“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
(Apostle Paul)
I think if we would look over the last four months that have been filled with uncertainty, speculation, shifts, changes, frustrations, and challenges, we can all agree with Thomas Paine when he said, “These are the times that try men's souls.” We are writing from what we now call our “Coronavirus cave” where we have been under martial law for over 90 days. No church services, no visits, in reality we have not left our home for more than a few hours each week since this all began.
In Ecuador we have seen extremely difficult times. Our economy, which was already suffering due to extended strikes in 2019, is continuing to suffer. The government was not prepared for the fall out of a pandemic, hospitals could only dump bodies into shipping containers, losing count and forgetting the names of the deceased. Mass graves were used for the thousands of bodies that needed burial. Schools were canceled and then moved online. We were forced to cancel all of our remaining 2020 teams. Fear filled the air. Yet like Henry Ford we decided that it is best that we, “Don’t find fault” we wanted to “find a remedy.”
During these trying times, we have been able to help with food, medicine and face masks to some of the most vulnerable in our country. Our main church services went online, where we have seen an average attendance 8 times more than our weekly in house services could ever hold. We have begun production of a Shuar radio program that will broadcast the Good News of the Gospel every week across the jungle. We have seen a new generation of pastors preserve through our newest project “ETHNOS”. Rather than give up studying to fulfill the call of God on their lives they have chosen to continue forward and we can see the evidence in their spiritual growth. The Ecuador Hope House is finishing the year and pushing to see that this year’s graduates complete the task set before them, albeit virtually. The final touches are being done on what has now become the essential computer lab. Before August we will be outfitting that space with a dozen new computers so the new virtual school year will be manageable for all of the girls.
We like the Apostle Paul have found great opportunities for the Kingdom of God, we can only take advantage of these times because of you, it is your faithful prayers and support that allow us to “find remedies” in these challenging days. We need the funds to respond to these areas; Social Work, Radio Broadcasting, Bible School Scholarships, Church Planting and Computers for the Ecuador Hope House. Would you prayerfully consider helping us take these next steps that lay before us?
- Radio Broadcast is $4000 per year or $333 per month
- Scholarship for ETHNOS $1500 per year or $125 per month
- Church Planting is $3500 for a church to be planted in an unreached area
- Computers for the Ecuador Hope House is $12,000 or $1000 per unit.
I think we as the church are seeing that Henry Ford was right, in these days of opportunity we must remember
“Don’t find fault, find a remedy”.
Thank you for all you do to make our work possible.
