Celebrations and Blessings!

The last 2 months have been ones of celebration in the Anzalone house!   We have celebrated 3 birthdays and the kids enjoyed Halloween, and we also enjoyed celebrating the Ecuadorian Holiday, "Dia de los Muertos".  Then we had a wonderful Thanksgiving here with just our family this year.  Teddy was a little concerned at first when he realized we weren't having company, because he thought if there weren't a lot of people here we wouldn't have a "feast" as he likes to refer to it.  But we put that notion to rest! :-)  We had all of the classic dishes, and everyone was stuffed when dinner was over!  

What fun we've had celebrating the joys of life and marking special days as a family.  It is neat to see how the kids have grown and how God is continuing to mold us into a family.  A tradition of ours is to start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  It has been a joy to see the kids faces light up as we pull out things that they remember from last year.  Carla mentioned the other day, that this was her 2nd Christmas.  Tonight we started our Advent Celebration.  One of the things we talked about was the giving aspect of Christmas, and that we wanted to think of people that we could give to this year.  Each of the kids thought of someone that they wanted to do something for.  It is so good to see them want to be generous to others.

The church is growing.  We had another evangelistic outreach in Jaramijo yesterday.  This one focused on the children.  There were about 40 kids that came to the program.  People from the church went and invited people and handed out about 300 tracks and invitations.  Our 4 puppet teams from the church, each presented a small skit.  In between the skits we had fun activities and music.  At the close Tony presented the plan of salvation.  At the end 12 boys and girls accepted Christ as their Savior!!  What a blessing!  Today, we had a great service.  134 attended the worship service and one man accepted Christ as his Savior at the end of the service.  

Tony has 2 Bible Institute classes going now.  Appreciate your prayers for him and for the students.  Also we are ready to get more things done on the building.  Work on the walls of the auditorium should be continuing soon and we are getting tile put in the large class on the main floor of the Education Building.  Exciting times!!

The Ladies are planning a Christmas Tea for Sunday afternoon, Dec. 18.  Appreciate your prayers for the planning and that this would be a great outreach opportunity for the Ladies Ministry.  I am very thankful for the ladies helping with the planning and organization of this program!

One more very special blessing for our family, is that my parents will be traveling down to Ecuador on Tuesday and staying for a month!  We are so excited to have them here for Christmas!  Carla and Matthew are very excited about meeting Grandpa and Grandma, and of course Teddy is excited to have them here for a visit!  Please pray for safety as they travel.

Blessings to you and yours!
Joy

There are no accidents....

Dear Pastor’s wife and Ladies,

Nothing ever happens by accident. Life is full of moments
when we have a choice to make. Will we be available or will
we be so preoccupied with ourselves that we miss the
opportunity that God places right before us. So often I’m
afraid that I fall into the latter group. I get so involved in my
life that I fail to see what the Lord has placed in front of me to do.

This month, I had the opportunity to travel to the US, to have
some medical check-ups and while I was there, I was able to
be involved in the wonderful Missions Revival at Battlefield
Baptist Church in Gainsville, VA. It was an incredible weekend
full of encouragement and blessings. When I got to the
airport for my return flight, I will admit that I was a little
nervous and unsure of things, since it was the first time I had
ever flown into and out of Dulles. Making my way to security,
I was waiting in line, and I heard the TSA lady ask, “Does
anyone speak Spanish?” I hesitated a moment thinking that
another officer would approach, but when they didn’t I said, “I
do”. Then I spent a few minutes trying to explain to 2 guys
from El Salvador that they could not both get through security
and on to a plane with only 1 boarding pass, even if they
were both flying together! I started back to my place in line
and was told to just stay there, so after she checked my
papers, another officer said, “I’ll be right back, I’m moving her
up to the front of the line because she was so helpful.” I
thought that was nice, but not really necessary since I had
plenty of time before my flight. I proceeded to my gate, and
after getting settled, a young lady sitting across from me
asked if I flew often…we started talking, and I asked if she
attended church. Long story short, I was able to share the
gospel with her and she prayed and accepted Christ as her
Savior! This experience made me stop and think, I wonder
how many other opportunities I have let slip by because I
was so preoccupied with myself? Oh that we would see this
world through the eyes of Christ!

God bless you as you serve where you are!

Blessings,  
Joy

Prayer Requests...

I want to thank each of you who take the time to read my updates and pray for our family and the ministry here in Manta!  You are all an incredible blessing to our family and we don't take that lightly.

Tomorrow after the services Tony, the kids and I will be traveling to Guayaquil.  We appreciate your prayers for a safe journey there.  Monday morning, I will be flying to the US for 3 weeks.  Yes, you read that correctly, 3 weeks!   Most of the first week will be spent with one of our faithful supporting churches in their Missions Conference.  This wasn't something that I actively sought out, but it is a special door that the Lord opened for me, and I am excited about going and praying that God would use me to be a blessing and an encouragement.  After that, I will return to TN and spend 2 weeks at my Mom and Dads.  I have medical exams and check-ups schedule, and I appreciate your prayers as I take care of all of that.  Also we are going to try and clean out a storage unit that we have there, and maybe have a "garage sale".  :-)  (it doesn't seem to matter where I go, I have "stuff" waiting for me to sort and clean out!  Why is that do you think?!  Maybe because I'm a "pack rat" and want to hold on to EVERYTHING!...well, I am, but I have to say, after seeing some of those shows on tv, I'm not really that bad! LOL!!)

I am grateful that the Lord is giving me the opportunity to see 2 of the girls and their families.  Jonathan, Lexi and Ren will be at the Missions Conference in VA. and Mike, Mandie, Ioan and Saranna are planning to come to my parents the last week-end I am there!

While I'm away, I really would appreciate your prayers for Tony and the kids, here in Manta.  Also for the Ladies Ministry at our church.  The leaders wives will be organizing the October Ladies which is the 2nd Saturday of the month.  They will also be organizing a baby shower for one of our faithful ladies.   It is really exciting to see how much these ladies have grown and their willingness to take on responsibility for the ministry.

One other special request is that the Lord would open the doors and that Tony would find favor with those in authority and that we would be able to get our "new" car registered.  I would explain the situation to you, but it wouldn't make any sense...truth is it doesn't make any sense to us! LOL!    It just seems that for some reason the "computers" aren't "talking" to each other between the different agencies, or for that matter cities...even though they are suppose to be all "networked" together now.   Anyway, we know that God has not been surprised by any of this.  Thank you for your prayers.  

I am praying that each of you receive blessings beyond your imaginations, and that in each of your lives, your homes and your ministries, God is glorified!

Joy

In the End, God Wins!

Tomorrow morning we will be finishing our study on Esther in the Ladies Sunday School class.  What an incredible study it has been.  I don't know why it continues to amaze me, that no matter how familiar a story or Bible passage is, there is always something new to learn!  That is what it means when it says in Hebrews 4:12, 

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  

The Word of God is living and active. That is just the neatest thing!  Every week, when I prepare the lesson, it has just been such an incredible thing to see how God has used it in my own life.   

As we finish up the story of Esther, we are reminded that in the end God really does win!  It doesn't really matter what is happening at this very moment.  God will turn our sorrow into joy and mourning into laughter!  The other thing that really stuck out to me in the end of the book, was just how very important it is for us to make monuments of remembrance.  This month, has been the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  All of us I'm sure can remember exactly where we were, and when we heard the news.   Because of that, it is almost inconceivable to us, that anyone could ever forget or not know what happened on that fateful day.  Yet, the truth is, there are children that have been born during this last 10 years, that have no idea what 9/11 is.  And without monuments of remembrance they will grow up and have no idea.  So just as it is important for us to have memorials and monuments in our country, it is also important to have them in our lives too.  I'm not talking about shrines here.  We are talking about monuments that teach our children and those after us, from our failings.  We aren't enshrining our failures, we are praising God for the victories that he brought about.   In Esther, after the enemies of the Jews were vanquished there was a celebration!  Before Esther walked off the scene and let Mordecai and King Ahasuerus, get back to business, she made sure that the days of Purim would be observed at their appointed seasons.   Esther 9:29-32  Why was this important?  Because, each year at the feast of Purim from the time of Esther to this present day, the Jews recounted the story of how Haman tried to destroy them, but how Almighty God saved them.  Every child grew up knowing what happened.   

That has made me stop to think...am I living at a shrine to my past failures and shortcomings?  Do I spend time thinking about what might have been or should have been or could have been if only?  Or have I made a monument of remembrance for the incredible victories God has brought about in my life?  Do I celebrate the joy of my salvation and the freedom I have been given in Christ?   Keeping my eyes on Him?  

What an incredible blessing to know that in the end, God wins!  2 Timothy 4:7-8,

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.