December 2025

-‘Tis the Season….for the Light to shine! 

Wishing each of you a (belated) Merry Christmas! Here in AwaLand the month of December just seemed to fly by! Looking back at the calendar, we can see why….we were invited to do Christmas programs in six different locations, for a total of nine services. Invitations are pretty normal (as the people hope for Christmas cookie bags and gifts) :-) But this year two different Awa teachers invited us to their schoolrooms “to teach God’s Word, about baby Jesus being born”, which is always a blessing to hear. One of these, teacher Wilo, has a one-room schoolhouse two hours’ drive up into the mountains, at an altitude of over 10,000 feet. This little community is home to about 100 people who earn a living by dairy farming. We were blessed to be invited to share with these mountain folk!

We also were able to plan an overnight outing with the youth to the town of Cotacachi where we joined up with Pastor Walter and some of the youth from his church to hike around Cuicocha lake. Twelve kilometers at 11,000+ feet left us feeling a bit oxygen deprived, but also fun to have that special time with the young folks!
 

 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…..
For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given.” (Isaiah 9:2,6)

‘Jesus is the light of the world!’ was the message that we shared through songs and verses in each of the Christmas programs. We do pray that hearts that dwell in hopelessness would turn toward the Light! In the community of Middle Rio Verde, we have offered to come and teach the story of the Bible if even one person would like to hear. Pray with us that there will be at least a handful with a hunger to know God and to hear His story!

And thanks for your prayers for strength and energy! Over these last few weeks we have felt God’s renewing in the midst of the busyness. We also give thanks for Abraham and Gloria who happily helped us with most of the Christmas programs!

January brings new adventures as we fly to accompany our daughter Kimberly and Zach for the birth of their first child! We appreciate your prayers for the Shaubs as they hold down the fort for two weeks, and our Kichwa friend Angel who will also be covering for two Sundays during the time we are away.

Wishing each of you a blessed and joyful 
new year as God brings us into 2026!

In His grip,

November 2025

 November 2025 ~ Thankfulness

 
We returned from our quick trip to the USA on November 12th thankful that God helped all to go as scheduled. Thanks for your prayers!
 
Hearts of Gratitude
We missed getting this letter out by Thanksgiving but pray that each of you had a blessed time remembering to thank our Lord for His goodness!
 
Our hearts are also filled with gratitude:

Through many avenues, God has encouraged us to faithfully continue in the work of discipling the believers, reaching out to the lost, and working to establish a church here among the Awa. Recently this verse from a daily devotional jumped out at us: He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it! (1 Thess 5:24)
Our quick USA trip for the Liebenzell conference went well! The time with other missionaries was encouraging; the speaker reminded us that we are co-heirs with Christ and have a Heavenly Father who loves to hear us and provide for us! Spending a few days with our son Kenny and family was an added blessing; Grandma and Grandpa time is sure a joy!
Even on short notice, a good group of youth showed up for a Saturday together on November 22nd! We played a Bible review game, and were encouraged to hear the participation of many as they remembered the Bible accounts and what God was doing in each situation. We are beginning to study some lessons from Paul’s letter to Timothy and hope for continued good understanding!
This week we spent many hours with our coworkers the Shaubs, Ethnos 360 consultant Bruce Higham, and eight different Awa doing a check on the Awa translation of Joshua chapters 1-10. Our regular translation team (David, Oscar, and Guillermo) sat and listened as we read through the chapters with Deicy, Ana, Abraham, and Jeison. These four were new to the passages; their job was to listen to the read-through and explain what they heard. This was hard work for the Awa; they would find it easier to clear a field with a machete! But it was good to hear what they understood and helped Andy Shaub, as the main translator, know where more clarity is needed. Abraham was especially quick to share what he understood and helped the others feel more comfortable talking!

To leave you with a prayer request: Pray for us, said Paul to the Colossians, that God would open a door for His word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I would speak with wisdom & clarity and make the best use of my time. We have had many invitations this year for doing Christmas programs, and we appreciate your prayers, just as Paul asked, for the wisdom needed to share that precious story of Jesus' birth in an understandable way!

In His grip,