Update 11/24/08

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We, like you, have so much to be thankful for. 2 Corinthians 9:15 says, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" Without God's indescribable gift (Jesus), we wouldn't have anything to be thankful for. The Bible says in James 1:17 that "Every good and perfect gift is from above..." We pray that your time with family and friends will be blessed.

David's soccer season has officially come to an end. They had a great season with a record of 9-3-1, 2nd place in AAI (Quito) tournament and 3rd place in the Guayaquil tournament. David earned several awards during the tournaments: Ideal team and best Forward for AAI and Ideal team for Guayaquil. Towards the end of November/beginning of December, there will be a soccer scout here from a Christian university in New York to look at David and a couple of others for a possible scholarship. He is only a Junior and has another year of development, but we pray that they may see potential in David and be willing to offer him a scholarship.

Jonathan's interests have strayed a bit from skateboarding to remote controlled planes and helicopters. He has also been busy enjoying taking the planes apart, and rebuilding his own versions. We aren't too thrilled to see him dismantle a new helicopter, but Doug says that is how Jonathan is learning and he was the same way when he was his age (and still is).

We have plans to spend Thanksgiving with our OMS mission family here in Quito, including turkey and the traditional fixings. Since Ecuador doesn't acknowledge this as a holiday, we are going to take advantage of using a couple of days off to get some much needed dentists and medical checkups.

Please continue to pray for Cindy's Bible study on Wednesdays. "God doesn't want servants who love, He wants lovers who serve" is a quote from the book they are using. To me, Cindy, God wants my desire to serve over an obligation to serve. My prayer for myself and these ladies is that we will love God so much that our lives will overflow with service for Him.

Doug has been busy traveling to churches these past few weeks, and attending various meetings including the Central District Pastor's meeting, and the OMS-Ecuador Field Committee. We also had the opportunity to host Pastor Antonio & Liduvina in our home for dinner, as well as their children, spouses, and 5 grandchildren. Doug is currently helping with the activities at Iglesia Bet-el (church located in south Quito) as they celebrate their 29th Anniversary this week. Since Ecuador does not celebrate Thanksgiving, he will need to leave our Thanksgiving day festivities early, as he will be showing a movie that night, and again on Friday night and Sunday.

Ed and Pat Anderson from the First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs will be leaving tomorrow, after visiting here for 10 days. During their time here they helped with some maintenance work at the OMS Guesthouse, and we took them to visit 5 churches that OMS is working with. They were very interested to see and learn about the ministries that OMS is involved in, as well as visiting with the church pastors and leaders. Their genuine interest and joy were a real blessing to all of us here on the field.

Lucas Pulley, a college student from Gibson City, will be coming on December 13th, to visit and help out as needed. He will be sharing his testimony in a church service the next morning after his arrival. Doug currently has plans for them to show movies in two or three churches that are located off the beaten path in a poor, farming area. They may also try to do come basic maintenance and painting for some churches during Lucas' time here. We would appreciate your prayers for Lucas and Doug as they travel and visit various churches.

Thank you for standing in prayer with us for our safety. Personal crimes are on the rise in our area and we are grateful for God's daily provisions.

Blessings to You!
Doug & Cindy