Our daughter, Mandie, has had some more problems and is in the hospital at this time...
I appreciate you keeping her, Mike and the baby in your prayers. I know that God is taking care of them!
Joy
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Update
Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well. It is a nice bright sunny day here in Manta.
Because of my fall in Guayaquil last week and my banged up knee, I didn't get to go to church Sunday, but Tony said we had a great service! There were 83 in the preaching service. Afterwards there was a baptism at the beach. 3 precious people were baptized. Tony always asks them to give a short testimony before the baptism... and Barbara shared that it was her husbands testimony that brought her to Christ.
Thank you for praying for Mandie, Mike and the baby. So far things seem to be going well. She will return to the doctor on June 8. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. Thank you too for praying for me... I am healing up and can get around already, a lot better now than even on the week-end.
Our daughter Alexis will be coming in this week! We are excited to have her home for a little while. We will be traveling up to Quito to pick her up. Thank you for your prayers for safety as we travel.
Have a great week!
Joy
Because of my fall in Guayaquil last week and my banged up knee, I didn't get to go to church Sunday, but Tony said we had a great service! There were 83 in the preaching service. Afterwards there was a baptism at the beach. 3 precious people were baptized. Tony always asks them to give a short testimony before the baptism... and Barbara shared that it was her husbands testimony that brought her to Christ.
Thank you for praying for Mandie, Mike and the baby. So far things seem to be going well. She will return to the doctor on June 8. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. Thank you too for praying for me... I am healing up and can get around already, a lot better now than even on the week-end.
Our daughter Alexis will be coming in this week! We are excited to have her home for a little while. We will be traveling up to Quito to pick her up. Thank you for your prayers for safety as we travel.
Have a great week!
Joy
Friday, May 25, 2007
Heart to Heart
Do you ever have times when you realize that the ability to do the little, everyday, mundane things of life is truly a blessing? These last couple days have been an adventure to say the least. One moment I was walking across the sidewalk to get into a taxi and the next minute I was lying flat on my face in the street...
Thankfully, I must have strong bones, because nothing seems to be broken, but I have to say that I am very sore. One knee is stiff and my arms hurt... Getting around and just doing the simple things like getting dressed have taken quite a bit of thought. My the swelling in my knee is going down, and today was better than yesterday, but this has made me think... so often I take these little things for granted... I never stop to think how much the Lord has blessed me that I can walk around today, or that I can get dressed without thinking a lot about it, or walk upstairs, or even cook dinner.
My son, Teddy, is always saying, "Thanks for cooking dinner, Mom!" "Thanks for fixing drinks, Dad!" He usually goes around the table and finds something to thank everyone for. We spend so much time trying to teach our children to be grateful, but I wonder if sometimes I forget to express my gratitude to the Lord? I mean, I seem to remember to do that for the "big answers", but what about for just the blessings of the everyday? Thank you, Lord for a bed to sleep in. Thank you Lord, that I can walk without pain. Thank you Lord, that there are flowers growing in my yard. Thank you Lord, for nice clothes to wear. Thank you Lord, for food to cook. Thank you Lord, for clean air to breathe.
Thankfully, I must have strong bones, because nothing seems to be broken, but I have to say that I am very sore. One knee is stiff and my arms hurt... Getting around and just doing the simple things like getting dressed have taken quite a bit of thought. My the swelling in my knee is going down, and today was better than yesterday, but this has made me think... so often I take these little things for granted... I never stop to think how much the Lord has blessed me that I can walk around today, or that I can get dressed without thinking a lot about it, or walk upstairs, or even cook dinner.
My son, Teddy, is always saying, "Thanks for cooking dinner, Mom!" "Thanks for fixing drinks, Dad!" He usually goes around the table and finds something to thank everyone for. We spend so much time trying to teach our children to be grateful, but I wonder if sometimes I forget to express my gratitude to the Lord? I mean, I seem to remember to do that for the "big answers", but what about for just the blessings of the everyday? Thank you, Lord for a bed to sleep in. Thank you Lord, that I can walk without pain. Thank you Lord, that there are flowers growing in my yard. Thank you Lord, for nice clothes to wear. Thank you Lord, for food to cook. Thank you Lord, for clean air to breathe.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Please pray...
We received word this morning that our daughter, Mandie, who is expecting our first grandchild, has had some complications, and has been put on complete bedrest for 2 weeks. She was able to see her doctor yesterday, and at this time the baby is fine. Please keep Mandie, Mike and the baby in your prayers at this time.
Thank you for praying with us!
Joy
Thank you for praying with us!
Joy
Update
Hello everyone! Hope you are each having a great week. We had a good service Sunday. The attendance was down alittle from the week before. We had 78 in church.
Sunday afternoon we had our first Wedding shower. It went really well. We had 33 ladies attend! Everyone had a great time. I was so excited to see how generous everyone was. The only negative was that the bride was an hour late! Of course here that was not as big a faux pas as it would have been in the US, but of course to me, it seemed rude in the extreme! I even had a few ladies make comments about it. It was certianly a relief when she did show up! I had played all the games that I had planned and was just trying to decide what to do next! :-) Oh well, never a dull moment! I told Tony the next time, I am going to take the "guest of honor" with me for the afternoon, to be sure she gets there on time! :-)
We went to Guayaquil yesterday to pick up Ashley's boyfriend, Shane. He will be visiting us for a couple weeks, and then Ashley will be flying back to the US with him. That will leave a huge hole in our life. We have certianly enjoyed having her home these last months.
Sunday afternoon we had our first Wedding shower. It went really well. We had 33 ladies attend! Everyone had a great time. I was so excited to see how generous everyone was. The only negative was that the bride was an hour late! Of course here that was not as big a faux pas as it would have been in the US, but of course to me, it seemed rude in the extreme! I even had a few ladies make comments about it. It was certianly a relief when she did show up! I had played all the games that I had planned and was just trying to decide what to do next! :-) Oh well, never a dull moment! I told Tony the next time, I am going to take the "guest of honor" with me for the afternoon, to be sure she gets there on time! :-)
We went to Guayaquil yesterday to pick up Ashley's boyfriend, Shane. He will be visiting us for a couple weeks, and then Ashley will be flying back to the US with him. That will leave a huge hole in our life. We have certianly enjoyed having her home these last months.
Monday, May 14, 2007
A busy week...
Well, we have another busy week planned. I appreciate your prayers for the ministry here and our family.
Tomorrow afternoon, Tony and I will be flying up to Quito to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the Bible Institute, a ministry of Jim and Sharon Smith. Tony taught in the Institute for many years while we were in Quito. We will return home on Wednesday, evening. I am looking forward to visiting with friends while we are there.
This coming Sunday we are starting a new tradition in our church. We are having our first Bridal Shower. Although we have had to be creative in the name, since the word "shower" here is only used in association with a "Baby Shower". The only thing they have close to what we would consider a Bridal Shower is more like a "Bachlorette Party" and it has a very worldly conotation. So we are calling ours a "Party to Celebrate the Bride". I am really happy at the amount of excitement there has been among our ladies. Just about everyone has signed up to bring a gift, even those that I was concerned about having the money to get a gift have signed up! We are having the party Sunday afternoon. I would appreciate your prayers as I work on this during the week and get everything pulled together.
Thank you for your prayers and support for the ministry here in Manta and for our family. God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Love, Joy
Tomorrow afternoon, Tony and I will be flying up to Quito to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the Bible Institute, a ministry of Jim and Sharon Smith. Tony taught in the Institute for many years while we were in Quito. We will return home on Wednesday, evening. I am looking forward to visiting with friends while we are there.
This coming Sunday we are starting a new tradition in our church. We are having our first Bridal Shower. Although we have had to be creative in the name, since the word "shower" here is only used in association with a "Baby Shower". The only thing they have close to what we would consider a Bridal Shower is more like a "Bachlorette Party" and it has a very worldly conotation. So we are calling ours a "Party to Celebrate the Bride". I am really happy at the amount of excitement there has been among our ladies. Just about everyone has signed up to bring a gift, even those that I was concerned about having the money to get a gift have signed up! We are having the party Sunday afternoon. I would appreciate your prayers as I work on this during the week and get everything pulled together.
Thank you for your prayers and support for the ministry here in Manta and for our family. God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Love, Joy
Happy Mother's Day!
I pray that each of you Moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day! I got a beautiful e-card from Mandie, a very sweet email from Lexi, and Ashley and Teddy brought me breakfast in bed, I got a special "homemade" card from Teddy and a nice present from them.
Last week, was very busy as I prepared for the special Reception for all the ladies at 9:30 yesterday morning. We had 42 ladies present for the reception. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was a blessing to see their enjoyment! It made all the effort worth it! :-) I served, fresh fruit salad, mini cinamon rolls and mocha bars. We also had tea, coffee or juice to drink. Ashley helped me make the mocha bars. We did all the baking Saturday morning, so things would be fresh. Ashley was also a big help at the reception, keeping all the serving platters full and hot water and juice ready. I am so thankful for her and her hard work.
Then in the preaching service we had one of the men give a special reading in honor of Mother's day and another sang 2 specials. We also recognized all the mothers, (there were 35 present in the church service). After church we took pictures of each of the mothers with her family. Next week we will hand out the pictures.
The children also made special cards for their mothers during Sunday School. We ended up with 90 in Sunday School and 99 in church.
Last week, was very busy as I prepared for the special Reception for all the ladies at 9:30 yesterday morning. We had 42 ladies present for the reception. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was a blessing to see their enjoyment! It made all the effort worth it! :-) I served, fresh fruit salad, mini cinamon rolls and mocha bars. We also had tea, coffee or juice to drink. Ashley helped me make the mocha bars. We did all the baking Saturday morning, so things would be fresh. Ashley was also a big help at the reception, keeping all the serving platters full and hot water and juice ready. I am so thankful for her and her hard work.
Then in the preaching service we had one of the men give a special reading in honor of Mother's day and another sang 2 specials. We also recognized all the mothers, (there were 35 present in the church service). After church we took pictures of each of the mothers with her family. Next week we will hand out the pictures.
The children also made special cards for their mothers during Sunday School. We ended up with 90 in Sunday School and 99 in church.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Pictures from our April photo album...
Teddy's Superman Birthday. April 5
Teddy and his friend Samy at his Birthday Dinner.
Terrilyn Kadle and Barb Tooley came to visit us for Easter. It was great fun to have them with us for a few days.
The table is set for Easter Dinner. We enjoyed having a houseful of company Easter Sunday.
The Ecuadorian Pastor's Wives Retreat is always a highlight of my year. Here I am teaching Friday evening.
Here is a group picture of all the ladies that participated in the retreat. April 26-28
Here (l to r) Lois Tignor, myself, Sharon Smith and Sylvia Wells are showing off our new bags that the Ladies gave us to say, "Thank you for the retreat!"
Teddy enjoyed helping gather oranges for the ladies at the retreat.
Here Teddy is sitting in front of the property we are in the process of purchasing for the church here in Manta. April 30
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Prayer Please...
We woke up yesterday morning to emails, telling us that our son-in-law, Mike Lewis, had an emergency apendectomy Monday, which was Sunday night for us...(I still have a hard time keeping the days and times straight between us and Korea!) He is doing fine now, recovering in the hospital. Please pray for his continued recovery and for our daughter Mandie.
Weekly Update
How are each of you this fine week? We had a great week-end. After working a couple days to get the downstairs apartment cleaned up and set up, we were able to use it Sunday morning for the Ladies Class and our youngest children's class. This week we will be starting a new class for children, in which the youngest children, through age 3 will be separted from our 4 to 6 year olds. That should help those teachers a great deal! Please pray as this means that we are having to add 3 more workers to our children's ministry. It is exciting to see how the Lord is blessing this work though!
Sunday morning we had 69 in Sunday School and 76 in church. We had a young family visit for the first time. Please pray for Xavier and Cecila.
This week we are gearing up for a special Mother's Day reception, that we will have for all the ladies at 9:30, Sunday morning, and then of course we will be doing special things to honor all the mothers present in the church service. Then on the 20th in the afternoon, we will be having our first Wedding Shower! Melanie and Luis will be getting married on June 15th. This is the first young couple to be getting married from our church.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support of our ministry here in Manta!
Joy
Sunday morning we had 69 in Sunday School and 76 in church. We had a young family visit for the first time. Please pray for Xavier and Cecila.
This week we are gearing up for a special Mother's Day reception, that we will have for all the ladies at 9:30, Sunday morning, and then of course we will be doing special things to honor all the mothers present in the church service. Then on the 20th in the afternoon, we will be having our first Wedding Shower! Melanie and Luis will be getting married on June 15th. This is the first young couple to be getting married from our church.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support of our ministry here in Manta!
Joy
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