If a picture is worth a 1000 words, then an experience is worth 1000 pictures. I apologize in advance for the lengthy email but there is no other way...
Your prayers were answered!! God showed His faithfulness over and over again while we were in Quito, Ecuador. He kept us safe and healthy. He watched over our children and the children of our team members. He bound our team with unity. We all arrived home with a deeper dedication for praying.
Our week was richly scheduled…We met with 4 of the 13 pastors that Doug will be working with. We attended two church services and visited the school where Cindy will teach. We met with the national director of Ecuador for OMS as well as the national director of ECC (Every Community for Christ). We met with 3 of 7 eXtreme Walkers. eXtreme Walkers is a pilot program through OMS for young men (20-30 yrs). After listening to each person/group share about God's faithfulness in their ministry as well as the vision they have, we prayed for their specifics requests.
What a privilege is was to partner with these people in prayer!!! Our culminating prayer opportunity was when we were asked to stand in front of a congregation of about 100. The pastor asked for different groups to come for prayer. First, he asked for those who needed healing, then for those that needed work and physical things, then he asked for those desiring to serve in the church and finally he asked for the leadership of the church. We anointed each individual with oil and prayed for them individually. The entire congregation formed a circle around the interior of the church and prayed for us. We were then greeted by each member. They love to hug and kiss!!! There aren't enough words to adequately describe this experience.God prevailed over satan's attacks:
*Saturday - Our plane was hit by lightening during take off from Indy.
*Tuesday - Visited a church in a very dangerous area of Quito. We had to be locked inside the church
*Wednesday - Cindy accidentally drank some of the local water.
*Friday - 1 hour of extreme turbulence
*Daily - Many meals were local cuisine.
We celebrated our 18th anniversary in Quito - our team presented us with an Ecuadorian "staple" - 24 roses. This team was and will continue to be a huge support to us as we are on the field. We are so thankful for them and our prayer warriors. Your prayers were very evident this past week.As you can see, we have many reasons to be thankful and rejoice in the goodness of our Lord and Savior.
This week, we will begin making contacts with those that may be interested in partnering with us in ministry. Our prayer request is that the Lord will go before us preparing the hearts of those He is calling. We see support raising as opportunities to share how the Lord changed our hearts and share of the mighty work that the Lord is doing in our lives. Please pray that we all we say and do would be pleasing to HIM.
Have a great week!
Blessings to you,
Doug and Cindy
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| Cindy and Kerrie enjoy Fresh fish |
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| OMS Missionaries - Mike and Bonnie Shrode |
