As many of you know, Ecuador has been experiencing some challenges lately. Not only is the current government making a huge effort to lock down organized crime groups, but it is also currently working on making enough electricity to supply the country. April was filled with emergency electricity rationing so we often spent up to 8 hours a day with no electricity. Fortunately, the government seems to be making headway and with recent rains helping to fill the hydroelectric dams, May has allowed us the luxury of electricity! It’s when you are frequently without do you realize just how much you are reliant on electricity. We are thankful for a break in the rationing!
These last two months have brought about another change for our family. We have now pulled back from the other ministries we were supporting when we arrived late last year and have begun to focus our efforts on the ministry the Lord has called us to. This means lots of visiting with pastors and churches, getting to know the local church body and leadership, and helping where we can as we establish a relationship with the Ecuadorian church and continue to learn about local culture. As we have begun to pray about entering the Chota Valley to reach the Afro-Ecuadorians living there, the Lord has begun to open doors to us. He recently led us to eat at a restaurant nearby and, as we sat down and began to chat with the owner, we discovered that he and his wife are both Afro-Latino and often make trips up into the Chota where they try and do charitable work. This was an answer to prayer as we knew that we needed a contact to help us enter into the Chota communities. We were able to make our first trip in Abril to an area called Santa Lucia where we met the community president! Little by little we are making our way into the valley the Lord has called us to!
Please pray for us to continue to make these important, God-ordained connections and that God would reveal to us a plan of action as we prayerfully assess the communities in the Chota.
We are also happy to announce that all three of us now have our Visas and our Ecuadorian identity cards! This was quite a process but we made it through. These next item we need are our drivers licenses. I wish we could say this was an easy process but what would be the fun in that? Pray for us as we embark on this next challenge.
Thank you once again for all your financial and prayer support! The mission field can be a lonely place but it is encouraging to know that so many of you are invested in what God wants to do here in the highlands of Ecuador. Thank you for your prayers as we navigate a new season, a new culture, new relationships, and a new language. You are a blessing to us!
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