Week 3 In Ecuador

This has been another amazing and wonderful week here. God has blessed us with continued strength, health and one good day after another. A couple of us have been a little bit sick as we get used to the new foods and try to avoid the water. But it has not been very bad at all.

Most of our days are still filled with Spanish classes in the city. That takes up about 6-7 hours counting travel time. For 2 more weeks we will do that for 5 days per week. Then we will cut back to 2 or 3 days per week. We are communicating more and more which is really fun.

On Sunday, the 20^th, Bobby preached at a Church of God in a neighboring small town (Amaguana). He had an interpreter of course. This church has been going for 35 years and is very strong. They have a preschool program and are hoping to open up to older grades soon. The pastor of this church has endured a lot of persecution over the years. When he first began the church, a mob of 500 people took him and tried to burn him alive but miraculously his life was spared. Since then, God has used him in mighty ways to impact this community.

They serve lunch after church. Today we had pigskin soup!

Remember this church in your prayers. A local businessman has donated a piece of property for their expansion. However, this property is currently used as a prostitution center and the mafia is pressuring the church to leave it alone.

(more…)

Recap of the first few days in Ecuador

Our first few days have been very busy. We found a place to live, bought furniture and groceries and even began daily Spanish lessons. It has been a very fruitful time of getting things in place so we can get to work.

We have no car yet, so we take many bus and taxi rides each day. We have become pros at figuring out the bus routes and communicating with taxistas (taxi drivers). Here we are on our first bus ride (note: we don’t usually have to stand):

(more…)

Ecuador – Day 1

Our journey to Ecuador was lots of fun as Brock drove us to Miami. Here are a couple photos to laugh at:

We arrived at the airport at 11 AM and were met by Dan & Teresa Susong who are missionaries from Tennessee. They greeted us with roses! All our bags were safe and we made it through customs with no problems.

(more…)

Photos from Ecuador Trip

What we’ll be doing

Our family has heard the call of God to become resident missionaries to Quito, Ecuador. We are making preparations and plan to move to Quito in January 2008! We are currently seeking those who God calls to partner with us to make this possible. We need both prayer partners and financial partners.

About the work in Quito…

Poverty runs rampant in Ecuador. Our vision for the outreach in Quito is to work with many of the street children who live in the trash dumps and on the streets. These children face many overwhelming issues due to the harshness of life in a developing country. Our hope is to offer weekly church services that are child centered and allow them to truly be innocent children for a few moments. We will also offer meals and other physical needs as we are able to provide them. Through these efforts we hope to build relationships with the adults in these families and offer Bible studies and worship services for them to attend as well. Our prayer is that entire families will find salvation and be transformed through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Church of God has a seminary in Quito (nicknamed SEMISUD) which instructs pastors and missionaries for all of South America. There are over 100 students enrolled in this school who are passionate about learning God’s Word and becoming better ministers. These students are primarily from countries across South America and all have a strong call of God on their lives to either return to their native land or to become missionaries elsewhere. Some of the current students have callings for Kenya, Morocco, India, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and tribes in the Amazon of Peru and Ecuador.

Bobby will be volunteering as a professor at the seminary; teaching various Bible courses. We will also work closely with a select group of students who are enrolled in the Transcultural Studies program which focuses on urban mission work. With these students, we will be leading mission outreach to the destitute in the city of Quito. Through these efforts, God’s work will progress in Quito while these students gain invaluable, practical field experience for their future ministry endeavors.

Please be in prayer about how God might use you to help share His love with the most unfortunate in Ecuador. We know that He has called us to this work and are excited to see who He calls to partner with us.