The Tankersleys: 01/13/07

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Update 01/13/07 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year ~ 2007

Dear Prayer Warriors,

"They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." Psalm 145:7

We have not only felt your prayers, but we have felt them in ABUNDANCE!!! Your outpouring support has been an overflowing abundance as well. Thank you so much for all the letters, pictures, and Christmas cards. We received many "extra" financial gifts as well ~ thank you for blessing us.

The time that we spent with our mothers was so precious and filled with

good health, beautiful weather, and wonderful safety provisions ~ not to mention that they spoiled all of us rotten!!! We are grateful that our mothers were willing to step out of their comfort zones to spend time with us. We know it was a a bit stressful at times for them, but just the fact that they wanted to come and did come, means a great deal to us. We truly enjoyed

our time with them, and the kids did too. Our mothers were able to see, smell, and taste what we experience everyday. It is now much more "real" to them, as we share what is going on.

Cindy's trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil was not at the best time (leaving a day before her Mom), but proved to be very beneficial in assisting her teaching in Christian Education. The three-day conference gave her an opportunity to meet teachers from South America teaching in Christian schools. God is doing amazing things all around the world and what a privilege it was to see and hear about all He is doing. The abundant blessing that Cindy received, was the desire to return to "little" Quito. Sao Paulo is approximately 25 million people. A city with a population larger than the entire country of Ecuador.

For those of you praying specifically for our new home ~ we found one!!! It happens to be three houses down from where we live now. It's a duplex with the landlords living below. We do have room for visitors!! We plan to move in sometime this week. We were originally scheduled to move in on Monday, January 15th. Cindy and the boys were scheduled to be in school, but the office of the President designated Monday, January 15 as a holiday in Quito due to the inauguration of President Elect Rafael Correa. However, today we received notice that the holiday has been cancelled and school will be held on Monday. The guest list for the inauguration includes the presidents from Iran, Venezuela, and Bolivia. Please be in prayer for our country.

The Alliance Academy is grieving the loss of one of their sophomore students. Giovanny was taking a shower on Thursday morning and was poisoned by carbon monoxide from a on-demand hot water unit called a "calefón". The high school population is approximately 150 students, and the entire school population is about 450. So you can understand how his death has affected everyone in one way or another. Please pray for Giovanny's family, as well as the staff and students at the Alliance Academy.

We will begin our annual OMS/Ecuador Field Council meetings on Tuesday night, beginning with supper and ending Saturday morning with breakfast. Please pray as we plan and prepare for what God will be doing this coming year. Pray for those that are traveling to Quito for the meetings.

Due to some surprisingly low prices in airfare and the need to raise the remaining 15% of our 5 year term, Doug will be returning to Gibson City, IL for the annual Missions Conference held at the Gibson City Bible Church on February 24-26. He will have a display and be able to share on what we have seen God doing in Quito Ecuador. If your church, small group, or missions committee would like him to visit, please let us know. He will arrive February 22 and return to Quito on March 4.

We pray that 2007 will be a year of abundant blessings in your lives. Thank you so much for sharing yourselves with us and being part of God's abundant blessings to us!

Finally, here are some sights that our Mom's had the opportunity to see: