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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Celebrating Jesus' Birth

On December 25, we had a great day at church celebrating the birth of Christ. The attendance of 165 was our highest of 2011. We collected a great missions offering and had a pile of toys and clothes to give to needy children. There were party activities and refreshments for all ages. We honored Jesus and made Him the center of our Christmas. It was cool to have a good crowd in the auditorium, and to imagine when we are really filling it up.

Auditorium Construction

More walls were added to the auditorium this past week. Doorways, windows, and office space are being defined. It's exciting to see things take shape!

Auditorium Space Put to Use

Now that our auditorium has a roof we can use it on Sunday mornings. Walls have been built to create the new classrooms on the second floor of the education building (dividing the space we were using for Sunday services). Now each Sunday School and Bible Study group has a large meeting space and room to grow. The photo shows our 11:00 service, and you can see that we have room to grow there as well! God has been very good to us.

First Baptisms at the Church Building

The building isn't finished, and the baptistery isn't finished, but today (February 27, 2011) we held our first baptismal service at the church's own building. Seventeen people were baptized in obedience to Jesus' command and following his example. It was a great group: Whole families, Sunday School kids, new believers, men, women, teens! What an exciting time for our church!
I'm sure there are times that I will miss having baptisms at the beach, and maybe we can still do that once in a while, but it was cool to have over 100 present to support and witness the testimony of these new disciples.

Church Auditorium Construction

January is Nearly Gone

We're well into 2011 and there are a number of reasons to praise God as our ministry in Manta, Ecuador moves ahead. First, we are excited about the theme for this year: Build Your House on the Rock! In our preaching and teaching we will be emphasizing the wonderful words and works of our Lord Jesus, seeking to make practical application to life, and living in obedience as disciples of Christ. We are praying for revival in our church, and for God to call servants into his harvest field. Secondly, we are so thankful that God is providing for the construction of the church building to continue. We expect to have a roof on the auditorium soon! I can't wait to post pictures!
Thirdly, we are going to get more of our church involved in ministry. Please pray for a good response to opportunities in visitation, welcome, evangelism, and discipleship ministries of the church. As the building progresses we will have more opportunities for people to teach and assist in Sunday School classes as well. This should be a great year!

Construction Continues

Congregation in Future Auditorium

At the end of this morning's church service we asked the congregation to gather on the platform of the auditorium that is under construction. The floor was just poured yesterday. We are very thankful for what God has provided.

More Construction Photos

Here are a couple of photos showing how the auditorium is taking shape.

Construction Progress on the Auditorium Building

We are really excited about the progress made during the past month on our auditorium construction! The perimeter foundation and columns are almost completed. Tons of fill have been brought in to prepare to pour the floors. Here you see me standing where the baptistery will be at the back of the platform and then at the main auditorium entrance. I can't wait until the building is ready to fill with people. There is still a lot to do, a long way to go. We will see how the Lord supplies what we need in financial and material resources. Please pray for this project, and ask God how you can be involved.

A Full House

We are thankful for the growth in our church over the past year. The past several weeks we have consistently seen a full house. The temporary auditorium holds 90 to 110 people each Sunday. The classrooms are full, and even the nursery is full. That's why we need to get the auditorium built soon. Please be praying with us about that.

Building Project Continues

Work has begun on the auditorium for the church in Manta! We have been getting ready for this for several months. We have purchased the steel and cement for the foundation, columns and floor. The church has saved money for most of the labor that will be needed for this part of the project. We could definitely use more financial help to continue the work and finish the building. If you would like to contribute, please let us know and we will get the information to you for making a donation through Baptist Bible Fellowship International.
We really need to get the auditorium finished. We had 155 in church on Sunday. That fills up the temporary auditorium (made up of 3 future classrooms) and the current children's classroom space in the education building.

Prayer Request

We returned to our home base in Manta on Friday. It was great to be in our church. We had a super service. It´s nice to go to church and find so many people happy to see you! I enjoy preaching to our congregation too. The house was full!
Today (Monday) Joy, Teddy and I traveled by plane to Quito and then by car to Latacunga which is about 1 hour south of Quito. Today we began our time of family adaptation with the 2 children we are adopting. In Latacunga we are working with Mateo who is five, and the dedicated staff of ¨For His Children¨ at this home. Then next week we will be meeting Carla and spending time with her under the direction of the ¨For His Children¨ team in Quito.
This is exciting! but we really need your prayers as we get to know these kids and they adjust to the idea of having parents, and a brother, ... and sisters,...and brother´s in law, ... and nieces and nephews, and grandparents, and .....
Please pray for us as we make these transitions.
Also, we are praying that our auditorium building project finally can get going this week!
Thanks for your prayers.

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!

This Sunday

Christmas Sunday

December 20th was a big day for our church, the first Sunday that we were able to use the space on the second floor of the building. It was awesome! Besides enjoying all of the space for our Sunday morning service, we had an evening Christmas party with food, fun, and fellowship. The cooks and servers did a great job with grilled meat, rice, salad, bananas, and cupcakes. At least 170 people showed up to eat. What joy to be able to serve so many!

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.

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.

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.