La Sequita

On Friday, October 10, a group of about 15 people from our church responded to an invitation to visit the town of La Sequita, about 30 minutes east of Manta. A family from the town attends our church and is interested in helping their neighbors learn about Jesus so that their lives can be changed just as theirs has been by the power of the Gospel. The family opened their home to host the children and young people, their neighbors and friends. The picture shows one group of children working on a coloring sheet. They also made bracelets and enjoyed a puppet show. The adults and teens watched a movie and had refreshments. We are proud of the way our church responds to opportunities to take the Gospel to others. We want to grow into a church with a missionary heart!

Prayer Report October 2014

October 2014

Here are seven encouraging items from our ministry:

1) Joy and I received permanent residency visas. This will save us time and money since we won’t have to renew missionary visas annually, plus it make our presence in Ecuador less dependent on bureaucratic whims from year to year.

2) We taught a couple of exciting Bible study series as part of the Thursday night Leadership Training courses at the church in Manta. Both the men’s and the women’s groups were very faithful in attendance and in getting homework done each week. Some have even taken the course material to teach others what they learned.

3) One of the men who was baptized in April came to follow Jesus through the testimony and influence of his young daughter and his wife. Now he is sharing his faith in Christ with others at work, in their neighborhood, and among their relatives. He consistently brings people to church, usually filling his pick-up truck, some have become believers, and he is teaching them discipleship lessons.

4) Three young women were baptized in August. It is very encouraging to see new believers following Jesus and being identified as His disciples. One of those baptized is a teenager from the Montañita Verde Children’s Home.

5) The church has been growing in giving and generosity. One project has been the support of orphaned and needy children in Uganda in partnership with a church in Virginia and another in Kampala. The people of our church in Manta have given three and four times as much as our original commitment each month. Tithes and other offerings have increased along with that special project.

6) Volunteers have been working on the church building. The pastoral office area is nearly done. Volunteers have prepared walls and painted Sunday School classrooms. They have also been working on a second nursery area. Recently the men have been learning to make windows. There are lots of windows needed around the building so this will be a big help.

7) One Saturday afternoon we held a teacher-training seminar for the children’s ministry workers. Over 20 people came including four new volunteers. Plans are underway to reorganize and expand to be able to minister more effectively to the growing number of children.

Thank you for encouraging us. We hope that you’re encouraged too!

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Back in Ecuador ... With the Taylor Family

It is great to be back in Ecuador. We've been here a week so far. We're very excited about having our daughter Lexi, son-in-law Jonathan, and grandchildren Crosby and Adrienne with us. The Taylor family is beginning their service as missionaries with an internship period working with us. Please be praying for them as they learn and improve their Spanish; adjust to many cultural differences; as well as observe and practice in many ministry areas. This family is going to be a tremendous blessing to the work in Manta, and will be used by the Lord to bring many into follow-ship with Jesus. These first weeks they are looking for a home to rent. Pray that they can settle in quickly. On Sunday the church in Manta presented them with warm greetings, gifts, and personal prayer commitments. It was awesome!

April 2014 Prayer Report

You can read our most recent Prayer Report and download it in PDF format with this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rLHp1GThOCOHBDWkJmeGxVbUE/edit?usp=sharing

Missions Conferences

We have been in some great Missions Conferences the past few weeks. In the photo we are wearing T-shirts from the Global Impact Conference at West Park Baptist Church in Knoxville. Teddy is looking a little bit worn out, and really we were all tired by the end of the week-long event, but it was an amazing week! The theme was Multiply: Disciple to Disciple. It was encouraging to share with the church family and the other missionaries who were there. The next stop was Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church in Altamonte Springs, FL where the theme was "o-BE-dient". It was cool to be with two brand new missionary families, and with a church that has cared for our family since Joy and I were just starting out. Now Teddy and I are in East Longmeadow, MA at First Baptist Church, yet another of the churches that has supported our ministry over the years. Thanks for your prayers as we travel.

Iglesia Bíblica Bautista de Manta 2014

In February the church we began planting in 2005 celebrated its 9th anniversary. God has done amazing things in this congregation! We're so proud of the leadership team, all of the membership, and the many people who attend and serve week-in and week-out because of the way they live as a vibrant, church family of growing disciples. Our basic goals of "knowing, growing, walking, and working" with Jesus Christ to glorify God are still the basic recipe for our church life and ministry. We are thankful for the hundreds of people who have partnered with us in prayer and support through the years, and the USA churches who are behind us as support partners. The best is yet to come!

Praise and Prayer

Here is link to our latest prayer report with a list of reasons to praise God for what he is doing, and a list of prayer requests for the present and near future.
February 2014 Prayer Report

Videos from the Last Five Years

Not long ago I was getting some information together for a supporting church to use in their mission conference and I was looking for video material. It blessed me to watch some of the video evidence of how our ministry has developed over the past five years. I hope you'll watch some of these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cUS-MvWK_Y   This year's presentation video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzHSeKYvJrc Samples of Sunday morning Bible Study at the Manta Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwKBT-gAye4 Sample of worship time in Manta, Ecuador

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9RdY6955gM Come and See invitation to a church in Virginia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juD9juFlV80  a VBS class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2HkRTdGijs children singing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1zpiKxq4sQ 2009 Gracias! entering first stage of building program in Manta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xroe0s3iG0Y 2008 20 years of ministry Anzalone family in Ecuador

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rLHp1GThOCRW1IT3ZhOTBPVVE/edit?usp=sharing First part of Manta church history 2005-2008

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rLHp1GThOCNkhyTUUwZ0paOUU/edit?usp=sharing Second part of Manta church history 2009-2011

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rLHp1GThOCUTR1YjF0bTM1dmc/edit?usp=sharing Third part of Manta church history 2012

Christmas with Family

We had the joy of spending the time from Christmas to New Years with our whole family, 19 of us in the mission house of Central Baptist Church in Crossville, TN. It was an amazing, unique, new experience for us. To be with our six children, three sons-in-law, and eight grandchildren was a blast! Joy's parents live nearby and shared many meals with us for a four generation reunion. We were too blessed for words!