Do you have hope, this morning?

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Is is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." Lametations 3:21-16

Do you have hope, this morning? Are you hoping in the Lord? There are times when I don't understand everything the Lord is doing. Times when I can't see the future...can't even see through this day, yet God has called me to trust in Him. He hasn't asked me to look ahead and figure out way I'm to go...He's only asked me to follow his lead this day...to take one step at a time, and join Him where he is working.

His mercies are new every morning! His compassions do not fail. He is my portion and my hope. I rest in him.

Thank you for your prayers and support of the ministry here in Manta. Thank you for your support for our family. Ecuador had elections yesterday. They have re-elected the President Correa. We haven't heard yet, if the new "assembly" (congress) will be controled by his party or if it will give some balance to the government. There are many things unknown at this time, but we do know that God is in control!

God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy

Iced Tea Anyone?

Well, I can tell you that if you were sitting in my kitchen with me today, you certainly wouldn't want a cup of tea! We had a very hot and muggy day in Manta. I could have offered you a tall glass of sweet tea though! :-)

We had great services at our church here in Manta on Sunday. We had an attendance of 100, and God blessed. Patricio Solis was visiting us and preached in the morning service and then in the afternoon service in Porto Viejo. We are looking forward to having a baptism on May 3rd. This evening, Tony is starting discipleship classes with a new couple that has been attending off and on for about 6 months, but who have been very faithful the last month and half. We are also starting a class of the 4 Bible Institute Students who have completed the first phase of our program. They are going to be meeting together here at our house on Tuesday evenings. Please keep this group in your prayers. Darwin, Jessica, Mirian and Maria Jose are in this group.

We are waiting for our Architect to come up with an estimate for the next step in the building. We are praying that the Lord will provide the funds needed to complete this phase. Our contract at our present meeting place is up the end of May...we are hopeful that the Landlord will allow us to stay until the end of June. Please keep all of this in your prayers. We know that God is in control and that he has this all worked out. We are trusting Him to complete it.

Our family is all doing well. Mandie, Mike and Ioan are getting ready for baby Saranna's arrival in July. Ashley and Shane are looking forward for the arrival of their baby boy in August. Lexi and Jonathan are excited to be getting a puppy soon! :-) Teddy only has 6 weeks left of first grade! We are excited to be on the "home stretch" for this year! He is also looking forward to the trip this summer to see his sisters, brothers and grandparents.

Tony and I are doing well...keeping very busy. We appreciate your prayers for the ministry here in Manta!

God Bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy

Happy Easter!

Praise the Lord! "He is not here, for he is risen as he said!" What a special day. Just to think of the great victory won for us! Without the resurrection there is no point in the rest of the story, but with it, we have the gift of salvation.

We had a great day this morning. There were about 109 in attendance. We have new couples wanting to start discipleship classes. The Bible Institute class on Thursday night is running about 17. We have 3 students ready to go ahead and start the next phase of the program.

This past week was a nice week of "vacation" for Teddy and I from school. We enjoyed to slower paced mornings and just the change of pace. Tomorrow we will be getting back to school. We have 8 weeks left! The school year is winding down.

This coming Saturday the "young women" will be meeting here at my house. This is a monthly meeting we have for women 20-35 years old. Please pray for these women. Most of them are new Christians. This is a great opportunity to mentor them and for them to also work on friendships with other Christian women.

I pray you have a blessed week!
Joy

April 8

Well, I seem to be getting farther and farther behind in keeping this blog updated. Sorry about that. Things are going well here. We haven't had any snow! :-) Most days are bright blue skies and sunshine. The last couple days have been a little overcast, but that hasn't seemed to lower the temperature very much.

Our church services the last couple weeks have been very good. We have had good attendances and visitors both Sundays. Melanie was able to lead to ladies to the Lord last Tuesday evening, when they met together to start discipleship classes! What a blessing.

The construction has gone well so far. We have the first floor columns and floor poured. Next we need to raise some more money, so that we can pour the 2nd floor, (which will be the roof of the first floor), so that we can finish up the first floor. Please be praying with us that the Lord would provide. Our current Landlord wants us out of the apartment we are meeting in this June, so we need to get this first floor finished to provide a meeting place for the church.

Teddy is doing great in school. He is starting to enjoy reading. This week we are on "Easter Vacation", and we are enjoying the time off. Today we started making our chocolate peanut butter eggs. They are mixed up and in the fridge. Teddy is excited about tomorrows part, as that is when we can dip them in chocolate and decorate them.

Friday evening we are having a "video night" at the church. Pray for this outreach.

I pray that you are having a wonderful week!
Joy