Well, here it is Sunday afternoon again! We had a very good service this morning. We had 70 in Sunday School and 86 in Church. We had 3 visitors. It is exciting to see how the Lord is working in the lives of the believers here.

Everyone was very happy to have Tony back at church this morning. This coming Saturday we are having a ladies meeting. Please be praying with us that this is a blessing to the Ladies here and that the Lord is honored and glorified.

This week is Thanksgiving! Can you believe it? We are looking forward to a big turkey dinner and sharing some time with good friends.

Have a wonderful week.
Joy

Retreat

I made the trip to Quito Thursday to participate in a retreat for Missionary Ladies. What an incredible blessing it was to be with all these other ladies who are serving the Lord around Ecuador. The time of fellowship with them was very sweet, but the times of teaching and praying together was just wonderful.

There were 15 ladies who came from the US to minister to us and that is exactly what they did. They showered us with love, gifts and special treats,(among which was lots of chocolate!) I am so thankful for all the sacrifices that they made to be here in Ecuador and bless us with this special time.

Update on the "Update"

Hi Everyone! Hope your week as started out well. Just wanted to let you know that Tony wasn't able to travel back to Ecuador today. Their was an accident at the Quito airport on Friday. No one was hurt seriously, but a plane went off the end of the runway. Anyway, it seems that everyone has resumed their flights to Quito except American Airlines... wouldn't you know it!

Anyway, he was able to get booked on a flight to Guayaquil on Wednesday. He will be spending the next couple of days with friends of ours in PA. (although the airline changed his flight at no additional cost they won't pay to put him up or to get him to Quito from Guayaquil) What a mess.

We are doing fine here in Manta. Thanks for your prayers for us and please keep Tony in your prayers during the next couple of days.

Joy

Update

Matthew 16:25

"For whosoever shall save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

This morning as I was reading my devotions, this verse stood out. Our Sunday School lesson today was on James 4:1-12. We spent time talking about how pride and our desire to be in control puts us in opposition to God. In my devotional reading this morning, one part really jumped out at me...

"It is not difficult to turn over to Christ those things that are not a sacrifice or that you would prefer to do without anyway. Rather it is the things that are good and dear to you that may stand between you and God's will. It's good to be near your grown children and grandchildren, for example, but God may want you to go to another city or continent on mission with Him."

We had good services this morning. There were 65 in Sunday School and 93 in our church service! We had 5 first time visitors. The men did a great job leading the service. We enjoyed hearing a report on the ministry, here in Ecuador of the radio station, BBN, from the director, Jorge Michala. Samuel Moreno, from Guayaquil preached this morning.

Tony reports that his time in the US has gone well. He has had the opportunity to speak at 3 of our supporting churches, and to visit with 3 other pastors. Teddy and I are looking forward to his return home on Tuesday. He will be flying back to Ecuador tomorrow and back to Manta on Tuesday. Please be praying for him as he travels. There was an accident at the Quito airport on Friday and the airport was closed some, we don't know if he will be flying into Quito, or somewhere else at this time.

Please continue to pray for Teddy and me, while we are here without him.

Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Joy