctBgIf_AcuAh6yMYnPj9zXsj/s1600/P1010328.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipO6c0s28WSYoIW9uw902hQPPR3OmM3f_bHZkEokJKt8KOb1mbftbo11w7nG4q9kSutnUBGs1zfmDxKntokgY58XOdDpSuIJFWbhNvdrIwpXy-JC8Fnfn3ctBgIf_AcuAh6yMYnPj9zXsj/s320/P1010328.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679801664426190850" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dmsENsx2_afryH3Wu7ZH4HL8HHoYFp7WK_poOu8NY2FlosReGN17HT-2qN_4ByWfUodXn0p3NMr-t2E8c9KaZEMocCd8v5KLjqMrTE5emm4s6hJ_GJJ_dOMnSQxxkP2B7-vcv8jKezsY/s1600/P1010307.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dmsENsx2_afryH3Wu7ZH4HL8HHoYFp7WK_poOu8NY2FlosReGN17HT-2qN_4ByWfUodXn0p3NMr-t2E8c9KaZEMocCd8v5KLjqMrTE5emm4s6hJ_GJJ_dOMnSQxxkP2B7-vcv8jKezsY/s320/P1010307.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679801641271666130" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhkakS78Pj7ssY08EH0i87IqCqm43OjqWHPbLOYjBPL-2NXnLLExgHAdr5Rbbd_kUMrI2Uc5d6eiyPPQhrZYVs_gO69qbSb5CVGXcMACJW3ACyQztUbzEMf051VPrvPTfDP_l00x_FR-2/s1600/P1010332.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhkakS78Pj7ssY08EH0i87IqCqm43OjqWHPbLOYjBPL-2NXnLLExgHAdr5Rbbd_kUMrI2Uc5d6eiyPPQhrZYVs_gO69qbSb5CVGXcMACJW3ACyQztUbzEMf051VPrvPTfDP_l00x_FR-2/s320/P1010332.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679801631049357138" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENbNWjevD7kWDh66h_qkGl_WDuTbiTVgpTALDxMmda9SN_Q0IjAhp69MwxG78M2DEF7wcTrzWCzccSEWWhLm0F7zlZSeZOuhBIjqDWh2MJZpg_9NvZMeR4LKLy4GnRUziRyYdFVFNm4NB/s1600/P1010341.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENbNWjevD7kWDh66h_qkGl_WDuTbiTVgpTALDxMmda9SN_Q0IjAhp69MwxG78M2DEF7wcTrzWCzccSEWWhLm0F7zlZSeZOuhBIjqDWh2MJZpg_9NvZMeR4LKLy4GnRUziRyYdFVFNm4NB/s320/P1010341.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679801628014046098" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X9d88uN1jyySTmHz3_sG4sl3lHTAt1XdL5DwsGx0aJ4Q_jaQTB6cR_wPk2G6Gts5cJUFYcAFsWvV-r16AGKbN5tuZSBsPGGKbpGjbo6f1mg7fBiDm1To1_v2WnY2CQjYbb9iBeQInHSJ/s1600/P1010300.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X9d88uN1jyySTmHz3_sG4sl3lHTAt1XdL5DwsGx0aJ4Q_jaQTB6cR_wPk2G6Gts5cJUFYcAFsWvV-r16AGKbN5tuZSBsPGGKbpGjbo6f1mg7fBiDm1To1_v2WnY2CQjYbb9iBeQInHSJ/s320/P1010300.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679796490544503394" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaPfRSOJZ02YmkR46sRGsK6gMBzufv3-BdpW8jm5yX4kpoKarByyfBrrunE8OnEv_onYERhQTOHrCshYaEyEItC-wfPP0EoZlHkOVdQr0SXdP988cKeJ2T_aSrewy3SsYdgc2YffXG127/s1600/P1010334.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaPfRSOJZ02YmkR46sRGsK6gMBzufv3-BdpW8jm5yX4kpoKarByyfBrrunE8OnEv_onYERhQTOHrCshYaEyEItC-wfPP0EoZlHkOVdQr0SXdP988cKeJ2T_aSrewy3SsYdgc2YffXG127/s320/P1010334.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679796483557946322" /></a><br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshuaThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-75413592539169375402011-10-03T12:35:00.001-04:002011-10-03T12:58:36.825-04:00"I will level the mountains"That's what the Lord was saying to me over and over in the weeks leading up to the September project. "I will go before you and will level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron." Isaiah 45:2. There were so many little stresses surrounding this project that I put up all my defenses and would not trust God to take care of it. But boy did he. Why would I ever doubt his goodness??<br /><br />The team arrived on September 17th and although there were some delayed flights, everyone got to Ecuador safely. Josh and I led the surgical team which consisted of about 20 people. On Monday, we focused all of our efforts on doing consults and scheduling surgeries for the rest of the two weeks. Even spending all that time on consults, we still did 7 surgeries Monday afternoon! In two weeks the surgical team did 52 minor surgeries and 82 major surgeries in general surgery, plastic surgery, and orthopedic surgery. Susana Logacho and the medical team were very busy as well and were able to see a total of 2,921 patients in two weeks. Looking at the number of patients who came for medical care, consults and surgeries it is clear that there is definitely need in this area and we will be investigating it further as a site for the new permanent center. <br /><br />The team was unbelievable and brought a TON of supplies as well as great attitudes and ALL of their flexibility :). Everyone was ready to work and anxious to help wherever they were needed. I was ecstatic to see my parents and all our friends from Wilmington - we had a blast working together! We were also blessed to have a great working relationship with the hospital staff, and the local church was 100% involved in providing transportation, integrated health, chaplain services, food, and encouragement. God provided abundantly in every way and deserves ALL the praise!!<br /><br />Now that the project is over, we will turn our sights to the current MMI permanent center in Milagro. Today is our last full day in Quito and tomorrow we make the long drive south. It will be really difficult to say goodbye to our friends here in the north (not to mention this unbelievable weather), but we are excited to serve in Milagro and try to help the current center grow and develop to be able to serve more people.<br /><br />We are so grateful to you all for your prayers for us and for this project. We hope that God was glorified in the work that was done in Sangolquí, and that more people were introduced to his love because of the project.<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-12071543391438524992011-08-31T13:00:00.004-04:002011-08-31T13:19:52.338-04:00And the Journey Continues!Another project under our belts! We just got back from Ambato and it was a wonderful project with a wonderful group. 10 of the participants were nursing students and they were all so eager to learn and help in any way that they could. Another 6 were a group from Canada who brought a ton of supplies and knowledge to the project. It is amazing how close you can get to people in such a short amount of time. We pray that they will return to Ecuador on projects in the future! In the course of two weeks we were able to attend to over 2,800 patients and all of them heard the good news of Christ!
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<br />This was the first project that Josh and I have worked on that included a surgical component and, after working out a few kinks in the first couple of days, we were able to do 19 surgeries! It was awesome to see how the American surgeon and nurse cooperated with the Ecuadorian surgeons and nurses, and they were even able to teach the team at the Hospital in Pelileo some new techniques for prostate surgery. Josh and I are so glad to have been able to work on a surgical project and it is going to be a huge help to us as we prepare for the September mission team in Sangolqui. Every project we complete is a learning experience for us and we are so grateful to the project director, Susana, for teaching us everything she knows!
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<br />Prior to the last project, we spent some time in Ibarra (about 2 hours north of Quito) to see if it would be a good site for the new permanent center. We talked to a doctor there who was very informative and eager to help us. He told us that the population in Ibarra has access to a Government Hospital (free healthcare to anyone), a Social Security Hospital (free healthcare to those who have jobs), and various private hospitals and clinics (healthcare for the middle and upper-classes). After spending time there, we can see that the permanent center would probably serve more people in need in a different location.
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<br />Also prior to the last project, members of MMI USA and the members of the Ecuadorian MMI board had a meeting in Quito. The purpose of the meeting was largely to talk about the direction for MMI’s future in Ecuador, but Josh and I were given a slightly different direction as well! MMI’s current permanent center in Milagro (southern part of Ecuador) is going through a change in administration and Josh and I have been named co-directors of the center to help facilitate that change. That means that we will be living and working full-time in Milagro. We will continue our search for the site of the new permanent center, and working in the Milagro center will help us to better understand the nuts and bolts of running a clinic. We are thrilled to have the opportunity and we are staying flexible!!
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<br />The next project group will arrive in Sangolqui on September 17th and Josh and I are living here in Sangolqui for the next two-and-a-half weeks to prepare. I am thrilled to see my parents since they are participants on this project, and the outcome of this project is very important since Sangolqui is still under consideration as a site for the new center. We are so grateful for your continued prayers and encouragement!!
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<br />We treated this lady at the clinic on the last day of the project. She has 9 children and 30 grandchildren!!
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7bOoHcYHDzSJAXWmcFC0ch0H0TC4nEikacl-llLDb4RcwD2DscZNvobGfKOBwdYwg7UG8kOmAC-Ry1P8PA0_uqkb73nwJtLKwvwuqd_cUO0slRjrJqCl9mp759xos_Nw0FiIJFLFPqhA/s1600/P1010225.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7bOoHcYHDzSJAXWmcFC0ch0H0TC4nEikacl-llLDb4RcwD2DscZNvobGfKOBwdYwg7UG8kOmAC-Ry1P8PA0_uqkb73nwJtLKwvwuqd_cUO0slRjrJqCl9mp759xos_Nw0FiIJFLFPqhA/s320/P1010225.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647069512887700498" /></a>
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<br />Love and God Bless,
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<br />Stephanie and Josh
<br />The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-5777037552182094632011-07-27T11:29:00.002-04:002011-07-27T11:36:57.940-04:00July 2011 Medical Mission Project: Latacunga, EcuadorHello again! Well, our July project has come to a close and we are back in Quito. The July project was in Latacunga and we went to some very poor areas to provide health care and to share the gospel. We had enough people who spoke Spanish on this trip that Josh and I were able to participate in a lot of different areas of the project. I spent a week giving fluoride treatments to kids and also providing reading glasses to the elderly who needed them, and Josh spent a lot of time getting vital signs from the patients before sending them on to the medical professionals. We both love translating for the physicians, but it was nice to be involved in other ministries as well. <br /><br />A very important part of all of our projects is integrated health where the patients go to hear talks about eating a balanced diet, boiling their water before drinking it, and general hygeine. They also hear the good news of Jesus Christ and receive clear instructions on how to take the medicines that they are given. I spent some time with the leader of integrated health to learn more about how that part works, and I was able to talk to the children who had received fluoride about Jesus and why he came and died for us. One little boy told me that his family only had one Bible in the house and since it was the special family Bible, he couldn't take it down and read it. We were able to give him the New Testament in Spanish so that he could read about Jesus for himself and also read to his younger brothers and sisters. He was so excited to receive it and we were thrilled to be able to give it to him. There is absolutely no feeling as wonderful as serving God by serving others! We will try to post some pictures in the next few days :). <br /><br />In the next three weeks, we have plans to speak at some churches in Quito who will be helping us with future projects, visiting some areas to the north of Quito to see if the clinic would be a good fit there, and also preparing for our next project which is in Ambato. Most of you know about our September Medical Mission Project in Sangolqui. My dad is the medical director of this project, and we are welcoming more participants! The project dates are September 17th - October 1st and there are still some spots available for medical professionals or general helpers. We would love to see you! If you are interested and/or have questions, please email us at stephanietucker1@gmail.com. <br /><br />Please keep us in your prayers as the summer comes to a close. We are exploring new ideas for the permanent center and the most important thing for us is to be sure we are following God's design and not our own. We have faith that he will provide us with all of the information that we need to make these decision. <br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-12418354595519224622011-06-26T12:28:00.005-04:002011-06-26T14:04:52.543-04:00Medical Mission Trip, June 2011: Baños, EcuadorHello Everyone!<br /><br />For the past two weeks, Josh and I have worked with a medical mission team of Americans and Canadians in Baños, Ecuador. We are so grateful to have been a part of this team and we would love to tell you a little bit about our experiences!<br /><br />The team arrived on June 11th and we took a bus to Baños on June 12th. We started work on Monday the 13th and each day that week we traveled to a different small town in the area. Members of the team included nurses, a urologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a family practice doctor, general helpers, and interpreters. The first week we saw 674 patients and we gave fluoride treatments to 798 children. Over the weekend, the team was able to explore Baños a little and on Sunday we attended a local church. At the church service, I was given my first opportunity to translate a sermon - boy, was I nervous! But, God gave me the words, and with his help, all the participants were able to understand His word that morning. After a restful Sunday afternoon, we started back to work on Monday and worked until Thursday afternoon when we headed back to Quito. The second week we saw 470 patients and gave 459 children fluoride treatments. This gave us a 2-week total of 1257 fluoride treatments and 1144 patients who received treatment and medicine, and they and their families received health education, and heard the gospel. We pray we were able to plant seeds of hope in these patients and that God will pursue them and capture their hearts. <br /><br />The whole group meshed incredibly well and we were constantly reminded how God takes such care to bring each team together to fill all of the needs. We had devotions each morning by different members of the team, and someone spoke on 1 Corinthians Chapter 12: <br /><br />"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body . . . Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be."<br /><br />What a wonderful metaphor for the way a team works together! God was very present every day when we went to work and brought us so many patients that we were able to help. Each participant played a part in making the whole thing come together.<br /><br />Our next mission team arrives on July 9th and we will be headed to a town called Latacunga. For the next two weeks, Josh and I will be preparing for the next team and, if time allows, also exploring some areas a little north of Quito that may be possibilities for the permanent center. We will let you know how everything goes!<br /><br />Every morning of each project we get together with the waiting patients and sing a praise song in Spanish called "Alabare" which means, "I will praise". Please excuse my singing [:-)], but enjoy this video:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxoDufkefFQ0HGuh3byth4DUfmd17cU2Fk0XUJ2jItrzblD-JQ8u_wzXEH95hNLgf0g99NMcNEd-x_p-Gi5NQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-22444433274238237702011-05-05T14:55:00.008-04:002011-05-06T22:18:25.556-04:00April Showers Bring May FlowersThe pictures didn't post last time! They should show up now!! :)<br /><br /><br />Hello again! The rainy season here is coming to a close and the weather here is beautiful. Josh and I have been very busy over the past month and I can't wait to update everyone!<br /><br />First of all, we finally were able to get our Ecuadorian driver's licenses! After finishing the ANETA driving course and passing their exams, we had to wait 14 business days to get our documents from them that we had to take to Ecuador's equivalent of the DMV. I thought the DMV in NC was rough - we waited an hour and 45 minutes just to get in the door at the Comision de transito! Luckily we both brought a book to read :). Once we got inside, we turned in all of our paperwork, were entered into the system, took their computerized test, got our picture taken, and finally left 3 and a half hours later with our very own licenses! It is such a relief to have those.<br /><br />Aside from getting our licenses in Quito, we were able to spend a lot of time in a town about 45 minutes away called Sangolqui. We have been working with the "jefe parrochial" (basically the leader of the county) to see if it is a city that would need medical services like the one that our clinic would provide. He and the members of the county board of directors took us on a tour of the area and helped us get to know some of the poorer areas around the city. They even took us to eat cuy (Guinea Pig) and it was actually really delicious! There is currently a hospital in Sangolqui, but many of the people from the small villages outside of Sangolqui don't get the medical attention that they need. We are definitely keeping it in mind as a possibility.<br /><br />Yesterday, Josh and I arrive in a city called Riobamba in the province of Chimborazo. It was about a 3 hour drive from Quito and was suggested to us as a possible site for the clinic. We spent all this morning driving around to see a few clinics in the area to try to learn as much as possible. We arrived at Riobamba's public hospital and decided to ask if there was anyway we could meet with an administrator to learn about the available healthcare in Riobamba, and we just happened to arrive at the perfect time to have a meeting with the former head of public health for Chimborazo. God definitely made the meeting possible! This doctor currently works in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the public hospital, and he was a wealth of information for us. One thing we learned this morning was that we have a lot more investigating to do here before we draw any conclusions. This afternoon we have a meeting with the pastor of a local Baptist church. He has cooperated with MMI in the past on short-term mission trips and he knows a lot about the type of need that exists in the area. We plan on staying here at least another week and maybe more before moving on to our next city.<br /><br />Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement! We miss home, but we are so blessed and happy to be here and pray that we can be used by the Lord in his work in Ecuador.<br /><br />Here are some pictures of the tour that we got of Sangolqui. Enjoy!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibw33V6cX-5uvjuUtDsECm29uHJyCQCBuXi_f5_ty03YTSxBW4RRNltw8TBG56qEHZGo_tLadYhGrClQhyphenhyphenpDNIGeOn6k5dSoaHDeLvaDbh_hkwBMmHo_daH49DA7tpk2aeiIVffZd6OxaK/s1600/P1000426.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibw33V6cX-5uvjuUtDsECm29uHJyCQCBuXi_f5_ty03YTSxBW4RRNltw8TBG56qEHZGo_tLadYhGrClQhyphenhyphenpDNIGeOn6k5dSoaHDeLvaDbh_hkwBMmHo_daH49DA7tpk2aeiIVffZd6OxaK/s320/P1000426.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603782611714093842" /></a><br />We all met at the town square to start the tour<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7APx1AGOwZfePlI7Z7XXLmkkVQ2np5VeFXqMBsz3E9YVh4JCtL8VEpSKT30UvuROw7F1g4mkYOIt570kCDTOrw2XPe6pqE3j723V9bPnCaFqWdIY97JlL1nAqrLjpu9IJKfeJ6J7FWcmm/s1600/P1000425.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7APx1AGOwZfePlI7Z7XXLmkkVQ2np5VeFXqMBsz3E9YVh4JCtL8VEpSKT30UvuROw7F1g4mkYOIt570kCDTOrw2XPe6pqE3j723V9bPnCaFqWdIY97JlL1nAqrLjpu9IJKfeJ6J7FWcmm/s320/P1000425.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603783810407850242" /></a><br />The church in the town square<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihe7Wv0jHR7HEs7iNPxFZsJtGbMiLNVW76_grP7DsCnAKSQe-tp1x0iOUX-k6eq0BNPtCgJA5MR31jDihT6TGQL94SAUjDXTTHDZy8PzTokWpDz1CcZandUH_zEv0Rd6vcjHZjDh-yOr_/s1600/P1000463.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihe7Wv0jHR7HEs7iNPxFZsJtGbMiLNVW76_grP7DsCnAKSQe-tp1x0iOUX-k6eq0BNPtCgJA5MR31jDihT6TGQL94SAUjDXTTHDZy8PzTokWpDz1CcZandUH_zEv0Rd6vcjHZjDh-yOr_/s320/P1000463.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603784997406607282" /></a><br />Josh and I enjoying some Cuy!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLl-qtoJ8ZXqnyZc7GdDiFHapZplMY6Pereq4ZYxKyeOUccJ0xwQi-b8E4_yDmilqmlgfus8tRTia2iXizotbbRzdqLk0wsJvzPx64IkIyT5sGjJe_Ptag97iiHbP2bE_qNZVYxjYZpywR/s1600/P1000452-1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLl-qtoJ8ZXqnyZc7GdDiFHapZplMY6Pereq4ZYxKyeOUccJ0xwQi-b8E4_yDmilqmlgfus8tRTia2iXizotbbRzdqLk0wsJvzPx64IkIyT5sGjJe_Ptag97iiHbP2bE_qNZVYxjYZpywR/s320/P1000452-1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603788100726109874" /></a><br />We stopped to enjoy the beauty of a local ecological reserve<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4aD2YO2qXZ57DWdEv7CL8kivI4H6JU4nfo4p2FeJirsJAcO-W7mibMIx8W58x9eIXd7CD2OwN8N0l_3YooNd22xyug3gGd_Om-8p_fvPOKpyv2mfEc_SD0Zp9o5RNf9YGDyUcsRK81r-/s1600/P1000481.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4aD2YO2qXZ57DWdEv7CL8kivI4H6JU4nfo4p2FeJirsJAcO-W7mibMIx8W58x9eIXd7CD2OwN8N0l_3YooNd22xyug3gGd_Om-8p_fvPOKpyv2mfEc_SD0Zp9o5RNf9YGDyUcsRK81r-/s320/P1000481.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603789855733038242" /></a><br />The Jefe Parrochial telling us about the healthcare needs of the local population<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYeIuunvohFeUP44cUl6_mmXCgTwX_0DgbCUmvxdOvRGMVWuRWtLwF6fYes1FlhleYpZc5tXp5TLxmndPpjA_xBUN_NubZV1fNSeEXKsBxzD1Itu8SY0uAJdxugZk5RNE-f7R91QqXExX/s1600/P1000456.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYeIuunvohFeUP44cUl6_mmXCgTwX_0DgbCUmvxdOvRGMVWuRWtLwF6fYes1FlhleYpZc5tXp5TLxmndPpjA_xBUN_NubZV1fNSeEXKsBxzD1Itu8SY0uAJdxugZk5RNE-f7R91QqXExX/s320/P1000456.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603790773766374434" /></a><br />The whole group<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09M97XNMJf1KELIWuzN7slQAbqrNZU1gM-fMd1_VgmbCIHaEnii_J5hqdSYdop8QaBpM5DlouIGTdZ3iCJzPZLM9TlelJwQLsuf68AzrV5yg7NREhyphenhyphenwVZZslrYc8nWBhQNzeF5ynMSdnA/s1600/P1000436.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09M97XNMJf1KELIWuzN7slQAbqrNZU1gM-fMd1_VgmbCIHaEnii_J5hqdSYdop8QaBpM5DlouIGTdZ3iCJzPZLM9TlelJwQLsuf68AzrV5yg7NREhyphenhyphenwVZZslrYc8nWBhQNzeF5ynMSdnA/s320/P1000436.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603791751901762546" /></a><br />Local transportation :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfalQq55yc0wqHHEZQcwQUyq-fFI2U4MCKo1TDa8Tc6iD2iOEpQl7LzR7tmLCMwWI-FB8zDhYxScaP22_zYD1JJ5VzZq0iEgMQvuPjKq6vB8PLvJqdS2CqxA7ozncJaeSX_H61sKLjOas/s1600/P1000485-1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfalQq55yc0wqHHEZQcwQUyq-fFI2U4MCKo1TDa8Tc6iD2iOEpQl7LzR7tmLCMwWI-FB8zDhYxScaP22_zYD1JJ5VzZq0iEgMQvuPjKq6vB8PLvJqdS2CqxA7ozncJaeSX_H61sKLjOas/s320/P1000485-1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603792668236244370" /></a><br />A beautiful sunset at the end of the day<br /><br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshuaThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-4825037565304470812011-04-04T18:47:00.002-04:002011-04-04T19:48:24.780-04:00Quito!Josh and I have been in Quito now for two weeks and I have to admit, I am loving the cooler weather! We enrolled at ANETA, the Ecuadorian driving school and have been in classes for the past week. It is a 9 day course, then we have to wait 12 business days for ANETA to send our approved paperwork and completed tests to the police station, and finally we can go to the police station, take another test and get our license. It's quite a process! <br /><br />We spend 2 hours per day in the classroom learning theory and then 2 hours on the road practicing. Josh already knows how to drive a stick shift, but he's using the time to learn the layout of the city and the routes in and out. That way when we have medical teams fly into Quito, we'll be prepared. I'm slowly but surely learning how to drive a stick shift and my instructor said I should have no problem passing the driving test. Another good thing is that its 4 hours a day of Spanish practice because all of the teaching is in Spanish. We had a written test last Friday which Josh and I both aced :), and our driving test is on Wednesday. <br /><br />One thing we've learned from this course is that there are penalties for EVERYTHING here. You even get penalized if you accidentally run out of gas! Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, we have yet to see the police actually pull someone over for anything. ANETA has talked a TON about seat belts which is great, but it kills me how many young kids I see in the backseats of cars crawling around without seat belts on, even though the parents are wearing theirs. We make sure that everybody in our car wears their seat belts all the time!<br /><br />The week before we started classes, we stayed with our friends Larry and Amanda who live here in Quito. We met them at language school in Costa Rica and while we were staying with them they took us to HCJB to learn about their mission. HCJB is a Christian radio station and they also have a hospital. It's a wonderful organization. Amanda took us to the tutoring program where she works and she let us participate in her class that she teaches! Here are some pictures of our day in the classroom:<br /><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/745eef25ea094677.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/745eef25ea094677.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/e6f87e2bf84db3d8.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/e6f87e2bf84db3d8.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/7365826930e804ac.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/7365826930e804ac.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/51871ed3ef607717.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/51871ed3ef607717.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/cabbf462e65f5509.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/cabbf462e65f5509.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/ea49d24a5177abeb.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/ea49d24a5177abeb.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/324817dd6c7fb5cd.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/324817dd6c7fb5cd.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"><a href="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/6423d4d14f785b16.jpg"><img src="http://localhost:55823/880577d14dc2f10128f15aa39c005eba/image/6423d4d14f785b16.jpg?size=320" border="0" alt=""></a> </div><br /><br />We played "Around the World" with the kids to help them with math and also help them learn their numbers in english. Here's a video of Josh leading the game:<br /><br /> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyaCiIr-A0vWtzxuwa-haNKa8mRMdjW-B6xpKXoqaGz2bnnblitmuTJLdV1NPxx94rwRg9VUrMhSi4k4JQi0A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />The kids were SOOO cute!<br /><br />We have a meeting this coming week to determine what city we'll be going to after we get our licenses. We'll keep you posted!!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-20399516892498548662011-03-09T14:09:00.005-05:002011-03-09T18:58:21.895-05:00LojaWell, Josh and I have our car now and in the past month we have seen a LOT of Ecuador!! <br /><br />We have been driving using our US driver's license and we have about 6 weeks left to drive on that, but we are still working on getting our Ecuadorian drivers license. We think that we can go to Quito and get it because the laws are different there than here in Guayaquil. We have some wonderful missionary friends in Quito who have said that we can stay with them and they are helping us out a TON. Even though its frustrating, we have to remember that God is in control - even of the little details. <br /><br />This past weekend we went on a 1000 mile journey through the mountainous province of Loja, Ecuador. Jone and Abner (the MMI architects that we are living with) were nice enough to be our guides and took us to 8 different cities to see if any of them were possible locations for the new permanent center that we will be building.<br /><br />Here is the map of the cities that we visited:<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Guayaquil&daddr=Machala+to:Alamor,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Casanga,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Catamayo,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Loja,+Ecuador+to:Amaluza,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Balsas,+El+Oro,+Ecuador+to:Pi%C3%B1as+Canton,+El+Oro,+Ecuador+to:Zaruma,+El+Oro,+Ecuador&hl=en&geocode=FVhf3v8dk9w8-ym3gSkD7m0tkDGgViDqGzmVyA%3BFT0ozv8dXQA8-ynRThAvJQ4zkDF-qS0rnxhO6g%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B&mra=ls&sll=-2.693537,-79.897453&sspn=2.293448,4.202271&ie=UTF8&ll=-3.356421,-79.62373&spn=2.541135,0.881633&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=Guayaquil&daddr=Machala+to:Alamor,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Casanga,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Catamayo,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Loja,+Ecuador+to:Amaluza,+Loja,+Ecuador+to:Balsas,+El+Oro,+Ecuador+to:Pi%C3%B1as+Canton,+El+Oro,+Ecuador+to:Zaruma,+El+Oro,+Ecuador&hl=en&geocode=FVhf3v8dk9w8-ym3gSkD7m0tkDGgViDqGzmVyA%3BFT0ozv8dXQA8-ynRThAvJQ4zkDF-qS0rnxhO6g%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B&mra=ls&sll=-2.693537,-79.897453&sspn=2.293448,4.202271&ie=UTF8&ll=-3.356421,-79.62373&spn=2.541135,0.881633" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small><br /><br />We started on Friday, March 4th and planned to drive along the coast to Huaqiullas to stay the night. Unfortunately, about 2 1/2 hours into the journey we encountered a really bad wreck between a bus and a tractor trailer and we ended up turning around to go back to Guayaquil to spend the night. We started again on Saturday morning and drove to Machala (B) to eat lunch. From Machala we drove to Alamor (C) where we stayed the night. Alamor is a small town on top of a mountain - beautiful!! The next day we drove to Casanga (D) where we met a pastor and his family and attended a church service at his church. He told us the story of planting and growing the church in the midst of a lot of persecution. It was a beautiful service and from there a member of the church accompanied us to Catamayo (E) and on to Loja (F) where we spent the night.<br /><br />After visiting Catamayo, Josh and I think that it could be a strong candidate for the medical center. It has the right population, limited access to medical services currently, and a wonderful mountain climate. We plan to spend at least a few more weeks in Catamayo this year to find out more about it.<br /><br />From Loja, we drove to Amaluza (G) and visited with a man living there who does a lot of mission work in both southern Ecuador and northern Peru. He and his family live humbly, but they love the Lord so much and do the work they've been given with joy. It was very inspiring to meet them. Although it was too small to be considered for the permanent center, we think it would be a great location for future 2-week MMI projects.<br /><br />We returned to Loja from Amaluza and then continued on to Balsas (H) to stay the night Monday night. Tuesday morning we drove to Piñas (I) and Zaruma (J) before heading back to Guayaquil. <br /><br />It was an exhausting trip, but we made a lot of contacts and we also have at least one potential location for the hospital!<br /><br />In the next few weeks we will be working more on getting our license and also planning our trips to other parts of the country. Things are definitely getting busy and with so many things on our plate we pray that we can be good stewards of our time and resources. <br /><br />Please pray for us with regard to getting our driver's license. It seems like a small thing, but it is vital to our job here. Also, we realized quickly that traveling in Ecuador, while beautiful, is extremely challenging. Please pray for our safety as we begin to travel outside of Guayaquil more often.<br /><br />Copy and paste this link to see pictures from our journey through the province of Loja:<br /><br />https://picasaweb.google.com/105001353895748308133/Loja#<br /><br />Enjoy!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-79528609139775313802011-02-14T18:45:00.007-05:002011-02-14T22:49:16.979-05:00We have been in Ecuador for 25 days and they have been packed full! <br /><br />This past Saturday, we finished working a two-week project with 4 medical professionals from Missouri. The team worked at the hospital in Milagro and Josh and I helped manage the trip and did some translation for them. There were two medical residents, their attending, and an ophthalmic tech and they had been working with the medical director from the hospital in Milagro for a year arranging the details of their trip. This was a different sort of trip because in addition to the team spending time seeing patients and doing surgeries, the medical director here in Ecuador taught the doctors a different technique for cataract surgeries. It was really inspiring to see the team-work that took place.<br /><br />The team arrived on January 29th and we spent the 30th doing a little sight-seeing and introducing them to Ecuador.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8FdcdySzkhEusEMB7sfhqDCdU5H7U7efFWnwQg_c3UdzE2lTKZzUXuzLEuPp4COCaJ165ikDVzYm3In_BJQGpvSq2VOpGaYQJh49VIYTUHynBqLZQa3RxWSUhWhgdi5ylon9tl69TI5B/s1600/P1000133.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8FdcdySzkhEusEMB7sfhqDCdU5H7U7efFWnwQg_c3UdzE2lTKZzUXuzLEuPp4COCaJ165ikDVzYm3In_BJQGpvSq2VOpGaYQJh49VIYTUHynBqLZQa3RxWSUhWhgdi5ylon9tl69TI5B/s320/P1000133.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573696423866290322" /></a><br /><br />We climbed almost 500 steps to reach this lighthouse in Guayaquil!<br /><br />The evening of the 30th we went to the hospital and arranged all of the supplies that they were able to bring so that they could start work first thing on Monday morning. They all worked VERY hard throughout the past year to acquire an incredible amount of donations from hospitals and medical companies in the states and they were even able to leave a lot of donated supplies for the hospital's use after they left. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlH4dCmLZWOuKV5fMrmcTa2U1jYv9Jocb4ewRpXkO1TsCW9_TYRohYgMAuctrhfoXXTO9pre4bSuobnkqqy0pCqjGv8dCx2AwhPM_DjC8GEaJPU6mWcT_8NnpRlIXC2O4FA00m2F3Fx-3/s1600/P1000136.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlH4dCmLZWOuKV5fMrmcTa2U1jYv9Jocb4ewRpXkO1TsCW9_TYRohYgMAuctrhfoXXTO9pre4bSuobnkqqy0pCqjGv8dCx2AwhPM_DjC8GEaJPU6mWcT_8NnpRlIXC2O4FA00m2F3Fx-3/s320/P1000136.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573700607664027938" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFokhHJTuzMqz6W1vOdYZW2JFSH1q-EIRTp5-gGZak6lElxDJcOfQWEmS3o7MHmEguFjNRRks_WSkDyUKwn4M7s3ZWWT6s17Fbv0cEu5CY_2HOHnaJCgZjB6TZedWx_NpsWQYIEIm_4wH/s1600/P1000135.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFokhHJTuzMqz6W1vOdYZW2JFSH1q-EIRTp5-gGZak6lElxDJcOfQWEmS3o7MHmEguFjNRRks_WSkDyUKwn4M7s3ZWWT6s17Fbv0cEu5CY_2HOHnaJCgZjB6TZedWx_NpsWQYIEIm_4wH/s320/P1000135.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573700607146669010" /></a><br /><br />Supplies the team brought<br /><br />Everyone worked very hard that first week and it flew by. Before we knew it the weekend had arrived. The team decided they wanted to visit the mountains for their weekend excursion so we went to Cuenca. Cuenca is BEAUTIFUL! We stayed at a great little hotel, saw all the sites, and headed back to Milagro on Sunday in time to see the Super Bowl in Spanish at our hotel!<br /><br />The second week of the trip went just as well as the first and the team left very happy last Saturday. We are so appreciative of their work and look forward to more MMI trips in the future!<br /><br />Josh and I rested over the weekend and headed back to the hospital today. We were able to spend time observing the Social Worker and we also got to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the hospital:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0-5vpOTT8zRXMG9dfVJ66EPz01bH_wyk7LXXaDNeUS20eLl42OOV52M0tXK-Nv9nGoeYnNcj62-wYfQcwxpn3RQnyKn5zl9g7rnAF5i_XZzMCyUIxEn3_3uL5DewTgzBu4OldldCRxSi/s1600/P1000228.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0-5vpOTT8zRXMG9dfVJ66EPz01bH_wyk7LXXaDNeUS20eLl42OOV52M0tXK-Nv9nGoeYnNcj62-wYfQcwxpn3RQnyKn5zl9g7rnAF5i_XZzMCyUIxEn3_3uL5DewTgzBu4OldldCRxSi/s320/P1000228.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573757528724649778" /></a><br /><br /><br />Tomorrow we will be going to the transportation office to find out what we need to do to get our driver's license. Hopefully this process will be quick and painless but we are prepared for anything!<br /><br />Oh, for all those who love T.J.Maxx and there incredible bargains, we found a "sister"-store (A.K.A. knock-off store) in Cuenca:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQs-7No_3EviYLeylr-zodH6AtB_X7vr8BlYmf5pwDD9trOdd0unAw-26pRIrNupLNwnnpPTYcvQfJl5s_SjabEkO-Y-HWdY9j42a8FtCgaiPLik3pjPk4Y-54L2c0iMgC6qFMYwP6N7-/s1600/P1000188.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQs-7No_3EviYLeylr-zodH6AtB_X7vr8BlYmf5pwDD9trOdd0unAw-26pRIrNupLNwnnpPTYcvQfJl5s_SjabEkO-Y-HWdY9j42a8FtCgaiPLik3pjPk4Y-54L2c0iMgC6qFMYwP6N7-/s320/P1000188.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573757531436874162" /></a><br /><br /><br />Happy Valentine's Day and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-79026132083956808602011-01-24T14:23:00.006-05:002011-01-24T14:59:53.320-05:00Ecuador!On Friday, January 21st at 2:00 am, Josh and I officially arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador! We are so thrilled to be here after a year and a half of preparation. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us throughout this process!!!<br /><br />We didn't waste any time getting down to business after we arrived. After a few hours of sleep, we got up and dressed and drove with our host Jone and our boss about an hour to the existing MMI permanent center in Milagro. We met the staff of the hospital and got a tour of the premises. Here are some pictures of the hospital:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDpCS2_PkyJ6uJTORL0y1vj1ZLV56fRYzJpqf1ENtfTC8NfLKs4CpKXP7v-0jZHDUsOWCnJK82UZ4pOgATltTdizf2NIvgHb6KZUZWeHuS22B8gj2eXKiDYx7MbR1eBU852PkgPnFRzcX/s1600/P1000058.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDpCS2_PkyJ6uJTORL0y1vj1ZLV56fRYzJpqf1ENtfTC8NfLKs4CpKXP7v-0jZHDUsOWCnJK82UZ4pOgATltTdizf2NIvgHb6KZUZWeHuS22B8gj2eXKiDYx7MbR1eBU852PkgPnFRzcX/s320/P1000058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565837509035281330" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20qJSxvQweO3VX3pOTYRApu8xPCVcD1LPNGAbMh8xuucwKlfrFSQF3pl55uf1d0LLBDpko9XFDQg7MwxNvqhgekCkdx6o3I1J3n5K-RFY70Rtc0Ui7E68RiYSiMV2HndqahYBpu0KEmvv/s1600/P1000055.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20qJSxvQweO3VX3pOTYRApu8xPCVcD1LPNGAbMh8xuucwKlfrFSQF3pl55uf1d0LLBDpko9XFDQg7MwxNvqhgekCkdx6o3I1J3n5K-RFY70Rtc0Ui7E68RiYSiMV2HndqahYBpu0KEmvv/s320/P1000055.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565839388811698706" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpHtL5COCl-ZMtONI2_yWsKqFmuRCriMMDjJflmtGobpHozZvuCyoagLT6koM3KXalSrBZjJu2Lq6YZfb4eHLGkHqMFbrW15oZdIzcRqIuUOo567K_1tDeUZJLt0q2XcBHC797Rv9J4Gk/s1600/P1000060.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpHtL5COCl-ZMtONI2_yWsKqFmuRCriMMDjJflmtGobpHozZvuCyoagLT6koM3KXalSrBZjJu2Lq6YZfb4eHLGkHqMFbrW15oZdIzcRqIuUOo567K_1tDeUZJLt0q2XcBHC797Rv9J4Gk/s320/P1000060.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565839383517146178" /></a><br /><br />Afterwards, we got some lunch and purchased a pre-payed cell phone so that we had a way to communicate with Jone. That evening we met again with the hospital staff and some members of the board of the hospital to discuss more details of our goals here in Ecuador. The meeting went very well and it was decided that we will spend most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the hospital to learn everything we can about how it is run.<br /><br />We spent all day on Saturday in meetings with our boss planning out where we will travel and when, and also when we will begin to assist and direct short-term projects here in Ecuador. The plan is for us to live here in Guayaquil for about 2 months to learn the workings of the hospital and to take care of getting our visa registered, our censo (ID card), our license, and a car. Then we will travel around Ecuador doing site reports on multiple cities that are possible locations for the new permanent center. Throughout the year we will also assist the current project directors with short-term projects until we learn the ropes and can direct our own projects. Needless to say it will be a VERY busy year! After the meetings, we all went downtown and had dinner before our boss had to leave to go to Bolivia.<br /><br />Yesterday, we attended a beautiful church:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvqn7XlipzxFpcXyglcpBiDbyAH-0UJ7l5vUq3aEbYXaS7T9fQpJ9DQwO7KkJVr68VL7Fxeor97KWPIu79V5J3gnBM84hlGfOQ6tr0pYDOIGAHYi3C0mQHjsWZiQlNcuJLCLpO8tZh5Md/s1600/P1000063.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvqn7XlipzxFpcXyglcpBiDbyAH-0UJ7l5vUq3aEbYXaS7T9fQpJ9DQwO7KkJVr68VL7Fxeor97KWPIu79V5J3gnBM84hlGfOQ6tr0pYDOIGAHYi3C0mQHjsWZiQlNcuJLCLpO8tZh5Md/s320/P1000063.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565841165190256818" /></a><br /><br />and we finally got a chance to unpack! It is nice to feel settled in here and to begin working. Today we have been working through some of the documents from our meetings the past few days, and we spent about 3 hours at the Subdireccion General de Extranjeria starting the process of getting our Visa registered. We didn't quite have all of the papers we needed, but now we think we have everything, and we are planning to return to the office tomorrow to finish up with this part.<br /><br />The past few days have been hectic, overwhelming and stressful, but also so exciting! We know that God is with us and that brings us comfort and the confidence that we need to begin this enormous job. Please pray that we are able to obtain all of the paperwork that we need so that we can get our censo and license as quickly as possible. That way we can focus 100% on our work in the hospital. We will keep everyone posted on how it goes!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshuaThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-6500628701589198192010-11-29T18:46:00.003-05:002010-11-29T19:05:11.690-05:00Costa Rican Thanksgiving!Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!<br /><br />Josh and I have had an awesome couple of weeks celebrating with gringos and Ticos alike. We did have classes on Thanksgiving Day (I was so bummed to have to miss the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Dog Show!) but we got together with a group of friends that evening and had a fairly traditional Thanksgiving meal. Then on Saturday Josh and I cooked another Thanksgiving meal for our Tica family so that they could share that experience with us. It was delicious! We had chicken instead of turkey (the turkeys here cost $72 a piece!), but otherwise we had what a lot of you probably had on Thanksgiving - mashed potatoes, corn casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, bread, salad and pumpkin pie. It was a lot of fun and our family really enjoyed and appreciated it. <br /><br />Yesterday marked our being in Costa Rica for 7 months and we have 2 weeks left. It's definitely hard to believe. We took our "final exams" last Friday and found out today that we both did very well. The exam is more like a final evaluation and includes a 30 minute oral exam and a 2.5 hour written exam. It was very challenging but we are thrilled with our grades and how much we have progressed since we arrived here. <br /><br />We will continue to have classes through next Thursday and then we will graduate from ILE on Friday and hop on a plane to good old NC on Sunday, December 12th. We cannot wait to see family, friends and of course pets :). We both know that the goodbyes that we say here will be incredibly difficult. The bonds formed here are so strong and I know a lot of tears will be shed, but we have the hope of seeing each other again - if not in this life then in heaven before our King!<br /><br />We can't wait to see you all in a few weeks!!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and Josh<br /><br />P.S. Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIr7mGV2wJK5n90xl8hIO7QYhaAAWJzYObyO_mSF2c6tcZ8pYIGC8Vsxb1xrOuzNdYToGhY7flZDvy9yGW9YoXsg1Q-phW53ydlDnfqvJbO2Sv2K_CpszDuz3TAGkHWPuvfXBLSWSG5UNO/s1600/DSCN1190.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIr7mGV2wJK5n90xl8hIO7QYhaAAWJzYObyO_mSF2c6tcZ8pYIGC8Vsxb1xrOuzNdYToGhY7flZDvy9yGW9YoXsg1Q-phW53ydlDnfqvJbO2Sv2K_CpszDuz3TAGkHWPuvfXBLSWSG5UNO/s320/DSCN1190.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545125194995268946" /></a><br />A game of touch football with friends - and that's AMERICAN football, not soccer!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMfpL5vgxvGuUlVXPwyRJ7EYh1D60DCf_Ld-A2pFk3rswsx1UTirkZDAOuT0G3ikxR2KOn_S4UvZ6jrAAc3eIjiw4QYPZQce80wfLcmb08CaCd8IJK4VPkIWyzJv5_HAB3prBeTGcDlCm/s1600/DSCN1178.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMfpL5vgxvGuUlVXPwyRJ7EYh1D60DCf_Ld-A2pFk3rswsx1UTirkZDAOuT0G3ikxR2KOn_S4UvZ6jrAAc3eIjiw4QYPZQce80wfLcmb08CaCd8IJK4VPkIWyzJv5_HAB3prBeTGcDlCm/s320/DSCN1178.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545125185756899330" /></a><br />Josh and I cooking up some American traditions (doesn't Josh look cute in his apron?!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_71GtCWmsPDteLg2SUOMrD1J1f-xyuXheUL90hvM03lj1vrU6ND9DETSKlCA4O3If2y7n_pL2kH4coQ4HvBk6iFmNOh9diGSoJOMHxSz2GMFF6jZhetTAo-LORFKcZg6QFuL6H5QXrl3/s1600/DSCN1186.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_71GtCWmsPDteLg2SUOMrD1J1f-xyuXheUL90hvM03lj1vrU6ND9DETSKlCA4O3If2y7n_pL2kH4coQ4HvBk6iFmNOh9diGSoJOMHxSz2GMFF6jZhetTAo-LORFKcZg6QFuL6H5QXrl3/s320/DSCN1186.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545125193164606690" /></a><br />Our Tica family after a wonderful Thanksgiving meal<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6v0TcYFXmPSZYCf1KV1LpabztOxdyxGGBq4-XPORki5i4uEhRG-Xwbv0fhHxuItZHNCy-bCIoyxBrj8GpeiBf9uOq36O9jVIcvDJ5xDn-JHwzuIMf8FLHy9JsvYl3QnWEtxWc_dwHDaJ/s1600/DSCN1169.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6v0TcYFXmPSZYCf1KV1LpabztOxdyxGGBq4-XPORki5i4uEhRG-Xwbv0fhHxuItZHNCy-bCIoyxBrj8GpeiBf9uOq36O9jVIcvDJ5xDn-JHwzuIMf8FLHy9JsvYl3QnWEtxWc_dwHDaJ/s320/DSCN1169.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545125179059843650" /></a><br />Thanksgiving Day meal with friends<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-8iQnFEpoLOufnz7_7-8FUnuoCj9W5r1ggQvw845VAsEiaOWyOm7ag-49uR91NMmQv12g8_oDGQEC0Q9_FCtdyMCGS2vYGH2gZyoccvaRs3aV95wwxvjAQPljGjgLy2sk6ggtjO6xWuK/s1600/DSCN1158.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-8iQnFEpoLOufnz7_7-8FUnuoCj9W5r1ggQvw845VAsEiaOWyOm7ag-49uR91NMmQv12g8_oDGQEC0Q9_FCtdyMCGS2vYGH2gZyoccvaRs3aV95wwxvjAQPljGjgLy2sk6ggtjO6xWuK/s320/DSCN1158.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545125172386296162" /></a><br />A friend of ours (6'10") with a Kuna Indian from Panama. God created us in all shapes and sizes!The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-75559157255245696692010-10-25T18:52:00.004-04:002010-10-25T19:59:23.493-04:00What a busy month we've had!! Josh and I are very involved both inside and outside the school and we are so thankful for the opportunities that God has provided. As an update from our last blog, the prayer cards that we ordered came in and we are so excited to be able to mail them to everyone when we get back to the states in December! <br /><br />We had our mid-term evaluations from our teachers today and both of us received A's in all of our classes. :) Knowing that we only have 7 weeks left does add some pressure to our learning though. We are so thrilled with our progress over the past 6 months - it really is amazing - but we don't want to lose a moment of the time we have left here with these great teachers and our Tica family. This week is Spiritual Emphasis week at the Institute which means that they bring in a pastor/missionary to share with the students twice a day to "refill our spiritual tanks" since language learning can definitely be draining. To encourage everyone in the institute to attend the after-school sessions, the teachers cannot assign homework or give tests this week. It is undoubtedly refreshing and I trust that it will give everyone the break that they need to push through to the end of the trimester.<br /><br />The past month has provided some challenges that are par for the course when living in another country and probably foreshadow issues that Josh and I will have in Ecuador. We have made some very close friends living here, two of whom are Jessica and Tim who are a couple who will be staying in Costa Rica and starting a business in the construction industry while sharing the gospel. Since they will be living here, they have purchased a car and we have made plans on about 3 different Saturdays now to take a day-trip to the coast (about 2 hours away) and see the beach. About a month ago on a Wednesday we decided that the next Saturday we would go to the coast in their car. Well, after huge downpours at the end of the week, all three of the routes to the beach were washed out. In place of the beach, we headed into the mountains to explore and ended up having a really nice day! Well, two weeks later, the roads were all fixed and we packed up the car at 7am Saturday morning and hit the road. We made it to the gas station on the corner and the attendant accidentally put diesel in their car instead of gasoline. Needless to say that put a kink in the plans and we had to get their poor car towed to the mechanic's shop so that the engine could be flushed. Again, that day we ended up visiting the market and cooking a great dinner together and had a great time even though we weren't at the beach. Finally last weekend we were bound and determined to make it to the coast and it turns out the fuel pump on the car has to be replaced. I feel so badly for Tim and Jess as they have had to make so many repairs to their only mode of transportation, and I am trying to mentally prepare myself for issues such as these to arise in Ecuador. Just as Tim and Jessica did we will be sure to purchase our car from a reliable source, but used cars in Latin America just aren't as reliable as in the states, not to mention that cars cost about twice as much in Latin America than in the US. But, as Teo Beato one of our MMI mentors famously says, "if you aren't flexible, you will break," so you just have to keep a sense of humor about it all. God willing, we will make it to the beach before we head back to the states. ;-)<br /><br />We are continuing to teach English as a Second Language and it is such a wonderful experience. We have the beginners' class so we are trying hard to balance teaching them a lot of material but not going too fast. As the leaders of this ministry remind us though, the real point is to take advantage of opportunities to share God's word. We teach for 50 minutes, have a 20 minute time of sharing and Bible study, and then teach for 50 more minutes. We are so glad to have gotten involved in this ministry and feel like a lot of times we are learning just as much or more than the students are!<br /><br />As we get closer to January when we head to Ecuador, we ask for your prayers about every aspect of the upcoming transition. We are beginning the process of obtaining our missionary visas and of course thinking much more concretely about our first steps once we get on the ground. God is putting some amazing contacts in our path including the head of the board of directors of Clinica Biblica, the largest private hospital in Costa Rica. He works with Latin American Missions in addition to his work with the hospital and we were able to meet with him this week. We spoke for about 2 hours and we are very excited about the insight that he can provide about the healthcare industry in Latin America. He will definitely be a valuable resource as we move forward. <br /><br />It's hard to believe that after about a year and a half of preparation, we are almost there!!<br /><br />As always, thank you so much for your love, support and prayers. We'll be sending out our quarterly update in November so keep an eye on the mailbox! <br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-77259383432672374532010-09-20T17:28:00.005-04:002010-09-20T18:20:53.949-04:00New DevelopmentsHello again! <br />At this point, Joshua and I are well into the trimester and continue to see improvement on our Spanish every day. I was actually pretty sick last week with a cold/flu and am happy to say that I am starting to feel better and was able to go to school today. My teachers were very understanding about everything and thanks to information from my classmates I was able to stay caught up on my work.<br /><br />Last week was a big week for a number of reasons:<br /><br />First, Josh and I were able to have a conference call with a key member of MMI who gave us more information about what our first few months in Ecuador will be like! It has been decided that we will spend our first 2-3 months in Guayaquil in southern Ecuador. This is where the existing hospital is located, and starting out here will give us a chance to get to know the MMI staff currently in Ecuador and familiarize ourselves with the set up of the hospital. From there we will spend 2-3 months in Cuenca and 2-3 months in Quito (we don't know in what order yet) to investigate possible locations for the new permanent medical center. We received a lot of other helpful information on that call, but the closer we get to arriving in Ecuador the more we see that this is God's project and we are simply lucky enough to be involved in what He is doing in Ecuador. We must use the knowledge the He has given us to make logical decisions, but He will be driving this project - and has been since before we were even involved. We give thanks to God every day for giving us the opportunity to be here and also for all of you who are supporting us. Thank you!<br /><br />Secondly, after our time in missions training in Colorado and spending time with all of the missionary families who are here in Costa Rica, we have realized that an indispensable item for a missionary is something called a "prayer card". This is basically a postcard with our photo, information about what we'll be doing, and our contact information that we can keep with us and give out to people. It enables us to keep in touch with people that we meet and also spreads awareness about our work in Ecuador. The more people praying for this endeavor the better! So . . . I asked a classmate of mine who is an amateur photographer (and VERY talented) if she would help us create a prayer card. We walked around our neighborhood and she took some great photos of Joshua and I and then she designed a prayer card for us. We will be ordering them soon and you should all be receiving one by the end of the year!<br /><br />Thirdly, September 15th was Costa Rica's Independence Day and it was wonderful to get to see the way that they celebrate. Although July 4th revolves a lot more around yummy food, there are a lot of similarities between the two days. We saw red, white, and blue everywhere (since those are Costa Rica's flag's colors as well), and there were fireworks. Also, it is a national holiday so we did get a day off of school to watch the Independence Day parades. There are, however, some differences. For one thing, on the 14th of September at 6pm, the entire country stops what they are doing and sings the national anthem - pretty neat! Also on the night of the 14th, there are special parades of "faroles" which are elaborately decorated lanterns made by the kids and every school has a parade of faroles. The students practice for months at their schools to perform in the parades held the morning of the 15th. There is a band, baton-twirlers, cheerleaders, a drill-team, and the youngest kids are dressed up in traditional costumes and ride along with the parade. Even though I was a bit under-the-weather, I was able to see some of one of the parades on Wednesday morning. Here are some pictures:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-ZLE7x27AyuU86N1zw7jwpYmD8xdqC2PU_tUzoyLxO-UYykrkozBKh0wfsMcSp6GaytU_tBerQkaxMK9hgj3eJbs5XGXk3XQDBmerrTCGDYlfBnQkKdJZOWuA8s1UvuuctcrqBDPEgVY/s1600/DSCN1009.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-ZLE7x27AyuU86N1zw7jwpYmD8xdqC2PU_tUzoyLxO-UYykrkozBKh0wfsMcSp6GaytU_tBerQkaxMK9hgj3eJbs5XGXk3XQDBmerrTCGDYlfBnQkKdJZOWuA8s1UvuuctcrqBDPEgVY/s320/DSCN1009.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519121435791870530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCn7OWFq4UGacbkD9NrSK8WKoLO_PgpkNSsLGl1mlaua2LwF2MZAXJ3NUSMDzAcksaISLKtSVwmDdNA4QkOpSagasfTAhq1yo552hb9iOVCqQI3Hy9EuZ26ZkIzdrUwJbAepdwiR-SZ5JD/s1600/DSCN1011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCn7OWFq4UGacbkD9NrSK8WKoLO_PgpkNSsLGl1mlaua2LwF2MZAXJ3NUSMDzAcksaISLKtSVwmDdNA4QkOpSagasfTAhq1yo552hb9iOVCqQI3Hy9EuZ26ZkIzdrUwJbAepdwiR-SZ5JD/s320/DSCN1011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519121421782871458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8CGGR28lwliEHEk9CeUbDRJtg44g3ED45ZSao9qtJhymJR25h_5EMiMuSL5FOgEjTHYYsSAq6xKVdcZhmPrz5ICCiIevWMRXVqRdGqVokiuVZcY1UwsyU22dgTY6m9JeUktKXMDRCD3a/s1600/DSCN0997.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8CGGR28lwliEHEk9CeUbDRJtg44g3ED45ZSao9qtJhymJR25h_5EMiMuSL5FOgEjTHYYsSAq6xKVdcZhmPrz5ICCiIevWMRXVqRdGqVokiuVZcY1UwsyU22dgTY6m9JeUktKXMDRCD3a/s320/DSCN0997.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519121415160232082" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K_O3Txj3J-bu-QdcWSy6I4XyOv0kC4asxWcwpNMUGgVFvkU1HPYzzOiqmy3tgrtZ8aXD0lxA6p-eS-aCwrKDsptvX5bWWrZ-xToZKuzXUnaN7Tgp8DEQ2Nk_WgEsWV7ZW7DsH17hZCFK/s1600/DSCN0995.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K_O3Txj3J-bu-QdcWSy6I4XyOv0kC4asxWcwpNMUGgVFvkU1HPYzzOiqmy3tgrtZ8aXD0lxA6p-eS-aCwrKDsptvX5bWWrZ-xToZKuzXUnaN7Tgp8DEQ2Nk_WgEsWV7ZW7DsH17hZCFK/s320/DSCN0995.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519121407997990530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0l_tLpw4u1_Mov-ILtIxxT7AVN2G4MS8OjcvbXyVo_PQNogAWc4l9HB3W9PrUL2esDMlB8mGsWbBR09TEFPT1kOplgGPky1q3sD8ZpgCCufYchXED1UAUIledu2of694WW_N5IPN_lmH/s1600/DSCN0994.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0l_tLpw4u1_Mov-ILtIxxT7AVN2G4MS8OjcvbXyVo_PQNogAWc4l9HB3W9PrUL2esDMlB8mGsWbBR09TEFPT1kOplgGPky1q3sD8ZpgCCufYchXED1UAUIledu2of694WW_N5IPN_lmH/s320/DSCN0994.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519121400095022274" /></a><br /><br />Well, Josh and I both have tests tomorrow so we better hit the books. Hasta luego!!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Stephanie and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-77870459959182303522010-09-02T17:36:00.002-04:002010-09-02T18:09:03.189-04:00Back to School!Backpacks are packed and pencils are sharpened! It's just like back-to-school time in the states - except for the fall colors :-). Classes at the Spanish Language Institute started back on Tuesday and these teachers mean business! They know we have one trimester under our belts so they are cracking down right from the start. Josh has 2 hours of conversation class followed by 2 hours of grammar. He is definitely feeling challenged, but I think he's up for it. I just hope his teachers give him more homework this trimester so I won't be the only one staying up at night working! I have 2 hours of translation class and then 2 hours of conversation class with a focus on the Bible. The translation class is very intense - from day-one we started translating passages from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish in writing and verbally. The goal is to be able to clearly interpret for someone in either direction. Everyone in the class has definitely had to get over our nervousness and stay on our toes because our teacher will put any one of us on the spot at any moment. Thank goodness it is a loving and encouraging environment! The conversation class is very similar to the one I had last trimester, just with a different emphasis and more complex sentence structures. <br /><br />Josh and I have also decided to take extra classes to learn medical Spanish. One of the teachers at the school will be tutoring us for an hour two days a week so that we can be as prepared as possible for work in the medical community once we arrive in Ecuador.<br /><br />We anticipate this trimester being even busier than last. On top of harder classes and extra tutoring, we are involved in volleyball one night a week at the school and I am continuing to perform traditional Costa Rican dances around the community when our group receives an invitation. Additionally I will have a women's Bible study one night a week, Josh and I will meet once a week with a pastor and his wife for mentoring, and we are praying about joining an ESL program for Ticos in our community.<br /><br />Things are still going very well with our Tica family and we have made some very strong bonds with fellow missionaries at the Institute. Some of them have gone or will be going to live in Ecuador and I can't tell you how nice it is to already have a network - albeit a small network - of friends there when we arrive. A couple that we met here just left yesterday for Quito and they already told us that we can stay with them when we first get there while we are investigating locations for the hospital. <br /><br />Well, time to get working on homework! We love all of you - thank you for your continued prayers and support!!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Steph and Josh <br /><br /><br />From Josh:<br /><br />If anyone would like to send us a letter we would love to hear from everyone back home. Our address is:<br /><br />Joshua Tucker<br />Spanish Language Institute<br />SJO-8609<br />P.O. Box 025240<br />Miami, FL 33102<br /><br />Also, we will be back in the USA from mid-December - mid-January and we will be spending time fundraising and sharing about our ministry in Ecuador. If you know of any churches or organizations were we might be able to go and speak please let us know!The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-47656357763608762492010-08-22T17:13:00.002-04:002010-08-22T17:57:18.862-04:00We have finished our first trimester at ILE and we are experiencing a small sense of accomplishment having passed the half-way mark. In our day-to-day life however, we encounter the reality that there is a lot left to learn! Reaching this point has also meant saying some goodbyes which is always difficult to do. It is easy to build very strong bonds very quickly here and it is a hard fact that we might not see these friends again on the earth as we know it. What a blessing to be a Christian and to have the promise that we will see each other again on the new earth!<br /><br />The end of the trimester has also brought some things to be excited about! My parents, my sister and my brother came to visit for a few days and I cannot express how wonderful it was to see them. We also had the joy of introducing them to our TIca family and sharing a meal together. There was so much love in that room - it was unbelievable! They enjoyed seeing a little bit of Costa Rica and learning about what our lives have been like the last few months. Now when we Skype they have a better idea of what we're talking about. <br /><br />The same day that my parents left our "little brother" family arrived and for the past few days we have been helping them get settled. It was a huge prayer answered that the repairs to the house were finished on the day that we told them it would be and they are all moved in! They have four adorable kids and it seems like everyone is adjusting very well to this new environment. We have taken them shopping, shown them around the area, and today we went to the outdoor market to buy fruits and veggies. It has been really fun to use the knowledge that we have gained to help out someone else. I definitely remember what it's like your first few days and if Josh and I can make it a little bit easier for them, that's great!<br /><br />We are feeling a little bit of apprehension about our new classes because we know they will be more challenging than last trimester, but we are excited to get back into our routine after a little break. Thank you again for all of your prayers and love!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Steph and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-74489824264660967082010-07-28T18:26:00.005-04:002010-07-28T19:13:46.933-04:00We've reached the 3-month mark!2 more weeks of classes left in this trimester! Wow! We have definitely picked up speed in our classes over the past few weeks as we try to learn as much as possible before we change classes. Josh is learning past tense verbs (it's great that he can speak in more than just present tense now ;-) ) and I learned the 15th out of 15 rules of the subjunctive today. We have continued to use a lot of Spanish around the house and have gotten creative :-). Some friends of ours loaned us a fantastic board game called Settlers of Catan. We have been playing almost every night with our Tica family in Spanish and it's a ton of fun, not to mention great language practice. The currency in the game is madera (wood), ovejas (sheep), ladrillo (brick), piedra (stone), and trigo (wheat) - we will never forget those words in Spanish ever again!<br /><br />I have been blessed with the opportunity to do a lot of dancing recently through the school! I have mentioned in previous blogs that we have been practicing traditional Costa Rican dances throughout the trimester and in the past two weeks we have gotten to perform them twice: once for the school's Cultural Day and once for the Costa Rican community around the school. It was an incredible rush to get to perform what we'd been working so hard on and it was super-fun to get to wear the traditional Costa Rican skirts, blouses, and shoes. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2u_stWCH0Mv19c0COf8BZVVRpojhOg2gx1r_wwH0yptR8DAIb8-Mhq7bEFGBTWf0lGebhljEXQiVF8Bt_UYKHC6AYRSLvolHLvv5s8NeuyhFqrIf_PI34axOgLfPAP-G0hT6H0n6HEnFE/s1600/DSCN0816.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2u_stWCH0Mv19c0COf8BZVVRpojhOg2gx1r_wwH0yptR8DAIb8-Mhq7bEFGBTWf0lGebhljEXQiVF8Bt_UYKHC6AYRSLvolHLvv5s8NeuyhFqrIf_PI34axOgLfPAP-G0hT6H0n6HEnFE/s320/DSCN0816.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499098733659567794" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6VCzzmIYzurrsrHHqNQChN2dKiXT8A1m-jdvYMcTCGdw7XYoepBMFifZeA2kMN17pXVm8exhw7tvl0rA95JI17New3ek3KFordQU2B_YN02QD4BlqJITk2xQwmpXp3uYqj3nhDNCsRC5/s1600/DSCN0837.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6VCzzmIYzurrsrHHqNQChN2dKiXT8A1m-jdvYMcTCGdw7XYoepBMFifZeA2kMN17pXVm8exhw7tvl0rA95JI17New3ek3KFordQU2B_YN02QD4BlqJITk2xQwmpXp3uYqj3nhDNCsRC5/s320/DSCN0837.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499098717156076434" /></a><br /><br /><br />Also, for the past two weeks I have been choreographing and rehearsing a liturgical praise dance to perform at chapel and last Tuesday I got the chance to do so. Psalm 149 says "Praise his name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp" and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to use a talent that God has given me to glorify him! I danced to the song "Shadowfeet" by Brooke Fraser. She is an awesome Christian contemporary artist and I'd definitely recommend checking out her music!<br /><br />Josh and I have started meeting once a week with a missionary-pastor, Mike, and his wife, Tricia, to augment our scriptural knowledge. It has been an unbelievable blessing for us! We have realized that while we have a clear understanding of the importance of LIVING our faith day-to-day as a witness of Christ in our lives, we really need to focus a lot more on sharing the gospel verbally with those around us. Mike and Tricia have been talking with us about various ways of lovingly sharing our faith and answering any questions that we have. I have shared my testimony before but it feels great learning how to clearly articulate the gift of Christ Jesus and what that can mean for someone. We plan on continuing to meet with them in the weeks to come and want to specifically learn about Roman Catholicism in Latin America and ways to serve and minister to Roman Catholics in Ecuador.<br /><br />There has been cause for praise as some of our best friends here at the Institute had their first baby on July 17th: a healthy, beautiful little girl named Eliana. We visited them in the hospital and have been over to visit at their apartment quite a few times and they are doing very well. :-D<br /><br />We are definitely missing some people and things from home after 3 months here in Costa Rica. We've started really craving some foods from the states and Josh just tortures himself by watching the Food Network at night. Overall though, we are still incredibly happy here and blessed to be living in the will of God. Thank you for your prayers and love and enjoy the rest of your summer!!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulbY97bdcDah5CNa6RSaaaFzRncG2i-hskPy3ZLG5zRjx6A3-iLqU3i473iLEKaiyHEUAG77gZL213uxpxDySiH5wiEoJc090wpGXXljLpLmLy68L8d4L7ThIH-HF_x6yFGX2IEemErif/s1600/DSCN0697.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulbY97bdcDah5CNa6RSaaaFzRncG2i-hskPy3ZLG5zRjx6A3-iLqU3i473iLEKaiyHEUAG77gZL213uxpxDySiH5wiEoJc090wpGXXljLpLmLy68L8d4L7ThIH-HF_x6yFGX2IEemErif/s320/DSCN0697.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499098728185327042" /></a><br /><br />(We wanted to post a pic of Josh's birthday party from the last blog as well!)<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Steph and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-15001637725475625962010-07-08T16:27:00.004-04:002010-07-08T17:04:23.896-04:00Panama, 4th of July, and Josh's Birthday!What a crazy month its been!!<br /><br />We've been in Costa Rica for over two months now - wow! Things are going great and we are continuing to learn a ton of Spanish. We only have 5 weeks left in this trimester so the teachers are really picking up steam so that we can learn everything we need to learn before our second trimester begins. We both have grammar exams tomorrow. It's hard to believe, but we are already picking which classes we'll be taking. Josh will be continuing to focus on grammar and conversation, and I am planning to take a Spanish/English translation class and also a Spanish Bible class. The translation class will be invaluable to me when mission teams come to Ecuador - I will definitely need to know how to translate for doctors, nurses, and pastors in the hospital. The Bible class will give me a lot of the tools I need to be able to clearly share my faith with the people we come into contact with. Also, we would like to hire a tutor to learn some key medical words and phrases so that we are prepared for the communication we will need to do. We are very excited about the upcoming semester!<br /><br />We've also been kept very busy helping our "Little Brother" family. We've been talking to landlords over the phone (in Spanish - what a challenge!) and setting up meetings to view different houses. Tomorrow we will be meeting with the landlord of the house that our family has selected and signing the preliminary paperwork. I can tell already that having this experience will help us a ton once we are in Ecuador looking at properties for ourselves and for the hospital we'll be building.<br /><br />Since we've been in Costa Rica so long, we needed to get our visas stamped so that we could stay in the country. At the end of June, Josh and I went with about 40 other people from the Institute to Panama for a weekend to achieve that goal. It was great fun, but also served its purpose. Panama was beautiful - but VERY hot! Thankfully the hotel that we stayed at had air conditioning and we got to enjoy AC for the first time since we arrived in May. We are now legally in the country for 90 more days!<br /><br />A few weeks ago we had a family get-together for Fathers Day and our Costa Rican brother's 20th birthday. Once again our "new" family included us in the cooking and celebrating. Josh cooked a buffalo chicken dip, which was another great taste of home. This was also a very good opportunity to force ourselves to practice our spanish. We will try to post a picture of this later when the internet is working. <br /><br />It was very interesting celebrating July 4th in Costa Rica. The week of July 4th was also Spiritual Emphasis Week at the school and we had chapel twice a day and a lot of other activities focused on unity and families. During that week, the school threw a 4th of July party complete with games, hotdogs, chips, and cupcakes so we definitely got a taste of home, and of course I made sure to wear red, white, and blue on the actual day! The only thing we were missing was fireworks :-). Check out the photo below. We were so happy to have a hotdog.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0cgrtHGIiju5iUaUQiLn3miR6EL0p8DLP5UWLiFHAbF3KbUBmYatis9q7v5UfCdHAGaqMZ_jHpFRNRi3h4YI2HeOS7inbcJFGcPx5EsCM6dCj-0DZzw9agpK2Lg5fJe0s3u2dT01TSiz/s1600/DSCN0665.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0cgrtHGIiju5iUaUQiLn3miR6EL0p8DLP5UWLiFHAbF3KbUBmYatis9q7v5UfCdHAGaqMZ_jHpFRNRi3h4YI2HeOS7inbcJFGcPx5EsCM6dCj-0DZzw9agpK2Lg5fJe0s3u2dT01TSiz/s320/DSCN0665.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491642110418748082" /></a><br /><br />And finally, Josh's 25th birthday was yesterday! A girl in one of his classes bought him a small cake from a bakery close by and the he and I used some of his birthday money from his grandparents to enjoy dinner together last night. It was a lot of fun and as awesome as it is living with our Tico Family, it was very special for us to have just a little time alone.<br /><br />We are looking forward to the upcoming weekend and we will continue to keep you updated! As always, we can't thank you enough for your support, prayers and love - we could not do this without your encouragement behind us.<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Steph and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-60661536234899983362010-06-14T18:22:00.002-04:002010-06-14T18:55:26.094-04:00Busy TimesHello All!!<br /><br />Things are definitely busy here and still going great! I can't believe we are half-way through June already. Josh and I are continuing to see progress in our speaking ability and owe a lot of that to the family that we live with. They have invited us to attend family birthday parties, baby showers, and church events with them and it has been so much fun to really feel like we are a part of the family. <br /><br />I cleared a huge hurdle today in class and am sending up prayers of thanksgiving. Each student in my class has to prepare and present an hour-long Bible study in Spanish, and I delivered mine today. I was beyond stressed this week as I prepared - Josh can attest to that ;-) - and I spent hours researching, revising, and reviewing my notes. <br /><br />My topic was the ways in which God speaks to His people. I started out speaking about the more unique ways that God made contact with his followers in Biblical times (burning bush, angels, donkeys, dreams, etc.) but then made the point that in Old Testament times, it was actually far more common for God to speak directly to his chosen people. Regardless of the means of communication however, it is obvious that God was extremely purposeful in the ways that he spoke in the past. We often feel like God doesn't try as hard to speak to us now, but in reality, he has just altered his methods. The Bible is filled with verses explaining that scripture and the Holy Spirit are more than sufficient to communicate God's will directly to us. In the Old Testament, they knew nothing of Jesus Christ, the cross, the Holy Spirit, or the Bible (as we know it) and so perhaps God was a bit stronger in the way that he reached out to his followers. Now, however, God has sent his son as our savior and redeemer and it is our responsibility to take advantage of this grace by spending time in scripture and listening to the Holy Spirit within us.<br /><br />Now, my delivery today wasn't perfect - there were a few stumbles and some grammatical mistakes - but I am so happy that I was able to coherently convey a message to the class AND I was able to fill the entire hour!<br /><br />Josh and I have also begun to tackle another project: being a "Big Brother" to a family coming to the school! During our preparations to come to language school here, we requested a "Big Brother" or in our case, a "Big Sister" and a woman already attending school here helped us find our Tica family to live with and answered any and ALL questions that we had about Costa Rica and the school. In requesting this help, we also agreed to BE a "Big Brother" for someone coming to start school in August. We were recently assigned our family and we have begun looking at houses for them. This is awesome Spanish practice for us and also great practice for when we look for a house in Ecuador because we have to call Costa Rican landlords and talk to them about what we are looking for and what the family needs in a house, as well as go visit the houses and take pictures to send to the family. We have seen 3 houses so far and we hope to see several more so that we can give them a few choices. We are very excited to get to meet them when they arrive in a couple of months!<br /><br />Other than that, it has pretty much been business as usual for us for the past few weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers and love! We miss you!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,<br /><br />Steph and JoshThe Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4610078821722012516.post-80785622095175362912010-05-29T21:42:00.003-04:002010-05-29T23:54:13.769-04:00Becoming a Part of the CommunityWe have officially been in Costa Rica for a month - and what a month it's been! <br /><br />Since we've been here we have tried to take advantage of every opportunity to get involved and learn more about the language and the culture. We are really enjoying the church that we are attending with our Tica Family, and this past Sunday they held a Walk/Run to increase their presence in the community. We were hesitant to commit to running the 5k, but we eagerly signed up to walk the 2k with our Tica sister. There was a great turnout and it was a ton of fun. Once everyone arrived at the finish line, we had a church service at the local park and heard the testimony of a former professional soccer player. At the end of the event, Josh claimed the prize for the second fastest gringo in the race, but I didn't have the heart to tell him there were only two of us ;-).<br /><br />I am thrilled to say that I have been able to combine my love of dance with my language learning! In July, the school celebrates Costa Rican Culture Day and every Monday a group of girls meets with one of the Spanish professors to learn traditional Costa Rican dances to perform for the school. It has been so much fun getting to merge my passions and I can't wait to perform!<br /><br />On Thursday, Josh and I visited a local Nicaraguan community called La Carpio. This is an extremely poor area and the Spanish Language Institute has set up a ministry providing computer classes for the men, jewelry-making classes for the women, and childcare for the kids. It was a very moving experience taking part in this ministry and is one of the poorest areas I've ever seen. Our host family has explained to us that the government tries to help this area continually but there are huge problems with alcoholism and crime so it hasn't done much good. They told us that ambulances can't even go into the area because while the paramedics are helping the victim, people steal things from the vehicle. We are praying that God will show us if and how we can help with this ministry.<br /><br />We are looking forward to jumping into June with enthusiasm and continuing to learn more of the language. We will keep you updated!<br /><br />Love and God Bless,The Tuckershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13394272228952123233noreply@blogger.com0