Family in Manta Ecuador

Family in Manta Ecuador
January 2015

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Unexpected Bus Ministry

One of our very faithful Sunday School teachers had mentioned the same prayer request several Wednesday nights in a row in prayer meeting: that God would provide a means of transportation for some of the children whose parents didn't bring them to church consistently. She was thinking that maybe someone with a pick-up truck could drive around town picking some kids up for church on Sunday, or maybe God would bless her and her husband with a minivan. Juan, one of our deacons, is very faithful on Wednesday nights. He doesn't have a regular car, but often got people together on Wednesday nights to share a taxi, or occasionally he would drive his work vehicle, a water tanker truck, to church. One Wednesday, about the time to start we heard the typical rumble of an old diesel engine. "Here comes Juan," someone said, but it wasn't the tanker truck, it was a long, old bus! Several people from Juan's neighborhood climbed out. Among the thanksgiving and praises that night: Juan had a new ministry, many of the kids have a way to Sunday School now, and more people are coming along with Juan on Wednesday night. Isn't answered prayer great?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Our Missionary Family

One of the great blessings of missionary life for the Anzalone family has been our extended family of fellow missionaries in Ecuador. When we came to Ecuador bringing our three little girls, we left behind a large and supportive extended family structure in the States. Over the years we have been able to stay close to our family back in the USA through letters, phone calls, internet, and other marvels of modern communication; but God has also blessed us with close relationships with our missionary co-workers. When we came to serve in Ecuador, back in February of 1991, we were immediately adopted by Jim and Sharon Smith and their family in Quito. They hosted us in their home, helped us to get settled, and encouraged our girls to call them Uncle Jim and Aunt Sharon. We became Uncle Tony and Aunt Joy to their teens Zac and Stacey. Zac and Stacey received our little girls like younger cousins--played with them, ate at our house, even stayed at our house sometimes. Over those first few years we became as close as I can imagine any "real" relatives can be to one another, and during our service in Ecuador we have known the joy of family-like relationships with many other missionary aunts and uncles and cousins, nieces and nephews. Pray for all of the missionaries you know, asking God to bless them in this same way. We treasure these ties that bind.
That's one reason why it has been so hard these days to let go of our MK nephew Zac Smith. After a hard-fought struggle with cancer, Zac went to be with the Lord last Sunday afternoon. He was 33 years old. Zac was a joy to know as a teen--intelligent, witty, competitive, talented; he was always willing to join in with the missionary family, even being Santa Claus at Christmas gatherings and tickling his little nieces until they lost it completely! It was as an adult, however, that Zac's life made an eternal impact. As he grew closer to the Lord, he shared the wisdom and life-experiences with others as a teacher and through a blog. I was a regular reader. His insights often "blew my doors off." He worked in a very technical field, but eventually heard a calling to put his skills to use in ministry. Ironically, it was just a few months after he began to work in "full-time" ministry that he was diagnosed with cancer. He lived the roller coaster ride of surgery, chemo, no cancer, and recurrence with grace, and with an amazing openness that impressed him to share his experiences and emotions with others on the internet. He always seasoned his writings with biblical truth and urged people to turn to Jesus. Ultimately, with the help of the team he served with at NewSpring Church in South Carolina, Zac made a couple of videos that have been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Others suffering pain like Zac have found encouragement in his words, and some who didn't know Jesus have turned to him as their Master. Zac's own words tell the story: "God is still God. God is still good. To God be the glory."
Link to Zac's Story.

Womens Ministry and Mother's Day



Joy and the women's ministry held a special activity for all of the women of the church and their invited guests. It looked and sounded like they had a great time playing games, singing, and doing a craft. Wilda, one of the ministry leaders, gave a devotion along the theme of building your home on the Lord. The women really enjoy these times of fellowship. On Sunday, we had over 100 people in attendance, with over 30 mothers present.
Overall, our church attendance has been excellent lately. We dipped below 100 a couple of times at the end of school vacations (that's the end of March around here), but aside from those days we have seen the attendance average over 120 for the past few months. Our next milestone for attendance average will be the 140 range, and then we will really need the new auditorium. Please be praying with us about that!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Baptisms





Five young women were baptized on May 2. This was a great day. In spite of heavy rains, there were 137 people at church. It was also our first Sunday to have a nursery for babies during the service, and there were seven babies present! Please pray for the ladies who followed the Lord Jesus in baptism.

Missions Conference





Glenn and Sherri McGhee visited us for a missions conference at our church. They shared some of the vision and strategy that they have used for planting churches in the Valley de los Chillos outside of Quito. They also challenged our church to get involved in missions by telling us about the teams that have gone from their churches to the San Blas islands of Panama. Many hearts were touched by the videos and sermons that Pastor Glenn shared.

Trip to Quito



In April we had the opportunity to go to Quito for a few days. While we were there we enjoyed the hospitality of missionaries Cliff and Neoma Mcghee, and visited with Glenn and Sherri McGhee as well. We got to visit a couple of churches in the McGhees' ministry. We especially enjoyed visiting the church in Mushuñan. Several years ago our supporting churches contributed to buy the property where the church meets, and now they have a beautiful building as well. I enjoyed preaching there and in the church in La Victoria.