October Update!

Hi to everyone from Oklahoma! Since leaving New England the beginning of September, we've covered many miles...seeing friends and family along the way. We can't say how much fun it's been to be reunited with folks we haven't seen for two, three, or even four years! What a blessing! We have so much to be thankful for, and are awed by the many opportunities the Lord has given us to see folks along the way. Our prayer has been that we would be a blessing wherever we go---but we must say, we feel like we've received so much more than we could ever give! Wow!

Seeing Kenny again, after two years apart, was so much fun. We toured Liberty University with him, met his friends and room-mate Nathan, went to church with him, and enjoyed the beautiful mountains of Virginia. This last week was Kathy's family reunion at a nearby Baptist campground.  Under beautiful blue skies, the campground made a perfect location for the five days with her mom, stepdad John, four sisters, and their families (there were over 30 of us; of the 19 grandkids, 17 made it for at least part of the time!)

In about two weeks we'll be heading back to New Hampshire, and settling down for the fall and winter. We are thankful for the provision of a house to rent in Spofford (the same house we rented last time!) For those who'd like to get in contact with us, our cell phone number is 802-451-0507.

News from Ecuador: I've been able to talk with Milton several times. He tells me that all is going well there as the believers continue to meet each Sunday. Milton's niece Lorena recently had a baby boy, and they'd appreciate your prayers as their first little one died at just 3 mos. old. I know their hearts are a bit anxious with this new baby! The dry season continues, and the new road is now reaching the river crossing in Saint Frances community, a good amount of progress! Rainy season will soon slow the progress, but we are amazed at how far the machinery has gotten.

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy Bruce

<for a printable version click here>

A family picture!

Our summer itinerary...

Our travel dates (more or less, some of these dates are still a bit tentative) :-)

August                New Hampshire and Maine with Kevin's family

Sept 3 - 5            Liebenzell Mission USA, New Jersey

Sept 5 - 7            Virginia, visiting Kenny at Liberty U

Sept 8 - 10          Travelling from Virginia to Missouri

Sept 11 - 22        Wyandotte, Oklahoma with Kathy's mom

Sept 23 - 28        Kathy's family reunion in Grove, Oklahoma

Sept 29 - 30        Back in Wyandotte, Oklahoma

Oct 1 - 10            Basing out of St. James, Missouri

Oct 11 - 12          Festus, Missouri (Lighthouse Baptist Church)

Oct 13 - 15          Travelling back to New Hampshire (via Ohio & NY)

Oct - Mar 2015    Basing out of Spofford, New Hampshire

Specific dates for the fall:

Nov 7-8               Liebenzell Mission Board meetings, NJ

Nov 9                   Asbury Methodist Church, Allentown, PA

Girls Thank you letters

Hi all, just a quick post here to say we made it back to the USA! :-) We are currently enjoying a vacation in Maine with our girls. Thank you for your prayers. I wanted to put a link here to the girls thank you letters for all of you who prayed or supported them this summer during their time serving at Whispering Winds Bible camp!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

Keilah's letter

Kimberly's letter

July Bruce Brief

There are piles of boxes and crates stacked in our house here in the mountains, as we pack up our belongings and prepare to move to Ibarra for the last two weeks before our flight. Amidst the chaos of packing, reality is finally sinking in—we will soon be there in the USA! A few months ago we wondered if all the details would ever pull together, but we are thankful to have seen God’s hand at work, putting the ‘puzzle pieces’ together. Just to give you an idea: 

 

---Milton and Delia and family have now moved up to take care of the church while we are gone! Several other families wanted to come to be caretakers, and there was the potential for a big disagreement, but the Lord was faithful and finally brought all of the believers to the same conclusion (having Milton here). We are thankful to see a growing excitement in Milton as he seeks to faithfully keep the church going and administrate the church property. He’s already been planting yucca here close by, in preparation for Sunday meals together. ?
---We have prayed for a helper for Milton, to help him out on Sundays, as Paulino, living farther away, can’t be here consistently. Andy Shaub’s language helper, Marco Antonio, has been taking a driving course each weekend for the last six months, but the course ends this month. “I’m planning to come and help Milton while you are gone!” Marco told Andy a few weeks ago. Marco is able to read well in Awa, and he is gifted with a helpful, gentle personality. We are thankful for this provision from the Lord.
---The boxes and crates of our belongings we’ll store in our apartment in Ibarra. The Lord has provided a new missionary couple from Germany to live in our apartment there for about half the time we are gone. They are newlyweds, so don’t need all three bedrooms---one bedroom we’ve turned into a storage unit and it is stacked high not only with our boxes, but the Shaub’s belongings as well!
---Our truck sold in just a day! We hadn’t even had time to put a ‘for sale’ sign in the window, when we got a visit from two Ecuadorian brothers, who decided in just five minutes that they would take it. In the meantime, we’ve not been without wheels, as we are able to drive the Shaub’s truck, since they decided not to sell it.
We are thankful for a God that sees the ‘big picture’ and is able to piece together all those small details in a way that brings Him glory! ? 
Milton and Paulino would greatly appreciate your prayers as they often face criticism and complaints from their own people. For the Awa to stand alone, in the face of opposition, is very difficult; they are a group-oriented culture. Recently the church has been accused of bringing division to the people---which is considered one of the worst evils to the betterment and unity of the Awa communities.
Several factors have come together to help us make the decision to make our return on March 30th next year. That gives us 8 months in the USA, which will very likely fly by…we look forward to worshipping and fellowshipping with many of you, as our hearts are always greatly encouraged by seeing how God is at work in your lives! And we pray that we can also be of encouragement to many. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Heb.10:24-25 ESV

“….For He who promised is faithful!” Heb 10:23

Kevin & Kathy  

<for a printable version click here>

June News

I’ve been reading through the book of Job recently. In the last few chapters, as God answers Job with a pile of questions of His own, I’m reminded of His omniscience and of His sovereignty. He sees all, He knows, He understands, and what He allows has a purpose….even when we don’t understand. On Sunday May 26th we said our earthly good-byes to Mercedes Galarza, wife of Liebenzell Ecuador president Diego Galarza, as she lost her earthly battle with cancer and made her transition to God’s presence. Mercedes left behind an example of faithful service to the Lord, and her funeral was packed with folks from many different parts of Ecuador who came as a testimony of the many whose hearts have been touched by Diego and Mercedes’ ministry. During the funeral, Diego read a letter to Mercedes, saying that he wants to continue to serve the Lord but wonders how he will do it without her faithful presence at his side. I know he would appreciate your prayers as he seeks to find a way to continue to serve the Lord as a pastor at the church in Atuntaqui as well as fulfill the duties that come with being the head of our Mission here in this country.

The last month has been full---as always, we are thankful for your prayers for God’s strengthening to live out what He puts before us! After several hiking trips to Palm Community, we are now the owners of a small house there, which we bought from Arturo. This little house sits right below Paulino’s house, and is situated right on the church lot. At some point it will need to be moved, to accommodate the church building, but for the moment it gives us an instant place to stay! We look forward to spending more time with the people there after our time of home assignment. Many are interested in hearing the Bible teaching.

Doug and Dorcas Williams joined us for a quick week of OT Scripture translation checking—a good crew of young Awa folk came for the work. These are just preliminary checks, but it’s so exciting to get the Awa words pulled together in such a way that the meaning flows! While the Williams were here, we also had a special youth Sunday. A hearty lunch is a good drawing card, but we were still happily surprised to see that along with the regular local folk, about 20 young people came from several different nearby communities. It was a good opportunity to share with them the importance of making the choice to follow God, instead of falling into the world’s traps of drinking, fighting, and immorality.

Keilah graduated from NTBI in Wisconsin on May 17th. Kimberly went along with her Aunt Chrissy and her grandma to be there, and Kenny drove up from VA for the special day. It was pretty special to have our three kids together in one place! Now Keilah and Kimberly are both beginning their summer at Whispering Winds Bible Camp in Missouri (see links below to the girls' camp letters), while Kenny is transitioning into his new job working full-time for Liberty University. We look forward to this fall when we will be reunited with the girls, and plan to make a bee-line to see Kenny as soon as possible!

Plans for our time in the USA are finally pulling together. We have our tickets for the end of July, and plan to spend several weeks in August with the Bruce clan. Early September we hope to hit the road to see Kenny in VA, then on to Kathy’s family in Oklahoma and Missouri. By mid-October we’d like to be heading back to New England, where, Lord willing, we’ll spend the winter. At the moment we plan to return to Ecuador the end of March 2015, but we’ll make a final decision as we see how things go down here without us. We hope to see many of you, so please drop us a line if you’d like us to stop in to visit!

Thanks again for joining us in the work of planting a church here among the Awa!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

 

Links:

<Printable Version>
<Keilah's Letter>
<Kimberly's Letter>

PS: if anyone would like to directly support the girls at camp, you can send donations to:
(Write a check to the camp and include a note to whom you wish to support)
Whispering Winds Bible Camp, PO Box 9, St. James, MO 65559-0009 Phone: 1.800.748.7410

17th Awa Conference!

The 17th Awa Believers' Conference has come and gone! Thanks so much for your prayers! We saw God answer in many ways--many Awa joined us and jumped right into the activities, the Lord sent perfect weather, He provided strength for each day, and the noisy tractor working on the road took a long weekend off, leaving us in peace! Our goal in teaching this year was to help the believers see that each one has spiritual gifts and talents to use in the building of the church. Having a crowd here each day gave the believers many opportunities to put that into practice! It was a blessing to work with both Milton and Paulino as we shared the responsibility of the teaching, with both of them jumping in to share the Gospel with the visitors. On Saturday we took a car load of people to the fish hatchery to buy 45lbs of tilapia--114 fish!--for Sunday lunch. Now that was a big hit! All in all, as we reflected afterwards, even the presence of a bit more chaos and clutter (and abundant fish scales!) was encouraging to us, as it showed that the Awa are taking over more of the responsibilities, and getting things done in a way that comes more naturally to their culture. :-)

Home for the Holidays
We are planning an 8-month time in the USA, beginning in August. Family reunions are planned for both sides of the family, and we are excited to spend time with our two college kids. It looks like we'll be on the road in the Midwest for most of August and September, but hope to settle in New Hampshire sometime in late October.  A big prayer request will be for the Awa church as they carry the full weight of the ministry during this time, as our coworkers will also be in the USA.

Road Progress
Daily excitement reigns as the excavator works on continuing the road past our driveway! My chainsaw (and I!) are often commandeered to cut down trees in the way, and there is a constant flow of people thru our yard. Monday a bulldozer will join the work. Five inches of rain yesterday caused parts of the brand-new road to landslide, so we hope for drier days to come to help the progress!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>