Sometimes we get so busy, but it doesn't seem like anything is happening. Then I stop and start recounting everything that we've done this month.
Let's see...
We started school with Teddy. We are now into week 5 and it is going great. We are really enjoying it.
Lexi and Jonathan were here and we did a few "site seeing" things with them. Took a day trip down the coast. Tony took them to Guayaquil one day. Then we all went to Quito for a few days and played the "tourist" there before we saw them off to the States.
Hosted a national pastor and his family for 4 days. They came down from Quito for their "first ever vacation."
Meeting weekly with a young lady in the church for one on one Bible study time. Started having discipleship lessons with another young mother on Friday mornings.
Continued with Ladies Bible Study on Friday afternoons.
Finished pulling together the 3rd quarter Sunday School material. That will go to get copied tomorrow and be ready to pass out to the new teachers on Sunday evening.
Besides that we did some moving around to make space for a "school room"... which involved moving Teddy's room, setting up an office/guest room in his old room, and re-decorating our main guest room. Everything turned out pretty nice. Still have some painting to get done, but little by little. :-)
Our attendance was down a little bit Sunday. It was "cold" for Manta. Even so we had over 80 in the preaching service.
Please pray for those who have made the commitment to teach in our Children's ministry. We have asked them to teach for a whole semester this time, instead of just a quarter. This is a big step. I am trying to work it out so that there is an "extra" person working during the church hour, so that they can rotate out and be in the service once every 3 weeks. I am going to give you a list of everyone so you can be praying for each one of them by name. Thank you for praying for our family and ministry here in Manta.
Joy
Nursery class (up to 3 years old)
Betsabe and Manuela
Barbara, Jessica, Yolanda, Angela (they'll switch out every other week)
Children 1 (4 years old through 1st grade)
Lorena and Pamela
Leonor, Cecila, Isabel
Children 2 (2nd - 6th grade)
Wilda and Janneth
Dina, Aday, Maria Jose
Middle School
Darwin and Jessica
Youth Group(Sunday PM)
Luis and Melanea, with Tony
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Seeing God's Hand...
It is such a joy to me to see God working in the lives of people around us! It is a thrill to be able to be used by the Lord to make a difference in someones life. It is easy for me to get so busy in "doing" the work... that I forget to step back and watch for God's leading.
Today I had the opportunity to start discipleship classes with my friend Elizabeth. She stopped by to see us this week and asked us what she needed to do to be a part of our church. Please pray for her. She accepted Christ a couple years ago. Pray for the salvation of her husband, Mike.
9 ladies attended the Ladies Bible Study at church this afternoon. It was a great time fellowship for everyone, along with studying God's word. It is such a blessing to see how much these ladies are growing and how much they desire to serve the Lord.
I am also meeting with another young lady, once a week. She is a very young, single mom, who faces many challenges in her life. Right now she desperately needs to find a part time job. Please pray for Lorena, that the Lord would provide her with a decent job and also that she could continue to grow in her walk with him.
Another way we saw God working in our lives this week, was in providing a good job for our youngest daughter, Alexis. This is a wonderful answer to prayer for her. She has great hours... working from about 2:30 -7:30, and the pay is decent. She is thrilled and we are too!
Other prayer requests that we have...
Pray for the rest of the funds to come in to purchase the property. The closing date has been set for Sept. 1.
Pray for membership classes that Tony will be presenting at the church the next two Saturday evenings. We are getting ready to formally organize the church and these are important classes for those interested in joining our church.
Pray for our children's ministry. We have several new people who will be involved this next semester.
Pray for our family...
our girls are all 3 in different places. Mandie and Mike in South Korea, Ashley in MO. and Lexi in KS. Pray with me for protection for each of them and wisdom to know God's will for the coming decisions they each will be facing in the their lives. Pray that Tony and I will have wisdom to know how to be supportive and involved in their lives from thousands of miles away.
Teddy is doing great with homeschooling. We just finished week 4. Please pray that we will stay consistent in this. Pray that God will protect him and keep him strong and healthy.
Tony and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2 weeks! Praise the Lord with us for the 25 years he has given us together. What a blessing it is to be married to your "best friend"!
Thank you so much for your prayers and concern for our family and ministry here in Ecuador!
God Bless You!
Joy
Today I had the opportunity to start discipleship classes with my friend Elizabeth. She stopped by to see us this week and asked us what she needed to do to be a part of our church. Please pray for her. She accepted Christ a couple years ago. Pray for the salvation of her husband, Mike.
9 ladies attended the Ladies Bible Study at church this afternoon. It was a great time fellowship for everyone, along with studying God's word. It is such a blessing to see how much these ladies are growing and how much they desire to serve the Lord.
I am also meeting with another young lady, once a week. She is a very young, single mom, who faces many challenges in her life. Right now she desperately needs to find a part time job. Please pray for Lorena, that the Lord would provide her with a decent job and also that she could continue to grow in her walk with him.
Another way we saw God working in our lives this week, was in providing a good job for our youngest daughter, Alexis. This is a wonderful answer to prayer for her. She has great hours... working from about 2:30 -7:30, and the pay is decent. She is thrilled and we are too!
Other prayer requests that we have...
Pray for the rest of the funds to come in to purchase the property. The closing date has been set for Sept. 1.
Pray for membership classes that Tony will be presenting at the church the next two Saturday evenings. We are getting ready to formally organize the church and these are important classes for those interested in joining our church.
Pray for our children's ministry. We have several new people who will be involved this next semester.
Pray for our family...
our girls are all 3 in different places. Mandie and Mike in South Korea, Ashley in MO. and Lexi in KS. Pray with me for protection for each of them and wisdom to know God's will for the coming decisions they each will be facing in the their lives. Pray that Tony and I will have wisdom to know how to be supportive and involved in their lives from thousands of miles away.
Teddy is doing great with homeschooling. We just finished week 4. Please pray that we will stay consistent in this. Pray that God will protect him and keep him strong and healthy.
Tony and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2 weeks! Praise the Lord with us for the 25 years he has given us together. What a blessing it is to be married to your "best friend"!
Thank you so much for your prayers and concern for our family and ministry here in Ecuador!
God Bless You!
Joy
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Family news...
Sometimes I just add this in with the weekly updates, but then it makes the post rather long, so I decided to just make a separate post this week.
What we are hearing from Korea...
Mandie and Mike are doing well. Mike enjoyed having last week off for vacation, and they were able to visit some of the tourist sites around. From what we hear the biggest "find" was an "Uno's" restaurant. If you aren't familiar with "Uno's" it is a pizza/Italian food restaurant. Although they say it was a little pricey, it seems to be worth it for a special treat. Also right up there was a bookstore with a large selection of English books! If you know my daughter at all, you know that was a huge deal. Actually it was a big deal to both of them! In service for the teachers at their school starts Aug. 9. Mike is also working on getting everything in order for this years audit. I know that he would really appreciate your prayers. Everything seems to be going well for Mandie and the baby at this point. Thank you so much for your prayers for them!
News from Springfield...
Ashley is doing well. Keeping very busy working full time at the nursing home. She and Shane are teaching the 3 year old Sunday School class at their church and loving it! Ashley is checking into taking some nursing classes at a community college in the area along with her courses at BBC this fall. She is also starting to plan a wedding! Looks like we are looking at June. Not sure I am ready for another one of these, but with 3 girls, what can we expect, right?! She has had some problems with the van, so we are praying at this time, that she will be able to nurse it along for a little longer. Please keep her in your prayers.
News from Kansas...
Lexi is getting settled in with Tony's sister and her family. She has applied at just about every place there is to apply for a job. We know that God has the perfect job for her. Please pray with us that she will find something soon. She will start classes the end of August. This move is a big adjustment for Lex. I know that she would really appreciate your prayers for her as she settles into a new place... new church, new college, new job... Pray with us that God would not only supply a good job for her, but also bring some good friends into her life during the next weeks. Pray too, that she would be a great influence on her little cousins, as I know this is important to her too.
Teddy Boy...
Teddy is our non-stop bundle of energy and joy. He goes from the time his eyes open in the morning until he falls asleep, (usually talking! :-) at night. We are into our 4th week of school and he is doing pretty well. Of course anytime you ask an "on the go" boy to sit still it is not easy, but he is adjusting to it and learning more everyday. He is very close to reading and I know that as soon as we start in a couple weeks, he is going to catch on and run with it. This week I asked him what his favorite foods were, his answer, "French Fries, Broccoli, hot dogs, apples, and grapes..." How many 5 year olds do you know that Broccoli would make it 2nd on their lists of favorite foods? Don't worry he loves candy and cookies too!
We are looking forward to my parents visiting us in a couple weeks. This is the first time Mom and Dad have made it to Ecuador since Mandie was a junior. Of course we have been back to the US many times during this last years. We are excited that they are going to get to come and see what it is like here in Manta.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family and our ministry here. We really do appreciate you!
God Bless!
Joy
What we are hearing from Korea...
Mandie and Mike are doing well. Mike enjoyed having last week off for vacation, and they were able to visit some of the tourist sites around. From what we hear the biggest "find" was an "Uno's" restaurant. If you aren't familiar with "Uno's" it is a pizza/Italian food restaurant. Although they say it was a little pricey, it seems to be worth it for a special treat. Also right up there was a bookstore with a large selection of English books! If you know my daughter at all, you know that was a huge deal. Actually it was a big deal to both of them! In service for the teachers at their school starts Aug. 9. Mike is also working on getting everything in order for this years audit. I know that he would really appreciate your prayers. Everything seems to be going well for Mandie and the baby at this point. Thank you so much for your prayers for them!
News from Springfield...
Ashley is doing well. Keeping very busy working full time at the nursing home. She and Shane are teaching the 3 year old Sunday School class at their church and loving it! Ashley is checking into taking some nursing classes at a community college in the area along with her courses at BBC this fall. She is also starting to plan a wedding! Looks like we are looking at June. Not sure I am ready for another one of these, but with 3 girls, what can we expect, right?! She has had some problems with the van, so we are praying at this time, that she will be able to nurse it along for a little longer. Please keep her in your prayers.
News from Kansas...
Lexi is getting settled in with Tony's sister and her family. She has applied at just about every place there is to apply for a job. We know that God has the perfect job for her. Please pray with us that she will find something soon. She will start classes the end of August. This move is a big adjustment for Lex. I know that she would really appreciate your prayers for her as she settles into a new place... new church, new college, new job... Pray with us that God would not only supply a good job for her, but also bring some good friends into her life during the next weeks. Pray too, that she would be a great influence on her little cousins, as I know this is important to her too.
Teddy Boy...
Teddy is our non-stop bundle of energy and joy. He goes from the time his eyes open in the morning until he falls asleep, (usually talking! :-) at night. We are into our 4th week of school and he is doing pretty well. Of course anytime you ask an "on the go" boy to sit still it is not easy, but he is adjusting to it and learning more everyday. He is very close to reading and I know that as soon as we start in a couple weeks, he is going to catch on and run with it. This week I asked him what his favorite foods were, his answer, "French Fries, Broccoli, hot dogs, apples, and grapes..." How many 5 year olds do you know that Broccoli would make it 2nd on their lists of favorite foods? Don't worry he loves candy and cookies too!
We are looking forward to my parents visiting us in a couple weeks. This is the first time Mom and Dad have made it to Ecuador since Mandie was a junior. Of course we have been back to the US many times during this last years. We are excited that they are going to get to come and see what it is like here in Manta.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family and our ministry here. We really do appreciate you!
God Bless!
Joy
What's happening at church/
Here we are at the beginning of the last week in July! The summer is just flying by. I know for many, school will be starting early next month. My daughter Mandie has mentioned that teacher inservice starts for them on the 9th. Of course here on the coast of Ecuador the school year is different. For our students here "summer vacation" begins in January and they are all back in school by the end of March.
Sunday morning, the church had a special fellowship time after the morning service to celebrate Tony's birthday. It was very nice to see how they had worked together to organize everything. Everyone was treated to Birthday cake and pop. Teddy was thrilled! :-)
We had good services Sunday. There were 92 in church! We were thrilled to see our older children's class up to 17! This week I am working on getting the Sunday School material all together for the next quarter, which will start the 2nd Sunday in August. We will be having a special teacher's meeting this Sunday evening and then again next week. There are several new people who will be working in these ministries during the next months. I know that they would appreciate your prayers for them.
This Saturday we are having our first "Membership seminar." These seminars are very important for our church. Tony is going to have the seminar at 2 different times, so that people can fit it into their schedule. Please be praying with us that we will have a good turnout. So far in the life of our church, we haven't had deacons, members, etc. We have now grown to the point that it is time to put these processes into motion. The seminars will be a time to explain in detail what it means to be a "member" of our church, etc.
Tony and I continue to meet with different people for discipleship classes throughout the week. Also the Ladies Bible Study on Friday is going well. We are getting ready to start a new round of small group meetings this week. These meetings run on a 6 week cycle with 2 weeks off. Please pray for the leaders of these groups. They are all men who are very young in their Christian faith, but who are growing.
The Bible Institute Students had their final exam last week, so are getting ready to start a new course this week. Pray for those who have made the committment to study.
Starting on August 5 we will being having Youth Group again in the afternoons. Luis and Melanie have committed to work with Tony and the youth.
Sunday morning, the church had a special fellowship time after the morning service to celebrate Tony's birthday. It was very nice to see how they had worked together to organize everything. Everyone was treated to Birthday cake and pop. Teddy was thrilled! :-)
We had good services Sunday. There were 92 in church! We were thrilled to see our older children's class up to 17! This week I am working on getting the Sunday School material all together for the next quarter, which will start the 2nd Sunday in August. We will be having a special teacher's meeting this Sunday evening and then again next week. There are several new people who will be working in these ministries during the next months. I know that they would appreciate your prayers for them.
This Saturday we are having our first "Membership seminar." These seminars are very important for our church. Tony is going to have the seminar at 2 different times, so that people can fit it into their schedule. Please be praying with us that we will have a good turnout. So far in the life of our church, we haven't had deacons, members, etc. We have now grown to the point that it is time to put these processes into motion. The seminars will be a time to explain in detail what it means to be a "member" of our church, etc.
Tony and I continue to meet with different people for discipleship classes throughout the week. Also the Ladies Bible Study on Friday is going well. We are getting ready to start a new round of small group meetings this week. These meetings run on a 6 week cycle with 2 weeks off. Please pray for the leaders of these groups. They are all men who are very young in their Christian faith, but who are growing.
The Bible Institute Students had their final exam last week, so are getting ready to start a new course this week. Pray for those who have made the committment to study.
Starting on August 5 we will being having Youth Group again in the afternoons. Luis and Melanie have committed to work with Tony and the youth.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Home Again...
Hello Everyone! Hope you have each one had a great start to your week. We had a good trip to and home from Quito. If you have been reading the posts lately, you know that we just said, "Goodbye" to our youngest daughter, Lexi, and her boyfriend Jonathan last week. They flew out of Quito on Friday. We are thankful that they had a safe trip back, although they didn't make their connection in Houston, but fortunately there was a later flight they were able to get on. Lexi will be heading to Hutchinson, later this week. She will starting classes their this fall.
Ashley is doing well. She is enjoying teaching a 3 year old's class in her church. I don't know if I would want to be left in a room with a bunch of 3 year olds or not! :-) She is checking into taking some nursing classes this fall too, along with the classes she will be taking at BBC.
Our daughter, Mandie and her husband, Mike are doing well. Mandie got a great report from the doctor last week, and we are very thankful for that. Mike has been able to take this week as vacation time, and they are enjoying the change of pace. They are staying very involved in their church there, and enjoying ministry opportunities that the Lord has given them, along with times for fellowship.
Teddy is growing and we are enjoying our homeschooling. We started our 3rd week today. It has been a real adventure for us. Last week while were in Quito we were able to take the tram up the mountian, which is actually a volcano. It was really neat because just that week we had discussed volcanos in Science. We were able to pick up a few rocks and then bring them home and see if any of them would float. Teddy was so excited when we did have one that floated... (Mom was relieved that we actually did pick up the right thing! :-) Saturday we went for a walk around our neighborhood, and looked for different "seeds". He really got into it and we ended up bringing a pretty good selection of seeds home with us.
We had good services, Sunday... we had 60 in Sunday School and 76 in Church. There were a few first time visitors and that is always an encouragment. One of the young ladies that I mentor, had to leave her job this week, because in her words, "my boss made an indecent proposition." Please pray for Lorena as she looks for a new job. Also please keep Letty in your prayers. She and Juan Carlos are expecting their second child, and she has been put on 6 weeks of bedrest.
This week we have the opportunity of hosting the Pullugando Family from Quito. Carlos and Monica were just starting their first church, when Tony and I arrived back in 1991. We are enjoying having them visit us along with their 2 teenage daughters.
Please continue to pray that the money would come in for the property. We are getting very close to the deadline. We are so excited to see what the Lord is going to do in this place. Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta!
Praying you have wonderful week!
Joy
Ashley is doing well. She is enjoying teaching a 3 year old's class in her church. I don't know if I would want to be left in a room with a bunch of 3 year olds or not! :-) She is checking into taking some nursing classes this fall too, along with the classes she will be taking at BBC.
Our daughter, Mandie and her husband, Mike are doing well. Mandie got a great report from the doctor last week, and we are very thankful for that. Mike has been able to take this week as vacation time, and they are enjoying the change of pace. They are staying very involved in their church there, and enjoying ministry opportunities that the Lord has given them, along with times for fellowship.
Teddy is growing and we are enjoying our homeschooling. We started our 3rd week today. It has been a real adventure for us. Last week while were in Quito we were able to take the tram up the mountian, which is actually a volcano. It was really neat because just that week we had discussed volcanos in Science. We were able to pick up a few rocks and then bring them home and see if any of them would float. Teddy was so excited when we did have one that floated... (Mom was relieved that we actually did pick up the right thing! :-) Saturday we went for a walk around our neighborhood, and looked for different "seeds". He really got into it and we ended up bringing a pretty good selection of seeds home with us.
We had good services, Sunday... we had 60 in Sunday School and 76 in Church. There were a few first time visitors and that is always an encouragment. One of the young ladies that I mentor, had to leave her job this week, because in her words, "my boss made an indecent proposition." Please pray for Lorena as she looks for a new job. Also please keep Letty in your prayers. She and Juan Carlos are expecting their second child, and she has been put on 6 weeks of bedrest.
This week we have the opportunity of hosting the Pullugando Family from Quito. Carlos and Monica were just starting their first church, when Tony and I arrived back in 1991. We are enjoying having them visit us along with their 2 teenage daughters.
Please continue to pray that the money would come in for the property. We are getting very close to the deadline. We are so excited to see what the Lord is going to do in this place. Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta!
Praying you have wonderful week!
Joy
Sunday, July 8, 2007
From our Family Picture Album...
Group from Blue Ridge Baptist Temple singing at one of the area schools. What a blessing they were to us!
Group from the church seeing the property for the first time. How excited everyone was. One day there will be church on this corner!
Joy, Lexi, Tony and Teddy... Father's Day.
Teddy, Joy, and Lexi all dressed up to go to Luis and Melanie's wedding, June 15th.
Teddy's first day of kindergarten, July 2nd.Sunday
Hello Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful week-end and a great Sunday!
We had a wonderful Sunday School and Church service this morning. There were 22 ladies in class this morning. It was exciting to see this class start to build up again. We had 64 total in our School School hour and 80 in the church service.
Alfredo and Wilda Paredes invited us over for Dinner today after church. That was a great experience for Jonathan, who has been visiting us. I know that it had to be a little uncomfortable for him at times since he can't understand Spanish, but he did a great job of letting them know that he enjoyed himself! When you think about it during the week, please pray for Alfredo and Wilda's children, Lorena, Gabriel, and Javier. They are all great kids, but not really interested in spiritual things, or maybe it would be better put, "too busy" to be concerned about spiritual things.
This evening we had a teacher's meeting for those who have been teaching and those who would be interested in teaching in our children's classes at church. Please be praying with me, as we have several people who would like to work with our older children's class and others interested in working in the "nursery" but no one that would like to work with our 4 year olds - 1st graders. This is our largest class at this time, and the lady who has been working with them does an excellent job, but is expecting a baby in Oct, and has been having a few problems, so she needs to have a break from teaching for awhile. I really appreciate your prayers. I know that the Lord has someone that he is preparing for this this task.
Yesterday we took some time to do some "sight seeing" with Lexi and Jonathan. We drove a couple hours down the coast and stopped for lunch at a really neat "hosteria". Everyone really enjoyed the different scenery and the day out... well everyone except Teddy. He thought we were crazy for taking a drive, with no destination in mind! He told us about an hour into it, that he didn't know why we had to get in the car and drive so far, when the beach was really close to our house! :-)
Wednesday evening we will be flying up to Quito. We want to do a little sight seeing there with Jonathan before he and Lexi fly back to the US on Friday morning. Tony, Teddy and I will be flying back to Manta Friday afternoon. Please pray for safety as we travel and for grace as we say our "goodbyes".
Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta!
God Bless!
Joy
We had a wonderful Sunday School and Church service this morning. There were 22 ladies in class this morning. It was exciting to see this class start to build up again. We had 64 total in our School School hour and 80 in the church service.
Alfredo and Wilda Paredes invited us over for Dinner today after church. That was a great experience for Jonathan, who has been visiting us. I know that it had to be a little uncomfortable for him at times since he can't understand Spanish, but he did a great job of letting them know that he enjoyed himself! When you think about it during the week, please pray for Alfredo and Wilda's children, Lorena, Gabriel, and Javier. They are all great kids, but not really interested in spiritual things, or maybe it would be better put, "too busy" to be concerned about spiritual things.
This evening we had a teacher's meeting for those who have been teaching and those who would be interested in teaching in our children's classes at church. Please be praying with me, as we have several people who would like to work with our older children's class and others interested in working in the "nursery" but no one that would like to work with our 4 year olds - 1st graders. This is our largest class at this time, and the lady who has been working with them does an excellent job, but is expecting a baby in Oct, and has been having a few problems, so she needs to have a break from teaching for awhile. I really appreciate your prayers. I know that the Lord has someone that he is preparing for this this task.
Yesterday we took some time to do some "sight seeing" with Lexi and Jonathan. We drove a couple hours down the coast and stopped for lunch at a really neat "hosteria". Everyone really enjoyed the different scenery and the day out... well everyone except Teddy. He thought we were crazy for taking a drive, with no destination in mind! He told us about an hour into it, that he didn't know why we had to get in the car and drive so far, when the beach was really close to our house! :-)
Wednesday evening we will be flying up to Quito. We want to do a little sight seeing there with Jonathan before he and Lexi fly back to the US on Friday morning. Tony, Teddy and I will be flying back to Manta Friday afternoon. Please pray for safety as we travel and for grace as we say our "goodbyes".
Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta!
God Bless!
Joy
Monday, July 2, 2007
Happy Birthday America!
Well, it is almost July 4th. We will probably have a quiet day here at home. I am thinking we will grill hot dogs and hamburgers. Not really sure what else. There aren't any firework shows to go to but maybe we will see some on TV. :-)
We had a great day at church Sunday. There were 65 in Sunday School and 84 in the church service. We had 7 first time visitors in church! It was very exciting to see people so happy because their friends that they had invited came to church! We also had 2 teen girls come to church that we had met at the park while the group from KC was here.
There are a lot of things planned for the coming weeks. Next Sunday evening we will be having a meeting for all our Sunday School Teachers and those interested in working with the children. We are also going to be celebrating the Lord's Supper on the 8th. Lexi and Jonathan will be here until the 13th. We will be taking them to Quito to fly out. We hope to get the Sunday evening Youth Group started up again on the 15th.
We are also in the process of raising money to purchase the property for our church. We will be making that purchase in mid-August. Please be praying with us as this time draws closer.
Here at home, I am staying busy too. I started Home Schooling Teddy this morning. I know it is early, but we decided to go ahead and get started because we have several trips planned this year, and by starting now, we not have to be so pressured to get finished by May next year. I really do enjoy working with him. We are working hard to get into a structured schedule and stick to it as much as possible. I have also promised Lexi that I would help her make a "duvet cover" before she leaves, so that will be something we will get to work on this week.
Today, Tony took Lexi and Jonathan to Guayaquil, to see some of the sights. They left here about 7:30 this morning, and Teddy and I expect them to get back home around 6:30. I have heard from the 3 times already. They seem to have been having a really good time.
I pray that each of you have a great week, serving the Lord, where he has placed you!
Joy
We had a great day at church Sunday. There were 65 in Sunday School and 84 in the church service. We had 7 first time visitors in church! It was very exciting to see people so happy because their friends that they had invited came to church! We also had 2 teen girls come to church that we had met at the park while the group from KC was here.
There are a lot of things planned for the coming weeks. Next Sunday evening we will be having a meeting for all our Sunday School Teachers and those interested in working with the children. We are also going to be celebrating the Lord's Supper on the 8th. Lexi and Jonathan will be here until the 13th. We will be taking them to Quito to fly out. We hope to get the Sunday evening Youth Group started up again on the 15th.
We are also in the process of raising money to purchase the property for our church. We will be making that purchase in mid-August. Please be praying with us as this time draws closer.
Here at home, I am staying busy too. I started Home Schooling Teddy this morning. I know it is early, but we decided to go ahead and get started because we have several trips planned this year, and by starting now, we not have to be so pressured to get finished by May next year. I really do enjoy working with him. We are working hard to get into a structured schedule and stick to it as much as possible. I have also promised Lexi that I would help her make a "duvet cover" before she leaves, so that will be something we will get to work on this week.
Today, Tony took Lexi and Jonathan to Guayaquil, to see some of the sights. They left here about 7:30 this morning, and Teddy and I expect them to get back home around 6:30. I have heard from the 3 times already. They seem to have been having a really good time.
I pray that each of you have a great week, serving the Lord, where he has placed you!
Joy
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