Baptism and Men's Fellowship

While we are in the States the ministry of Iglesia Bíblica Bautista de Manta is going strong under the leadership of Pastor Darwin Moreira and the great team of servant-leaders that God has put in place. One way we measure the health of the church body is in discipleship of new believers. Jefferson and his family came to the church a few months ago and soon became believers in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Others in the church have encouraged them to learn to walk with Jesus as disciples and have led them in a period of Bible study to get started well in their Christian life. In this picture, the family was ready for baptism by Pastor Darwin.
Another core value of the church is fellowship. Here a group of the men are getting together on Sunday afternoon for some sports at the local beach. The church is a family that encourages one another.

Carla's Surgery

One big purpose reason for this time in the States is for Carla to have her heart repaired. On October 8 she had open heart surgery at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. This picture with the surgeons was taken about 72 hours after surgery. She has been progressing toward being able to leave the hospital. She has several weeks of recuperation ahead. God has been good in working through the prayers of his people.

Trip Northeast

Teddy and Tony made a quick trip to the Northeast and visited three churches in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. The trip resulted in the addition of one new supporting church, and we reported to two of our long-time supporting congregations. It was Teddy's first opportunity to visit New York City. Here he is at the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center. It is quite an impressive and meaningful experience! We saw a number of other New York landmarks during our visit.

Being in the States this fall means being able to attend Missions Conferences! It is great to serve churches that are excited about being part of the Great Commission--taking the story of Jesus to the nations. One of my favorite things about these conferences is meeting the other missionaries from around the world. We also enjoy hearing terrific preaching about missions. Getting to know the people in our supporting churches, those who make our ministry possible through their generous offerings, is another excellent part of the conferences. Our batteries are recharged for the opportunities ahead. Recently we've been with two congregations, one in Virginia and another in New Jersey. They both would like to join our team of supporting churches, and we would like to be part of their team of missionaries. These meetings are missions revivals for our hearts!

New Presentation Video

 Link to our latest presentation video on YouTube: Anzalone Ecuador 2013

In Acts 1:8 Jesus promised that the disciples would be empowered by the Holy Spirit as his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. He challenged the disciples by the geography of their mission, and also by the cultural divides this commission implied.
The video presents a similar challenge by the analogy of the porch, the yard, the field, and the forest.
We hope you enjoy a look at our family and ministry as well as receiving the message we hope to convey.

Date for Carla's Surgery

Please be praying for our daughter Carla, age 9. She will be having open-heart surgery to repair an atrial septal defect on October 8. She will be at U Va Medical Center in Charlottesville, VA. We are very thankful for the doctors that God has provided for Carla. We also have strong local support from the Mountain View Chapel church family that has been extremely generous in taking care of us while we are in the Charlottesville area. We are greatly blessed by our extended family and our wide-ranging team of supporters who hold us before God's throne in prayer.

Arriving in the USA

Thanks to all of you for your prayers as we begin our time in the USA. We arrived in Washington, DC to the great surprise of two daughters and four grandchildren at the airport to meet us! They had traveled from Ohio to be there. Also Pastors Tim and Tom from our host church in Virginia, and Tim's daughter Megan. We traveled a couple of hours to the Charlottesville area, and a great group from Mountain View Chapel greeted us warmly. What a beautiful a home they have prepared for us! We got to spend a few days with our grandchildren. Joy's parents also traveled from Tennessee to visit us this week.
Carla had an echo-cardiogram in preparation for her surgery. We will meet with her cardiologist on August 27. We will keep you posted on the plans.
Besides Carla's surgery we have a lot to do before beginning to visit churches in mid-September. Thank you for your prayers.
Tony

Visas!

We've been praying, waiting, and working for a long time to get these visa packets for Carla and Matthew. We are very excited to be traveling to the States soon for Carla's heart surgery, family time, and reporting to our great support team around the USA.

Baptisms

It's always great to give testimony to the power of the Gospel by baptism. We love to see lives changed forever by the resurrected Christ. When they are baptized, they are painting a picture of what Jesus did for them when he died and rose again.

Evangelism and Outreach

Our church supports the David Proaño family. They are missionary street evangelists who do a great job of presenting the Gospel in many ways, and in many settings all over Ecuador and other South American countries. This month they were working with a visiting group from the United States. The group used martial arts demonstrations to present the Gospel. Many people were saved during the campaign and our church family was fully involved in all of their work in and around Manta.

Evangelist David Proaño

On Sunday, June 30, Evangelist David Proaño was our guest. He and his family are missionary-evangelists with Open Air Campaigners. They do a great job of presenting the Gospel in unique ways all over Ecuador and in other countries of South America. His excellent sermon focused on the true Gospel in comparison with the confusing and erroneous messages of the world's religions. Here is one great point he made: Religion is summed up in the instruction, DO! by men trying to reach and please God; the Gospel is the Good News, DONE! by Christ on the Cross. We are thankful that our church is able to have a part in the financial support of missionaries like the Proaño family.

Father's Day 2013

We encourage families to get their picture taken at church on Mother's Day and Father's Day. Each year the number of families waiting to pose gets bigger. Joy makes the photos into beautiful cards that we print out for each family.

This picture is unique. Wilton and Mónica have three children, but they recently became house parents of Montañita Verde Children's Home. Here they are posing with their own kids plus six! Every Sunday they load up the truck and make the drive to Sunday School and church. They are doing a great job and we would appreciate your prayers for them.

Appreciating the Church Leadership Team

On Sunday, June 9, 2013, we continued our emphasis on gratitude for the year 2013 by expressing our thanks to the church's leadership team. There are seven married couples who work closely with Joy and me to implement the vision of the church in a variety of ministries. We believe that leadership comes through service and example. The men on the leadership team serve as the deacons and are elected by the church membership based on the qualities and characteristics required of deacons in the New Testament. We are thankful for the way these men and women work together to serve Jesus by serving in our local church.

Children's Day

On Sunday, June 2, our children's ministry workers did a great job of making it a special day for all of the kids at church. They made the Bible story come to life with costumes and drama. They had music, games, and treats for everyone. We appreciate the work of the team each week.

Baptisms on May 26

Two young ladies were happy to take an important step in their Christian life, giving testimony of their faith in Christ by baptism. Also it was the first time for Assistant Pastor Darwin Moreira to administer the ordinance of baptism. A great day for our church.