Amazing Love....

I started a new Bible Reading plan this morning. The idea is to read through the main stories of the Bible in chronological order in 61 days. So today I started with Creation and the Fall of Man. As I was reading, I tried to envision what this world must have been like...I mean, over and over again, it says and "God said it was good". WOW! Then he created Man and Woman in his very image. Pure and completely innocent. God would take time each day to come down and "walk with them". Then the day came when they disobeyed God, and it all came "crashing down" around them. Suddenly, what they thought they wanted, really wasn't what they wanted at all!

Yet God still came down and sought them. He still came looking for them. I often wonder what would have happened if Adam had taken responsibility for his sin...instead of "passing the buck" to Eve...or if Eve had taken responsibility, instead of passing it off on the serpent. We'll never know. This passage is really very sad, except when you remember that God still loved them, he still came seeking and he still made a way of salvation.

Oh, Amazing Love, how can it be, that thou my God wouldst love me?

Praise the Lord he still comes searching for us today!

We had a great day yesterday! 124 people packed out our temporary meeting room. The men are working on getting the roof on the 2nd floor so we can use that for our services, and put the children in the classrooms downstairs. Not only are we pushing the limits on all classrooms, but we desperatly need a nursery! There were at least 5 little babies in the service yesterday not counting the little children under 2!!!! What a wonderful problem to have. :-)

Pray for this Saturday, as we have a special Ladies meeting, where we will be making a craft. There are at least 50 ladies already signed up to attend. Pray too, as plans go forward for our special Christmas Event we have every year for the Ladies. This year we are planning to have it at the church on Dec. 5.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting with Cecila and Jessica to go over plans for our Children's ministry. Wednesday night we will be having a "Prayer Meeting/Bible Study" at the church. Friday evening, Luis and Melanea will be coming over to visit with us, and talk about plans for the young people. These are just the "meetings" I am personally involved in. Tony has several other things on his plate as he works with the men to keep things moving forward with the construction, and everything else. Pray too, as Teddy and I focus on school every morning.

Thank you for your interest in the ministry here in Manta! God bless you as you serve him where you are this week!

Joy

Rejoice in the Lord, always!

Paul tells us to "rejoice in the Lord, always, and again I say rejoice!" We are very happy to be back "home" in Manta. God was with us and although there were some delays in our trip, I know that God had it all figured out and his plan and his time is perfect!

Our flight from Atlanta to Miami was delayed, putting us into Miami after our scheduled flight to Ecuador had left...but all that meant was that we got a free night and whole day to rest up in a really nice hotel, compliments of American Airlines! We arrived safely into Guayaquil on Tuesday evening, and all of our luggage arrived with us!!!

We got to Manta, last Wednesday afternoon.

On Saturday the Ladies at church had a special "surprise" Welcome Home/Birthday Party for me. It was very sweet and it was so nice to see all of them. There were over 60 ladies present. It was also very encouraging to see new faces!

Sunday was a great day! There were over 90 in the worship service. It was wonderful to be at our church! Don't get me wrong, I love visiting all of you and each of you have great churches, but there is just something about being back at your own!!! :-)

After the services Sunday, the Leadership Team took us out for lunch. What a great time of fellowship we had with them.

Sunday afternoon, I met with the Women's Ministry Team, and we put into motion plans for some special events for the Ladies. We are planning a "Craft Day" on Nov. 21, and then our special Christmas Event on Dec. 5. Please keep these special days in your prayers. We are asking the Lord to use them to foster fellowship, unity and to give us an opportunity to witness to ladies that would not normally attend church.

So, as you go through this day, remember to "Rejoice in the Lord, always!" :-)

Blessings,
Joy

Heading home!

We are enjoying our last few days in the US with our good friends, Ben and Jane Mock and their family.

Tony, Teddy and I are looking forward to getting back "home". We appreciate your prayers as we travel on Monday.

I am doing well. The medicines seem to be regulating my blood pressure. My recovery from the surgery has been well, and I am starting to feel "normal" again.

God Bless you as you serve Him!
Joy

God's ways are not our ways...

I have been thinking today, how no matter what we do or plan, the Lord is in control and he is always working for our good.

On Wednesday this week, I went to the doctor for my last check-up. It has been 4 weeks since my surgery and since we are suppose to return on November 2nd, I wanted to make sure there was time in case he wanted me to do anything else...of course we never expect there to be "anything else".

Well, my blood pressure was up at the office and my doctor didn't really think it was anything to worry about it...he asked if I had a way to monitor it at home, or if I could go to Walmart or somewhere and take it a couple times, later. Well, since my Dad has a monitor, I told him I could do it at home. So he told me to take it later in the evening, and the next day. Well, when I took it it was still high. So now I have an appointment with a General Practitioner on the 28th. I was a little frustrated last night with all of this...and then I started thinking this morning, how gracious the Lord is to us! This could have been something that went undetected and have caused a stroke or heart attack.

I am grateful that God is in control, that he works all things for our good. So tonight as I write this, I'm resting in the wonderful truth that He is in control!

Thank you for your prayers. We have plans to travel next week... will are suppose to be in 4 different churches during the next couple weeks. My recovery has gone pretty well. Please continue to pray that we will get my blood pressure problem under control.

I am praying that you see God's blessings on your life as you serve him.
Joy