"What Every Father Needs to Know"

HCJB, La Voz de los Andes, had a special event last Friday night, for all those fathers out there. We invited Campus Crusade to join us and talk about fathers and their role in the family. The idea started after HCJB Voz Global's radio agency SERVIR, began translating the popular radio program "Family Life Today" into Spanish. The radio program is really an outreach of Campus Crusade's Family Life ministry.

The radio program is fairly popular in Spanish. We have received many good comments from listeners about it, so we wondered whether or not people would come to our station to attend a seminar on the family. We decided to have people come by HCJB and get tickets so that we would have an idea of how many were coming. By Tuesday we had only given out 15 tickets. We were beginning to panic. By Friday that number had risen to over 200 tickets and when the event finally ended we had over 300 show up.

The seminar was given by Armando Tamayo, a local staff member for Campus Crusade. He kept the crowd right with him the whole night and you could just tell that people were soaking up the information. Armando talked about the importance of being a father to our children. He talked about how our children watch everything we do and learn to do the same things we do, whether good or bad. He talked about taking time with our kids. At the end of the program, Campus Crusade gave out copies of the Jesus film for kids on DVD.

These kinds of special events are one way that we try to give our listeners just a little bit more. It is a way that we can touch them a little more closely. It is also a way that we can highlight other ministries in the community that can help them grow in their faith and relationship with God. Pray for the families of Latin America. Many are struggling and need to have their priorities aligned with God's priorities, just like North American families do.

Thanks,

Doug

Just for Fun!

May the 1st is a national holiday in Ecuador. It is Labor Day here. So we had a long weekend to rest up and..... play!!

Becca turns 17 tomorrow, so she decided that she wanted to celebrate by taking some friends to a little town called Mindo last Friday. Mindo is a tourist town with lots of Eco-tourism available for visitors. Some of the attractions include river rafting, zip lines, a butterfly farm, nature hiking, swimming in local rivers, an orchid farm, etc.

The kids decided to start the day with a little river rafting. They had a large enough group to have their own raft. The rafts are really several inner tubes, tied together. They each get a life jacket and a helmet for the ride. It had not rained much the day before, so the river was not too high. Our youngest, David, was allowed to go on the raft too, but had his own guide to make sure he was safe on the ride. The trip lasted about a half hour and as you can see, they all had fun.

After the river, it was off to the zip lines. There are 10 zip lines that criss-cross up and down the jungle valley. You ride above the jungle canopy and look down on the vegetation and wildlife. The longest of the zip lines is 1500 feet, so it is quite a ride. Guides take you through the series of lines and at the end of each line there is a short hike to the next launch point. It takes about an hour and a quarter to make the round trip back to your starting point. The guides will even strap you to them and let you do the zip line upside down (called "the butterfly") or headlong (called "the superman").

Everyone had a great day and were pretty worn out by the time we got back to Quito. It was a great time to get away and enjoy an extra long weekend.

Doug