Missionaries to Ecuador

This past March brought an unusual and blessed time of ministry in the Galapagos Islands as many of you are aware of. A number of byproducts came out of that time as well. The team was invited back to paint more murals; more murals than there is actually time for. I also became aware of something that shocked and affected me... the fact that there are more cults on the islands than churches. In fact there is only one reasonably grounded church (ONE) on the most populated island in the Galapagos. After that one option, it goes off the deep end with all kinds of heretical cults and so called "churches"with strange and false teachings. This troubled me greatly, and continues to stay on my heart. Coincidentally, during our time there, I was invited back to teach the Bible in a home setting. The person who invited me back exclaimed that many groups come to do social work, or to do construction projects, or to have internally oriented conferences, but no one teaches the Bible out in the community. This is not a church-attending person, but one interested in God and his word. He is a native and tuned in to the pulse of the people there.

On my return to Quito, I could not shake this terrible truth, or the strong desire to bring God's word to the island. The fact that there isn't one single Baptist church on any of the Galapagos islands, nor Presbyterian, nor Methodist... God has not let me rest, knowing the need for a well grounded, non-charismatic church for those who would choose that course... with a focus on and hunger for God's word as the sole guiding light for their spiritual life.

We prayed fervently on what to do with this burden, and came to the decision to take "the man from Galapagos'" offer as a God-given opportunity, or even "calling", to return to the islands. So, in June, we returned for 6 weeks and started a home Bible study group, and identified and some "Timothies". The following paragraphs recount in brief our adventure.

We reestablished our relationships with Hosanna church, and coordinated with them on painting more murals, answering Deb's desire the share God's message in her own unique way. We ended up completely repainting the Creation Story murals, due to an improper foundation (there's a sermon in there somewhere). See Deb's "long version" for the whole story. • I was able to teach at the local "Assemblies of God" church, to the men's cell group and the couples cell group, as well as individually with some of the leaders. Most importantly, we planted the first seeds of what we pray will be the foundation of a church body there.

The Lord guided, and a bible study cell group has been created in a home with an extended family and some friends who we led to the Lord. The leader is facilitating the bible study, which is on CD and has supporting literature. In addition to the weekly bible study, he is not only doing a discipleship workbook with me (via the internet), but leading some of the others as well through the same workbook which I left for them. HOW INCREDIBLE!

I felt strongly that God was directing me to return to the Galapagos to accomplish exactly this purpose. We went in obedience to that burden to see if we were understanding what He wanted. We were right. Many things have confirmed this calling and we will be diligently looking in to how we can integrate the Islands into our ministry here in Ecuador. There is much work to be done there; it is a dark place with no real opportunity of hearing the truth. The people are asking for our return as they cherish our guidance. They know when they are hearing the truth in love. Please pray for wisdom and continued guidance.

I don't foresee abandoning the work in Quito, but do see the necessity of expanding our ministry to encompass this area. Empowering Nationals and building teams from within the host country allows such visions to become real. Whatever the case, I am totally about seeking and following God's will for my life and see this as another adventure that He is sending us on.

In our absence, the work here in the mountains near Quito carried on well thanks to our ministry partners! This is the first time the work hasn't suffered significantly in my absence, and that's a big praise! My goal is to diminish in importance so as to leave a flourishing bunch of ministries led by Ecuadorian Christians, and it seems to be slowly coming to pass! Prayer request: Diego Leon, a partner in the ministry, has gone through a prostate operation and now is experiencing severe back problems as a seperate issue, which has eliminated him from all "going" activity. Please Pray!

LA VICTORIA
Our bible study in a very closed area continues with ten to fifteen people. We meet in a grain shed, and we are going over a simple chronological bible study. Please pray for this very tough area near the town of Quinche. Freddy and Rafael have taken the lead on this incredible work in the face of persectution.

Below is a brief movie clip of our outreach day at La Victoria, from the June '08 mission team (Oakland Baptist church, Corinth, MS).

LINAJE ESCOGIDO CHURCH continues to turn around, and Sixto tells me that overall feeling is very positive and things are improving. We are preparing to propose new church bylaws this fall, and Diego is heading up that monumental project.

THE VILLAGES ABOVE Linaje Escogido church, where we are receiving much persecution, are slowly bearing fruit. There is a slow but steady number of people inviting us in, and becoming Christians. We are teaching as well. Every weekend, there is a small team of our missionaries going up to one of the three villages sharing the gospel in the face of threats by some of the leaders and aggressive villagers. Sixto and Jose Panama are the leaders in this work.

CHAMBITOLA area's Betania church continues to grow through our persistent discipleship. It is slow going, as the people are poor, uneducated farmers. Many can't read, and more read poorly. Almost no one has graduated high school. But the infusion of new energy and ideas via our new team leader, Jhoffre Ruiz and his wife, Maribel, has really had a positive effect.

We continue to host a number of short term teams this year. Please visit our Short term mission webpage for more information.

Family Update

Melissa finished her first year at Ole Miss with a 3.8 average. She is in the honors program and involved in BSU. She spent the summer with us in Quito, the Galapagos, then back to Quito for the summer to teach summer school.

Andrea and Rachel finished 9th grade homeschool, and is looking forward to seeing all of her new friends again on the Galapagos islands.

 

Other Ministry

• Orphanage "Jardin de Eden": We continue with our School grades incentive program, where we give a dollar for every "A" on their report cards, and it is really having a dramatic affect! We also take at least one team year here to help them.