Update 01/31/06

Hola Prayer Warriors,

A challenge that came from Dr. Wesley Duewel during our Cross Training session last summer was:
"Is your prayer life adequate to become a missionary?"

You are so much a part of our vital prayer life, and we can't thank you enough for standing in the gaps for us. We truly believe that the success of God's work in our community and around the world is greatly affected by the outcries of His people.
"Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

There were so many deposits into our spiritual account this month! Praise the Lord for His goodness, grace and abundance!

• Our Spanish class has met for 6 sessions and we now know enough to be dangerous. Our learning is coming and we contribute that to answered prayers. We are developing relationships within our class. We look forward to how the Lord will cultivate these relationships for His glory.
  
• We attended our first Quinceañera, which is a young Latina woman's celebration of her fifteenth birthday. What a great cultural opportunity the Lord provided. Doug has been invited to preach at the Hispanic church where this family attends. Please be in prayer for the message that he is to bring to this growing congregation in Bloomington, IL.
  
• We have had numerous glimpses of how God's children are being obedient to His will for their lives. What a beautiful way to encourage each other!! Praise the Lord for Susie, the India team, dinner guests at a recent wedding, Gavin, our children, and our church family.
  
• Our end of the year statements came in toward the middle of the month and we were abundantly blessed financially. Again, we contribute all of that to answered prayers. We are currently 61% funded for our initial five-year term and pray for the remainder to come in by this May.
  
• Our time with the Christian Bible Church in Cissna Park was a special blessing. They are welcoming us into their missionary family and we praise God for answering your prayers.
  
• Cindy has relished in her time at home. She is not one to "Be Still" (Psalm 46:10) and yet the Lord has given her the task of "Being Still" and abiding in Him for a time. This was confirmed last week when she received a precious reminder from headquarters with John 15. Jesus is spending his last few moments telling his disciples the secret to surviving tough times. Rather than telling them to get active and serve Him, Jesus tells them to seek Him and abide in Him. It's truly a beautiful time of preparation.
  
• We visited with one of our very first prayer warriors this past week and were greatly blessed and encouraged.

Our prayer requests are:

1. For our February, March, & April calendars - to begin filling up with sharing opportunities.
2. That our supporters realize their vitality to this ministry.
3. Additional new supporters to begin partnering with as we work towards being 100% funded.
4. That we would be able to say, "No" when needed.
5. Our Spanish classes will continue to make sense.
6. For our boys as they spiritually prepare for departure in June.

We have committed to praying specifically for you on Mondays. Please let us know how we can stand in the gaps for you!

Blessings to You!
Doug & Cindy

Update 01/09/06

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Happy New Year ~ 2006!!

What will 2006 bring for all of us? What will really matter in 2006? Where will our priorities be in 2006? How can we effect eternity in 2006? As we ponder with excitement a new year and yet wrestle with the unknown, we can rest assure that if we are God's children, all things work for the good who love the Lord (Romans 8:28).

Our New Year has started with a vision to obtain prayer support for all the pastors and their churches in Zone 3 of Ecuador where we will be serving. There are 14 churches that need to be adopted by groups of 3 or more. The requirement to have a group of 3 or more is to follow the model of Moses, Aaron, & Hur in Exodus 17:8. Families, prayer groups, Sunday School classes, women's fellowship..... any kind of group of 3 or more who are willing & committed to pray for one of these churches are ready to proceed with the adoption process. We are also in need of a district prayer leader. This is a person who will visit zone 3 in Ecuador and claim it for Christ. Return home to organize all the prayer requests from Zone 3 and make these requests known to prayer warriors who have been called to pray.

Our college Spanish classes begin tomorrow. We received our books and page 1 looks like an advanced Spanish class. Cindy is asking herself, "Where's the alphabet? Where's the beginning sound pictures? Where's the two word sentences?" Well, she's not in first grade anymore!! Please pray for the ability to learn and comprehend what is taught. We also desire to be a testimony in this college classroom. We will definitely be the minority (as we'll be the old fogies) and we pray for opportunities to minister as well as learn.

We will be sharing with Christian Bible Church in Cissna Park on Sunday evening. Their pastor and his flock are very excited about missions and what God is doing around the world. We have already been greatly encouraged by them and pray that this developing relationship will bring God honor and glory as we help each other serve in obedience.

We sent out 28 letters this past week, informing churches that we are not departing for Quito until June and would welcome opportunities to share. Please pray for God's divine intervention in opening doors for us to serve and share.

The commitments are coming in from our youth group and we praise God for how He is working through them. Keep them lifted up!

Please join us as we pray for Jonathan's 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Cox, who has been in the hospital since Thursday with undiagnosed tremors and the inability to walk without assistance. She has been struggling since last Spring with health issues and over Christmas break the health issues escalated to the point of hospitalization.

We hope you all have a wonderful week.

Blessings to You!
Doug & Cindy