Dear Prayer Warriors,
As the special focus on Thanksgiving seems to fade into the Christmas hustle and bustle, we continue to be very thankful for so many things. Your prayers are at the top of our list! We feel answered prayers everyday!
Thank you so much for praying for Gerry Carnill and his family. We received news today that he was released after paying a sizable fine. We're not exactly sure how much the fine was, even though he was not at fault. But he is out, and we contribute his release to all the prayers being answered!! There were also two other accidents last weekend. One of the accidents was a head-on collision between two Ecuadorians. One of their cars slid into a missionary car. As the other two drivers discussed the game plan, the missionary was taken to jail and is still there today. Please pray for Mr. Bear!
Thanksgiving Day was quite unusual as Cindy and the boys attended school for a half-day. Cindy was finally able to see Isabel since school has started. We spent the afternoon with Isabel, and met her children for the first time. What a blessing! On Friday, we had the traditional Thanksgiving with our OMS Quito family at the guest house. We ate turkey with all the trimmings and had a wonderful time of fellowship.
This Saturday, our family plans to participate all day in the 10th annual Christmas party in Quito's city dump (Zambiza). We are scheduled to hand out snacks and Christmas gifts, and love on these precious people. This includes serving the people that live in the dump, and those that come to pillage through the trash in an attempt to survive each day. They are expecting attendance near 2000. Teams and volunteers are coming from all over to help with this ministry. When we first moved here, we introduced you to Alex and his sister. They stop by our house each trash day to pick up our recyclables and we provide a little treat. Recycling is how they make their living. The people that live in or near the dump, get the "leftovers" as they can't come into the city for varies reasons. We would greatly appreciate your prayers this Saturday. We also hope to have some photos to share in our next update.
We are currently looking for another place to live as our blessing of "house sitting" will come to an end on January 23rd. Please pray as we seek to be where God wants us. Our prayer is that we will be located where we can minister to those that live around us.
The last round of presidential elections were held this past Sunday. Raphael Correa will be the new president of Ecuador effective Jan. 15. This causes concerns for many Americans living in Ecuador. Our prayers have been and continue to be that he will receive salvation and lead this country in the glory and honor of Jesus Christ.
As the busy time of Christmas is upon us, we pray that we will all remember the true reason for the Christmas season. We are so very thankful that "...God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son (Jesus), so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NLT).
Blessings to You!
Doug & Cindy
