Ittal time!

It’s that time of year!

Yes, it’s the time of year for ‘ittal’ ants again! The Awa children are quite happy as they walk to school each day, as they can gather them on their way and arrive with pockets full of these plump squirming ants, perfect for snacking on during the day! Sonia, one of Kathy’s Sunday School children, shared a handful of ‘ittal’ with us this last week, a very generous gift.

Pray for Paulino

In January we asked Paulino if he would be willing to help teach the children’s lesson each Sunday. He’s been very happy to do so, although he feels rather

inadequate as he can’t read. Each week I am spending some time with him going over the next Sunday’s lesson; this has been a good time of fellowship and prayer together. Paulino is very humble as he teaches: “You know, I am still learning myself, and I can’t read God’s Word. But I want to get prepared well, and I also want to learn more myself.”

At the same time, Paulino is going through a real time of hardship and testing. He has been struggling in a land border dispute with another Palmira family. This family has repeatedly spread ugly gossip about Paulino and his family, saying “Those Christ-believers are always doing bad things!” On top of that, Paulino’s oldest son, Salomon (who has never chosen to follow God) recently has taken a local girl, Beatriz, as his wife. As is Awa custom, Salomon brought Beatriz home to live with his family. Normally the young couple would work very hard to prove themselves to the family, but in this case Salomon and Beatriz have not done that. Rather, this young couple have been partying and drinking and have already had much discord in their relationship. Now Beatriz and her family are accusing Paulino & wife Manuela of being the cause of all their troubles. Paulino & Manuela are heart-broken over all of this. Paulino has told us repeatedly that he wants to be a good testimony for God, and not to get angry, but struggles to find the right way to react when he is wrongly accused. Will you join us in praying for Paulino & Manuela during this time of trial, that they would cling tightly to our God and look to Him for help? We did notice that these two issues seem to surface at the same time as Paulino began to help teach on Sundays, making it clear that the enemy Satan is wanting to discourage him. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” says Romans 8:31.

And we are making plans…

...for heading to the USA later this year! We will fly in mid-July, arriving in St. Louis, MO just in time for Kimberly and Zach’s wedding on July 20^th. We are thankful to have a loaner van from Righteous Rides (a ministry providing care and cars to missionaries based out of St. Louis) for the time we will be in the USA. After a few weeks in Missouri and Oklahoma, we will head for parts further north in August, and plan to settle in New England for the fall months. Our return to Ecuador is scheduled for mid-January 2020, giving us exactly six months there in the USA. We would love to see as many of you as possible, so please contact us if you’d like us to stop by!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy