We were invited to lead a children’s outreach service in a small rural community. When I say rural…. I really mean it. We drove 1 hour south of Quito, and then after we got off the highway, we drove another hour over the mountains and through the woods. But right in the middle of nowhere, a community popped up.
This church has been around for 35 years and they have one of the most successfully discipleship programs of any of the rural churches we’ve seen. There were approximately 120 children in attendance. They were so excited and engaged in every part of the service. This is a really great group of kids – eager to worship and learn more about God.
The kids loved the clowns and games and songs. Jaciel, one of the SEMISUD students who travels with us, taught an interactive lesson on the Fish & Loaves miracle. We were blessed by how intently the children were listening and soaking up the Word of God.
After the service, the community honored us with a special meal. They served us chicken soup, then a plate of potatoes with guinea pig, lamb and rabbit. To us, this meal seems hard to stomach, but they were giving us a royal feast in their terms. This was such a sacrifice for them to bless us so richly. We always feel awkward in these settings, because just outside our building, all the kids were sitting in the dirt eating just a bowl of soup while we were presented with this feast. We would so much rather give the food to them, but at the same time we would never want to offend these precious, generous people … so … we eat.
I mentioned earlier, how this church has one of the best discipleship programs we have seen. This event was a special, extra outreach because we were coming. But, they do have a children’s service EVERY Saturday. A former community member travels from Quito each weekend to teach the children. It shows! This group of children already knew more of the Word than we expected. We are so encouraged and hopeful for this generation of children who are growing up with solid guidance and teaching. Please pray for this church and consider helping them provide food on Saturdays or expand their building with classrooms.
In July, the children and I were blessed with the opportunity to fly home and attend the Alabama Church of God Youth Camp. I had said this was something our children really needed for their spiritual growth since they are more often being the ministers than being fed here in Ecuador. However, I realized quickly that I needed it as much as they did.
I don’t know what it is about youth camp, but it is such a magical week of being changed by God. All my life, youth camp was always a life-shaping experience. There is something about being away from your “normal” and being surrounded by God stuff. It is almost impossible not to grow and be changed in this environment.
Thanks to our friends, the Patrick’s, I was able to be at camp that week too, hanging out with the staff. I was blessed, broken and filled up just as much or more than any of the children were. This reminded me of how important it is to refill ourselves spiritually on a regular basis. No matter what your everyday looks like, this is such an important part of our Christian lives that we MUST guard and make a priority.
So I challenge you guys – just as I am challenging myself, to be vigilant about taking a time of renewal. It is something we easily cast aside for “another time when we’re not so busy”. But it is something that if we don’t do, we’ll wither little by little spiritually. Obviously, we can’t all go spend a week at youth camp, but there are ways to make renewal time a priority. Here are some ways I am personally working on that:
Quiet morning or evening time – For me, I am a night owl, so I try to take advantage of that quiet time after everyone else is asleep to reflect, read the Bible and pray.
Family Worship – We have just begun adding some worship time to our family devotions. We don’t do it every day – but we are trying to do it weekly. We just play some worship songs on the computer and “stop the rollercoaster” for a few minutes to reflect on God’s glory. This has led to some beautiful moments for us.
Nature Walks – I am the type who always sees God in nature. I love to just walk and observe the beautiful rolling mountains, the fluffy clouds in the sky, the birds, etc. To me, this leads to time with God, reflecting on his magnificence.
I know we are all so busy and have so many things distracting us (like Facebook!). Try this week, to do one thing – even for a couple minutes – to help you find spiritual renewal.
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:31 (New American Standard Bible)
On June 27, the auditorium at SEMISUD was filled beyond capacity and then some as the proud parents, friends, pastors, and church members of graduating students watched on. Out of the eight different programs of study that SEMISUD offers, more than 70 students graduated.
We are especially proud of our students from the Transcultural Studies Program (the one Bobby directs) who graduated. Jeanneth of Ecuador graduated with honors and also received the prestigious Missionary of the Year award.
Jeanneth served her four month practicum in Mozambique last year where she worked with a local church in a desperately poor community in benevolence outreach ministries. Her heart and passion is to return to this community and poor out God’s love in visible and tangible ways for the remainder of her life. Please pray for her as she tries to raise her support to return.
A couple from Guatemala graduated with honors as well. They have studied and worked hard in preparation for their future work with the Muslims in Istanbul, Turkey. They have answered the call to go and labor for Jesus in one of the hardest mission fields imaginable. Please pray for God’s grace and mercy to be with them and their ministry as they go into the enemy’s territory to proclaim the lovely name of Jesus to those who have never heard the Gospel. (Due to the dangerous work they face in their future, we chose not to publish their names.)
Karina of Ecuador graduated and left immediately after graduation to return to Ethiopia. All I can say is that working with the women and children in a refugee camp Ethiopia “messed her up!” … but in a good way. Her heart has burned with passion to return and continue her ministry unto the least of these ever since she returned to Ecuador. Praise God, she was able to raise her support in short order and will be serving the King of Kings in a place as close to hell as one can get on earth. Please pray for God’s guidance and protections as she ministers to the women and children who have been displaced and who suffer violence, rape and other horrors on a daily basis.
Every June, SEMISUD hosts a week-long intensive study on a particular topic. This event is for SEMISUD students, but it is also for pastors and other interested persons from everywhere. This year, the focus was on celebrating 100 years of Pentecostalism in Latin America. Many professors and pastors came from the US to speak along with leaders from all over Latin America. There were about 300 people in attendance seeking to learn more and grow their ministries. Many people rode in buses for several days just to attend this event.
The cost for attendance is $35. While this isn’t much, for the Indigenous pastors, that amount often prevents them from participating. Thanks to our faithful donors, we were able to purchase entry fees for representatives from each of the 8 Indigenous churches in Quito that we work with. After many of the training sessions, Bobby would meet with these representatives to discuss how they could implement these ideas into their local churches. It was a great time of fellowship and growth and we are anxious to see how God uses this experience for the expansion of His Kingdom
We also enjoyed spending time with some of our close friends and family members who came for the event. These included Terry and Marie Johns, Rick and Janice Waldrop, Cheryl Johns, Grant and Janice McClung and others.
May was a blessed month, filled with lots of teaching opportunities for both Bobby & me along with many ministry outreach events. A couple of the best highlights include:
A visiting group of students
Three college students from Alabama came for a short mission trip. We had a blast traveling to various places in the country. They brought many gifts for the orphanage and for other ministries.
In visiting the orphanage, they gave new toothbrushes and toothpaste to the children along with crayons and other special items. We played soccer with the boys using their ball that had not one stitch of the cover remaining, leaving only a ball of strings. Needless to say, we went and bought them a new soccer ball.
We visited many of the shoeshine boys, hung out with SEMISUD students and even climbed to the snowline of the Cotopaxi volcano.
On Saturday, we held a kids service with the children from the FACES ministry who work shining shoes, selling candy, etc. This was so much fun as we were able to help them make a photo frame and printed out a photo of each child. They rarely get photos of themselves so this was a big treat!
The whole week was a great experience for us and the visiting students. We welcome any of you who want to come for a missions experience – no matter what size group – come visit!
Dia del Niño
Ecuador has a holiday like Mother’s Day/Father’s Day called Children’s Day. Every year, the ministry we help with, FACES, hosts a special event to allow the children who normally work in the streets each day to experience a playful day free from work. To accomplish this, volunteers from local churches (upper class) take the place of the kids. They shine shoes and sell candy in the streets to earn the money that child needs for the day while the children get to have a day of fun.
This year, we took over 100 children to have a day of fun at an amusement park. It was a wild and crazy day as we stuffed into a bus for 60 passengers but no one complained. They were able to ride several rides and then we took the cable cars to the top of a nearby volcano. Spike & Sparkle (our clown kids) entertained them with balloon animals and face painting.
We ended the day with a worship service with both the volunteers who worked that day and the children. It was a beautiful expression of how God’s love breaks down the barriers between classes.
PRAY for our ministry
