Recently in Ecuador Category

Here's the beginning of the November newsletter from Leo and Meri Ruiz, pastors we support in Ecuador:

Greetings in the wonderful name of our Mighty Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord! Once again too much time has passed since we've sent out a news letter. I want to begin by thanking you for your continued prayers and notes/emails. What a blessing it is to have friends that care. Since our last letter we have received a few special offerings to help with ministry expenses - what an answer to prayer you have been - thank you so much for your generous giving and your continued faithfulness to obey the voice of the Lord.

Just to fill you in a little... we have been diligently trying to rent a certain cane house in the barrio for our ministry program with children and young people. However, it seems the owner is not that interested in renting to us. So the Lord is showing us other possibilities. We will check into renting other properties, as well as the possibility of purchasing a small lot to construct a cane building to be used as a church. Please pray that the Lord would open the right doors and that we will make the right contacts and that soon this situation will be resolved.

We are still searching for a location for the Manta Church. Now with the Christmas season full underway we are really hoping to have a place by the end of the year so we can celebrate the coming in of the New Year together with our small congregation - in "our church."

God is good and His mercy endures forever! Leo has been diligently working, preparing for the upcoming graduation of the Bible Seminaries. There are many pastors that have not completed the necessary education in order to continue with the "higher education" now required by the government. Leo has been holding intensive studies for these pastors (going to three different cities twice a month to teach). These pastors will also be graduating and then they will begin their "university studies" with those that are already studying in this program. Please pray for the Seminary Graduation taking place Saturday, December 12th at 10am (and the graduations in Machala, Quevedo, and the Peninsula during the following week).

Meri has found herself in an interesting situation. . . .

Click here to download the entire newsletter.

Saturday, April 5, 2 PM
Tempe Town Lake

Help get our Kids Mission Team to Ecuador. Sponsor a walker or get your friends and family to join us on a lap (or two) around the lake. Information is available at the Kids Mission Table in the lobby on Sundays or by contacting Pastor Rae Bergen.

Friday, February 29 - Saturday, March 1
West Parking Lot

We need your stuff for our sale. Drop off your items at the Kids Church room between February 24-27. Plan to shop 'til you drop when the sale begins on Friday, February 29. Contact Pastor Rae for more information.

Sunday, February 17, 11:30 AM
Church Courtyard

Help us raise money for our upcoming kids missions trip to Ecuador and enjoy some of the best chili and cornbread in Arizona for only $10/adult or $20/family. Enter the chili cookoff contest for $10. The winner receives $100 prize. More information is available at the Kids Mission table in the lobby on Sundays or by contacting Pastor Rae.

The entire team made it back safely to Arizona (even if it took Pastor Rae, Corene, Seth and Dezirae a few hours longer than everyone else).

Check back soon for more photos and reports from team members and a final video (or two).

God provided a travel paper from the Embassy for Corene. Praise the Lord! She will be on the plane with the team early Sunday AM. God truly is our providing Father.

Blessings,
Tom and Cynthia Bogart

From Tom and Cynthia (Grace Chapel Missions Directors):

Yancy and Corene are going to the U.S. Consulate early this morning and hopefully they will get a favorable response by the grace of God and an answer to our prayers (Corene had important papers stolen while in Ecuador and may not be able to leave the country as scheduled. In fact, she's been told she can't even get an appointment with the officials who could give her new papers until almost a week after the rest of the team leaves).

Debra Evans has been diligent to get through to a senior supervisor of Continental Airlines and they may have figured out a plan B. Pray whatever plan the Lord provides, that Corene will be on the plane Sunday and home.

The rest of the team is going to Milagro Escuela – a school that is part of Meri Fenske's home church down in Ecuador (she lives with the pastors and ministers in the school) – and then an outreach in Yaguachi. Pray for continued ministry anointing. Pray for strength, as the team has been ministering for almost 2 weeks. Let them see some of the fruits of the labor and rejoice in the Lord over it. To God be the Glory.

Tomorrow will be their last day of ministry and they will be having a full day of fun by taking the boys of the Shalom Orphanage to a swim and amusement park. May it be a Big Day of Fun for all. Pray for continued time for relationships to be developed with the boys and our team, also with Anita and her helpers. Pray it will be a day to refresh everyone!!!!! Pray for protection, safety and divine health. Bless all the food everyone eats, bind food poisoning.

The team will then go to the airport and leave just after midnight, this is a long day and pray for them to be refreshed as they sleep on the floor and seats waiting and on the plane trip to Houston. May they all get through customs and have no delays in their flight to Phoenix. And all arrive safely home at 9:46 AM Sunday morning.

Thank you all for going through this prayer journey with our team. You will share in the rewards that God has and will bring forth by their ministry to the people of Ecuador – our brothers and sisters of the Kingdom of God.

From Yancy:

Well, we are in the home stretch, and I must say I feel renewed and invigorated. The visit to Babahoyo just filled me up to overflowing and I’m ready for our last dash to the finish to complete this mission trip. However, I wasn’t feeling this good on Tuesday morning after our “rest” day on Monday.

Monday nearly killed me. We had an awesome time together as a team reflecting on the Children’s Workers Conference, and then praying for each other. It was a great time in the presence of the Lord. However, the rest of the day didn’t exactly go to plan, and what was supposed to be an early morning all day trip to the beach instead ended up as a trip to the mall with a brief beach stop. Oh, and did I mention how cold the beach was? Freezing water complete with cold gusting wind…lovely. The day wore on and just continued to sap my energy.

Tuesday morning we load up and headed out. I was exhausted, and I was not looking forward to the nearly two hour drive back to Guayaquil and nearly two hours to Babahoyo. And why do I mention all of this self pity stuff??? To contrast it with the rejuvenating experience I had at Pastor Oscar’s church in Babahoyo.

I slumped out of the van, grabbed my camera, and headed off to the stage where the local children had gathered and were waiting for us. We were met with a wall of excited kids, eager to shake our hand and give us a warm greeting. The feeling was overwhelming, even more so than at Escuela de Santa Rosa.

Children rushed up to my camera, everyone wanting their pictures taken. One girl in particular, Genesis, took a shine to me and was my little shadow for the rest of the evening. She was always just at the edge of my peripheral vision, smiling at me.

Unlike a number of the kids who would push away other children so they could be in the spotlight, little Genesis was eager to take her picture with other kids. Or, she would find some of the younger children and make her way up to me so the little child could be video taped. BTW, if you watched today’s video and you’re wondering which child is Genesis, well she appears twice in the video. She’s the little girl in the black shirt on the left in the last shot of the two girls at the end of the video.

Anyway, time was marching on, and as we arrived late it was apparent I was losing light fast (a critical necessity for film work) and the stage area did not have the lighting I would need to record all I needed. I had planned, like the other videos, to simply chronicle what we did in Babahoyo and give viewers a little glimpse into what happens on missions.

I stood quietly outside of the church looking at the sun slowly beginning to set over the neighborhood…wondering what to do. Then I could hear a faint whisper tell me to look around, and ask me what did I see? I could see ramshackle homes obviously built with whatever materials were available. I could see barefoot children playing in the streets with ratty looking clothes. I saw poverty…I saw tremendous need. “That is why you are here.” The voice whispered in my ear.