God is working!!!

It is pretty amazing, exciting and scary when you see God working and moving!!  Amazing, because even after all these years of walking with the Lord, to think that He would invite me to join Him in his work still floors, humbles and amazes me!   Exciting, because you KNOW that when God is working, incredible things are going to happen!  Scary, because while God ALWAYS makes it clear where he is working and what he wants you to do, He rarely, reveals to you HOW he is going to accomplish it all through you!

So here I sit this morning.   100% convinced that God is at work and opening doors of opportunity for us, yet trying hard NOT to get paralyzed by all the fear for trying to figure out HOW it is going to happen.

Yesterday Cecy, who works with me in leading the Women's Ministry at our church, and Cielito, the coordinator for the Bolsas de Bendición ministry, went to one of the local Maternity Clinics.  The purpose of the visit was to follow up a lead we had been given about giving out our bags to the new moms.  The director at first was a little leery and wanted to know if they were advertising for a particular brand of diapers.  When they assured her no, and explained what we are trying to do, she welcomed them to come.  Because this clinic does not do C-sections, (which a majority of the women here end up having), she told them that they usually only have about 5 or 6 new moms there at a time.  BUT then she said, I would love for you to come on the day we offer vaccinations, for the new babies.  We will have anywhere from 10 to 25 show up.  If you would come on that day, I would give you opportunity to speak to the Moms about spiritual things!   Then you could give out your bags!!

Then she said, another group I would really like you to come and visit, is a group of Moms whose babies, (we are talking 1 to 3 year olds) are malnourished.  If you would come, and talk to them about good nutrition, and you could also discuss spiritual things with them, and then give them a small gift.

OK, WOW!!!!   When an unsaved person, tells you they would love for you to come and speak about spiritual things with a group of moms they are working with, opening the door to give you time and opportunity to do it, you know that is GOD working!!   So what are we going to do about it?

I just sent $80 more to the lady overseeing the purchase of fabric and the sewing of the bags and receiving blankets.  We are going to try and get 50 bags made in the next week to 2 weeks.  Right now we have the money to do this and to even purchase the extra stuff we are lacking for the bags.  It cost us $86 to make the first 25 bags...  I had given her $80 a week ago to start making the next 25.

I look at this class of 40 ladies, none of them rich, in fact by US standards just about everyone of them would be considered poor, or at the least lower middle class.  They are giving monthly to support a precious little girl in Uganda, through our partnership with Mountain View Chapel and their Victory 1:27 ministry.  They are donating food stuffs for the new "Bendecidos para Bendecir" food pantry.  They are donating supplies to fill the bags, and a weekly offering to help pay for the sewing of the bags... At present we have collected enough money to making about 75 bags.  That is using money that was collected over the last year for Women's Ministry.   So when I think about this open door and the opportunity that the Lord is obviously giving us, it is hard not to get paralyzed by the  fear of "How are we going to keep this going?"

This morning in my quiet time, I read these verses...

Amos 3:7,  For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Isaiah 41:10, fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:12, For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you."

Luke 6:38, give and it will be given to you.  Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.  For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

What I KNOW right now...

1.  is that God has revealed to us where He is working right now, and HE has asked us to step up and   join Him there.

2.  God has told me to not be afraid!  To trust Him, that He is the one holding my hand.  He is the one who will provide, He is the one who will bring it to pass.

3.  He has asked me to be generous with what He has given so far.  I'm not to "sit" on what I have, and dole it out, because that way, I know we can do this ministry in this "small way" for a few months....  No, I need to give and use what HE has provided, and trust Him to supply for next month!

Thanks for riding along with me in this journey!   Please keep the work here in Manta in your prayers and especially these not opportunities.   If you would like to be involved in ANY way, please send me a message.   You can leave a comment here and I will get back to you.

Blessings,
Joy

Bolsas de Bendición

Today a group of ladies met at the church to prepare the bags to give out to new Moms...

Each bag contained 4 diapers, a receiving blanket, a rattle and 1 other "baby item".

I am so thankful for these ladies who made the time to go and put these bags together.

Please be praying for the group that will be going later this week to pass them out.  Pray especially that God would be preparing the hearts of the ladies that will be receiving our gift of love, and that they would be tender to hearing the gospel message.  We are so excited that we have an open door at the Social Security Hospital here in Manta.  There are other doors opening.  We will only be limited by how many bags we can make and how often we get enough donations to fill them.  So excited to see how God is bringing this all together!!

Here are a couple bags close up...

Quick update...

Just wanted to give you a quick update.

The Ladies class has collected enough stuff to put together the first 25 bags for our new Love in Action ministry, Bolsas de Bendición.  They will be putting the bags together tomorrow afternoon, and then delivering them to the new moms at the Social Security Hospital later in the week.  If there aren't many Moms there the day they go, we also have an open door at a Clinic just around the corner from our church, and we will be taking them there, too.

Please pray for the ladies that are working to get the bags put together, and then for each of the ladies that receive this gift.  May the Lord go before us and prepare hearts and open doors for opportunities to witness to these new Moms and their families.

The Administrative Team for the new ministry, Bendecidos para Bendecir, met again last night.  Everything is moving forward for our target date of Saturday morning, May 2.  We have 20 clients signed up to receive boxes of food for this first date.  Pray for all the final donations to come in.  Pray for the Administrative Team, as they each find others to work with them in different areas.  Pray for the Lord to prepare the hearts of these Clients as we near May 2.  Pray that they would actually show up and that God would touch hearts.  We don't just want to meet just their physical needs, (as the truth is we will never be able to fully do that) we want to introduce them to Jesus!

Thanks so much for your prayers for our ministry!
Blessings to each of you!
Joy

Crazy Day!

Church was pretty crazy this morning!  We had a good attendance, 145.  Not super but not bad either. ;)  Sunday School went well.  The guys that usually run our Easy Worship program for the Worship Service were out today.  We've had a college age young lady learning the program, but today was her first time to do it alone.  It went well for the song time.  But then she ran into problems during the preaching.  It was a situation where the screen was blank, then it was on, then it was blank...  At the same time, we had children crying...  Also at the start of the preaching time, the mic was really "hot"... not sure why, they got that turned down, but then it wasn't really right.

After that, we had Lord's supper and the mic they were using was in and out.  Finally when they just decided to go without the mic, that went fine. :)  Darwin, lead Lord's Supper this morning and it was such a blessing to see him, and to think how much God has worked in his life!

After we decided to order pizza when we got home, and although we've ordered it many times, this time, for some reason, our name didn't pop up on the computer when they entered our phone number. So Tony was in here trying to explain where we lived and after about 3 times, the delivery guy got on the phone and when Tony, asked if he was the one that usually delivered  and then said, I'm the tall, American guy, he knew exactly who and where we were! ;)

Even with all the craziness, it was such a blessing to be in God's House this morning and to worship with our church family.  God has done so much here already.  It's amazing when you look back and remember where we were and where we are today!  Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy!

I would ask you to please be praying for the ladies as they were on getting our Mother's Day Breakfast organized.  We already have 57 ladies signed up!!  Praying that God uses this to bring women and families to Him.

Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Joy

Wow am I behind?!?!

Here we are nearing the end of February and I haven't posted anything for this new year!  Guess that means life has been busy around our house! :)

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas vacation.  It was nice to have the kids off of school and to enjoy the holidays.  We enjoyed hosting a couple parties at our house.  One for the deacons and their wives and a dinner for our 3 church staff and their families.  Christmas eve was our families "Birthday Party for Jesus", and the kids had a wonderful time.

For our "Old Man" for New Year's eve this year, the kids each made a replica of themselves.  Everyone enjoyed playing games and watching movies, etc. to stay up and wait until mid-night to burn them and make lost of noise to say "good-bye" to 2012 and "welcome" to 2013!

The week of 2013, was spent getting the Christmas stuff all packed away and the house put back together.  Then the kids and I were back at school.

We finished up our 3rd term on February 8th!  That was a big deal, as that means we are 1/2 way through our school year!!

Another big event that happened in January, was that we were able to start the process of requesting visas to  travel to the US for Carla and Matthew.  That is now in process, and we covet your prayers that this process would go smoothly and quickly.  We are hoping to have the visas by June, but earlier would be ok! :)  We are thankful that even though there are many "unknowns" for us on this road that God is not taken by surprise by any of it and that He is in control!

The church celebrated it's 8th anniversary on February 3!  It seems impossible that it has already been 8 years!!  We had a great attendance of just over 200.  We are so thankful the many blessings that God has bestowed upon this ministry!

For the anniversary I made a cake to share with the church.  It was quite an adventure.  It was made up of 12, 9x13 cakes.   Here's a layout of the "Cake Adventure". ;)

It is amazing what God is doing here.  The Ladies Sunday school class continues to grow.  We are presently doing a study based on Beth Moore's book, Praying God's Word.  It has been a huge blessing to me personally and it has also been a blessing to hear the testimonies each week of how the Ladies are growing and how God is working in their hearts and lives.

Schools are out in Manabi at this time for their, "summer vacation"... this year they are taking off until May, so during the next 2 months, we will be having our annual VBS and our Teen Retreat.  In March, our Bible Institute will be starting back up.  They are going to spend the first month, teaching, Evagelism and Discipleship.  Please be in prayer that many will be burdened to get involved and will make the extra effort necessary to participate in these Thursday evening classes.

This year at our church the "theme" or emphasis is on Gratitude.  So with that in mind, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the part you have played in our lives and ministry over the last 22 years.   I know that the only reason we are here ministering is because there are people back home, "holding the ropes".  People praying for us on a daily basis and many people sacrificing to give their Missions Offering each week.  We don't take those things lightly.   Each victory here, each soul saved and each life changed is all because of the part you have played.

So Thank you!! I pray that God will bless each of you above and beyond anything you could ever imagine.

Blessings,
Joy

(these layouts were done using page kits from the  Digital Scrapbook Place, Inc. )

What's been happening...

The last couple weeks of October have been really busy.  We enjoyed great services at church.  185 two weeks ago and 162 last Sunday.  God is working and moving in hearts.

Our daughter, Carla, celebrated her 9th birthday on Oct. 22.  Here is a link to some pictures from that special day.

Carla's Birthday

The Ladies Conference we had planned for the 26th and 27th was wonderful!  We had 58 ladies participate that is only short 2 of those who had signed up.  I don't think we have ever had that kind of turn out before.  The ladies did a great job of helping with the planning and carrying through with their commitments.  By taking on the responsibility of so much of the conference it allowed me to focus the bulk of my attention on the lessons.  What a blessing!

If you would like to see photos from that event, please visit the link below:

Manzanas de Oro

It is also that time of year, when we need to re-new our visas.  Tony started working early in the month, to get together all the necessary paperwork.  It has always been a fairly simple, straight forward thing, (well as simple and straight forward as you can get when the government is involved! ;-)  Anyway, the first time he went they told him he was going to need some extra papers this year.  They also told him the name that he was to address all the letters to, (the coordinator of visas for this area).  Well, when he went back about 5 days later to turn in all the paperwork...he was told that the coordinator had changed and that the letters now needed to be addressed to a different person.  Also was told that one of our papers we had received from the National Mission here was out dated.  It needed to be less than 2 years old.  So we again, talked to the Mission leaders in Quito, and they re-wrote the letters, (these have to be written, signed by the president of the Mission and notarized, all of which takes time).  They also found a more current document on file and had it copied and notarized.  All was done and sent to us, within a couple days, (which was really amazing in itself)!  When Tony, went last Friday, to again turn in our folder of documents, he was told that they were unacceptable, because the paper, that we had been told needed to be less than 2 years old, now, had to be dated this year!  We found out all of this on Friday morning, and I was preparing for the Ladies Conference starting that evening!  Can you see Satan at work?!   Well, despite all of that we had Wonderful conference and God blessed!   On Monday we headed up to Quito.  We were going to try applying for our visa there, and if that didn't work we would head across the border on Wednesday, to return to Ecuador with a 90 day tourist visa.  Well, we found grace in the eyes of the officials there.  Our documents were accepted, entered in to the computer and our photos taken.  We have an appointment to return on Nov. 9.  At this point it looks like everything is on track.  Appreciate your prayers that we would be granted our visa with no more problems.

Today is Día de los Difuntos.  It is traditional to eat Guaguas de pan, (bread babies) and drink Colada Morada, it is a thick drink made from blueberries, blackberries, lots of spices with chopped up fruit in it.
if you would like a recipe for it, you will find a great one here .  We enjoyed the traditional treats and spent some time talking to the children about the history and meaning behind it.  Here are some pics from our own family celebration.

Day of the Dead, celebration

Thank you for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in  Manta!
Blessings to you!
Joy

Ministry Update...

This week-end is Carnival Vacation here in Ecuador.  That means that Manta is FULL of people visiting from around the country.  It also means that you need to watch out when you go out as you might be splashed with water...buckets, hoses, water guns, or water balloons. :-)  Our kids are looking forward to our big family water fight Tuesday afternoon.

We had a great service this morning, even though many of our regulars were traveling, we still had a great attendance of 130!  Also had a lady accept Christ at the end of the worship service!!

We enjoyed a nice family time for Valentines Day.  31 years ago, I celebrated my first Valentines Day with my Sweetie, and 21 years ago, we spent our first Valentines day in Ecuador.  God has blessed us so much and we are so thankful for all that he has done for us!

We are staying busy.  Appreciate your prayers as our church starts a new visitation ministry.  The ladies will be hosting a Bridal Shower for one of our newly married couples.  Also will be planning VBS, which will be in March.  The schools in Manta are on "Summer Break" right now.  (except for the Anzalone's school! ;-)

Appreciate your prayers as we continue to minister here.  Tony and I both are involved in Discipleship lessons with people.  Also working with the leaders and their wives.  Tony continues with the Bible Institute classes on Thursday night.

Blessings to you this week!
Joy

Prayer Requests

Hello everyone! We are having a great visit with my Mom and Dad. Yesterday we had the opportunity to drive over to Manchester, TN, where my Dad pastored for 3 years when I was a little girl. It was a nice "walk down memory lane". It was also very special to make contact with some dear friends, who we haven't seen in many years.

This week-end, Teddy and I will be participating in the Missions Conference at Southside Baptist church in Knoxville. Sunday morning I will be sharing in the 20 to 30's class and on Tuesday evening I will be sharing our ministry with the church. Please keep this in your prayers. This is the first time I have participated in a Conference like this without Tony.

Also please be praying for Ashley and Shane as they travel down from Springfield, MO. tomorrow. We are looking forward to having them here for a week.

Please pray for Lexi as she works and studies in Kansas. Pray for her as she ministers in her church there.

Pray too, for Mandie and Mike as they work in Korea. Pray for continued health and safety for Mandie and the baby during these last couple months. Her due date is Dec. 8!

Continue to pray for the church in Manta. We need to raise money to build on the new property. Pray also for Tony as he ministers and works alone, while Teddy and I are still in the US.

I pray that God blesses you this week-end!
Love, Joy

Prayer please...

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

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