Dear Wallenstein family,
Raul and I have been in Canada for months now and it feels so strange to not have had the chance to connect with the church family in person every Sunday. Many people are finding that though the Covid-19 situation has been quite hard it does have silver linings and that is what Raul and I have experienced. Covid-19 has allowed us to spend lots of quality time with our immediate family and learn to parent quietly at home. We have also been able to be much more connected to our ministry in Ecuador than normal since so much has been moved to working on-line.
When we first planned to come to Canada we were hoping to find volunteer activities for Raul to keep him busy and to learn English. Covid-19 changed all that, and now he is looking at more time in Canada with less to do. Thankfully, he has had work to do for the school and is using this time to learn how to make a website for the school- all the more necessary now that learning is happening online. He and Jessenia are also keeping in contact with the youth through virtual youth meetings and Bible studies. We definitely don’t see as many youth as when we meet in person, but we enjoy meeting with the ones who do show up. Please continue to pray for these youth as they navigate online learning (which needs a lot of self motivation), and for their continued desire to walk with Christ.
The church continues to flourish and see people outside of our normal church community participating in the meetings. Many people who walked away from church and God have had their spiritual interest awakened by the uncertainty of the future. Many people have also felt very encouraged by the church physically through the grocery deliveries that our church was enabled to give. This makes us excited to go back to Guayaquil and join in when we are allowed to meet in person again. Raul has been involved in online meetings with the church leaders to see about possibly beginning meetings again in early July.
As for us, we have decided to extend our stay in Canada until the end of August so we can stay for a family member’s wedding and see how the situation in Guayaquil is panning out. It is hard to know how things are going in Guayaquil these days. The media there is pretty much controlled by the government and we suspect we are not hearing the truth about the Covid-19 situation. The city seems to be going back to normal, but we hear reports that there are still many people in the hospitals. Please pray for wisdom for us as we decide when to go back, for good plane tickets, and the continued safety of our friends and family.
Thank you for walking through this with us,
Raul and Jessenia (and Tiago)
*Pictures are of us as a family and an online youth meeting.
