Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year! Our wish for you this Christmas season is that you feel "...wrapped in the love of God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you!" (Jud 1:1-2 NET)  We are wrapped snug in HIS love on both the mountaintops and valleys of life. Thank you for your prayers and support over 2014! In HIS grip, Kevin & Kathy

How contagious is your gratitude?

GK Chesterton said: "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
Watch the little boy in the following UPS commercial. His happiness doubled by wonder is contagious. Is yours toward our Savior this season just as contagious?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mQqOZkcA2Y

Bruce Brief - Happy Thanksgving

We hope you enjoyed a 
Happy Thanksgiving! 

We do have much to be thankful for:
•    Unpacked suitcases, and being able to settle into our cozy rental house for the winter!
•    A week with Kenny in October; both Keilah and Kimberly with us for these months
•    The joy of fellowshipping with so many different friends and churches
•    The great privilege of knowing and serving our Lord Jesus
•    Confidence that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it!
•    The joy of seeing God at work in and through the Awa believers as they stand strong these months without us!


We travelled back to New England at the height of Fall, enjoying the beautiful colors of the foliage in Ohio, New York, and the New England states. We don't get to experience the change of seasons in Ecuador, so the beauty of God's creation amazed us anew! 

Then Winter welcomed us by coming a bit early this year! The cold temperatures had all of us scrambling to find long-johns, turtlenecks, mittens, and other warm gear! :-) The day before Thanksgiving the skies dumped about 13 inches of snow, enabling Kimberly and I to try out our (yet non-existent) snowboarding skills on Thanksgiving day. That was fun (and cold!) Kimberly and I are looking forward to taking snowboarding lessons starting in January through a local home-school program. Perhaps by Spring we will be more skillful at it!

Our return to Ecuador is scheduled for March 30th. These remaining winter months are finding us visiting and updating different supporting churches. It's a blessing for us to fellowship with family and friends here at our home church, Grace Evangelical Free Church in Spofford, and Kevin enjoys spending any free days helping his dad out at the welding shop. We've been eating a special diet, working to help our digestive systems continue to heal from our bout with parasites back in July in Ecuador. We are thankful to be doing much better and to feel our energy levels returning.

Again, we want to express our thankfulness for each one of you and your part in our lives!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy Bruce

 

<For a printable version click here>

October Update!

Hi to everyone from Oklahoma! Since leaving New England the beginning of September, we've covered many miles...seeing friends and family along the way. We can't say how much fun it's been to be reunited with folks we haven't seen for two, three, or even four years! What a blessing! We have so much to be thankful for, and are awed by the many opportunities the Lord has given us to see folks along the way. Our prayer has been that we would be a blessing wherever we go---but we must say, we feel like we've received so much more than we could ever give! Wow!

Seeing Kenny again, after two years apart, was so much fun. We toured Liberty University with him, met his friends and room-mate Nathan, went to church with him, and enjoyed the beautiful mountains of Virginia. This last week was Kathy's family reunion at a nearby Baptist campground.  Under beautiful blue skies, the campground made a perfect location for the five days with her mom, stepdad John, four sisters, and their families (there were over 30 of us; of the 19 grandkids, 17 made it for at least part of the time!)

In about two weeks we'll be heading back to New Hampshire, and settling down for the fall and winter. We are thankful for the provision of a house to rent in Spofford (the same house we rented last time!) For those who'd like to get in contact with us, our cell phone number is 802-451-0507.

News from Ecuador: I've been able to talk with Milton several times. He tells me that all is going well there as the believers continue to meet each Sunday. Milton's niece Lorena recently had a baby boy, and they'd appreciate your prayers as their first little one died at just 3 mos. old. I know their hearts are a bit anxious with this new baby! The dry season continues, and the new road is now reaching the river crossing in Saint Frances community, a good amount of progress! Rainy season will soon slow the progress, but we are amazed at how far the machinery has gotten.

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy Bruce

<for a printable version click here>

A family picture!

Our summer itinerary...

Our travel dates (more or less, some of these dates are still a bit tentative) :-)

August                New Hampshire and Maine with Kevin's family

Sept 3 - 5            Liebenzell Mission USA, New Jersey

Sept 5 - 7            Virginia, visiting Kenny at Liberty U

Sept 8 - 10          Travelling from Virginia to Missouri

Sept 11 - 22        Wyandotte, Oklahoma with Kathy's mom

Sept 23 - 28        Kathy's family reunion in Grove, Oklahoma

Sept 29 - 30        Back in Wyandotte, Oklahoma

Oct 1 - 10            Basing out of St. James, Missouri

Oct 11 - 12          Festus, Missouri (Lighthouse Baptist Church)

Oct 13 - 15          Travelling back to New Hampshire (via Ohio & NY)

Oct - Mar 2015    Basing out of Spofford, New Hampshire

Specific dates for the fall:

Nov 7-8               Liebenzell Mission Board meetings, NJ

Nov 9                   Asbury Methodist Church, Allentown, PA

Girls Thank you letters

Hi all, just a quick post here to say we made it back to the USA! :-) We are currently enjoying a vacation in Maine with our girls. Thank you for your prayers. I wanted to put a link here to the girls thank you letters for all of you who prayed or supported them this summer during their time serving at Whispering Winds Bible camp!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

Keilah's letter

Kimberly's letter

July Bruce Brief

There are piles of boxes and crates stacked in our house here in the mountains, as we pack up our belongings and prepare to move to Ibarra for the last two weeks before our flight. Amidst the chaos of packing, reality is finally sinking in—we will soon be there in the USA! A few months ago we wondered if all the details would ever pull together, but we are thankful to have seen God’s hand at work, putting the ‘puzzle pieces’ together. Just to give you an idea: 

 

---Milton and Delia and family have now moved up to take care of the church while we are gone! Several other families wanted to come to be caretakers, and there was the potential for a big disagreement, but the Lord was faithful and finally brought all of the believers to the same conclusion (having Milton here). We are thankful to see a growing excitement in Milton as he seeks to faithfully keep the church going and administrate the church property. He’s already been planting yucca here close by, in preparation for Sunday meals together. ?
---We have prayed for a helper for Milton, to help him out on Sundays, as Paulino, living farther away, can’t be here consistently. Andy Shaub’s language helper, Marco Antonio, has been taking a driving course each weekend for the last six months, but the course ends this month. “I’m planning to come and help Milton while you are gone!” Marco told Andy a few weeks ago. Marco is able to read well in Awa, and he is gifted with a helpful, gentle personality. We are thankful for this provision from the Lord.
---The boxes and crates of our belongings we’ll store in our apartment in Ibarra. The Lord has provided a new missionary couple from Germany to live in our apartment there for about half the time we are gone. They are newlyweds, so don’t need all three bedrooms---one bedroom we’ve turned into a storage unit and it is stacked high not only with our boxes, but the Shaub’s belongings as well!
---Our truck sold in just a day! We hadn’t even had time to put a ‘for sale’ sign in the window, when we got a visit from two Ecuadorian brothers, who decided in just five minutes that they would take it. In the meantime, we’ve not been without wheels, as we are able to drive the Shaub’s truck, since they decided not to sell it.
We are thankful for a God that sees the ‘big picture’ and is able to piece together all those small details in a way that brings Him glory! ? 
Milton and Paulino would greatly appreciate your prayers as they often face criticism and complaints from their own people. For the Awa to stand alone, in the face of opposition, is very difficult; they are a group-oriented culture. Recently the church has been accused of bringing division to the people---which is considered one of the worst evils to the betterment and unity of the Awa communities.
Several factors have come together to help us make the decision to make our return on March 30th next year. That gives us 8 months in the USA, which will very likely fly by…we look forward to worshipping and fellowshipping with many of you, as our hearts are always greatly encouraged by seeing how God is at work in your lives! And we pray that we can also be of encouragement to many. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Heb.10:24-25 ESV

“….For He who promised is faithful!” Heb 10:23

Kevin & Kathy  

<for a printable version click here>

June News

I’ve been reading through the book of Job recently. In the last few chapters, as God answers Job with a pile of questions of His own, I’m reminded of His omniscience and of His sovereignty. He sees all, He knows, He understands, and what He allows has a purpose….even when we don’t understand. On Sunday May 26th we said our earthly good-byes to Mercedes Galarza, wife of Liebenzell Ecuador president Diego Galarza, as she lost her earthly battle with cancer and made her transition to God’s presence. Mercedes left behind an example of faithful service to the Lord, and her funeral was packed with folks from many different parts of Ecuador who came as a testimony of the many whose hearts have been touched by Diego and Mercedes’ ministry. During the funeral, Diego read a letter to Mercedes, saying that he wants to continue to serve the Lord but wonders how he will do it without her faithful presence at his side. I know he would appreciate your prayers as he seeks to find a way to continue to serve the Lord as a pastor at the church in Atuntaqui as well as fulfill the duties that come with being the head of our Mission here in this country.

The last month has been full---as always, we are thankful for your prayers for God’s strengthening to live out what He puts before us! After several hiking trips to Palm Community, we are now the owners of a small house there, which we bought from Arturo. This little house sits right below Paulino’s house, and is situated right on the church lot. At some point it will need to be moved, to accommodate the church building, but for the moment it gives us an instant place to stay! We look forward to spending more time with the people there after our time of home assignment. Many are interested in hearing the Bible teaching.

Doug and Dorcas Williams joined us for a quick week of OT Scripture translation checking—a good crew of young Awa folk came for the work. These are just preliminary checks, but it’s so exciting to get the Awa words pulled together in such a way that the meaning flows! While the Williams were here, we also had a special youth Sunday. A hearty lunch is a good drawing card, but we were still happily surprised to see that along with the regular local folk, about 20 young people came from several different nearby communities. It was a good opportunity to share with them the importance of making the choice to follow God, instead of falling into the world’s traps of drinking, fighting, and immorality.

Keilah graduated from NTBI in Wisconsin on May 17th. Kimberly went along with her Aunt Chrissy and her grandma to be there, and Kenny drove up from VA for the special day. It was pretty special to have our three kids together in one place! Now Keilah and Kimberly are both beginning their summer at Whispering Winds Bible Camp in Missouri (see links below to the girls' camp letters), while Kenny is transitioning into his new job working full-time for Liberty University. We look forward to this fall when we will be reunited with the girls, and plan to make a bee-line to see Kenny as soon as possible!

Plans for our time in the USA are finally pulling together. We have our tickets for the end of July, and plan to spend several weeks in August with the Bruce clan. Early September we hope to hit the road to see Kenny in VA, then on to Kathy’s family in Oklahoma and Missouri. By mid-October we’d like to be heading back to New England, where, Lord willing, we’ll spend the winter. At the moment we plan to return to Ecuador the end of March 2015, but we’ll make a final decision as we see how things go down here without us. We hope to see many of you, so please drop us a line if you’d like us to stop in to visit!

Thanks again for joining us in the work of planting a church here among the Awa!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

 

Links:

<Printable Version>
<Keilah's Letter>
<Kimberly's Letter>

PS: if anyone would like to directly support the girls at camp, you can send donations to:
(Write a check to the camp and include a note to whom you wish to support)
Whispering Winds Bible Camp, PO Box 9, St. James, MO 65559-0009 Phone: 1.800.748.7410

17th Awa Conference!

The 17th Awa Believers' Conference has come and gone! Thanks so much for your prayers! We saw God answer in many ways--many Awa joined us and jumped right into the activities, the Lord sent perfect weather, He provided strength for each day, and the noisy tractor working on the road took a long weekend off, leaving us in peace! Our goal in teaching this year was to help the believers see that each one has spiritual gifts and talents to use in the building of the church. Having a crowd here each day gave the believers many opportunities to put that into practice! It was a blessing to work with both Milton and Paulino as we shared the responsibility of the teaching, with both of them jumping in to share the Gospel with the visitors. On Saturday we took a car load of people to the fish hatchery to buy 45lbs of tilapia--114 fish!--for Sunday lunch. Now that was a big hit! All in all, as we reflected afterwards, even the presence of a bit more chaos and clutter (and abundant fish scales!) was encouraging to us, as it showed that the Awa are taking over more of the responsibilities, and getting things done in a way that comes more naturally to their culture. :-)

Home for the Holidays
We are planning an 8-month time in the USA, beginning in August. Family reunions are planned for both sides of the family, and we are excited to spend time with our two college kids. It looks like we'll be on the road in the Midwest for most of August and September, but hope to settle in New Hampshire sometime in late October.  A big prayer request will be for the Awa church as they carry the full weight of the ministry during this time, as our coworkers will also be in the USA.

Road Progress
Daily excitement reigns as the excavator works on continuing the road past our driveway! My chainsaw (and I!) are often commandeered to cut down trees in the way, and there is a constant flow of people thru our yard. Monday a bulldozer will join the work. Five inches of rain yesterday caused parts of the brand-new road to landslide, so we hope for drier days to come to help the progress!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>

Pictures from Conference

Here is a link to pictures from our 17th annual conference with the Awa.

Floor and walls!

The worship center (church/carport) :-) is now sporting a brand-new floor and walls! We had a great time with the team from Grace Community EFC (Spofford, NH) who came down to work with us on the project. Several different Awa joined us each day, but none could match Milton's excitement (and patience!) in working with us. During the week, we had a mix of sun and rain and MUD, making for a slippery slide from our house to the church building, but we were thankful to be able to get all of the materials up our hill when we needed them!

Now preparations are in full swing for the annual Awa Believers' Conference on Easter weekend. Last Friday we had a church workday with over 20 of the believers chopping and carrying firewood and hauling extra boards for making more benches. After a long discussion with the group, a decision was made to have a pig delivered (on the hoof) for butchering at the beginning of Conference, as well as to visit the local fishery for buying 40-50 fish for Sunday's main meal. Each of the believers will donate a few dollars to help pay for the cost of the meat---for the Awa, a generous helping of meat is what puts smiles on everyone's face! More seriously, our theme this year is "Pakaish pakaish kal mijmanpa" /For each one having work(gifts)/, taken from 1 Corinthians 12:11. We'll talk about how God has given spiritual gifts to each believer for the purpose of building each other up as a church body. Our hope is that each of the Awa will see more clearly how they can be involved and what part they play, especially as we consider the months that we will be gone this coming year. Anyhow, we'd greatly appreciate your prayers for the finishing up of the preparations and for the days of Conference (April 18-20); and for strength for Kathy and I and the Shaubs for all that needs to be done.

Road progress: The government has continued to promise a road from RV to the Palm community. The land surveyor is here, and the surrounding communities are clearing the strip of land where the road will continue on. The promised tractor was supposed to show up this week, but hasn't arrived yet. While we too are happy to see the road progress, we are praying that the equipment gets here soon so that it will be well past us when we start the meetings...or that the Lord will work something out so that the Conference won't be interrupted by a roaring tractor or bulldozer at our doorstep! :-)

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>

Construction time

It's easy to see that it's construction time here in Rio Verde--bags of cement, piles of sand and gravel, and cement blocks are piled in various places in the yard. Adding to the chaos, rainy season is at its height, often dropping  an inch or two of rain each afternoon and evening.  We are thankful that we have the pick-up truck for bringing up the supplies, and that we've been able to get each load up our muddy hill and driveway! When we first built here almost 8 years ago, we built everything with wood, as we needed to use materials that were locally available. Now, with the road coming right up to the houses, it's nice to be able to replace some of the rotting wood with cement. Over the last few weeks, Kevin and our visiting cousin Daniel have replaced the laundry scrubbing table where we wash our clothes, and are now replacing the water room (for showers and sink) on the other side of the duplex house. It's been quite a bit of work, always more than we estimate at first!

These small projects are preparation for putting a floor in the new church/carport building in March. A small team from our home church is coming March 10-18th in order to help with this project. We'd appreciate your prayers for the project, especially that we'd be able to get supplies up the muddy, slippery hill just below our houses. We'll need a couple of dump truck loads of material for this project, as it's more than our little truck can handle. If we can't get the big truck up to the top of the hill, we'll have to haul the materials up a little at a time. Our pick-up might also appreciate your prayers---not only is she working hard, hauling loads up, but these last few weeks we've been called upon to pull several other trucks up another steep hill behind us, coming up from the Lita River. :-)

As we try to stay sane :-) amidst the chaos of construction, the ministry continues---I started teaching Hebrews to the church in RV this last Sunday. I've enjoyed studying this book in more depth as I prepare the lessons! We've continued with the adult literacy classes on Friday---chaotic days for us because we often have so many more kids than adults students (one mom sometimes arrives with 6 children!) I've also recently made several trips to P. Community to help with a variety of projects there, and find the interaction with the folks there to be a good way to open the door for friendships and further opportunities. We pray the Lord will begin to prepare many hearts for following Him. Pray also for Paulino, along with Guillermo and Teacher Andrew, who are the main leaders there among the 50 or so families that make up this community.

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

for a printable version click here

cool bugs :-)

 That is a normal size banana!

Fancy moth all dressed up for a night out chasing the lights!

Happy New Year from the Bruce family!

We wish you a happy holiday season! All that snow that’s dumping down on the eastern USA sure makes it look like it’s Christmas-time! We don’t exactly have any snow, or even cold weather, but we are getting into the heavy part of rainy season, and often wake up to a ‘white’ world of clouds and fog! It’s not quite the same...but it does make us appreciate our morning cup of coffee!

December 29th about 70 of us gathered for the first time in our new church building in Rio Verde! Actually, the building started out to just be a roof to park the two trucks under….but somewhere along the way it turned into our new meeting area, mostly because we are just outgrowing our porch, where we normally meet. :-)  We’ve been slowly working on the construction over the last few months. It was a lot of work to pour the cement columns by hand, one at a time, but several of our Awa friends came to help at different times. Milton donated the wood for the roof framework, cutting it by chainsaw down by his house, and one Saturday a large group of Awa friends came for a workday to haul it up to our location. Somewhere along the way, Paulino told us that his family had decided to donate the immediate land around our houses to the church. So now the little fledgling church in Rio Verde has land and a building! Even six months ago we didn’t see that one coming…we give thanks to our amazing God for His provision!

For a quick family update: KEILAH just arrived in Quito for a 3-week Christmas visit. We are so glad to have her here! She flies back to Wisconsin in early January for her senior semester at NTBI. It’s hard to believe she will be graduating in May! I know she would appreciate prayers for the Lord’s guidance for her future after graduation. At this point she plans to continue her college studies, but isn’t sure where. KENNY is in the middle of his junior year at Liberty University. He is especially enjoying having his own apartment off-campus this year, even though it means a few more bills to pay. He is working part-time for the University at their HelpDesk, giving technical help, a job that he enjoys. He spent a few days over Christmas break with his girlfriend Hannah and her family in Wisconsin. Hannah’s family is still grieving the loss of her brother Benjamin from cancer in October (although they consider it a gain for Benjamin himself and rejoice that he is in the Lord’s presence now!) KIMBERLY is in the middle of her sophomore year of highschool here in Ecuador with us. She loves her cat and her bunnies, and is an indispensable help to us as she cooks, cleans, washes all our clothes by hand, and often holds down the fort while Kathy and I are elsewhere. We are thankful we still have Kimberly for several more years before she, too, will head off for college!

KATHY and I continue to thank the Lord for another year of His grace in our lives. We are thankful for His provision through many of you, our friends, and for the opportunity to participate in a small way in building His church here in this corner of the world. We are certainly blessed!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>