Nuvia, Hannah, Seth and Dottie

IMG_2344, originally uploaded by A Family On A Mission.

When Travis lived in Cuenca the first time about 15 years ago he knew a young girl named Nuvia who had just moved to the city as well. Travis and his team mates became really good friends with her as they were all new to the city. 15 years later we are here in Cuenca and Nuvia has returned with her three kids not that long before we got here. It is funny how God works through years and can make a connection with people from the past again.
Nuvia comes from a family of 13 kids on the coast of Ecuador in a city called Esmeraldas. When she was 16 her family asked a missionary in Cuenca to bring her to the city so that she could work and go to school, as with 13 kids they were struggling to make end meat. Nuvia finished her schooling in Cuenca and worked in the city for many years. She met her husband about nine years ago who is in the military and moved a bit throughout the country, her last home being in a place called Machala. She recently moved back to Cuenca and had been searching for steady work that allowed her to spend as much time with her kids as possible. Her two oldest are nine year old twins, Hannah and Seth. Hannah was named after one of Travis' team mates and Seth was originally named after Travis but when she went to register his name, it was too foreign of a name so they would not allow her to name him that. No matter what though, Travis was very honored to have been thought of. They are very smart, polite and never leave each other. Obviously they have a very special bond as twins. Dottie is 7 and very much an outgoing and extroverted child, so different from her siblings. Ceara and Dottie love being together and have very similar personalities that make it fun to watch them play together. Nuvia has been helping us around our house which gives me more free time to work on other stuff as well as gives her some money and the time she needs with her kids as well. Nuvia has become a great friend to me, helping me, correcting my Spanish and giving us insights on the culture and the city. Our kids love Nuvia's kids and we all spend lots of time together especially since they don't live very far away from us. It is pretty amazing that God would place her and us in the same place after so many years. And that our kids would be near the same ages and get along so well. Please pray for Nuvia and her kids as they still struggle to get by daily on Nuvia's wage and as they also adjust to being here in Cuenca.