With God, All Things are Possible!

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Matthew 19:26

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Patrick's 10th Birthday

Happy 10th Birthday to our baby boy!!
How in the world is he 10??
So, both of our children have now experienced a birthday in Ecuador! I feel absolutely terrible because I do not have any pictures of our celebrations!!
The week of his birthday was a school break, so we dropped the ball on having him a big birthday party :( however we showered him with lots of love on lots of occasions! He invited a few friends to his favorite place, Mr. Joy. After playing for 2 hours we treated them to Baskin Robbins ice cream! During the same week, we also invited his special friend, Melissa, bowling...and to get MORE ice cream!! He still wants to have a small party, but our schedule hasn't allowed it yet :).
This child is such an incredible blessing to us!

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We welcomed a new family member...Chimbo...razo!

So, most of you know our heartache from having to find a new home for our precious Sadie girl...some of you may not. Long story made short...we waited 10 years before getting a dog...and soon after we got her for Madeleine for Christmas, we found out God was opening the doors for us in Ecuador. Our plan was to bring her back to Ecuador with us at Christmas, but due to the $3400 fee we were looking to incur...it just wasn't possible. God knew what He was doing and led a precious family to reach out to us who were looking for a special friend for their family of 9 children...5 of which were adopted and have Down Syndrome. Sadie was an answer to their prayers...but it was still so so hard for us.
Soon after arriving back in Ecuador we began looking for a Golden to add to our family and there happen to be a precious pup who was found roaming the streets who needed a good home. We are so thankful to our new friends who rescued our new baby! Meet Chimbo!!

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Sports Camp in Esmeraldas - April 1, 2017

Over the last few years we have developed some amazing relationships with the pastors on the coast in Esmeraldas and knowing Scott's background they have asked us on numerous occasions to lead a Sports Camp. We have met with them several times over the last 7 months to develop a plan for ongoing camps that teach biblical principles through the instruction of basic fundamentals of sports, taekwondo and life skills...such as the Fruit of the Spirit. During our 2 years of waiting on the Lord to open doors for us to serve full-time in Ecuador, Scott felt led to develop a taekwondo program that emphasizes Biblical character development. We will be leading our first official sports camp on April 1st and with all of the preparation we hope to have a great event! Please pray that these children will see Jesus in everything we do!

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Valentine's Treat and Serving with Pan de Vida

We were able to serve with Pan de Vida on February 15th, along with the woman we work with each Wednesday from Casa Adalia. We baked special treats for the families who came to receive their hot meal and gave each of them a rose...that produced smiles worth a million bucks! In our broken Spanish, we had great conversation with several of the men and women who visit PandeVida each week. In addition, we were able to serve alongside the seniors from Alliance Academy and a team from The World Race. Serving others is life-giving...

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February Trip to Esmeraldas

Each month we schedule 1 weekend to travel to the coast to spend time with our Esmeraldas family. This month we spent time with Pastor Luis and Elizabeth's family enjoying good conversation and sharing struggles and praises with each other.
Brandy spoke to a group of women Saturday night about entrepreneurship and challenged the women to research how their hobbies can turn into a small businesses to help support their families. We had a great time and look forward to following up with them next month!
Scott was invited to give the message on Sunday morning and he spoke about spiritual warfare and shared out of Ephesians. He has been asked to give the message each month when we are serving in Esmeraldas. He will be sharing about discipleship and leading a study around Multipy - by David Platt and Francis Chan. We pray that the Holy Spirit speaks through him and encourages others to seek Him.

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Final Words...

We are thankful to each of you for your continued support and prayers! This life is not easy, but it is most definitely worth it. There are challenges, that simply make us put our complete trust in God...and answered prayers that ONLY God can provide! There are spiritual battles all around us...that must be fought. We hurt. We learn. We grow. We praise Him. We give Thanks!
As if leaving family in the States wasn't hard enough...some of our closest friends that we have grown to love here...are leaving this summer. These are some of the precious friends who welcomed us with open arms and a desire to serve us as we arrived. It's hard, friends.
We look forward to welcoming new folks who will be arriving this summer, but it is still so bittersweet to be losing friends who became our family.
We ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers and remember to reach out to us if you need us to pray for you specifically.
Your words of encouragement mean the world to us!
We love you all!
The Murphys
Scott, Brandy, Madeleine and Patrick