I pray that each of you had a great church services this morning! Today the country of Ecuador voted whether or not they wanted to have their consitution rewritten. Because it was a mandatory vote, we only had our 10:30 service to try and allow people more time to take care of their voting. We were excited because we still had 54 this morning and a 1 first time visitor! This is the best attendance we have had on a Sunday morning, when there was an election.

Please be praying for the country of Ecuador. We are thankful that God has all of this in his hands!

Tony made an offer on a piece of property this week. It is in a wonderful location. Easy access, great area, etc. The owner started out asking for $50,000. Tony offered him $25,000. In a matter of about 5 minutes he came down to $35,000! We know that property in that area goes for about $40 to $45 a square meter, so $30,000 to $32,000 would be a good price for it. $25,000 would be more in line with the budget we would like to keep! :-)

Next week-end the owner of the apartment we are renting for the church is suppose to be in town. They have not yet rented the downstairs apartment. Tony is hoping to talk to the landlord, and that we will be able to rent that for more Sunday School space. Please be praying this week that the Landlord wouldn't be too greedy! If we were able to rent the apartment, that would give us room to go back to having both a Men's and Ladies' Sunday School class. We could also divide our children's classes, which would really be a good thing. Presently we have 2 children's classes, ages 2 through 1st grade, and 2nd grade through 6th grade! Quite an age stretch, I know, but it has been an improvement from having them all in one class! :-) Everything comes little by little. What a blessing it would be to have alittle more room to divide them up and have room to grow while we wait to get into our own building.

This morning we had a report from the group that went to La Travesia yesterday. They ministered to 50 children, and 8 adults. Please continue to pray for this ministry and those in our church that are involved in it.

I want to thank each one of you for praying for the ministry here in Manta. I would love to hear from you! You don't have to "join" anything to leave a comment.

Have a wonderful week!
Joy

Family news

We have had some major events happen in our family over the last week... Last Thursday, Teddy turned 5 years old! He had a big day, complete with a "Superman cake" and decorations. His favorite present was a box of "superhero stuff"! He also received a new bike.

Thursday afternoon and evening we had visitors fly in to see us. Cliff McGhee, missionary in Quito, came down and spent a couple nights with us. Tony was able to take him around to see property possibilities and get some more counsel on property and building options for our church. Also two very dear friends of mine came down and spent the whole Easter week-end with us. It was such a blessing to be able to visit and fellowship with everyone.

Sunday after church we had a big gathering for Easter Dinner here at our house. We invited Chris and Lois Tignor and their family to join us from Portoviejo. We had a great time of fellowship and great food too! The highlight for the children of course was the Easter Egg hunt after dinner! I don't think the adults could decide if the chocolate peanut butter eggs were the best, or the lemon cheesecake! :-)

Well, I have saved the biggest news for last... On Friday morning, our daughter Mandie and her husband Mike called us from Korea. They had just returned from their Mission trip to the Philippines. They had some very exciting news for us... Tony and I are going to be GRANDPARENTS! The baby is due early in December. We appreciate you prayers for them, for Mandie's health and for the baby. Also please be praying with us that the Lord would open the doors and provide a way for us to be able to go and be with them when the baby is born. Sometimes things seem impossible from a human standpoint, but we know that our God is the creator of the universe and there is NOTHING impossible for Him!

I pray God blesses you richly as you serve him this week!
Love, Joy

Weekend Report

I pray that each of you had a blessed Easter Sunday! We had a good attendance, especially considering that this is a huge vacation time here in Ecuador. We had 54 in Sunday School and 71 in Church. There were a couple first time visitors and we had a really good service.

Friday evening we showed the Jesus movie for children in La Travesia. 9 precious souls accepted Christ as their Saviour afterwards. I special blessing for us was among the 9, Barbara Castro, Juan's wife, accepted the Lord as her Saviour. She had gone through the discipleship lessons, when Tony did them with Juan, and had been attending church for awhile. We had seen big changes in Juan's life, but not much fruit in hers. What a blessing when she went forward, Friday evening! Please be praying as she starts this new walk with Christ.

Easter Week!

Can you believe that Easter is this Sunday?! Time is just flying on by. We had a good service this past Sunday. We had 54 in Sunday School and over 70 in Church. There were many visitors. Some from out of town, just in Manta for the holiday, but some local. Saturday we had a group ministering in La Travesia. That went well. We are so thankful to the Lord for the burden he has given some of our people to minister in this village. This Friday night, we will be showing the Jesus movie there. Please pray that the Lord would use this to bring people to him.

Tomorrow we have company coming! I always love having company! Cliff McGhee is coming down to spend a couple nights with us. He is coming down to see what is going on in La Travesia, as the cabin and property there is owned by a wonderful family in the church there in Sangolqui. They will be here this week-end for the holiday. This week is a huge "vacation" time in Ecuador. All the hotels in Manta are full, as the people from Quito have the week off and lots of them come to the coast.

Also tomorrow evening, 2 very dear friends of mine from Quito, will be flying in. They are going to be staying with us until Tuesday evening. I am really looking forward to seeing them. Barb Tooley and Terrilyn Kadle, both teach at the Alliance Academy in Quito. Terrilyn had all 3 of my girls in 2nd grade! :-)

Before the company arrives we will be celebrating Teddy's birthday. He will be 5 tomorrow! The birthday dinner, will be Tony's spaghetti and meatballs, with a Superman cake and ice cream. I'm sure there will be plenty, so if you are in the area, drop on by! :-)

As always, thank you so much for your faithful prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta. Praying God's blessings on you! Happy Easter!

Joy