A March full of Ministry!

March began with a wonderful visit from our long-time, close friends, David and Gwyn Groh.  We enjoyed time together as couples, with the Primero de Mayo Church, and with the Crossworld-Ecuador team!  What an encouragement they were to us!

Visiting with church members Fernando, Zulema and Susan at the jeans store they manage!

Straddling the equator!

Dave and Glenn on the newly poured roof of the Primero de Mayo church building!

Gissela gratefully receives the children's books that Gwyn's sister and her students collected for the Primero de Mayo church ministries!

David preached in Primero de Mayo and Glenn translated...and they so enjoyed their time together!

This llama SO wanted to be a part of our photo!

Warming up together at the Crossworld-Ecuador Conference where David was the main speaker!

The Crossworld-Ecuador team with Dave and Gwyn!

 We celebrated two special birthdays with two special young ladies, Diana, pictured here with balloon,  and Dayana.   Both birthday girls were serenaded by some of our church youth guys...

 and both participated in the birthday tradition that involves taking a bite of their cake quickly before someone can push their face into the cake....

Both Diana and here, Dayana, weren't quick enough! 

A wonderful team from Liberty University joined us in the ministry here from March 8-17!  What a blessing they were!

The team opened up opportunities for us in the largest high school in Cayambe! After a 3 hour interactive English lesson, team leader Paul Halsey presents the English teacher with a gift...

Diana, here, and Dayana each got permission from their teachers for the team to teach their classes and then they each presented us to their classmates and identified themselves as a part of the church in Primero de Mayo!  Three of their classmates then joined us at youth group later that week!

We connected with 3 English teachers at the school and have an open invitation to return to the school!

We toured the rose plantation, Hoja Verde, where several of our teen's parents work...

and got to see one of our church members (Tia Lucia) in action at work! 

 It was our joy to host the Liberty team in our home two of the days they were here...and it was an honor to minister alongside Chelsea, a team member who is the daughter of our long-time friends, Lee and Sue Oberg!

The team also opened doors for us in nearby Quinche, where the local high school denied us entrance into their school but, at the request of our pastor's daughter Estefany, allowed their students to attend an English lesson in our sister church there...

Approximately 150 students were in attendance and were introduced to Pastor Wilmer, in orange, and were invited to return to the church!

Finally, the team furthered the construction of our church building in Primero de Mayo - here Chelsea, Glenn, Paul and Andrea work on the sidewalk!

At the end of the month Crossworld's Lynford and Sharon Regier, and Gissela Simbana took Glenn and Susie to see and participate in the ministries in the Caluma area (about an 8 hour drive to the south).  We visited our association of churches' main campground and 3 churches in 3 days!

Glenn and Susie shared their testimonies at the La Florida church and here Glenn shares at the Caluma church...

At the Estero Lindo Church, Glenn and Lynford encouraged the men as leaders in their church...

while Susie joined Gissela and Sharon in training the women and teens in teaching children's Bible lessons.

This church SO reminded us of the churches in the Dominican Republic - ceiling fans and all!

Caluma pastor, Jorge, and his wife, Miriam, not only fed us well, but invited us to join them in visiting and encouraging their church members!  What fun we had together!

February 2012 in Primero de Mayo!

So sorry I'm a month behind posting these...but I didn't want to NOT post them!  God has been at work in and through the believers in Primero de Mayo and we're so thankful to be a part of what He's doing!

In the beginning of the month, Glenn helped Marco increase the height of one wall of the existing structure (it had been built for an inclined roof). This, our future church building, will now have a flat, concrete roof.

 

 The first weekend of the month we had a church work day ("minga") to help Rosa (a widow and mother of 3 teens in our church) begin to build her new home.

 

 What a great group turned out to help in the construction of Rosa's house and what fun we had!

 

 Mid February, while Susie was in PA with her family, Glenn, Pablo and David taught at a Couples' Dinner and Workshop for the Primero de Mayo community.  The youth from our church helped serve the dinner!  

 

At the end of the month we had a church work day ("minga") on our church property.  The project was to pour the flat concrete roof, and we succeeded!  Many hands from our sister churches came to help and we even hired a winch and operator for the day!

A January of New Beginnings!

The month of January started off with a visit to Cotacachi- the town where CFC Missionaries, George and Linda Hege, were working with a team!  We not only had the joy of seeing George and Linda, one of the first missionaries we'd talked to about our interest in missions over 20 years ago, but we met two CFC'ers we'd never met before from our home church in PA - one who is friends with our son Josh!  We also began a new relationship with Washo, an Ecuadorian leader who is passionate about ministry!

Deb!

Chelsea!

George and Linda!

We participated in our first church work day - a "minga."  Many from the church came to clean up the property where our church building will be built  - Glenn worked outside and I helped in the kitchen - preparing lemonade through the morning and a huge Ecuadorian meal to thank the workers at 1pm!

before the work began...

the work in process...

after - a lot ready for construction!

The happy kitchen crew!

One of the Primero de Mayo youth, Alexandra, began her year of intense discipleship and training at Word of Life, Quito, this month!  We're SO excited for her - and for all those whose lives she'll touch!  Glenn and I got to visit her at the training center - the day before they left for further training and preparation at the campgrounds nearby!

 

We then visited with the PBU team who came to serve God in Quito!  What a joy to see my friend/fellow Social Worker/PBU professor, Juliet, and to share with mission-minded PBU'ers HERE in Ecuador!

Our month ended with a Pastor's Conference - the bi-annual meeting of our association of churches' pastors and delegates - here in Primero de Mayo!  Our church members provided and prepared the food for, and hosted overnight (in 7 different homes!), the 35 men and women in attendance! 

The Pastors, delegates, treasurer and secretary pose in front of our church property with our NEW sign...

and in front of the building where the church will meet!

Gissela helps Glenn transport the food to the Community Center where we are currently meeting!

I learned a lot about Ecuadorian cooking from Dilita, Paty and the kitchen crew!

Church members served the food to the pastors - here, Orlando serves the food Cayambe is famous for - bizcochos - while in the background Lynford gives the Crossworld missionaries' report!

Every church and ministry represented gave their report...it was a long 2 days of meetings!

We added new touches to our home this month...a photo of Rachel and Josh, that they gave to us for Christmas, and two statues  - a Christmas gift from our Pastor's wife here - so that "Rachel and Josh" could always be in our home!  :)

The photo is on the wall between the windows...thought I'd show you how well it fits in our living room!

We also ended the month with the joy of starting a new Bible Study in the city of Cayambe!  Glenn and Vicente, one of the Primero de Mayo Church deacons, met with 2 men last week and 6 this week!  Thank you for your prayers!