Dear Wallenstein family,
Merry belated Christmas! We hope you all enjoyed your nice snowy white Christmas for us. Ours was 30+ degrees and about the only thing that looked like a traditional Canadian Christmas was the Christmas tree!
Here in Ecuador, we are doing very well as we are feeling much more settled in. Wearing a mask whenever we go outside now feels pretty normal as does social bubbling with Raul's family. Though we are missing spending time in close contact with the youth from our church, we are enjoying the quality family time we are getting with Raul's family. We were able to have them in on Christmas day and that was very special to read the Christmas story together and open gifts.
We were able to have a few months of in person youth group before the Christmas lock down began. We are hoping that by February we will be able to meet again, but that remains to be seen. People in Guayaquil do not seem to be obeying the lock down rules when it comes to celebrations, so we are wondering if Covid numbers will surge in a couple weeks.
The school Christmas was also affected by this new lock down. We were hoping to have a socially distant- in person Christmas party with each grade, but right as we were finishing decorating the gym, we found out that we were only allowed to have 10 people at a gathering. So, our "party" ended up only being the students passing through the gym to get their gifts. Still, we enjoyed it and it was SO good to see them in person. :)
Anyways, thank you so much for being part of what we are doing each month. We are so thankful to have you on board with us. Please be praying for us as we need wisdom every day to raise Tiago and navigate this Covid world when it comes to ministry.
God bless you!
Jessenia, Raul and Tiago
Last youth group meeting before Christmas lockdown.
School Christmas party!
Tiago’s first Christmas!
Teacher’s Christmas party!