Family in Manta Ecuador

Family in Manta Ecuador
January 2015

Sunday, December 13, 2009

More Space




Our increasing attendance on Sunday mornings means that we need more classroom space for children and more general meeting space. We are building a temporary auditorium on the second floor of the educational building. This space will eventually be used for three classrooms. Using this area for general church services will open up two more classroom areas downstairs for use by the Sunday School. We are grateful that the Lord has provided what we need for these spaces and we believe that he will provide what we need to finish them out properly. Our constant numerical growth is a wonderful blessing and a challenge.
The man who pushes the ice cream wagon arrives each Sunday around the end of the service. He does a brisk business as people hang around after church and visit.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Baptisms



What a great day! We had 135 in church and then a big crowd went to the beach for baptisms. Nine believers made the first step of discipleship, following the example of the Lord Jesus. This is always very exciting for me personally and for our church family generally. The group included a young married couple, four people from one family, a couple of boys, two teenaged girls, and two men for whom we have been praying for quite some time. Each one gave a clear statement of faith in Christ and shared a few words of testimony, encouragement to others, or gratitude to the Lord and those who have helped them come this far.

Baby Dedication



Our church is blessed with a lot of wonderful children and some good folks to work with them. The Pazos family is very involved in all of our church ministries and have been especially gifted in working with children. A couple of weeks ago they made a family commitment in the dedication of their infant son Christian. Cecilia is one of the leaders of our Sunday School ministry. She not only teaches, but also coordinates the other teachers and administers the materials and supplies. Javier is a very capable teacher of both children and adults. He is part of the administrative team of the church and serves in the Travesía outreach ministry. We are very thankful for this family, as well as the many other families that have made our church in Manta such a wonderful aspect of our work in Ecuador.

Construction Continues




We are not yet finished working on the first floor of the educational building, but with attendance well over 100 each Sunday, we already need to add space. You can see that work on the sidewalk is underway. Also a temporary metal roof is being built on the second floor. We will add perimeter walls to that area to make a larger meeting place for services. We should be able to seat around 135 in that area as opposed to the capacity of 90 in the classroom area we are now using. We will also have more room for children's classes since all of the first floor classroom space will be available for the kids. We should then have total capacity of 180 to 200. This is Stage 1.5 of the building project.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Leadership Team







We are grateful for the servant-leaders that God is raising up in the church in Manta. They have done an amazing job during the four months of our absence, and the church has grown because of it. Our first Sunday back they arranged to take Joy, Teddy and I out for a Chinese dinner. How generous! We took pictures. From the top down: you know who we are, Javier and Cecilia with their two children, Juan and Barbara (their kids are grown), Alfredo and Wilda (their children are adults), Darwin and Jessica and their daughter, Luis and Melanea with their son. One family was out of town, David and Monica, and they have three children. Please pray for these families.

First Sunday Back




November 8 was our first Sunday back in Manta! On Saturday, the ladies held a surprise birthday and welcome home party for Joy. It was great to see all the ladies express their appreciation for Joy's ministry and friendship. We also got to see some of the new babies!
On Sunday there were over 100 people in attendance. One of the children's classes made a welcome sign: bienvenidos. The letters are a little bit out of order. One of the faithful women of the church was able to bring her husband to church for the very first time and they asked if we would present their baby daughter and pray for God's blessing on her life as we do for all of the children. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to witness about the necessity of parents knowing the Lord and teaching his ways to their children from an early age. Please pray for this father's salvation!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Back "Home"

Joy, Teddy, and I returned to Manta yesterday afternoon! We are very happy to be back at home. There is a lot to do, and we are excited about the next steps in this ministry. We are looking forward to Sunday, our first Sunday back at our church after four months away. We also have meetings Saturday: Joy with the ladies fellowship, and Tony with the deacons-in-training. We have already been hearing about all that has been accomplished, and we look forward to sharing ideas for the future. We are excited about a couple of Christmas projects we have in mind to help local Christian foundations that work with street kids and orphans. We will keep you posted. Please keep praying for us.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Family Benefits


I want to mention a couple of family milestones.
First, my maternal grandmother died on September 30. I had the privilege of attending her funeral in Dodge City, KS. My mother and my uncle asked me to preach at the funeral service. That was an honor, but was also emotionally difficult. I am very thankful for Mimi's testimony of faith in Christ, and the wonderful way she set an example for all of us who learned of Jesus from her.
The day after the funeral, I had another great privilege. I attended Curtis's baby dedication in Springfield, MO. My mother went along and helped with the long drive. It was great to see Shane and Ashley present their child and promise to bring him up in a way that honors the Lord. I thought of the full circle we have made in our generations--learning of Christ, growing in him, and passing on our faith and its responsibilities to our children and grandchildren.

Painting the Building



Joy, Teddy, and I are still in the United States. We expect to return to Ecuador on November 2. Meanwhile, we received some pictures of some of the men painting the first floor of the building. We are very thankful for the work that they have been doing! There is still a lot to be done, but we are grateful for what has been accomplished so far.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Updating Our Position

A lot of time has passed since the last post. We have spent lots of time in the car. We have also enjoyed the opportunity to see family, friends, and supporting congregations around the USA. Right now I am in Springfield, MO. We have a few more days to be with our daughters, sons-in-law, and grandson who live here. BTW, our grandson Curtis is doing very well. He has been out of the hospital for about a month now, and has been growing fast! We are so happy and thankful.
During the past several weeks, we also visited our daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids in Ohio. The new baby there, Saranna, is doing great! It is so much fun being grandparents. It is going to be tough to return to Ecuador and be far away from them, but we are thankful for all of the ways we can communicate and travel these days. Imagine what it was like when one said good-bye to loved ones to go on a journey or to be a missionary, knowing it would probably be the last time you saw them! In reality, we never know when it will be the last time in this life, so we should enjoy the times we do have to the max!
We attended the annual BBFI missionary family reunion. That was a good time of fellowship with other missionaries from around the world, most of whom we had never met before in person. We had a good time. There were a few fun activities, and some information we needed, but the best parts were the testimonies from fellow-missionaries and the biblical teaching from Pastor Lewis Mclendon.
August 10-12 we had the great privilege of celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of Joy's parents, Ted and Verneta Wille. We were able to arrange a luncheon and overnight stay for them and several of their friends and family members at a beautiful place in Tennessee. It was neat to see them with some of their life-long friends who have also been pastors and Christian ministers. What a testimony of faithfulness!
All along our journey of these weeks we have visited supporting churches and even a couple that don't support us yet (we always hope and pray they will). We have had some opportunities to share, and even to preach in services or teach adult Bible study groups. The response is always friendly and sometimes there is obvious interest and appreciation for our work. We are thankful for these opportunities. It is especially exciting when we realize that at least some people are trying to pay attention to what is going on in our work in order to pray or participate somehow. I am conditioned to expect to hear nothing more personal than, "How are things in Ecuador?" or "So what's Ecuador like?" When my answer goes beyond "Things are going well," people tend to look for a way to escape or change the subject. It is cool when someone in a church lets you know that they have been praying for some specific aspect of the work, have read my blog posts, or even seen the pictures or video I've posted on the internet. I thank God that there are some of those people whom God uses to encourage me.
Please be praying for us, especially for Joy. We recently learned that Joy must have surgery before we return to Ecuador, so we are changing our return plans. Instead of our return to Ecuador on September 10, Joy will be having surgery on September 16. We will be able to return to Ecuador after she has fully recuperated. Please be praying with us about this.
We receive frequent news from the church in Manta. A couple of babies have been born to church families, the services have been good with fair attendances and sufficient offerings, a few of the necessary steps in construction have continued (a security apartment, wiring, bathroom fixtures), the Thursday night class is almost ready for the test, and the leaders continue to meet for prayer and planning. There are some very positive reports from Portoviejo where Gustavo and Lidia are doing a good job and have reached out to some new people. Please keep praying for all of these things.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

New Grandson


We had the privilege of meeting our new grandson, Curtis Anthony Coston, in Springfield, MO. Curtis was born six weeks early on July 2, and has been in neo-natal ICU. He is doing well. Please pray that he can leave the hospital soon with good health. Besides Curtis, we will be visiting Saranna Gwen Lewis, born July 4 in Ohio. We will also be visiting several churches and reporting on the great things God has done in Manta. Please pray for our safety in many thousands of miles of travel.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

First Sunday


How great is that! Our church moved out of the rented house and moved into the unfinished first floor of the educational building! 117 attended the first Sunday service. There is still a lot to do to finish this classroom building and then to build the auditorium, but we are looking forward to seeing the progress each week. The church can put the rent money into the construction fund. If you would like to help, just let us know by e-mail or comment. We'll let you know how you can contribute.

New Grandchildren



We have had lots of excitement recently. First I want to tell about our new grandchildren. Curtis Anthony Coston was born on July 2. He came six weeks early. His parents Shane and Ashley are thrilled with the progress he has made. The picture above is after just 4 days. We are very thankful to God for His goodness. On July 4, Saranna Gwen Lewis was born. Mike and Amanda are very happy to now have two precious children. Big brother Ioan is shown in this picture with his baby sister. We are beside ourselves with happiness and gratitude. We look forward to the opportunity to hold these little ones very soon.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Last Sunday on the Roof


June 28 was our last Sunday in the rented house where we have been for the past year. We met in a similar house for about 3 years before moving to this one. We have been consistently filling the rooftop terrace for our Sunday morning services. This past Sunday was our biggest crowd yet. We had 148 in total attendance. Most of the children are in classes for their age group in the rooms of the house below. Adults, teens, and older children crowd into all of the plastic chairs we can fit on the roof. We are thankful that we had this place to worship and grow. Starting next week we will be meeting at our church property in our unfinished classroom building. It will be a pioneer experience!
After the church service four people were baptized to profess their desire to follow Jesus as his disciples. We are always happy when there are baptisms, and Sunday afternoon was a beautiful time. The sky and the ocean were both beautifully blue.

Women's Ministry Retreat

Joy was one of the organizers and teachers at a retreat for women in ministry from a number of churches around Ecuador. Pastors' wives, women's ministry leaders, children's ministy directors, youth workers, and others. It was a great time of fellowship and training. The retreat took place from June 25 to 27.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Building Update

Here I am, standing on the 2nd floor of the educational building! That means that the first floor is now covered. What a good feeling! We have seen a lot of progress the past few months. God has been more than gracious to us, and we are thankful. Now we are starting to get walls built so that soon we can use the first floor of the building.
We must begin to meet at the property on July 5. We know that the conditions will be "rustic" until the building can be finished properly, but we are still very excited. The people of the church have been acting on faith, and God has responded. We are all very grateful.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Youth Activity



Every Saturday Luis and Melanea lead a youth Bible study and fellowship meeting at the church. This week they brought the group to our house. We enjoyed serving them hot dogs, watermelon, and brownies. We had a devotional time, and played video games like tennis and bowling with the Wii for "recreation".

Second Floor



We are very happy that the second floor of the church building was poured today! We are very grateful for all the help we have received to make this possible. We will need a lot more help to finish the building. Our immediate plan is to do as much as we can to make at least part of the building usable by July.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Construction Continues



The church building continues to take shape. During the past couple of weeks work has gone into the steel and forms in preparation for pouring the second floor. We are excited about putting the first floor of the classroom building to use in the near future. We are thankful that the Lord is providing for this work through a couple of timely and generous contributions. We are very grateful.

Mother's Day




On the Saturday before Mother's Day, Joy and the other leaders of the women's ministry held an outreach and fellowship activity for the ladies. There was food, games, music, and a devotion time. Around 50 attended.

Then on Sunday we had more than 30 moms in attendance for the morning service. Each mother received a flower. We took pictures of each mother with her family.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Baptism




On Sunday two adults and a teen were baptized in a bright blue Pacific Ocean. Although it was a very hot day, it felt very cool to see these men make a public testimony of their faith in Jesus.

Men's Retreat




Last week some of the men went to a retreat where I was to be one of the speakers. It was a great time. There were only a handful of church groups invited so it wasn't big, but everyone enjoyed it. The teaching definitely made in impact on the men from Manta who should be able to apply it in their homes immediately. In fact, within a half-hour of arriving home, I got a call from one of the wives saying "Thank you" for what her husband had learned at the retreat, and on Sunday a father and son were baptized together.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Still Moving Forward

There are so many good things going on around our church that sometimes we don't notice all of the progress. Overall attendance has been increasing steadily. Now the Sunday attendance is over 100 more often than not. We always have new believers and others interested in personal Bible study and discipleship classes. The Thursday night Bible institute class, Escuela de Liderazgo Bíblico, just started a new cycle of classes with 17 students. The ministry/leadership team has been working well together for several months. We have about 20 people involved in teaching children's classes. The church's monthly budget and giving have increased dramatically over last year. Wow! God has been good.
Yet there have been challenges. A number of people have been hospitalized lately with illness and injuries. One man in the church was involved in a terrible auto accident that resulted in some legal troubles. The financial crunch has hit families in the congregation at all economic levels. Several are out of work or are underemployed. Crime has increased in Manta and has touched some of our church families. We are making the best of limited space and limited resources. However, we realize that each of these challenges is an opportunity for God to work and to be worshipped.
Thank you for your prayers and partnership in our ministry.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Floor Finished


Here is Teddy standing on the floor of the classroom building in progress. All it needs are walls, ceiling, windows, and doors!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Building Progress

It has been neat to see the education building begin to take shape as the foundation, and columns and floor are completed! We are thankful for what God has done for us.

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.