Family in Manta Ecuador

Family in Manta Ecuador
January 2015

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Ecua-Volley

What did the men do while the women were at a baby shower? First they spent a few hours working at the construction site. Twelve men put their hands and hearts into completing a task together. Then the fellowship continued with one of Ecuador's favorite sports--volleyball. In Ecuador volleyball is played with three on a side, a high net, and a soccer ball. There is no rotation. The competition is serious.

Double Baby Shower

This past Sunday evening the ladies of the church held a baby shower for two lovely Moms-to-be, Viviana and Monica. Joy had a great time planning, organizing, and buying gifts. The cakes she made were beautiful. The other leaders of the ladies ministry pitched in and did a wonderful job with decorations, games, and a devotion. About 35 ladies participated and made both of the mothers feel very blessed and appreciated. Viviana has attended our church for a few years, but her husband is not a believer. Monica and her husband have just recently begun to follow Jesus.

Bible Institute Students

Here you see most of the people from the church who recently completed subjects in our Bible institute ministry. All of these folks take active roles in our church. Baby Aaron was present for the latest subject and took the final exam. This Thursday we expect to add several new students to this group.


Miriam, Darwin and Jessica each received a beautiful Study Bible in recognition of their completing 12 subjects. They are the first to finish the Level One courses. They will be continuing to study in areas specific to the ministries they are involved in or will be stretching into!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Construction Progress


Thank the Lord our church building is now starting to go up as well as down! We are so pleased to see some progress in the construction of our church's future meeting and ministry place. There is still a long, long way to go. So keep us in your prayers. Any contributions for this project are greatly appreciated and can be sent through Baptist Bible Fellowship International, PO Box 191, Springfield, MO 65801. Be sure to include a note that your gift is for the building in Manta, Ecuador, part of Tony Anzalone's ministry. Offerings given through BBFI are tax deductible. Right now, each $10 contribution makes it possible for us to build one square foot of the first floor of our education building.
This weekend, from Friday night to Saturday night, the church will have 24 HOURS of PRAYER. More than 60 people have signed up for specific time slots in order to have a continual stream of prayer for the needs of our world, country, city and church. I am very excited about this. We will end on Saturday at 6:00 PM with a one-hour unified prayer meeting. Please join with us in taking every request to God's throne of grace.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Big Holes


This is a hole. How exciting! It is the first of 24 similar holes that are the beginnings of the building for the church in Manta. We have been waiting for this for quite a while. We are so thankful to God for bringing us to this point. There is still a long way to go, but we believe the entire project will be completed. May God receive the glory and praise. We trust that he will supply the financial and manpower needs for the job to continue.


This is part of the construction crew that began work on Monday, March 9. Besides digging holes they are assembling thousands of pieces of re-bar that provide the steel reinforcement for the building's concrete foundation and columns. Please be praying for this building project. That would be a big help. Thank you for being part of our construction team!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Vacation Bible School



We had a really good time on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. The teachers were well prepared and well organized. We had more than enough helpers for all activities. We had an opening set of songs and the main message at the beginning. The teacher for that period was a little bit goofy, but that's okay. It was me. Then we used out limited space to break out into groups divided by age. Everyone was crowded. This group of older elementary students had to move from a small classroom to the terraza. That was the coolest place in the building anyway so it worked out great. After the classroom activities for reinforcement and age-appropriate activities we had another large group session: more music and the main story once again. This time Rafael told the story through pictures using really cool flourescent paint and black light. The kids paid attention and the Gospel was presented very clearly. What fun! Then on Sunday we had a all of the kids back for Sunday School and VBS closing. 134 people showed up! and the house didn't fall down. We desperately need our building!