Hike up Mt Monadnock

Family back together again! :-)

Winding down our time in New England

It's time to bring our year of home assignment to a close! We are ready to get back to Ecuador but can't say that packing and living out our suitcases is our favorite thing. Neither is saying so many goodbyes! But we are thankful for a good year and feel like God accomplished His will for us during these months we have been in the USA.

Kenny....Kenny just finished his first year at NTBI in Wisconsin. He loved his studies and the fellowship with the other MK's and students. God provided him with a good job at a small hotel just a few blocks from the school in order to pay his school bills--a job he should be able to return to in the fall. He plans to spend the summer living with his grandparents in New Hampshire and looks forward to his second (and last) year at NTBI beginning in August. From our perspective as parents, we feel like Kenny has made the transition well, and we feel confident that he can handle life here in the USA as he studies over the next few years. We've seen him grow spiritually and learn to take responsibility for himself. We thank the Lord for His grace in Kenny's life, through so many changes!

Keilah and Kimberly....Adjusting to the USA took some effort for our girls, but we've seen them come to relax and enjoy their American heritage. They are both looking forward to returning to Ecuador this summer, but realize that leaving their friends, family, and some aspects of life here will also be harder than they had imagined a year ago! This gives them something to look forward to coming back to on our next visit! Keilah is spreading her wings a little by heading off to Whispering Winds Bible Camp May 28th, along with her cousin Laura Shaub, to work for four weeks and then attend a Teen Extreme week as campers. Kimberly is saving her money to buy a compound bow to take back to Ecuador with us....she hopes to take up archery along with her new interests in piano and guitar. Our home in the mountains there ought to be a great place for perfecting her varied talents! Visitors, beware! :-)

Renewed vision for the ministry....We are thankful for the way the Lord has renewed our hearts to prepare us for going back. Many blessings have contributed to His work of renewal in our hearts: books we've read, encouragement and growth through Bible teaching, times of prayer and fellowship with friends, and even through special times with our families. We had many busy days, but it came with the confidence that we were involved in exactly what God had for us. We are full of thanks to our God for His mercy and grace that are new each and every day.

The end of June we will be heading down to the Midwest in order to fly out of St. Louis the first week in July. We'd appreciate your prayers as we make the transition back into the different roles in ministry.

In Christ,

Kevin & Kathy

Bruce Brief - March 2010

There are many signs that spring is on the way! Having only experienced the changing of the seasons once every five years, we take great pleasure in watching the snow melt, the temperatures warm, and the trees begin to bud out. We saw a purple crocus in bloom over at my mom’s house the other day! These are such beautiful reminders of Jesus’ resurrection and cause us to look forward to celebrating Easter here in the next few weeks. It seems we have a new appreciation for God’s work of renewal in our own hearts, as well. We have much to be thankful for!

 

Kevin returned from his Haiti trip just in time to visit our friends at Hope Fellowship in Newport, and attend a men’s retreat from our church. A week later we travelled to take part in the missions emphasis week at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania. Our own hearts were challenged with renewed zeal even as we sought to challenge and encourage the students. We were reminded that not only is God worth giving our whole heart, but as we grow in love for Him, our hands will reach out to draw others into His kingdom. What a privilege it will be to someday sit in the mighty bleachers in Heaven with our Awa brothers and sisters in Christ!

 

The last weekend in February we stayed at Liebenzell headquarters in New Jersey, and visited Asbury United Methodist Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania; mid-March found us at Whitefield Christian Advent Church in northern New Hampshire for a weekend missions conference. Again, our hearts were blessed to see God’s people joining in the work around the world! We have a new and sweet appreciation for the family of God, and for the team standing behind the ministry. We do thank all of you for your hospitality and encouragement.

 

We are in the midst of updating our shots and getting our furlough physicals and some dental work done. Since we are now quite officially over 40, we hope it won’t be too discouraging! Heaven, here we come! :-) Kathy has been avoiding wheat for some time now, and confirmed with a GI specialist that she is ‘wheat intolerant’—at least that’s the official term he recommended using. Changing our diet has been a little challenging (but not impossible) and she is happy to have her digestive system back on track. The warmer temperatures have encouraged us to get out walking and jogging as we prepare ourselves for the mountains that await us...

 

Our minds are beginning to turn to our return to Ecuador this summer. The pieces are falling into place, beginning with our tickets for July 8^th out of St. Louis. Kenny is hoping to spend the summer here in New Hampshire, working and helping out at our church, and Keilah has plans to spend a few weeks working at a Christian camp in Missouri. We plan to finish our homeschool year and move out of our rented house by Memorial Day weekend. So we have the rest of March and April before the suitcases come out!

 

In Ecuador, the Shaubs and Williams are preparing for the Awa Believers’ Conference, which will take place over Easter week. Doug has asked Milton to teach the account of Jonah, as they recently finished working on translating that OT book. Please pray specifically that God would bring the Awa that He wants to the conference, and that their hearts would be open to receiving the teaching and convicted by the truths taught. The Millan family has a big load on their hands as they run the Awa Center by themselves, as their co-workers, the Rosales family, recently moved back to Cotacachi. I know they would appreciate your prayers as well. They will be in charge of the children during the Awa conference.

 

Thankyou for your prayers!

In Christ

Kevin & Kathy

 

 

Haiti Trip

I was privileged to be a part of a Mondanock Bridge Builders team of 10 guys going to Haiti last week. This was my first trip to Haiti, so many have asked me what were my impressions. I have tried to write them out here in the form of a report on our trip. Our main purpose was to bring tools and supplies down for the orphanage and aid in removing the rubble of the collapsed top floor off of Pastor Franzli's house. We praise the Lord for a successful trip.

We saw the Lord's hand and provision on us from the very start of the trip. At the airport as we checked in the bags, we were told that we would have to pay an extra $30 per second bag. This was an unexpected expense, but after checking us all in, (and charging us) the attendant did some checking and found that she could refund us all because it was aid for Haiti. So we ended up being able to bring all the bags at no extra charge. We ended up flying into the Dominican Republic because the airport in Port-au-prince wasn't open to commercial flights. This added many more hours travel to our trip as we had to get land transport from the airport to the border and then on to Port-au-prince. I was fine with landing there, as I knew Spanish, and was glad to help the team with translating. Franzli's brother-in-law, Michel, met us at the airport and helped us get taxis to the crossing. It was a long 6 hour trip but we got there after dark, and an hour and a half after the border had closed. At first it didn't seem like we would be able to get through, so while Bob patiently explained our case to the guard, we met to pray behind the vans. The Lord opened the gate for us and we were able to transfer ourselves and the luggage to the truck waiting for us on the other side.

My first impressions of Haiti were darkness. As we snaked our way along the bumpy road standing in the back of what can best be described as a cattle truck my eyes searched the dark landscape or watched what little could be seen from the headlights of the truck. Occasionally we passed through some small towns, but even in those the light was dim. There were just a few lights hanging here and there in the houses or smoky diesel lamps on tables along the road. I remember in one town passing a crowd, where they had someone laying on a table. I don't know if it was a wake or a healing ceremony, but all seemed dim and dark as we rolled on past the crowd. We finally arrived in the city. The only place with bright lights was the airport. As we bounced up the dark streets into the neighborhood where Franzli and Julie's orphanage is, there were just a few houses with generators and lights. That is quite a contrast to all the lights we saw when we flew back here and landed in New York City! We finally arrived at the orphanage at 10:30pm, after having traveled since about midnight the night before. We praised God for allowing us to make the trip and arrive with all the supplies!

The next few days we worked hard along side a crew of Haitians clearing away the collapsed floor of Franzli's house. This was grueling work in the hot sun. Some of the crew got badly sunburned. We were worried that part of the floor would fall and crash a hole into the neighbor's house. The Lord was gracious and it fell little by little and turned on its side instead of puncturing the roof as we chipped away and cut the rebar holding it one by one. The neighbors had been afraid to enter their house with this big chunk hanging over their house and were relieved to have it all cleared away. All the cement was smashed up with sledge hammers, shoveled into buckets and carried down two flights of stairs to the pile in the street, where it was later shoveled into a dump truck. The rebar was cut apart and taken down as well. We praise the Lord for the safety He allowed us to have as we worked.

On Thursday we finished up early and prepared over 300 love-in-action bags to distribute that afternoon. Each bag had rice, noodles, oil, and some canned meat. These we took in the truck to the street in front of Franzli's house. When we got there the street was full of people waiting. These we were able to pass out of the back of the truck to the line of women who were waiting. We drove off just as we came close to the end of our supplies as we did not want to be part of a riot, and there was not enough for everyone. Thankfully everything went very smoothly, in spite of a few people trying to sneak into the front of the line.

Friday the President of Haiti had called for the start of three days of prayer for the city. We were able to ride the truck to the down town part of the city near the government buildings. This was an area of the city that was the hardest hit. In that area almost all of the buildings were severely damaged. There the odor was strong as there were still buildings with the deceased in them. In many different places the Haitians had gathered throughout the city for prayer services. Some gathered under tarps near their churches or on the corners of parks. All the parks and empty lots are now all covered in tents, as many have no home to go back to, and many others were still too afraid to sleep inside a building. As we traveled along we could still see many dangerous places where the buildings look ready to collapse further. Some buildings were leaning toward the streets where people are constantly walking. Electrical wires were down low in many places. It will be many years before they will be able to fully rebuild!

As I said above, my first impressions of Haiti were darkness. Praise the Lord that there is LIGHT shining out in that darkness. I saw it in the lives of the Haitian Christians. I heard many of them share testimonies of God's protection and grace in the midst of such great suffering and death. One pastor was sharing how he was in a meeting down town. He felt the Lord telling him that he should go out, and he did. Shortly thereafter the earthquake struck and the others in that meeting didn't make it. Even at the orphanage where we stayed, all the children were in the yard when the earthquake struck and the walls around the property had fallen out away from them instead of in on them. Those walls were a beacon of God's provision and protection for them. I saw God's light in Franzli as he was being very generous to those around him and reaching out in love to his neighborhood. Lastly I saw the light in the fact that for the first time the government was calling on the people to turn to God and pray. Julie shared that this was the first time ever there has been a national day of prayer. As we traveled around that Friday and saw many of the Haitians turning to the only true LIGHT I was struck by the fact that only He can provide a full restoration for the Haitian people.

Praise the Lord for the Hope and Light that He provides!

In His Grip

Kevin

more pictures here

Bruce Brief - Feb 2010

Hello from frozen New Hampshire!

Some of you might think that we dropped of the face of the earth here with as much communication as we have been getting out lately.... But no, we have only been caught up in the whirlwind of the American lifestyle! And although we have been busy, we have been very much blessed.

We are now over half way through our furlough year, and are heading down the home stretch towards returning to Ecuador sometime this summer. We are thankful that we have been able to either visit or have scheduled to visit all but one of our supporting churches. We have really enjoyed being able rub shoulders with many of you over the past few months and receive encouragement from you. I hope that we have also been able to encourage you as well as we’ve shared what God is doing among the Awa!

It has been a pleasure for us to take part in so many activities at our home church. This has been a time of refreshing as we learn new things and are reminded of old. Our batteries are truly being recharged as we look toward returning. Teaching a small group on 1^st John has been challenging me to dig into the Word. Attending a small group on strengthening our marriage has helped Kathy and I see our relationship from a different perspective and identify areas where we can grow. Just a little promo here for the marriage seminar: we are going through a video series by Paul Tripp called “What did you expect”, and it is very good material! Not only has it helped us with our relationship with each other, but also our relationships with our daughters, friends, and others. I think that between Kathy and I, we are involved in over 6 different weekly Bible study groups either together or individually, and we thank the Lord for so many opportunities to ‘tank up’ spiritually!

We continue to enjoy several winter sports, including ice-skating, sledding, and skiing. Kimberly and I are taking ski lessons this year through a school program, which has been a great experience for the two of us. No broken legs yet! Even though I grew up in ski country, I never learned as a kid.

This coming week I (Kevin) have the opportunity of going to Haiti with a small work team through the Monadnock Bible Conference. Our team will travel to Port-au-prince to aid in the re-construction of a Haitian pastor’s home. Since many people were willing and even longing to help in the wake of the earthquake, I feel privileged to be able to be able to tag along. Please pray that we will be truly helpful as we seek to show God’s love to the Haitian people. I am still scheduled to go again in April with a group from our church.

As far as an update on the ministry in Ecuador, the Shaubs returned in December from their short trip, and have started construction on their mountain home. (They are living in our house this year while they build.) Doug and Dorcas Williams were able to purchase a reliable truck, so that is also an answer to prayer. Pray for both of them as they seek to minister to the Awa in spite of some unrest in the area. Also, both of the Williams’ daughters are experiencing some health troubles as we write. God has been working among the Awa. The Shaubs and Williams report seeing some growth in maturity in the believers as Doug has been teaching on Church leadership. Doug says that he sees a desire in Milton to be involved in shepherding his own people. Please pray with us for a strong church among the Awa who will be able to reach out and impact their whole people group like Paul and his motley band of missionaries impacted all of Asia!

Thanks for your prayers!

Kevin & Kathy

Bruce Brief - Happy Thanksgiving!

“Home” for missionaries can be a little hard to pin down at times! But we are thankful to say that God has helped us to settle into and feel ‘at home’ here in our rented house in the little town of Spofford, New Hampshire. During the month of October, we gradually unpacked and established a routine while we enjoyed the beautiful colors of fall unfolding around us. We live close to Lake Spofford, so have enjoyed getting out to walk and enjoy the scenery.

 

As we look back at our summer travels, we are so thankful for safety on the road, good health, and such encouraging visits with friends and churches. We feel very blessed to be a part of God’s big family! Again, we’d like to share our thanks for your hospitality along the way, as you have enriched our lives in many ways.

 

This fall we are visiting several churches in the area, as well as taking part in several small group Bible studies here in our home church. Although they had a late start, our girls have made good progress in the homeschooling year, and should be finishing our first quarter by the end of this month. Homeschool co-op at church has been a good addition, and Kimberly is looking forward to piano lessons starting up next week, and the possibility of ski lessons during the winter. Now that’s something we haven’t been able to do in Ecuador! Keilah would like to do some ice-skating this winter, and both girls are enjoying youth group.

 

Our family doesn’t feel quite the same without Kenny! But we are happy to report that he is doing well and loves NTBI in Wisconsin. He is learning much, not only in his classes, but also as he holds down a job and learns to take responsibility for his own finances. We are looking forward to seeing him over the holidays.

 

Down in Ecuador our coworkers have started up our Adult literacy program again, so please keep them in prayer, both teachers and students! We were excited to hear the Milton’s wife, Delia will be joining the group of students this time. This is a real answer to prayer. Pray for Doug and Dorcas this month as they man the outpost alone. Chrissy and Andy are here in the states for a short one month visit, and will be returning to Ecuador in the beginning of Dec. Also pray the Doug and Dorcas will be able to find a reliable used 4x4 truck to purchase.

 

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.

 

In Christ,

Kevin & Kathy