Wow, it is hard to believe that it is already October. We are expecting our rainy season to begin rolling in soon, but for now we are still enjoying our summer-like warm and dry season. It has been so dry here, that there have been many fires blazing out of control in the mountains.
volleyball team (Varsity and J.V.) and are busy with evening practices and games. Both are doing well and are seeing a lot of playing time. On Wednesdays, David is again working with the CSO (Christian Service Outreach) called Guardians and is mentoring middle school boys. Please pray for David as he seeks to be used by God in the lives of these boys.
We were blessed to have Tom Sparrow here visiting and traveling with Doug over the past 3 weeks. Tom has been with OMS since 1974 and makes occasional trips to Ecuador to encourage, preach, and teach in various national OMS-AIEE affiliated churches. During Tom’s time here, they were able to visit 8 churches and make
around a dozen visits with church members. It was great to see Tom catch up with some old friends and make new friends. Tom also had the opportunity to teach some very basic and needed “How to Study the Bible” classes in Ibarra and Riobamba. Click here to view photos related to Tom’s time here.
One day prior to church services, we were able to spend some time with our brothers and sisters from La Lindera. We piled (13) of us
into our car (1993 Land Cruiser) and headed off to a park for a couple of hours to enjoy each other’s company and the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside.
On September 20, we had the opportunity to attend and participate in the AIEE’s 31st anniversary celebration for the Central District churches. It is actually a time for the churches to all get together once a year, rather than an anniversary celebration.
Psalm 133:1 was the theme…. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” None of our churches are large enough, so the celebration was held in a theater in Salcedo where somewhere close to 400 attended. Doug was asked to participate quite a bit more this year with greeting to the churches, introductions, an
d scripture reading. Each church had an opportunity to perform a special and like last year, Cindy along with Kelly Chambers and Bonnie Shrode were asked to participate by singing. Their trio is known as the: "Princesses of the King". The crowd always loves them.
Towards the end of the month, Tom had the opportunity to preach in another one of the district’s local churches. This was a special time as the children, youth, and ladies performed specials in honor of our attendance. The evening was topped with a special remembrance of the persecutions that took place in the early 80’s against some of the believers. 
Those that had been persecuted during that time came forward and Tom was presented a special award of appreciation for his encouragement and assistance during those difficult times.
