Vacation Bible School

We just finished vacation Bible School. We had a great time! Evangelist David Proaño did a superb job with the music and Bible stories using his unique talents. 27 of our adults and teens served as teachers, helpers, transporters, and crowd control specialists. God blessed in many ways. We had more than 100 children attend, and a total of 152 people were at this Sunday's morning service.

Youth Retreat

The youth from our church had a great time and learned many valuable truths to apply in their lives when they enjoyed a weekend retreat at a nearby camp called "Los Cerros" (The Hills). Besides our church youth leaders, Luis and Melanea Mejía, three young Ecuadorian pastors colaborated for the music, games, preaching, and workshops. They all worked very hard on very little rest. We are very thankful.

Prayer Requests

I want to let you know about a few prayer requests for our ministry.
1) Joy and Teddy are in the States right now until March 30. Joy is completing follow-up appointments with her doctors and having a couple of tests done. Everything seems fine. Meanwhile, she is taking the opportunity to visit her parents and our kids and grandkids. Please pray for safety as they travel.
2) This weekend, March 12 to 14, we are having a youth retreat for our church teens and young adults. Please pray for a breakthrough in our youth for evangelism and service. This is an area where our church could grow a lot in the future. There will be a few unsaved kids at the retreat and we pray for their salvation. Pray for our pastor friends Patricio and Nikolay who will be teaching and preaching.
3) We will have Vacation Bible School for children from the 24th to 28th of March. We have a good team of teachers and a simple program planned for the kids. Pray that children will trust in Christ and will see godly Christlike examples to follow in our children's workers.

Baptisms Feb. 28 2010

The tsunami alerts passed by us on Saturday so we were able to hold the scheduled baptisms on Sunday after church. One adult man and three children from church families, including our son Teddy were baptized. We are so grateful for this fruit of the church ministries and God's faithfulness.

Prayer Report and Cup of Tea

To see our most recent Prayer Report click here.
To see the most recent Cup of Tea with Joy click here.

Fifth Anniversary for Manta Church

BBFI missionary Cliff McGhee was a our special guest speaker. He did a super job. His sermon directed us to continue to take the next step in our walk with the Lord and in the mission of our church. We recognized those who have been baptized during the last several months and those who have completed courses in the leadership training ministry. Afterward, we all had lunch together. Many worked hard to make the anniversary service a success.

Portoviejo Update

One year ago, Joy, Teddy, and I started assisting the church in Portoviejo that was without a pastor. From early February through the end of June we went each Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night to hold services. During June Gustavo, Lidia, and their son came from the Santo Domingo area to help us. They did a great job, and were able to hold the fort while we took what was to be a short trip to the States. When our furlough was extended, they continued to do a great job. Meanwhile, the church called Patricio Solis, also from Santo Domingo, to be the pastor. Patricio was unable to move his family immediately, but in November he began to make the four-hour journey to Portoviejo pretty regularly, working together with Gustavo. Now Patricio, his wife Silvana, and their daughter Kyara are ready to move to Portoviejo. They have arranged to rent a house, and have found a good school. Gustavo and Lidia will continue to serve the church as well. They all make a great team. The church is not able to support these families through their offerings so several Ecuadorian congregations will be providing some financial support. More support will be needed for a couple of years until the church really starts growing. Let us know if you would be interested in sponsoring a pastor and his family.