Catarama, Ecuador

New Church, New Building

2010-07-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

The church I am helping with Penny Allen actually was started last July with the team from Calera. The picture above is the first three walls of the building as it is being built. They ran out of money so you can see that the building has stopped for now. Also pictured is the new "pastor leader" for this new church. His name is Galo. The land was donated by one of the new believers last year. Please be in prayer for the Iglesia De Chicheli Chico and pastor Galo. This is a very remote farming area. Houses are very spread out.

God has been good to us. Tonight we had 32 adults and children at the evening worship service. A great start for this little church.

2010-07-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! What an amazing week thus far. The team I am on has led 6 people to the Lord. The team Syd is on has led 5. To see the people here so hungry for the Lord is awesome. Pastor Jeorge's church has about 100 members. The youth are leading people all the time.I have been doing children’s church. Day 1, we had 65 kids. Monday we only had 45. Today we had 50. Get out the soccor ball and you have it made. They are so attentive. There is NO pushing and shoving. Very well mannered. Syd was asked to pray a blessing over a 2 year old little boy that is now his godson. He had to pray for strength and that the child would grow strong. He was very up after that. We are VERY TIRED but so enjoying ourselves. More later. Love ya’ll. Linda and Syd

Is It Worth It?

2010-07-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a visitor, the leader that worked with Andy Gill last year, Pastor Mauricio. He just wanted to share with our team how the new church planted last year was doing. He was so full of joy and happiness that the church was doing well. He explained that even the mother church is experiencing great growth. They are using the evangecube and discipleship materials to grow the mother church as well.

Many times we leave a campaign wondering if it was really worth the effort. Well, Andy, it was.

We have the entire testimony on video and hope to download it soon.

The Weather Is Hot

2010-07-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

The weather is hot, my shower is cold, my neck hurts, my back aches. I can't stop sweating and I can't find my rolaids. Even so, there is no other place on earth I would rather be. God worked through my team to add six new people into His family today. I am so thankful that the Lord sent me to Ecuador.
posted by Matt Wilkins

Children's Ministry

2010-07-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Children's ministry is very important. This is not a normal set up for a typical E3 trip. A good friend from Texas wrote materials for us so that we can do more than baby sit children while their parents go through discipleship lessons. Pictured above is Penny Allen as she and her translator are working with the children teaching the story of Noah and the Ark.

Discipleship...The Reason Why We Came

2010-07-13T17:18:00.001-07:00

Discipleship is the reason why we came to Ecuador. Of course we must first evangelize but the Great Commission is clear... We must go and make Disciples of all nations. The picture above is a good example of how we do discipleship. If you notice, I am not in the picture. We held our first discipleship lesson on Sunday night so tonight was our third night. Our national leader, Gallo, is leading the lesson with new Christians.

God Provided From the Start

2010-07-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

What and awesome beginning to our e3 mission trip. We encountered several glitches before we ever go off the ground in Atlanta, but arrived safely in Guayaquil and managed to get to bed around 2:30 am Saturday morning. Our incoming flight was late arriving to pick us up in Atlanta…then our non-stop, direct flight was full and heavily loaded and we were told we had to stop in Tampa for refueling. There were lots of crying babies and precious, but noisy children on the flight….so catching a nap was difficult at best.
In spite of all that God showed Himself in a mighty way before we ever got to Ecuador. One of our team members, Delight Davis, is highly allergic to dairy products. Unfortunately she did not request a special diet and when the airline hostess began handing out our “grilled chicken and cheese sandwich” intercontinental flight dinner Delight assumed she would have to go hungry. In spite of that she opened her sandwich to inspect it, hoping to salvage a tiny morsel. There were 100 passengers on the plane and 100 sandwiches distributed. When Delight opened her sandwich, hers was the only sandwich (out of 100) that didn’t have any cheese on it at all! Praise God for loving us and taking such good care of us.
posted by Penny Allen

Everything is OK

2010-07-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I know that some of you are concerned about the team because we have not blogged. We have tried many ways to acquire internet service but cannot at the hotel. Please be patient and come back tomorrow, Tuesday to see if we can blog some stories.
God is moving.... we are working in seven different locations around the city of Catarama in the province of Los Rios. Teams are coming right now giving wonderful reports. People are being saved, lives are being changed. Out of seven teams, only one if doing a church strengthening, the other six are planting brand new churches.
Please continue to pray for us..... it is HOT here.....

This is not a lake

2010-03-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

The picture you are seeing below is not a lake. It is a flooded field that once had vegetables or some type of crop. Much heavier than usual rains are falling on the Pacific coast of Ecuador causing flooding in low lying areas.

Diego is teaching.....

2010-03-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

Training the pastors and church leaders is absolutely necessary, just like it is necessary to train our US team members.

Learning how to use the evangecube

2010-03-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Below these ladies are learning how to use the evangecube.