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| 2008 12 21 Awa Christmas program RV |
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Kevin & Kathy
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas program at the outpost
Here are some photos from our Christmas program last weekend here at the outpost! Click on the picture to see more!
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Kevin & Kathy
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Kevin & Kathy
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Bruce Brief - November
Greetings from a soggy mountain top. Each morning we’ve been waking up and hoping for a sunny day lately. As rainy season builds up steam, sunny days are greatly enjoyed. So today (in spite of almost an inch of rain per day the last few days) we greeted the sun with joy!
In the ministry we have a “sunny day” on the horizon also. On the 22 we will have the privilege of baptizing two young ladies in the P. community 3 hours hike south of here. Sandra, Paulino’s daughter, has expressed a desire to be baptized. She is 18 years old, and has been living here beside us for several months to help Andy and Chrissy with language study. She is a joy to be around and we are excited as she takes this step in her walk with the Lord. The other young lady is Elvia. Elvia is a single mom. She has been studying in our literacy course (Alfalit) over the last year. It has been a joy to watch her grow and learn, and I was thrilled when she quietly asked to be baptized with Sandra. Elvia was one of the first people to listen through the entire Awa audio Bible. Please pray for these young ladies to remain firm in their commitment to walk in obedience to the Word. Pray for their future and for godly husbands for them.
Looking back to the beginning of the month we had a visit from Rogerio from Mexico. Rogerio works with Hosanna ministries and is in charge of the Proclaimer project (the Awa audio New Testament) here, and came to talk with our Awa distributors, Milton and Humberto. It was thrilling to hear from both of them that the new line of Proclaimers have been more reliable, and that the Awa people have been more excited about listening to them because of that. There seems to be a growing interest in listening to the Awa Bible. Please pray that as the families (about 30) listen that there will be a true understanding of the gospel and a lasting change in their life as a result. Thank the Lord with us for this valuable tool for reaching out to a mostly illiterate people!
Thanks for your prayers!
Kevin & Kathy
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
http://brucekev.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 23, 2008
"Come see the snake!" Paulino said.
Click on the following link to view some pictures of a bushmaster snake we killed this morning not too far from our house.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5383&l=364b6&id=1455164045
Kevin
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Bruce Brief - Oct 11
As the initial chaos in the aftermath of Alfredo’s death settles down, we want to say thank you to all of you who specifically prayed for us. At this time Alfredo’s family is still seeking justice, and going about the paperwork process involved in the Ecuadorian penal system, but the murderers are still at large. This has caused some concern to Gilberto and his family as his life was threatened as well. Amidst the sad tragedy we have had many good opportunities to speak to the believers about the truths found in God’s word. Many questions about life after death, what is necessary for salvation, where does the spirit of the dead reside, etc. have been voiced. The Awá believe that the spirit of the dead person takes the form of a big black shadowy person with a white shirt which roams around and visit the houses and places that he walked when he was alive. This spirit will only leave and go on to heaven if they do everything correctly during the burial, and subsequent “honor” festival held on the anniversary of the burial. Thank you for your prayers as the Lord uses the light of His Word to disperse the darkness!
As October began I was glad to turn over my responsibilities as field director back to Edgar Luz. I have a new first hand understanding of the weight that he will carry as he settles in again. He arrived from his short furlough in Germany the beginning of this month, and is presently trying to set up house again and find a reliable vehicle. Please join us in praying for him and the challenges he will face as he leads the field here.
In Christ,
Kevin
Monday, September 29, 2008
Bruce Brief - Sept 29th
It’s a beautiful day here in the mountains. The sky is blue with just a few wispy clouds. The sun is shining on the mountains all around us, just warming the cool morning air. A light breeze is ruffling the leaves on the palm trees around our house. It’s hard to believe that all of this God-created beauty exists right beside the sin and ugliness we’ve seen over the last week here among this people. Many of you responded to our note a few days ago about Alfredo’s death, and we are grateful for your prayers. Last Thursday was the day Alfredo’s cut-up body was buried. As we accompanied the family, our hearts were struck with their hopelessness. Although the Awa appear so stoic and emotion-less, there were tears and much sadness evident. But the topic on everyone’s tongue was how to get revenge. Several Awa (including two of the believers) had gone to the community where Alfredo was killed and had grabbed a little 10-yr-old boy and another young fellow, both relatives of the two fellows who supposedly did the killing (both of whom had fled.) The Awa had tied the boy and other fellow up and had taken them down to Lita, only to find that the local sheriff was gone and the police basically refused to help. So they came back to Rio Verde and the two were brought to the graveside, as everyone talked about how to organize themselves to go and get the guilty ones. The Awa were angry, they were exhausted from the all-night wake, some were drinking, tempers were short, and opinions were many. Everyone was afraid---afraid of Alfredo’s spirit (along with other bad spirits that are around at such times) as well as afraid of the murderers (and their families) who were already making death threats against others in Rio Verde. Kevin was able to say a few words by the graveside, but it seemed like the words didn’t do much to penetrate the darkness. Only a few of the believers seemed to listen.
Now, six days later, Alfredo’s family is organizing themselves to pursue justice (and revenge). Alfredo’s brother German is saying he’s going to bring some of his guerrilla cousins to kill the two fellows. From the guilty families in the RV Medio community have come threats against Alfredo’s best friend, Gilberto, as well as against those who had grabbed the little boy and other fellow (who were finally sent home to take the message that they should turn in the murderers.) There is an abundance of sadness and fear. There was one sighting of a spirit or other being at the graveside (a big black thing). Paulino even warned us to be really careful, especially not to leave our houses and walk out on the trail in the dusk or darkness, presumably because of spirit dangers.
How can we help? How can we make a difference? We often don’t know how to respond, how much to get involved, what to say. But the Lord has used His word to encourage us to keep teaching and living as a light in this community. We are thankful that Alfredo had come to church one last time, and that we had one last chance to encourage Alfredo and the other young fellows to live the way God is calling them to live as believers.
Milton has also been an encouragement. He told us yesterday, “They may want to kill me too, as I’m a brother-in-law. But I don’t want to be enemies with the folks in Rio Verde Medio.” We know where Milton’s heart is at, as he regularly goes to that community to check on a Proclaimer that one of the families has, and to encourage them to listen to God’s Word. He desires to see the folks in this community come to know the Lord.
Please pray that we will be able to share the reassurance that we find in God’s word with the believers in these days. Pray for the many unbelievers who are captives to the drinking, fighting, and fear that is a regular part of the Awa world. Pray for many opportunities to shine God’s light of truth into these mountains.
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
Friday, September 26, 2008
An article in Spanish
http://www.diarioelnorte.ec/noticia.php?ID_NOTICIA=6990&date=2008-09-26
The above is a link to a local news paper, “El Norte.” I am the tall one in the picture that was taken as we prayed by Alfredo’s grave.
Kevin
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sad results of disobedience
Greetings from Ecuador.
We want to write you all to ask you for prayer. One the believers was killed in a fight Monday night. Alfredo was at a party in the community of RV Medio and was drunk. There was a fight and he was stabbed and cut with a machete. At first they thought he was dead, but then they realized he wasn’t yet so they attempted to bring him out to the hospital in Ibarra. He died while on the way. They will be returning his body to RV today, and have a burial probably tomorrow. Please pray for his family, all of whom are not believers. He leaves behind his wife, Andrea, with two small children, a one year old and a newborn. Please pray for us, as we seek the Lord’s wisdom in knowing how to reach out to his family and the community during this time of pain and grief.
Milton, Porfidio and Andy were in the RV Medio community with Alfredo on Monday afternoon, as the community was having a big end of school year party. When they left at three, Milton tried to convince Alfredo to leave with them, but he refused saying that he had a fast horse and would catch up later. The Sunday before Alfredo had come to our church service, and in the message one of the points was from I Thes 2:11-12 “just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” Over the last two years Alfredo had been exhorted in that way many times, by the believers and by us. Thus we are saddened by the eventual results of his wrong choices.
In Christ,
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
http://brucekev.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Bruce Brief-August
Of all the varied things we do here in Ecuador, teaching God’s Word to the Awa is central to our whole reason for being here among them. However, communicating clearly is often a struggle as we try to put God’s truth into words their hearts (or livers, in Awa-speak) can understand. Many times our prayer is that the Lord will take our attempts to communicate and ‘bridge the gap’ in the people’s understanding. We most certainly would appreciate your prayers in this regard! We thought we’d just quickly share with you a summary of what’s up with the Bible teaching.
Sunday teaching: Three Sundays a month we’ve been teaching the believers here at the Outpost, just finishing up the book of Titus and getting started into 1 Thessalonians. Last week it was a treat to have Doug Williams, our co-worker on home assignment in the US, here to teach! Please pray for the 10 or so believers who are regularly attending. Although at times it is such a struggle to communicate clearly, we’ve had many good conversations with these folks concerning the truths in these Scriptures. In several we’ve seen the willingness and eagerness to let God take pre-eminence in their lives, even when His Word clashes with their culture. Please pray for Delia, Manuela, and Cecilia—Awa women who faithfully attend but are quiet during the teaching, making it difficult to know where their understanding is at. Paulino’s daughter Sandra, and another young Awa woman, Elvia, have recently asked to be baptized. Paulino told both of these girls that they should think hard before they make the choice to be baptized. “Make sure that you truly you want to follow God’s path,” he told them, “because it’s not right to say you are going to follow and then just forget like some other Awa have done.”
Kids’ teaching: Each Sunday we teach the kids a Bible story. Milton faithfully and enthusiastically taught through Moses and the Israelites in Egypt using lessons our co-worker Doug had translated. At that point in the Old Testament story, we ran out of translated lessons, so it was back to me to teach again. Now we have reached the birth of Jesus and the New Testament lessons, and are happy that again Milton can teach, as we have the Awa lessons that he can study up and read from himself. Pray for Milton as he prepares—it is still hard work for him to read clearly and accurately. He often listens to the Scripture passage on the Proclaimer (the device that plays a digital recording of the Awa New Testament) in order to understand better. We are blessed by his diligence. As we get into Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, pray that these kids will clearly understand Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins. Cristian, Graciela, Yaneth, David, Salomon, Monica, Sergio….all are Awa kids for whom Christ died.
P. Community: One weekend a month I’ve been making the hike to Paulino’s home community to teach the believers at his house, reviewing the book of Ephesians with them. Paulino and his sister Gloria have told us many times that others in the community are wanting to hear God’s Word, especially Victor, Paulino’s neighbor, and Marco Aurelio’s family (whose two daughters were the ones who drowned back in June.) Two weeks ago, I was able to attend a community meeting there and asked for permission to begin teaching the evangelism lessons in the communal house. I received a guarded response—not exactly enthusiastic, but at least there was no outright opposition. Please pray for God to open hearts in this community, as I begin the teaching on August 16th. Also pray that Paulino and Milton will take an active interest and role in the teaching.
Meregildo’s family: Friday afternoons find me at Meregildo’s house to teach the Bible. I never quite know what will be waiting for me there…a pig-butchering, cows to vaccinate, even (about a month ago) a family argument to settle (between Meregildo and his brother Francisco. Now that was a puzzle to sort out, as both men talked heatedly at each other all at once, with me in the middle. I’m not sure I ever quite got the details down, although I think I might have kept them from hitting each other!) But at some point while I am there each Friday, Meregildo will call his family together to listen to the teaching. Right now we are studying the life of Christ together. Please pray for good understanding for this dear family.
B. Community: Once a month we drive the 3 hours to teach Alfonso’s family here in this community. We just finished studying the books of Acts together, and are just getting into Romans. We wish we could make it there more often, as this family is hungry to hear God’s Word. We are excited to have Humberto coming from this community to join us this coming week for some work on the OT translation with Doug. We’d love to see Humberto (one of the few in this family that can read) able to teach his own family, so that they can hear the Bible teaching more often. Please pray for Humberto to gain confidence that he can be God’s instrument in spreading His Word.
We want the Awa to know the same encouragement and help that the truths of God’s Word are to our own hearts. As the Lord brings the work here to your minds, we’d sure appreciate your prayers for the Bible teaching!
Kevin and Kathy
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
Friday, June 20, 2008
Spring Bruce Report
BTW: Here is a link to our Spring Bruce Report (sent via snail mail) if you are interested: Bruce Report
Kevin
Bruce Brief - June 2008
Greetings from the RV Outpost!
The summer begin with a tragedy in the community south of us. The first week of June our neighbor Milton went to go fishing and found the body of a young girl floating in the river down below us. For Milton it was an extremely upsetting moment, but after praying, the Lord gave him courage to tie the body up, get help, and find out what had happened. We were in Ibarra that week, and Kathy’s sister Chrissy was at the Outpost alone, but did what she could to help. Milton soon found out that the body belonged to one of two girls that were missing from a family 3 hours’ hike upriver from the Outpost. The girls had been returning from their country farm to the community center where they went to school, and had to cross one of the swollen creeks along the way. Apparently they somehow were washed downstream. Their family, along with many others from the community, searched for the next two weeks all along the river from their community to town, but were unable to locate the other body (about 25 kilometers of river). Please pray for the family of Marco Aurelio as they deal with this sad loss. Pray for Paulino as he reaches out to them and others there in the community. One day while searching the river near us, Marco Aurelio asked me if it was true (as he had been told) that people that drowned in rivers couldn’t go to Heaven. I assured him that drowning in a river made no difference to God---His acceptance of a person had everything to do with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and not the manner of death. I encouraged him to help his remaining family hear God’s truth. But our hearts are heavy knowing that likely neither Marco nor his girls have accepted Jesus’ payment for their sin. Please pray for this needy family!
The beginning of this week found us assisting in a medical caravan here in RV. A missions trip organized by our friend Sheila in Kentucky came down bringing medicine and doctors. This group is visiting different communities here in Ecuador giving a free medical checkup and medicine when necessary. They have come annually here to our community, and it was a joy to work with them again. In the two days here they saw around 350 people and showed Christ’s love in a very tangible way to the Awa people. We also took the opportunity to teach the Bible with all those who came, sharing that although when Jesus was here on earth he was concerned with the health and physical issues of the people, he came with the purpose to provide a cure for the even more serious disease of sin. Just as these doctors freely offered medicine, God freely offered his Son. Click here to see a few pictures
Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
Kevin & Kathy
PS: check out this big worm we saw while hiking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtaIpfJUqF0
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
Friday, May 30, 2008
Kenny's Israel Report
"Day 2
I don’t think very many people slept. This day began in the vicinity of the British Isles. Dawn wasn’t until just past Rome, and as we passed Greece, I had a conversation with a weird old lady to my left… it seems she liked reading classics and watching war movies, and had never been out of the country before. We landed at Tel-Aviv.
The airport was near the beach. Getting out was easy… just getting your passport stamped, and collecting bags. Then it was outside. The temperature was about 75-80 days: perfect. The three busses were right there; big red and white things that said, oddly enough, “Maya Tours” on the side. Our bags had tags that said “Canaan Tours” on them… and as we got on the bus, we were handed blue hats that said “Diesenhaus Unitours” on them… that was one puzzle I never figured out. But there were more interesting things going on.
Our guide, Amnon, introduced himself and carefully explained that even though our internal clocks probably though it was 1AM, we shouldn’t go to sleep because then we would stay up all night and be just as sleepy the next day. So I accepted the slightly dizzy feeling I’ve come to associate with exhaustion and ignored it."
If you want to read the rest of it check it out here: FULL ISRAEL REPORT
Beware it is 7 pages long! ;-)
TTFN
Kevin
Monday, May 5, 2008
Big hike
Here are a few pictures from Kenny's and my 12 hour hike to Buenos Aires with Paulino and a group of the Awa from Palmira. J
http://picasaweb.google.com/brucekev/BuenosAiresTrip
Saturday, May 3, 2008
May Bruce Brief - The Wall
Greetings! Here’s the new front view of the Awa Center in Lita….thanks to a group from our home church that joined us from March 31st to April 8th! This cement block fence replaced the older chainlink fence that was none too sturdy. Security in Lita has become much more of an issue in the last couple of years, and we are glad to have this front fence now in place. The team can testify to the hard work that also went into putting the large concrete tubes for the new culvert under this main entranceway to the property. With the heavy rains that we’ve been receiving, the culvert has been put right to work. Much thanks to the team for putting their muscles and backs at risk(!!!), and to our home church for raising the finances to make it all happen!
We are back at the Outpost now, digging back into the work of the ministry and homeschool. It is a blessing to have Kenny back with us---he returned from his time in the USA and Israel with the work team. He continues to talk through his experiences, and we are amazed to see all that God is doing in his heart in these days, especially in preparing him to soon step out on his own (he will turn 17 next month and will be a senior in the fall.) He is finishing up a report on his Israel tour, for those who would like to hear his perspective on the trip!
Kevin has his hands full with some added responsibilities for the next five months as our Liebenzell Area Director, Edgar Luz, is on a short furlough with his family in Germany and Hungary. We’d appreciate your prayers as Kevin tries to balance these responsibilities with the Awa ministry, a task that seems to be more than a little overwhelming at times. During the next months, we will be spending a week each month in Ibarra, working to coordinate the ministry there, as well as part of another week at the Lita property, preparing for the busy summer months coming up. Our goals for the rest of each month spent at the Outpost in AwaLand include continued Bible and literacy teaching, hiking to visit homes, as well as a new project we have undertaken—back-translating the OT portions that our co-worker Doug Williams has been translating. Doing this back-translation into English will facilitate the checking that needs to be done in order to insure a good translation. It’s been exciting to jump into this project, as we have seen the importance of getting more Scripture portions into the hands of the Awa that can read.
Thanks for your friendship, prayers, and backing in so many ways--our hearts are continually blessed by your encouragement!
Kevin and Kathy Bruce
Kenny, Keilah, and Kimberly
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
Friday, April 18, 2008
pictures
Hi All, Here's a link to some pictures of us and our ministry :-)
Kevin
http://picasaweb.google.com/brucekev/BruceFamilyMinistry
TTFNKevin
Friday, March 28, 2008
Bruce Brief---Believers' Conference
Hi, folks!!! Thanks to the many of you that have commented on our last update and assured us of your prayers for everything from the weather to Milton and his horse to our Believers’ Conference last week. We just wanted to take a minute to update you on how God has answered some of your prayers:
· We just finished up our annual Awa Believers’ Conference on Sunday. Seventy-four Awa showed up, perhaps half of them believers and the other half their relatives and children. Meregildo blessed us with his generous heart in inviting his many unsaved brothers and even his mom and step-dad! We have tried to emphasize for years that the Conference teaching is mainly geared for believers, but Meregildo’s burning desire continues to be for his family to listen to God’s word…so there they were. Our coworker Doug Williams was able to clearly share the Gospel on several occasions, and it seemed that the folks listened. Now is their time to accept or reject….you can pray specifically for Pablo and Francisco (2 of Meregildo’s brothers) and his mom and stepdad, Rosa and Sebastian.
· God has been working in Milton’s heart during his recent trials. Slowly, Milton is beginning to feel better from the weeks of sickness. (The dr. suspected amebic liver disease and prescribed a strong medicine and Milton does seem to be slowly recovering.) Kevin had asked Milton to teach the story of Moses and the Israelites coming out of Egypt during Conference. Milton carefully prepared and taught three different sessions. I never knew someone could preach on each plague for 10 minutes or more…but that’s what he did! God really enabled Milton, and he did an excellent job teaching. Everyone seemed to listen carefully, and several other Awa thanked him afterwards for helping to teach. The last afternoon, Milton also taught the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace to everyone (it had been the key story of the kids’ class). Many of the folks had never heard the story, and were anxious to hear how God worked that situation out. We realized that by the end of Conference, Milton had taught more hours than either Kevin or Doug. Wow! We truly see how God is beginning to raise up leaders among the Awa!
· Doug and Dorcas Williams joined us from Virginia for the Conference, and were a great help, as well as the Shaub family and our Lita coworkers, the Millan and Rosales families. Yesterday we ran into trouble trying to get the Williams back to the Quito airport to fly home….there was a regional strike among the Quichua Indians (over a local health program), and the roads were blocked. Kevin was able to follow some back roads to get them partway, and then turned them over to one of the Liebenzell pastors to finish the journey, and they did make it safely to Quito. The road-blocking strike was a short one, and roads were clearing up by the time Kevin headed home. We again thank the Lord for opening roads before us!
· The weather seems to have taken a turn for the better! We had prayed for weeks for drier weather for Conference…and we had excellent weather with only light rain at night! Thank the Lord! We don’t know if this is just a few dry days or if we are truly heading into dry season…but we are amazed to see how God controls even those black clouds for His glory.
Our next project is receiving Kenny and a work group from our church on March 31st. We will be working with the group to re-build the front fence on the Lita Awa Center property during the following week. We are now busy making preparations for the group. Yesterday our first delivery of materials (1,500 cement blocks) was delayed by the road strike, as roads between Ibarra and Lita were also closed due to the same demonstrations. We are told the strike is now over, but we would appreciate your prayers that the roads stay open for all the travel needed over the next 10 days.
Only because He is able,
Kevin and Kathy
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Bruce Brief---March
Happy Spring to all! From the news, it sounds like many of you would be quite happy to see an end to the snow and cold…as we are also looking forward to a lessening in our rainy season. This is one year that we are extra grateful to God that He has ordained the seasons…that the earth keeps faithfully on its path around the sun…and that we can trust Him to keep it all going as He wills! So yes…Happy Spring!...I’m sure it’s on the way!
TRIAL OF FAITH
About 10 days ago Milton arrived here at our Outpost in tears. He quickly explained that his heavily loaded horse had fallen off the side of the trail just below our house, and a stump had punctured its lungs as it rolled about 15 yards down the steep bank. He cried, telling us…”I’m so sad for my horse, she’s a good little mare and I really care for her. She will surely die now. It’s really my fault since I over-loaded her with naranjilla fruit, so her load was too heavy. I don’t know why God allowed it to happen and I’m really sad. But even though this happened, I’m still wanting to trust in God!” I put my arm around Milton, thinking that he has been through so many trials since the beginning of this year! The weather has been difficult, the rivers hard to cross and the trails deep with mud. He has been sick, suffering from diarrhea, weakness, and dizzy spells that have made it hard to plant and harvest his crops. Several trips to the doctor hadn’t done much to help. His family has put pressure on him to have a traditional Awa ‘curer’ try to help him. But what a blessing it has been to our hearts to see Milton standing firm in these trials. “God knows best and I’m trusting in Him,” we have heard from him many times during these difficult times.
It’s been a joy to us to be able to help…a little…but really, to just mostly step back and see God work on Milton’s behalf. I was able to take Milton twice to a good doctor in Ibarra, who did many tests and prescribed some medicine which Milton is taking now. (The tests mostly just showed lots of amoebas.) We pray that the medicine will help, and we’ve tried to help Milton understand the importance of having clean drinking water. He has been gradually feeling a little better and is thankfully giving the Lord the credit. Milton’s horse is still hanging in there as well. The day she fell, Kathy and I hiked down a few hours later, and it seemed that if her lung had been truly punctured, it must have closed itself up. We did a lot of praying, cleaned and sewed the wound, and rounded up the medicine for Milton to inject her with antibiotics and vitamins. (We’re no experts, and while missionaries are supposed to be ready for anything, throwing a horse and sewing it up was a first for us! We weren’t really sure she would recover with our quite dubious efforts.) Eleven days later she is still alive, and Milton says she is eating well and seems to be recovering. That, we surmise, must be God’s hand working on Milton’s behalf! Thanks for your prayers, especially that Milton’s faith will be strengthened and that he will be a good testimony to his family.
WISDOM TEETH and TREASURER DUTIES
February 11th Kathy went to the dentist’s office to get her wisdom teeth out, only to find that our dentist had forgotten to make the necessary arrangements with the surgeon. So…we waited another day and finally got it done late on the 12th. Thank the Lord that all went well, despite the lack of organization and the surgeon looking like he was too young to know what he was doing! We were thankful for Kenny and Keilah and the Shaubs holding down the fort at the Outpost while we were in Ibarra for almost two weeks, waiting to get the stitches out. Kathy is recovering well, and is quite glad to be able to really eat again!
Closing the books for Liebenzell Ecuador for 2007 has taken me quite a bit of time these last two months as well. Fighting with a lack of sunshine…which becomes a lack of electricity and computer time at the Outpost…has tried my patience more than once! I’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom as I try to get that book closed…(it keeps re-opening on me!) and as we iron out the budget for 2008. I am grateful that many of the financial duties have been turned over to a certified Ecuadorian accountant. I am thankful for Gisela’s help as she does much of the work of keeping track of the four Liebenzell churches’ finances, as well as our financial responsibilities before the government.
KENNY’S TRAVELS, BELIEVERS’ CONFERENCE, and WORK GROUP
Kenny flew to Boston February 27th, on his way to join a group from our church taking a Friends of Israel tour in Israel this week (March 3-13). He was quite calm about all the travelling…(while his parents were a little less so.) It’s hard to ‘release’ this young man who was (it seems!) a baby just a few years ago!! He’s almost 17 years old, and this trip to Israel is a dream come true for him. We pray that the Lord will do much in his heart this week as he tours the Holy Land.
Next on the agenda is the annual Awa believers’ conference, coming up March 20th to 23rd. Our theme verse this year is “Studying the Word of God”. Our desire is to see the believers studying and taking God’s Word to heart. We’ll do an overview of the New Testament with some interactive Bible drills, memorize 2 Timothy 2:15, and study some portions from Ephesians among other activities during the conference. We are thankful for much help and participation this year in the form of our new coworkers the Shaub family, the Rosales and Millan families at Lita, Doug and Dorcas Williams flying in from Virginia, and several of the believers who will be taking a part in the teaching!
March 31st will find us meeting a group from our home church (Grace Community E Free Church in New Hampshire) who are coming to help out with a fencing project at the Awa Center in Lita. We are excitedly making plans to receive them and put them right to work! It’s a blessing to us to have such whole-hearted support—in prayer, finances, and even workload!—from our churches.
In Christ,
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
http://brucekev.blogspot.com
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Bruce Brief - Jan/Feb
JANUARY'S OVER
In many ways, January was a somber month for us. We are right at the height of rainy season, and have passed many days with dark skies overhead, along with the rain and fog. It’s a big event to catch a glimpse of sunshine! The trails are muddy, slippery, and tiring. Hiking up to the Outpost with full backpacks has become a real challenge, with each step forward at times seeming like a small victory. (We hear that this is a result of 'El Nino', the weather trend, which is causing flooding in many parts of Ecuador. Perhaps it's a bit of a consolation to know that it has a name!) Also, last week, one of our little goats died, after being sick just two days, making us feel even gloomier. Even the Awa are feeling subdued, especially since there is also much sickness going around. The local ‘curers’ have been busy seeking to cure those who are sick, especially if a trip to the local town medical doctor doesn’t seem to help. Then, also this month, our young friend Wilso (just a little older than our Kenny) committed suicide, casting a dark shadow on the whole Rio Verde community.
WILSO'S STORY
Wilso committed suicide late on January 3rd, by the Rio Verde River, in the dark and in the rain. He had been suffering for a couple of months with what the Awa called a ‘spirit’ sickness. His family had tried to help him, spending much money on town doctors, witchdoctor curers, and even taking him to the hospital in Ibarra. Nothing seemed to help, and Wilso decided to end his own suffering by drinking poison on that dark afternoon. His body was found by his cousins the next morning, starting a cycle of sadness and darkness in Rio Verde.
Wilso’s death was hard for us to take. Several years ago we had taken care of him when he was hospitalized for an infection of his gall bladder, and again a year later when he had another attack. During this time Wilso’s attention was caught by a picture Bible storybook we had, and he spent hours reading and listening to it. “This is so good, God’s Word is so good!” he exclaimed many times. (He eventually saved up his money and bought his own.) Then there was the day that Wilso heard our co-worker Doug teach about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. After the lesson, I remember Wilso going up to the front and fingering the little fuzzy flannelgraph sheep that had been lost. “I want Jesus to take care of me like that,” Wilso said that day.
We are still putting together the pieces of what happened over the last two years. Evidently his parents forbid him to come to our Sunday teaching here in Rio Verde. We invited him many times, and were somewhat puzzled as to why he didn’t show up. Milton, one of the believers, was also faithful to talk with Wilso about the Lord. Milton tells us that last year Wilso had said to him, “Yes, I’m really wanting to follow God’s path!”
Then about six months ago, we noticed a change. The believers told us that Wilso was drinking and living just like the other Awa boys. One day Kevin met Wilso on the trail and asked him what he was thinking about God. "Yes, I used to want to follow, but now alot of people are telling me God's way is not good, so I'm not sure anymore. And my family doesn't really like me to go to hear the Bible teaching." To Milton, another day, Wilso said, "Oh, God, He's worth nothing." Then came the time of 'spirit sickness'. We prayed for Wilso all during December, and Kevin talked to him two more times--once during his 'spirit curing' days and then again, a few days later. Kevin was able to remind him that God is greater than the spirits or the sickenss he was experiencing, although Wilso didn't really respond. But in a note Wilso left behind, he told his family, "It's better if I go to live with Jesus in Heaven."
The believers have asked us many times where Wilso's spirit is now. Our honest answer has been, "Only God knows."
GOD'S COMFORT
And in that we find our 'LIGHT' on the dark and cloudy days. God knows, He cares, He understands our heartaches. "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,.." says Isaiah 53. The phrase "carried our sorrows..." has been a special comfort to us as we remember Wilso.
PRAISES and PRAYER
We do have much to thank the Lord for right in the middle of the rain!
- Our new coworkers (and family) the Shaubs are well settled in!
- Kevin and Andy Shaub had a safe trip to Colombia for a week-long conference on tribal work.
- Rainy season, in all its splendor, does end! And we have a good dry roof over our heads here at the Outpost!
- We started up the literacy course again January 19th, and just finished our second weekend with the students.
- We have finally moved our city belongings over to the new house in Ibarra, PTL! Getting the finishing touches on the house was rather a headache, as we made many trips back and forth encouraging the workers to finish up the different projects. We do have yet to do the paperwork, and get the title deed.
- We'd like to ask your prayers for Milton, our Awa friend and neighbor. He has been sick for a couple of weeks now. His family brought him a 'curer' one day, but Milton refused to participate with the fellow. Several trips to the doctor haven't brought much help, however, and it's been a discouraging time for Milton. We do thank the Lord for the maturity He is working out in Milton's life during this time, and also for the chances Kevin has had to really encourage him.
- Kathy would appreciate your prayers as she gets to rejoice in getting all four of her wisdom teeth out next week (Monday the 11th). No fun!
In Christ,
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
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