Home Sweet Home

Well, Teddy and I are safely home in Manta. It was a long couple of days, but we are so thankful for the blessings of the Lord and that we arrived in Ecuador safely Thursday night and that our suitcases arrived safely on Friday night! :-) The Lord allowed us a day together with Tony relaxing in Guayaquil. What a special blessing. We arrived home yesterday about noon.

This is a big holiday week-end in Ecuador and today is the celebration of the founding of Manta. We had a really low attendance this morning, 57. Every class was down. All the schools had special events this morning.

We are thankful that this past week, Darwin decided that the men were never going to be able to clean the property off on their own, and he got some friends he knew who owned heavy equipment to go over and clear it all off in about 2 hours! What a blessing that was!

Tony will be traveling this week. Please pray for him as he travels and visits 3 of our supporting churches and has the opportunity to meet with a few of our pastors. Pray for Teddy and me as we are here while he is gone. He will be gone for about a week.

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta. We are so thankful to know that God is in control and that he has a plan for us and for the work here.

God bless you as you serve Him!
Joy

Time to go home...

Hello everyone! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall! It has been so neat for Teddy and I to see the beautiful colored leaves of fall. That is something that we never get to enjoy in Ecuador.

God has been so good to us and we have had a wonderful visit with my parents. Ashley and Shane made the trip from Springfield, MO. last week and that was a special treat. I have enjoyed getting to talk to Lexi on the phone where we didn't have a problem with the connection, too! :-)

Tony reported to me that they had 78 last Sunday. That is alittle low from what we have been running but still good. Please continue to keep the work in Manta in your prayers.

Teddy and I will be flying out of Knoxville, TN. on Thursday morning. Please pray for us as we will be spending the day flying from place to place and finally are suppose to arrive in Guayaquil about 9:30pm.

God bless you as you serve him this week!
In Christ,
Joy

Weekly Update

I pray that each of you had a wonderful Lord's day! Teddy and I had a great day. We are enjoying being a part of the Missions Conference at Southside Baptist church in Knoxville. This morning I had the opportunity to share my testimony with the "20's and 30's" class. Then during church, they had each of the missionaries come forward as they shared a little bit of our background and then they thanked us for being their missionaries.

I talked with Tony this afternoon and he told me they had a great service in Manta this morning. There were 85 present in the church service. He wasn't sure when we talked what the Sunday School attendance had been, but was excited because Darwin and Jessica had 6 teens in their class this morning! Nelly and Cristobal's son and daughter attended the Youth Group Saturday afternoon, and both of them told Tony that they really enjoyed it and plan to come back! He also told me that they had 1 first time visitor this morning, an elderly man that has been attending the small group meeting on Wednesday evenings at Gonzalo and Aday's house.

Teddy and I are having a special treat. Ashley and Shane have made the trip from Springfield to visit us this week. We are enjoying having some time with them.

Thank you for your prayers for the ministry in Manta. Please keep Teddy and I in your prayers and the Missions conference here. I will be sharing with the church on Tuesday evening and showing a short DVD that Tony made for me about the work in Manta. Pray also for each of our children. Mandie and Mike, Ashley, Lexi and Teddy. Pray for Tony as he continues the work in Manta, alone these days.

I pray that you have a wonderful week and see the blessings of the Lord upon your life.

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