Blessings on top of Blessings...

Group with Tony that was baptized this afternoon.

l to r - Paola, Merly and Stalin, Tony, Monica, Solanda, Cristobal, and Andres

Tony teaching at the Bible Study tonight.

26 people attended the Bible Study this evening.

This has been a day full of blessings...and at the same time exhausting! We had a great service this morning. There were 92 present, with 3 first time visitors. After the morning service we had a baptism at the beach. 7 precious believers were baptized today. 6 adults and one young boy. This marked a great victory in their lives and we were blessed!

After the baptism we headed home for a couple minutes to change clothes, make a few sandwiches to eat in the car and headed to Porto Viejo to meet with the congregation there. 15 people gathered to meet with us and discuss the future of this work. Please pray for Tony and I as we lead this congregation during this time of transition. Pray that God would send the couple he has chosen to Pastor this work and that we would be patient to wait on His timing. At this point we will be making the trip over there on Sunday afternoons for their regular service and then on Wednesday evening, when we are planning to have a Men's and a Ladies Bible study.

From Porto Viejo we head home, had a time to get a class of iced tea, and print out some things we needed for the new Bible Study that started this evening in the church here! We had 26 people attend the study tonight. Tony is teaching a series on "How to Study the Bible for Yourself". The plan is for it to be about a 5 or 6 week series.

So we come to the end of this day, we are tired, but we are also very excited to see the hand of God working in the lives of the people here! Next week will be the 4th anniversary of the church here in Manta!

A couple special prayer requests...

1. Please pray for Barbara Castro. She had surgery this week and is still in the hospital.

2. Pray for Veronica Perez. She will be having some tests tomorrow.

3. Pray for Veronica's husband, Neiger, who was just told Friday along with 4 other guys, that after working for a month, they were no longer needed. Not only that, but they weren't paid for the months work...they were told to return next Friday and they would get paid.

4. Pray for Teddy, who has been sick this past week. He is much better, but still seems to have somthing "hanging on".

5. Pray for strength, energy and wisdome for Tony and I as we minister here in Manta, and now also in Porto Viejo.

Thank you for your prayers and support!
God Bless,
Joy