In the jungle

We had such full and wonderful few days in the jungle, it's hard to know where to begin... I guess I'll start with some pictures....

A trip looking for caves

Yesterday I went with Kim and Cristina (one of the homeschool girls) to look for caves near Nabon.  We found the cave, and walked for almost 5 hours in the blazing sun.  It was a fun trip and the scenery was breathtaking.  We lived in Nabon for 3 years when I was young, so while we were there, I was also able to connect with some old neighbor friends.

Off to the jungle

This Wed. I leave with a group of youth from the church to go down to the jungle.  Just to get there we will be traveling over 10 hours in bus, not to count the flight in by plane.  Please pray that the Lord would give safety and direct our way.  Also please pray that we would be bold in our witness and for open hearts of the people.  Lord willing we plan to return late on Saturday.  I'll post more details on our return.

Missions Festival at Paz de Dios

Last Saturday the Paz de Dios church celebrated a missions festival. It began with a praise service and a time of testimonies at 10:30am. After that there were relay races, and "extreme sports". Each of the different activities was organized by one of the church cell groups. The cell group I help lead was in charge of the extreme sports. We had a rope climbing contest, target practice with an air gun, and an bicycle obstacle course. For lunch, there was typical food including "mote", roast pork, chicken, etc. After lunch we had typical games like marbles, gunny sack races, egg races and hoop races. The last game was to climb up a greased poll to claim the prizes on top.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship and fun. It was so neat to see everyone, including the adults get involved in the games. There were lawyers, doctors, teachers, judges, grandmas, engineers and stay at home moms all competing against each other in sack races etc. One of the highlights was the race just for the pregnant moms. They were all great sports!

To finish off the celebration, we watched "The End of the Spear" together. Please pray each in the congregation would catch the vision for missions, hear the Lord's call as to where and how they can be involved.

A Sunday in Paute

This Sunday Kim and I went to Paute for much of the day.  Over my time here, I've gotten to know Gonzalo, who pastors a small church in Paute and he had invited me to come and preach.  It's a group of about 25 people who meet together, but it was encouraging to see their hunger and the men attending.  I preached on truth, lies and the battle of the mind.  (2Cor 10:1-6)

 

After the service, we ate lunch with Gonzalo's precious family... another cultural experience for Kim.  The menu was "mixto con guata".  In other words, rice, beef, and cow stomach stew.  If you can get your mind over the chewy parts being stomach, it's all very tasty.  I forget about how many cultural differences there are down here until a foreigner comes.  Kim does very well.

 

After lunch we went walked around town and then drove home with the family.  They are such a precious (short) family, and the kids are so cute.  I really enjoyed our time together.  Keep Gonzalo's ministry in prayer. 

A hat party...

My weeks continue to be busy with the homeschool families and church activities. Often I'll have 3-4 Bible studies to prepare each week. I really enjoy it, but have to make sure to calculate time in to prepare.

My cousin Kim continues to be a great blessings. Attaches are some pictures from last week.

Kim's arrival

My cousin Kim arrived last weekend.  She's going to be down here for about 6 weeks helping out with the homeschool families and teaching English.

 

Kim arrived in Guayaquil on Friday.  I went down with Pastor Santiago, Blanca and Josué to pick her up.  After picking her up, we went to the beach, and then drove home Saturday afternoon.  Here are some pictures from the beach.

 

 

Newsletter

Here is my latest newsletter.....

Last Saturday

Last Saturday took some pictures downtown and then went on a work project with the youth from the church.  Here are some pictures from my day...