Thoughts from Doug

Ummm Security Please:

A few nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the ever familiar police whistle being blown outside. Here in Loja, and I am sure in other places of Ecuador there are police that ride around on dirt bikes throughout the night blowing their whistle to let the residents know that they are there keeping an eye on the community. How effective this is and what sort of comfort this brings to the community I cannot say, but it did make me think of something else in our lives. We are called to be watchmen for the Lord and we also delight in the knowledge that the Lord is watching over us.

Watchmen are referenced in the old testament and were actually in a position of importance for the entire city. It was their responsibility to watch at night to make sure that when an enemy was coming they could warn the city to prepare so as not to be taken by surprise. There are two types of watchmen, the good ones and the bad ones! Ezekiel 3:17-19 exposes how the Lord views our responsibility:

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:

“When I say to the wicked, 'you shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hands.

“Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

God is telling us that if we don't warn the wicked of the coming death, that is the second death (eternal separation from God), then we are going to be held accountable. But if we are faithful in our position of watchmen and we call out the wickedness that we see, not from a point of piety, as we all are sinners, but that others might see and be saved, we have delivered our souls. The darkness of the night is growing deeper, just as the world continues to sink in darkness through the rejection of Christ, our light. Currently we can see the wisdom of man praised, while the truth of the Lord is rejected.  For confirmation of this just turn on the tv.  Fear of the Lord seems to be more of an intolerant perspective rather than a source of victory. How much more now do we need to hear the word of the Lord and call out to those that are lost, whom cannot see the destruction coming through the darkness of the night. We as believers have been given the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13). Christ came to bear witness to the truth: “... For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37) Call out the truth you people of God! Those who are of the truth will hear His voice. I encourage you all to be watchmen of the night, warning of the coming destruction and always looking for the light of the new day, which is Christ returning in His glory. (Isaiah 52:8)

Likewise we know that the Lord is watching us His people and keeping an eye on us always. He does not allow more to come upon us than we can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “... but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” He is there, He is watching us, He will provide a means of escape. Take comfort in hearing the whistle from God even in the middle of the night.

I hope this message finds you all well and that the joy of the Lord is filling your life.

-Douglas

October already

Dear friends and family,

It is amazing to me that Doug and I have been here in Ecuador for nearly two months already! I checked the date today and had to look at it twice to be sure that I was reading it right. What a great reminder to me that we need to be good stewards of our time here because the next seven months will likely fly by even faster than the first two!

In our last blog post, Doug wrote about out upcoming kids' club. It turned out to be quite a success! Doug and I put our creative skills to work designing sheep masks for the kids to put together, and to be “safe,” we made a few extra, for a total of 15, plus the model. We'd had 10 kids come to the previous club, so we thought we'd be safe. As it turns out, exactly 16 kids showed up! The lesson was on Psalm 23 and how the Lord is our shepherd and cares for us as His sheep. This coming weekend we'll be teaching on David and Goliath, so we need to brainstorm another craft or activity.

Kids Club with the sheep masks, Gabi, and Kim

We have officially taken on the Wednesday night English club, and tonight will be our second time teaching. We start by playing a recording and passing out scripts for people to follow along. Then we go over questions on vocabulary and pronunciation. The best part comes next, when we break into small groups, usually about 3-4 Ecuadorians per native English speaker. We spend some time going over the program and then close by discussing a spiritual application of the lesson. This is where the good discussion begins!

It's amazing to see how open and willing people are to discuss the Bible and ask questions. In a recent Sunday night English group, a university student named Daniel asked some wonderful questions about the difference between Catholics and Evangelical Christians and the second coming of Christ, among other things. At our last Wednesday night English group, after concluding our discussion of the spiritual application of the lesson, one of the ladies in my group expressed an interest in joining a Bible study through one of the local Christian churches. Doug also had a great discussion with a student in his group about salvation by grace, not by works, and was able to meet with him earlier this week for a one-on-one Bible study on the topic of grace. My impression is that a lot of people here have been deceived into believing that they have to work for salvation. The idea of salvation by grace just doesn't seem to be widely believed here.

In other news, Doug and I have been putting in some extra time brainstorming ideas to help the cafe out of a tough financial spot. The current management is leaving at the end of the week, so we are currently working with the mission to help figure out what should be done. It is likely that, after this week, we will be increasing our hours and may possibly be taking on some managerial responsibilities. We don't know what will happen yet, but it is in the Lord's hands, and we'd appreciate your prayers that He will work things out in the best way as only He can.

Finally, on a personal note, things are going well for both of us. We're learning more Spanish with each passing day, especially Doug. We spent last Saturday in Vilcabamba again with our family. They have finished the construction of their house there and seem to be ready to spend more time there relaxing! We've also been able to spend more time with other missionaries on the team, getting together for meals, coffee, and games. Doug turned 25 32!!  The weather has been a little crazy lately- most days, it either rains in the morning with sun in the afternoon, or vice versa. Please pray for the Lord's wisdom for us with regard to El Sendero and that he would continue to open doors for us to minister through the English & children's ministries. We miss you all and love hearing from you!

Lots of love from Ecuador, Kim & Doug

Casa de cuis, checking out the baby guinea pig

Doug's Birthday cookies.

Cultural differences

Looking out over Vilcabamba

  I guess it is always the little things that might strike you as funny but cultural differences do exist.  Some of the interesting ones that I have noticed are:
1) The main meal here is lunch ("almuerzo"), not dinner, and there is generally a break in the middle of the day for everyone to come home and eat together.
2) Working can sometimes be optional depending on the weather or politics.
3) You cannot flush toilet paper here!  Something important to remember when you are using the bano.
4) Urinating in the street is acceptable, but spitting and yawning are considered rude.
5) California emissions regulations definitely do not apply to the vehicles here.

  Aside from some differences in culture the people here are warm and lovely.  They do make it a point to describe the diffence in languages between the major cities here in Ecuador.  They are always ready to drink some coffee and spend some time hanging out.  This is perfect for me because I am usually the last one to finish a meal.  I have yet to meet someone who has been unfriendly, including the other missionaries here.  Naturally now that Kim and I have had some time to develop our relationships, becoming part of the community is getting easier.

  Spiritually, the time here has already allowed amazing growth and an excellent opporunity to deepen out knowledge of the Lord.  One theme that the Lord has been speaking to me recently is his never ending presence in our lives.  Psalms 139:7-10 clearly points out that there is nowhere we can go to get away from Him.

7  Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8  If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9  If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10  Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

  This is amazing news because all that we have to do is turn and recognize that He is there to realize His power in our lives.  Isaiah 58:6-11 also gives us insight as to our purpose and the way that we tap into the Lord.  Paraphrasing, it says, serve the poor and needy and when you call on me I will be right there.  What an amazing thing to be able to call on the Lord and have Him say "Here am I."  Likewise, another theme of importance is the need for prayer and fasting.  Reading through Acts we can see that the power of the Holy Spirit was always around when there was prayer and fasting.

  Next week Kim and I are going to start leading the English teaching ministry on Wed nights.  Fortunately there is an excellent curriculum that we can use (spotlightradio.net) and a well-developed group of Ecuadorians to continue encouraging in their development.  Already we have had opporunities to encourage those that we are studying with and guide them into a better understanding of English and the scriptures.  This weekend we are helping again with the childrens ministry.  The story is going to be on Psalms 23, The Lord is my shepard.  So as part of our tasks we designed and cut out a bunch of sheep masks for the kids to put together.  It should be fun and I hope to get some pictures for you all.

  For those that are praying, please pray for the continued work of the Spirit in our lives.  Pray also for the power of the Spirit to work in the lives of lost here in Loja.  Kim and I appreciate all your support and care.

Love, Doug and Kim

English ministries fiesta