April Bruce Brief

We are amazed to find ourselves waking up into the month of May today! April passed by in a bit of a blur, starting and ending with trips to Palm community, with the Awa conference and a visiting church group sandwiched in between.  April also saw our Regional Director, Edgar Luz and family, hand over all their responsibilities and leave for a Mission re-assignment in Germany.  As deputy director until July (when our new R.D. arrives from Germany) my mind is still whirling as I work to balance my regular responsibilities with the new tasks. We are thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness (sturdiness!) even in such times of change.

Looking back over April: 

• Awa conference started with neither of the elders present, and with another believer, M., losing his temper in the first meeting. Whew! Needless to say the first night Kathy and I didn’t sleep much. Our minds were thinking something like…’what in the world are we doing this for???’  I read through the book of 1 Peter and we prayed together, committing the whole conference into His mighty hands. The next day both Milton and Paulino arrived, jumping right into the events;  M.’s attitude underwent a complete change; and our outlook straightened out, as well! ? Sunday morning’s service was a blessing to us as we listened to several giving clear witness to God’s salvation and work in their lives, including M.!
• During conference Saúl Paz, the Paez Indian pastor who has a vision for the Awa in Colombia, gave testimony to the spiritual need in remote areas there. Paulino especially was touched to hear this, and it was neat to see the realization and desire dawn in his heart to perhaps someday be a part of teaching the Bible in such areas.
• We thank the folks from Whitefield Christian Advent Church in northern NH who sent us a lively and hard-working team from April 11-18th! The team did a great job painting the front fence in Lita, as well as working on our driveway up here at the Outpost. They showered us with many gifts, and brought a suitcase-full from our home church, as well. Many thanks to all who prayed, gave, and took part in the team’s trip! 
• Our girls are in their last few days of homeschool for this year. We applaud their tenacity to persevere despite much craziness in our daily schedules! Kimberly is finishing up Geography and Physical Science in order to close up her 8th grade; while Keilah is rounding out her senior year by taking a driver’s ed course in Ibarra. Can you imagine learning to drive using a stick shift, with all the instruction in another language? Yep, it takes courage, and she’s doing a great job! 

Relying on His faithfulness,
Kevin and Kathy

Prayer points:

• I would greatly appreciate your prayers for our small band of missionaries and pastors here in northern Ecuador. This has been a time of transition with leadership changing, new missionaries arriving in the summer, and our Ecuadorian director living thru the difficulties of his wife’s cancer (Diego and Mercedes Galarza). We deeply desire His guidance and help in carrying out all that we do.
• Meregildo and Clemencia’s baby boy is doing reasonably well! We’ve been able to help them buy formula for the little fellow, and he has tenaciously held on during several sicknesses. 
• Thanks for praying for the couple who was spreading divisive gossip. Through the Bible study we have definitely seen the Lord’s hand working in this family’s hearts, and there have been many positive changes.
• Continue to pray for the elders as they try to be good Awa citizens of their communities amidst much pressure. Milton would like to leave his community soccer team, but each time he tries, the fellow players begin to blame God for Milton’s lack of enthusiasm to keep playing. This wounds him deeply, as he has a deep desire to be a Godly testimony to his people. While it’s hard for us to understand this heavy pull, in a community-based society, this is how social control works. In the end, Milton has to work this out between himself and the Lord….it’s been a heavy burden for him.
• The summer is looking a bit complicated, with Keilah graduating and the Shaub family taking an over-due short furlough. Thanks for praying as we try to plan for both ministry and family needs during these coming months!

March Bruce Brief

After torrential rains in January and February, March has brought us strangely dry weather…perhaps from the same weather pattern that is bringing such warm temperatures to the East Coast this week. We are grateful for a respite from the landslides and mud! The dryness provided us with an excellent opportunity to haul some gravel and rocks to fix the worst of the mud holes and slippery spots on the new road coming up to our Outpost.

 

Thanks for your prayers for the outreach in Palm community! We sense that there is a spiritual battle taking place among the people there. The priest’s presence has brought us a barrage of questions from the folks there. “What does the priest mean when he says we should pray every day to Mother Mary, that she listens better?” “When he baptized the babies, he announced that they were now without sin. Can that be true?” The teacher we have before asked prayer for, Andrew, is doing a lot of thinking these days. He talked to Gloria, one of the believers one day, and asked her many questions about what the Bible says. She did her best to answer (and she flooded us with questions on our next overnight stay at her house!) The last Sunday we were there, after teaching the Bible account of Noah’s flood, Andrew again asked question after question…. “What is the priest talking about when he says he will teach catechism to the school kids?” “What is first communion?” ”And why are there so many different religions in the world?” Andrew expressed to Gloria that he felt like he was looking at the two options (what we are teaching and what the priest is saying) and that he needs to make a choice about what to believe. Over the many years we have been here, we have realized that most of the Awa do not spend much time thinking on things outside of their daily physical routine. But we have certainly seen many ‘mind wheels’ turning these days! We’d appreciate your prayers for the Lord’s wisdom to wisely answer these folks, and for the Holy Spirit to do His work in the hearts and minds of these people.

 

Both of the elders, Milton and Paulino, are under much pressure from their own people these days. Paulino missed a community meeting this last Sunday because he had wanted to be present for church and the elders’ meeting with us in RV community. He shared with me yesterday, “I know the people will be talking badly about me because I wasn’t there. I told them that I needed to be here for hearing God’s Word and meeting together, it’s more important! But they don’t understand.” Milton is in the process of breaking ties with his soccer team, as they are putting pressure on him to bet larger amounts of money on the games, and often want to play games on Sundays. “I can’t bet so much money, when I need it to take care of my family,” he told us. In a culture where community pressure is a huge form of social control, these are very difficult issues for both of these men. They are constantly told, “Dios pit puna kaints” (God’s Word is worth nothing.) Please pray for them to think clearly, and to stand strong without getting angry!

 

The annual Awa Believers’ Conference is coming up April 6-8^th, and plans are underway for a special time of teaching, fun, and fellowship. Our prayer is that He will be glorified and build His church among the Awa. Thanks for participating with us in this venture!

 

In HIS grip,

Kevin & Kathy

Quick update

A quick update on Clemencia and new baby:

 

The Shaubs were able to bring Meregildo, Clemencia, and the baby back from the hospital on February 15^th, after their return trip was delayed by their pick-up needing repairs. Meregildo was able to see God’s hand in even that detail, as Clemencia was still weak from the whole ordeal. The couple came back armed with a bottle and two cans of baby formula, but Meregildo excitedly told us on Sunday that Clemencia has finally been able to nurse the baby some. The baby does have a bit of a cold, but seems to be holding his own for now. Thanks for your prayers for this new little life! We have been so thankful to see Meregildo’s calm and loving leadership of his family during all of this, in direct contrast to the penniless, constantly drinking man he was a few years ago. Praise the Lord for the changes He has worked in Meregildo’s life!

 

Mercedes Galarza:

 

Mercedes has been released from the hospital and is recovering at her brother’s home in the city of Quito. With such a radical surgery, her recovery is slow, but the doctors have been amazed so far at how well she is doing. Since her stomach was completely removed with the tumor, so she will have to be on a special diet the rest of her life. Diego and Mercedes have been a sweet testimony to God’s grace during this difficult trial. Diego not only is the director of Liebenzell Mission Ecuador, but also pastors the church in Atuntaqui and works with our radio station, and Mercedes has faithfully worked at his side in these ventures for many years. They would appreciate your continued prayers as they look to the future. They still face the follow-up treatments and many more tests.

 

Teaching the kids:

 

Our first time teaching ALL the kids in Palm community went well! We hiked up Thursday afternoon and spent the night at Paulino’s house. As we talked and worked out a schedule with the four teachers early Friday morning, there were no negative comments about the Bible teaching, so we took that as a sign to go for it. We divided the kids into two groups--1^st thru 3^rd grades, and 4^th-7^th. (around 70 kids) All the kids love the English lessons, but I was especially impressed with how well the older kids and teachers listened to the Bible teaching! We were also asked many questions about what the priest had taught the week before, so would greatly appreciate your prayers for continued help to answer wisely.

 

Thanks for your prayers

Kevin & Kathy

 

February already?

Happy New Year! We apologize for not writing in January! I’m not sure it’s a very good excuse, but we tackled a long-overdue maintenance project here at the Outpost during January which turned our anything-but-regular schedule into something even less regular. :-)

There are times when the ministry sails along under blue skies, we rejoice in the Lord’s blessings, and we soak up the joyful sunshine. (Both Milton’s, picture on left, and Porfidio’s babies were born safely and without complications, and are thriving!)

And then there are more difficult times of trial, rain, fog, and mud. (Yep, even in the literal sense!) January dumped over a meter of rain (40 inches) on us, making travel either by car or foot more challenging than usual. We were thankful that the government has three tractors working full-time on our road right now, cleaning up the almost daily landslides and putting in drainage culverts at each creek.

Along with the (literal) rain, there are several issues that have come up over the last few weeks that have been difficult. Here’s just a quick summary:

• Mercedes, the wife of our Ecuadorian Liebenzell Mission president Diego Galarza, was diagnosed with a cancerous growth in her stomach on February 2nd, and underwent surgery just five days later.  We were able to visit them in Quito last week, and Mercedes was still in much pain. Her stomach was completely removed and re-constructed. While she is doing as well as can be expected, her situation is still very delicate. The Galarza family is hanging on to the Lord and His promise in Isaiah 41:10.
• Awa believer Meregildo’s wife Clemencia gave birth to a little boy at noon on Saturday in their home, with just her two teenage daughters helping.  There were many complications and she lost a lot of blood, and was carried out by stretcher that afternoon. Kevin immediately drove her out to the city hospital. Clemencia has been in poor health for some time, and apparently won’t be able to nurse the baby.  Humanly speaking, life is going to be very difficult for this new little life.
• A new Catholic priest has begun to make regular trips to Palm community, where we have recently begun to teach the Bible lessons. This priest seems to be of the old school with a dislike for anything evangelical. This is a very complicated situation, especially for Paulino and the other believers in this community. The priest is actually there this week, with a group of nuns, teaching catechism in the school. At the same time we were recently asked to begin again to teach English in the school, not just to the older kids but to all 100 kids. We hope to include the Bible teaching as we did before. We’ll be going next week for the first time teaching in all five different classrooms, but we aren’t sure how the Bible teaching will be accepted with this new development.
• There is another situation that we are dealing with at this time as well, with a couple that has been spreading some divisive gossip. Yesterday we met with the elders for about four hours, talking thru this very difficult situation in which it is hard for the Awa to discern between truth and lie. Please pray for us to have Godly and Bible-based wisdom to share both with them and the Awa believers.

Laura Story’s song “Blessings” says “What if Your blessings come thru raindrops…?” Even the rain serves His purposes. We do rejoice in His daily presence, help, and guidance---what a blessing it is to bask in His grace and mercy! We are so thankful for your prayers as you join in this work of planting a church among the Awa people.
In Christ,

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! We wish we could join in worshipping with you all on Christmas Sunday…surely a special day to celebrate God’s gift to us!

Many of you have asked about Milton….so here goes for a quick update:

In the midst of a people that are generally tough and hardened, Milton’s tender heart stands out…which is exactly the character quality that makes him a caring ‘shepherd’ for his people.  And it’s just that quality that makes him so sad over the horse’s death (Paladin). When you spend almost every day with your two horses, carrying loads to earn money, or riding them back and forth down the trails, I guess those horses are like friends! Milton told us the other day that he hasn’t been able to make himself go into the part of the pasture where Paladin died yet, but the Lord is helping him not to feel so sad. He and his wife do have one small horse left, so that helps for travel. He did mention to us the other day that, at some point, he would like to get another horse to replace Paladin (a big gelding). It might take awhile before he can think about it clearly. It just so happens that the week before Paladin died, Kathy was goofing around with Milton’s kids and nephew, taking pictures of each of them sitting on Paladin. Now each week, the kids beg for me to show them the pictures again, to remember Paladin.

At the same time, Milton’s wife Delia who was almost two weeks overdue with their fifth child…since the doctor in Lita told them that the baby isn’t breech this time, she’s just planned to give birth at home. The Lord has blessed them with a baby boy born on the 24th. We are praising the Lord for a safe delivery!  And speaking of babies….the teacher in Palm community, Andrew, has a brand new baby girl, and two other couples in the church, Porfidio & Cecilia, and Meregildo & Clemencia, are expecting in January. Kathy’s Sunday School class is growing! :-)

Thanks for standing with us in prayer!
Kevin and Kathy 

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