We returned last evening from our trip to the Northern Coastal district including Manta and Montecristi. It was VERY different there-super hot and pretty buggy, which is very different from Quito-we don’t really have any bugs here! But, enough about the bugs and heat-that definitely wasn’t the important part of our trip. On Wednesday after arriving on Tuesday (April 17th) we visited the only Covenant Church in Manta, La Victoria. While we were there, we were able to see and experience the vision for this church and the community it serves. They have a vision for opening a daycare for the kids in the community where the church is located. This area has many single mothers who work all day and need help with their children. Some environments where they live are full of alcohol and violence and the church hopes to be able to expose these children to Jesus and his love in the midst of their home lives. We were very excited to see this church and meet Pastor Lauro. See pictures below of the daycare-it is almost completely finished and already has people waiting in line to sign up. Please pray for La Victoria and Pastor Lauro as they are waiting on government documents to be able to open!
On Thursday, we were able to have a little family time at the beach and eat some amazing seafood!
On Friday, we were planning on having a meeting with all the pastors from this district. We still had the meeting, but Joel came down with a very bad stomach bug and couldn’t get out of bed. At the last minute, Kim did her best to lead the meeting. She definitely stepped out of her comfort zone with this, but a lot of information was gathered and processed and at the end of the meeting one pastor said “so when is the next one!” (Sorry we don’t have pictures from the meeting, as you can imagine Simeon would have been taking them and those are very hit or miss!)
Joel had other meetings to attend with F.A.C.E. and the Pastor Advisory Committee. As the camp president, he has a lot more responsibilities and political issues to maneuver. As you can imagine with the stomach bug, he wasn’t able to attend all of these meetings-only some.
Praise the Lord he was feeling better yesterday as we made the 7-8 hour trip back to Quito. Thank you for your prayers. We definitely feel them and see God’s hand protecting us in many ways throughout our trips. During this trip, Simeon was playing and we didn’t realize there was a drop where he was playing. Luckily he didn’t want to check it out and stopped before he fell. Also, recently at the Camp where we visit, they found a snake (an ‘X’ which is very poisonous). We are very thankful nobody was hurt, but that the snake just slithered away. As you know, we make many trips to the camp. Please know that when you pray for us God hears your prayers and we feel them in our daily lives and daily experiences and WE THANK YOU!
Classroom set up at the daycare
Chairs set up for class
SO cute1 They have little toilets, little showers and sinks that are child size!
Kim and Pastor Lauro in the sleeping room with mini cots!
Joel and Simeon enjoying some beach time!
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The Santiago Partnership