Hello to all!

Once again I have missed a week in our weekly email.  I do apologize, but I cannot promise that it will never happen again.

The last two weeks have been full and we are always able to see ways in which the Lord is moving here.  One of our greatest prayer requests this week is for one of our 10th graders, Mathias Ranft (Yes, his family is German!).  This last Sunday Mattias was returning from dropping off his sibling at the airport and was in a serious car accident.  He is currently in the hospital and drifts between unconsciousness and a sleep-like state.  Scans have shown blood on his brain and the doctors are saying that it could be anywhere between one to four weeks before his body can reabsorb this blood.  They are not sure if there is any permanent brain damage at this time.  Neither Mathias or his family are believers in Christ, but have been very thankful for the school community who have reached out to them in this time of need.  Rick has developed a relationship with Mathias this year, and has enjoyed having him in a chapel small group.  Please pray for his recovery, as well as a continued interest and understanding of Truth for him and his family.

The senior that I mentioned in my last email, Nathan Marshall is recovering well from his surgery to re-set his cheek bone.  His black eye is almost gone and he is back in school.  We are so thankful that his injuries were not worse and that he is making a full recovery..

Due to several, relatively minor, symptoms I went in to the doctors this last week.  They ran some tests on my thryoid, which all came back fine.  They still don’t know what is causing the symptoms (hair loss and enlarged thyroid), and have suggested that I wait 3-6 months and then have the tests done again.  Please pray that God will either stop the symptoms or help me find out some answers soon.

This next weekend is the Junior/Senior Banquet (AAI’s version of prom).  Rick and I have been invited to attend (he will be one of the photographers), and we have also been invited to attend the After-Party.  The After Party will start with  chiva-party bus from the banquet to Calacali (a rustic campground spot outside of town) where the students will stay up all night, watch movies, play games, and roast hotdogs around a campfire.  It will be a lot of fun and a great blessing to spend that time with them!  It is also quite an honor that the students chose us to help chaperone.

This year the Chaplains at AAI have created a small coffee house venue on campus.  Once a month they offer an open-mic night.  Students are encouraged to participate and perform, as well as some staff.  This month, they asked Rick if he would put together a group to head-line the event, which he was thrilled to do.  All went really well, the students and parents loved it, and Rick got to be a rock-star for the evening.  Hopefully some video clips will be available soon (either on facebook or youtube).

Both Rick and I are starting to feel the stressors of the end of the school year.  There are many loose ends that will need to be taken care of, obligations to complete, and relationships to strengthen over the next four weeks.  As always, please pray that God would grant us health, wisdom, and safety as we do His will in Quito.

We cherish any communication and updates from you and pray that you are doing well.  Thank you for all of your prayers and for your support.

Rachel Sams

Hello, dear friends and family!

As we draw closer and closer to the end of the school year, I find that I have less and less free time and am becoming more and  more forgetful of what needs to  be done.  Thus, I forgot to send out an email last weekend. :P  I extend a sincere apology to any who were waiting for it and will try to make those moments of forgetfulness less frequent in the future.

One week ago, Saturday through Sunday, Rick and I were able to go camping with a group of friends in Cotopaxi National Park.  When we first got to our campsite the weather was cold and rainy.  Our moods were pretty somber as we set up our tents, and there was some talk of going home early.  But then the rain stopped and the temperature rose a little, and we all settled around the campfire for dinner.  Our campsite ran right alongside streams that run off the side of the mountain (volcano), so everything around us was green and beautiful  The valley had been cut out by glaciers, and the landscape is full of sharp angles and giant boulders that lay by themselves in the middle of a flat valley.  It was was yet another awe-inspiring display of God’s work.

As always, the last two weeks have been filled with ministry opportunities for both Rick and for me.  Rick’s relationships with different high school boys continue to grow, and they continue to seek him out for advice on friendship, dating, family, etc.  I, too, have seen my relationships with different high school girls begin to deepen and I relish every chance to sow into their lives.

Over the last school year Alliance Academy, along with some of the parents of students, has begun a program named Centro de Apoyo Familiar (Center for Family Support).  This program provided basic counseling, spiritual guidance, and support for any student or parent of student at AAI.  It has been my pleasure to work with this group over the last year, as they have provided parenting seminars and marriage seminars. They have been instrumental in the mending of several marriages this last year.  Through their love and guidance several others have come to know the Lord.  I was honored to attend a dinner this last Friday, offered by administration of AAI, as a thanks for their hard work and love for our shared ministry.  I wa asked to offer the closing prayer, which I did haltingly in Spanish. 

Our greatest praise and prayer request for this week is for one of our senior boys, Nate, who lives in the AAI dorms and is one of the boys that Rick is close to.  Over the weekend he fell down a flight of cement stairs, on his face, with another boy having fallen on his back.  He slid down the stairs about 20 feet.  He has significant scratches on his arms and side, but most of damage is to his left cheek.  He had significant fractures to his cheek bone and to his eye socket , both of which were set with metal plates and pins during surgery this morning.  He is doing well and should be released from the hospital this Tuesday.  Please pray that his recovery will be without incident.  Also, please pray for his parents who are in another country (Uruguay) as missionaries , and are having to trust others to care for their son during this time.

As you have probably deduced by now, Rick and I feel very strongly that, while we work at AAI for teaching and counseling, our ministry here is predominantly one of relationships.  God has been faithful in giving us these relationships, both with students and with adults.  We have been ministered to by many of our peers, and have been able to be there for several of them, too.

Finally, I would like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to each and every woman/mother that receives this email.  God’s gift of family is a wonderful thing, indeed!

May God bless and keep you always,
Rachel Sams