June 2009 Bruce Brief news

What a month it's been! We are thankful for God's mercy and grace through the ups and downs of trying to pack and sort our three 'homes', many hours of travel for paperwork (and a broken-down vehicle), and a crazy schedule as we tried to keep up with ministry in the midst of it all. The Awa have been a little puzzled by all our comings and goings; actually, I'm not so sure we aren't a little puzzled ourselves as we wake up each morning trying to sort out which ones of us are coming or going today! Most puzzling of all is the fact that our laptop computer died last week and left us high and dry for communications (it's been dying over the last few months, generally making life difficult, but we had hoped it would last until we arrived States-side in July.)

A quick update on the paperwork, ministry, car, kids, and travel plans:

Paperwork: The Lord was gracious to us through the many hours on buses as we went back and forth to Quito five times renewing one USA passport and renewing our Ecuadorian missionary visas. In Ibarra we renewed our Ecuador i.d. cards, although we ran into some problems with Kimberly's 'cedula' (Ecuadorian citizen i.d. card) when the government records showed that her fingerprints had changed. (Apparently a mistake was made in reading her fingerprints years ago when she got her first 'cedula' as a baby.) Thankfully a few more hours waiting in offices cleared this up without too much delay! Then we were finally able to renew her national passport and are now all ready to fly. Thanks, Lord!

Ministry: Some of you may have heard that Humberto's wife, Maria Liria, fell off one of the cable foot bridges about 10 days ago. She slipped on a wet board, and fell with one of their children. Thankfully the little girl was okay and Maria wasn't hurt worse! She broke her arm in several places, around her elbow. Since our car was in the shop, Cipriano (our national pastor friend) was able to rent a truck to go in and get her, and the Shaubs headed for Ibarra the same day to be of help and encouragement to Humberto there. This accident brought back memories of their daughter Erika, who fell from a cliff and died about three years ago, and Humberto was quite nervous. Andy was able to visit the hospital every day. The doctor first cleared up an infection and then wanted to operate to put in several screws and a metal plate, but Maria and Humberto refused, so Friday the doctor sent them home to make the slow recovery with just a cast. I think he was a little frustrated trying to communicate with them! Andy said that Maria said that no doctor was going to put little nails in her arm! We pray her arm makes a good recovery despite the lack of surgery.

We are struggling to finish up our year of literacy study. With the local elections (today is voting day) and several community happenings, it seems to be difficult to get all our students together long enough to administer our last tests. This next Friday and Saturday we should be meeting for the last time before we leave. Please pray that all 9 students will make it and finish their exams!

4-Runner: Thankfully is back on the road, 'running' again! It took quite a stack of money and about three weeks, but we are glad to have the vehicle again. With so much travel in our schedule this month, we were sure missing having the Toyota, although we gave the local truck drivers some good business!

Kids: Kenny is now a high school graduate...as of Friday! He graduated at the top of his class (okay, we home-school so he WAS the class...but he still did great!) We celebrated with apple pies and ice-cream yesterday. Of course, immediately after the party, on our way down from RV, he fell and sliced open his knee and got to go get a tetanus shot. Hopefully he'll be walking again in a few days, as he has promised to travel with a medical caravan team from Kentucky. Kimberly finished fifth grade several weeks ago, and Keilah will finish up her freshman year with a big Geometry test today or tomorrow. Our kids are gearing up for big changes in the next month as we pack up and say many good-byes.

Travel plans: We have our tickets for the 2nd week of July, flying into St. Louis. We are privileged to have the use of a van for the year, loaned from an organization called Righteous Rides. We'll be heading to New England from Missouri for a few short weeks, and then will head out again to the Midwest sometime in August. Beyond that, we have made few plans, although we have done much praying that the Lord will direct our days and miles. Our full-to-the-end schedule here hasn't left us much planning time!

We are savoring our last moments with our friends here. Last night I enjoyed an hour sitting with Awa friends on the porch at the Awa Center. Gloria wanted to know how she should handle having a drunk and unsaved husband, while Guillermo (her husband, sitting right there) lamented about so many friends pulling him to drink, now that he is the Palmira community leader. Leandro sat back and listened, asking a few questions of his own. I was thankful for yet another opportunity to share God's wisdom for living, and the fact that many people are praying for Guillermo's salvation. Today I am heading out with Luis Alfonso, for the long hike in the back way to RV, making a map for the community of where the road will hopefully be put in one day. Our hearts are pulled to these people...please pray for us as we have a few last chances to encourage our Awa friends. Saying good-bye, even for a year, is hard!

Because of God's mercy,
Kevin and Kathy