Do your eyes cry for the lost?

Some random shots from the recent Medical Caravan in Rio Verde!

The free haircuts were a big hit! 

 Paulino sharing using an EvangeCube

The dentist worked very hard, and was very patient with the scared children!

Milton teaching the story of Jonah to a crowd in the "waiting room" :-)

Kathy directing with a smile the people to the right doctor room

time laps video in RV

June 2013

We thoroughly enjoyed our daughter Keilah’s two week visit! She arrived one day late on May 18th (a delayed flight left her staying overnight in Atlanta) AND without her suitcases (she got them a week later)….but we still managed to sneak in a few days at the beach, a week in the mountains, and even a day shopping at the Quichua market in Otavalo. Keilah just finished her first year at Bible School (NTBI) in Wisconsin, and is looking forward to going back in early August. On Monday we dropped Keilah, Kimberly, and cousin, Elena Shaub off at the airport to fly to Missouri to work at Whispering Winds Bible Camp for the summer. This will be Keilah’s fourth summer at the camp, and Kimberly’s first. WWBC has been a great place for the girls to work hard, serve the Lord, learn new skills, and also broaden their USA experience. We are already missing the girls---our house is sure quiet with just the two of us! (If you are interested to read either or both of their camp letters, click on their picture to download it. Keilah especially is seeking to raise some support to help her pay for her initial fees for NTBI for the fall semester, as the camp doesn’t pay her a salary, but only matches funds that come in her name. If you are interested in supporting either of the girls, checks should be made out to Bible Impact Ministries, and should mention Keilah or Kimberly's name in the memo; and sent to Whispering Winds Bible Camp - POBox 9 - St. James, MO 65559-0009. Thanks!)

The rains continued right through the month of May. We are thankful for the Lord’s protection and provision for an open road when we have needed to travel. Last week we heard the sad news that a local Ecuadorian fellow had died while trying to go across a landslide in the dark and rain. Apparently a mudslide or flashflood carried him and his motorcycle down into a swollen creek. The local folks are still looking to determine if he had a passenger with him or not. On Sunday Milton reminded the other believers that God holds our lives in His hands, and we can trust Him to protect us until He calls us home to be with Him forever. Normally such occasions fill the Awa’s hearts with fear—so it was a blessing to see these small seeds of faith growing in their hearts!

Thanks for praying for the meeting in Palmira! On Sunday I was able again to teach there to a group of about 20 Awa. Paulino had (on his own initiative) asked the teachers for permission to meet in the school building, and we stayed in the downstairs area, carefully sweeping and arranging the desks when we finished. This is just a temporary reprieve, however, so conversations continue about building our own church building. Pray for Paulino and the other believers to have clear minds as they think thru this issue—the church will be much more effective if it stems out of their own desire and initiative! The community had allotted one tract of ground for an evangelical church, and another tract for a future Catholic church, but Paulino told me that recently the tract for our church was taken back and is no longer available. “But I’ll give some of my own land for a church if needed!” Paulino assured me.

On June 21st we will say goodbye to our coworkers German and LuzMarina Millan, who have staffed our Lita camp property for the last seven years. They are returning to a church ministry in their native Colombia in order to be closer to their daughters and to medical help for LuzMarina, as she struggles with several health issues. A big prayer request is for new staff for the Lita camp—and for future direction for how to best use this beautiful property. In the past it functioned as our Awa Center, but the local road has greatly lessened the need for hospitality for the Awa. In recent years the property has been used more as a camp retreat center for the national churches. For the moment we have hired a short-term caretaker family to watch the property, but if you know of someone who might be interested in such a ministry, we are looking for applicants! Being ministry-minded, having some experience with Latin culture, and knowing Spanish would be several key qualifications.

Prayer requests:
---Kathy has been asked to speak at a ladies’ one-day retreat in Ibarra on June 15th. She’d appreciate your prayers as she prepares to speak on the topic of being beautiful in God’s eyes.
---Our friends from Kentucky will be here mid-June for the annual medical caravan. We’d appreciate your prayers for these three days as we seek to work with the local government health system to provide good help for the Awa.
---We are thankful for God’s provision for Kenny--he is settled into his summer apartment in Virginia, and is now busily gathering furniture and kitchen items so that he and his roommates can eat something other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. ? Although he didn’t get the summer internship job he hoped for, the Lord has provided him a job at J.Crew which he will begin soon.

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<CLICK HERE FOR PRINT COPY>

Roadblocks and Toothy Cows

The nice dry weather the Lord provided for the Awa conference lasted a few more days and then the rains came in earnest! In April it rained just under 18 inches, with most of that falling in the last two weeks.  This deluge, of course, has taken its toll on the road in landslides and mud. Yesterday I helped our neighbor take some of his fruit a couple of kilometers to a big landslide blocking our road. He needed to cross over two landslides to a truck waiting on the other side. We are confident that the town tractor will be up before too long to clear them out, but it does make our travel plans a bit unpredictable these days, and is definitely another area to trust in our Sovereign Lord!

Ximena helping Kathy clean up after a Sunday in Palmira

Sometimes the Lord allows things to happen in the ministry, too, that we might consider ‘roadblocks’. Just this week Paulino came down and canceled our trip to Palmira to teach. He mentioned various reasons, but perhaps the biggest was an issue with the building where we’ve been meeting. Originally the community’s ‘common’ building, it has slowly been taken over as classrooms for the school. The head school teacher has been complaining about the problems of having other meetings held in the building, and the dirty mess they leave behind.  Paulino’s wife Manuela recently attended a parent-teacher meeting where the teacher again complained about this problem, which made her feel uncomfortable about continuing to use the building for our church gatherings. While most folks certainly do leave the meeting room a mess, we are always careful to leave it cleaner than when we arrived.

We tend to see this situation through our ‘individualistic’ cultural glasses, and consequently think, ‘We are not the problem, so what is the big deal – we’ll be an exception. We just need to talk to the director and then be able to keep meeting there.’ Recently Kathy was reading in the book When Helping Hurts by Corbett & Fikkert, and was reminded of the need to see the situation through the Awa ‘collectivist’ cultural glasses. Here is a quote from the book on the contrast of the two viewpoints: “…Collectivist cultures, on the other hand, minimize individual identity and focus on the well-being of the group. Loyalty to and self-sacrifice for the sake of the other group members are seen as virtuous. People in collectivist cultures have extremely deep bonds with the various groups of which they are a part…” (pg 164) We realize that it is supremely important to Paulino and Manuela to be a blessing to their community, and not to cause problems with the school teachers.

How is the Lord going to use this situation? How are we going to move ahead with the outreach to that community? What will bring the Lord the most glory in this situation? These are just some of the questions we are wrestling with in partnership with our Awa brothers and sisters. Actually, Kathy and I are a bit excited as we face this dilemma, as Paulino and several other believers have been mentioning for some time that we ought to have our own church building. Maybe this current problem will be the impetus needed to move from this being just an idea to a reality. Please pray for these ‘roadblocks’ and ‘landslides’ in the path of the ministry here.  We are confident that together as His local body we will be able to soon ‘clear out’ a way, but it does make our plans a bit unpredictable at times, and is just another area to trust in our Sovereign Lord!

On the adventure side of news here at the Outpost, Kathy and I had a scary experience on a dark and foggy night… (drum roll, please…) …the attack of the toothy cow!* Two weeks ago, on a dark and rainy night, Kathy went out to empty some garbage onto our compost pile in the garden. It is only about 10 or 12 steps off our porch to the garden gate, and Kathy only made it half-way when, something big came charging out of the fog, hit her and sent her flying, and then ran off. Startled (to say the least), she screamed and hollered (quite loudly, actually!), so I came dashing out to find her lying in the mud puzzling over what had just happened. After helping her up and making sure she was alright, I went back for a flashlight to go find out what it was. I had just begun to search for tracks to see if it was a cow or a horse or what, when Kimberly yelled out, ‘There it is!’ As I looked up, a big cow (bull?) came crashing through a blue hydrangea bush just a few feet away straight towards me!

Showing off the aftermath of the toothy cow attack

The unfriendly animal, obviously holding some large grudge against humans, shoved me into the side of the house, where I slipped and fell. I scrambled to roll under the low edge of the house to avoid being trampled (evidently I was mostly successful---only one big bruise in the shape of a hoof-mark appeared the next day!) All the while Kathy was screaming (again)...in the dark she was quite sure it was killing me. :-) It finally ran out behind our garden where I was able to scare it away with a blast from a shotgun.  Although we’ve all been a bit skittish about going to the outhouse at night, we are thankful that we suffered no more than a few bruises and sore muscles, and that the ‘toothy cow’ didn’t have horns! The story made for a lot of laughs among the Awa, and we could even laugh about it after it happened, so we thought you would enjoy the re-telling. :-)

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

*Illustration & name from one of our favorite children’s books by Andrew Peterson: wingfeathersaga.com

<FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION CLICK HERE>

16th Conference!

Greetings from the Outpost! Thanks to all of those who prayed for the Believers’ Conference! This year was the 16th year we have gotten together for three days of Bible teaching, meals and fun on Easter weekend with our Awa brothers and sisters. The picture below is of those brave enough to pose on the last day. :-)

We saw the Lord answer many prayers this year! The elders took an active role in planning, preparing, and teaching during the conference. Paulino helped in teaching the meaning of the colors of the ‘wordless book’ which we made in the form of a cross, and Milton taught about the death and resurrection of Christ. Before the Conference, Milton worked diligently to prepare the ‘outdoor’ kitchen area by sawing the boards needed and enclosing it with a floor, walls, and gate (to keep the dogs out), as well as benches and shelves. It was a special blessing to see Milton’s wife, Delia, take charge of cooking the lunches each day. This is a difficult responsibility in the Awa culture as it opens one up to the possibility of much criticism if the food doesn’t taste good, or if there isn’t enough to go around. Other ladies pitched in, but she carried the load of responsibility. The last day when Delia was feeling tired and discouraged, Milton encouraged her that she was doing the Lord’s work, not just being a cook! We were amazed to see her happy smile later on as she finished up! Seeing her being such a servant is an answer to our prayers that she would become a Godly help-mate for Milton in the ministry. It truly felt like we had new co-workers!

Kevin also taught on child-rearing and marriage.  We had some great discussions as several folks shared about family problems they were facing, and we talked together on how to apply the teaching in God’s word to their lives. Milton and Paulino were also able to share practical help from what God has taught them over the years in their own homes. We were also encouraged to see several new Awa stand to associate themselves with the believers—Ramiro, Jaime, Fermin and his wife Ana, and Manuel’s wife Maria. (With the Awa, spoken testimonies take many years to form—so going forward to take Communion with the believers is often the first step we see the new believers take. They don’t do it lightly!)

Another cool answer to prayer was the weather. For several weeks before, the rains had been heavy with little sunshine. We had a tractor come to clear and level an area for the tent, but the ground was a soggy mess.  Thank the Lord He sent us beautiful sunny weather a few days before conference to dry things out, and then continually during the three days as well. The nights were even bright with the full moon! We praise the Lord for His grace and mercy shown to us in this and many other ways!

We do truly appreciate your prayers. The two weeks before the conference were crazy (as usual). Our friend José finally managed to find time to put tile on the lower outside walls of our Ibarra apartment – a project we’d been talking about for several months.  Kimberly and her cousin Elena both got their wisdom teeth taken out.  Both of those things meant several extra trips and days in Ibarra, when we really wanted to be here in the mountains preparing. Here at the Outpost there were some bad colds going around among the Awa, some disagreements arose, money was tight among the believers for paying for the pig, and Meregildo was facing some heavy discouragement on several fronts. Kathy and I struggled to find adequate time to prepare the teaching for the sessions. But it was a blessing to us to see the Lord resolve each issue, one by one. In the end, the pig was fully paid for, we were ready for teaching, the disagreements were resolved, and Meregildo’s smile returned. We did miss Humberto and family, as they were not able to attend because of much sickness in their family.

Thanks for taking part in the work here! We pray that you also will rejoice with us in seeing the Lord’s grace at work.

In His grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>

PS: Here is a link to the Shaub's blog for their report and pictures

Easter is just around the corner!

Here at the Outpost that means that it’s time to begin plans for our annual Awa Believers’ Conference coming up the last week of March. Many organizations and NGO’s in this country, when putting on an event for the native people here, are careful to do everything for them—planning, providing meals, transporting those who attend, choosing topics, and teaching. This method has given the Awa certain expectations for such occasions. In contrast, our desire for the Conference is that the Awa believers take possession of it—‘It’s our Conference!’ we want them to say. We want them to be involved in every aspect of it, and we even hope that one day they will be able to carry on the conferences without us! As you might imagine, this change in attitude from being ‘attendees’ and ‘receivers’  to being ‘possessors’ and ‘providers’ does not necessarily come easily.

But we are thanking the Lord for a good start in the right direction this year! Last Sunday the elders called the believers together in order to plan for the Conference. Milton and Paulino had already decided that it would be held in this community. We rejoiced to hear different ones planning to participate in paying for a pig, re-building the wooden shed the ladies use for their cooking-fire place, and giving promises of food for the meals. Milton enthusiastically rattled off a list of names of those whom he has invited to join us. There was only one discouraging moment, as we talked about who could give hospitality to those coming from further communities. Meregildo hung his head as he explained that he doesn’t have much money right now. “Last time I spent $100 to buy a young cow so that we’d have lots of meat at my house for the company,” he shared with a downcast face, “but I don’t have money like that this year.” Kevin reminded him how many times God has stretched what food we had to be enough---“Remember, at Christmas, all those people came, and we didn’t think there would be enough? And God helped us—there was enough for a full plate for everyone! And there were enough cookie bags, too! God can help us!” And then we prayed all together, that God will provide all that we need.

Please pray with us that this Conference will be a time when each of the believers not only shoulders his part in the load, but also learns to rely on God for His help in every aspect. We are excited to have this chance to prove that God is well able to show Himself mighty on behalf of His people!

Other news:  

• Kathy’s niece Deborah Burnham arrived safely for a two-month visit on February 20th, the very first night the new airport opened outside of Quito. We thanked the Lord for clear skies as the big passenger jets landed for the first time on the new, longer, airstrip near the town of Quinche. The old airport in Quito will soon be retired and turned into a city park!
• We are thankful that our road has remained stable during the heaviest part of rainy season. The provincial government spent many thousands of dollars to put small bridges and culverts in at each creek along the road, and then graveled the whole road. It’s been a great blessing! 
• Kenny and Keilah are both doing well at their schools. Keilah now has a regular job waitressing at a Golden Corral restaurant, while Kenny has been doing some math tutoring there at Liberty. Here in Ecuador, Kimberly continues to valiantly plow through Geometry, Geography, and Biology (among other subjects) in her effort to finish her 9th grade studies by early May. Her goal is to join Keilah this summer working at Whispering Winds Bible Camp in Missouri.  Kenny plans to spend his summer working in New Hampshire.

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>