Medical Caravan!

We've done much bumping and bouncing up and down our road over the last few weeks! The potholes seem to have grown deeper (compliments of the rainy season). :-) However, we ARE thankful for the road, even with all the bumps! This year---for the first time---the road allowed the annual medical caravan to go all the way to the community of Palmira. Wow! Just a year ago it was still a good hike! Of course, the medical crew had to put up with a good amount of jouncing to get there; and a downpour mid-afternoon turned the dry road into a slippery slide by the end of the day, but they made it! Many Awa, some of whom live still several hours'  hike beyond Palmira, commented to us how appreciative they were that the doctors had finally come so much closer to where they live!

This month has brought several different Awa with health needs to our doorstep:

• Over the last month we've been trying to help Gloria's husband Guillermo with some health needs, as he has been sick for most of the last year. Many tests have been inconclusive.
• Gilberto and his family came to the caravan suffering with a sickness (perhaps tuberculosis). Many family members are coughing, thin, and weak. Over the next few weeks, we'd like to try to help them get some tests done and hopefully figure out what is going on.
• Sandra and Jaime's baby Liseth has an appointment in Quito on July 12th. Liseth seems to be blind, along with other problems. Please pray with us for Jaime and Sandra as they face this trial, and that the specialist would know how to help Liseth.

I spent several Fridays in June helping at the school in Palmira, teaching the children how to type on the computers. Often we are happy to just have a reason to spend time with the folks in this community! Kathy and I have now been invited by the school director to come each week in the fall in order to continue to teach typing and to tutor students who are struggling. We are happy to have this 'crack' opening in the door! Our desire continues to be to make use of the two lots that were given us in this community for a center of sharing Christ's love. We'd appreciate your prayers that God would open that door in His timing.

Back in Rio Verde we are encouraged to see the believers moving toward a better understanding of how to forgive and restore Milton to the group. At the same time, Milton seems to be returning to spending time with his sister-in-law, under the pretext of visiting his little son Benjamin (now 10 months old). This has deeply saddened both us and his wife and children. It has now been well over a year that Milton has walked alone and kept away from the group of believers, and that has been very difficult for him. Please pray with us as we seek to disciple Milton's wife Delia, look for opportunities to talk with Milton himself, and also work to call the sister-in-law (who has been quite unhappy) back into walking with God. Many days our hearts are heavy over this situation.

Kimberly is enjoying her summer at Whispering Winds Bible Camp! The camp had a record number of campers the first week, and Kimberly said her first week working as a counselor went well, although her voice was hoarse from cheering her team on! Here is a link to Kimberly's camp letter, for those who are interested. We are really happy to have Kimberly, as well as our daughter Keilah and husband Jeremy come to visit us the end of July!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<For a printable version click here>

Visitors!

Wow! We've just finished up several busy (but very good!) weeks, and are thankful for a few days to catch up with all that we've let 'slide'. We apologize for the emails that we haven't answered...please rest assured that you are not forgotten. :-) I suppose many of you may feel the same, with the school year closing up and the advent of summer!

Over the last few weeks we have so much to be thankful for:

•    Kimberly finished up her senior year, took her SAT test in Quito, and applied to study at New Tribes Bible Institute (Wisconsin).  She also packed, said her farewells, and headed out to Missouri to work at Whispering Winds Bible Camp over the summer. She'll be back for a quick 3 weeks at the end of the summer. We are proud of Kimberly for finishing up well and pray that God will be her Strength as she faces all of the adjustments that lie ahead.

•    Four students from Liberty University (our son Kenny, his girlfriend Sophia, Ben, and Reid) joined us for a 10-day adventure. I'm not sure it's legal to pack so much into a short-term trip :-) but somehow we managed to fit an outreach day at each of two local schools; much hard work receiving loads of sand and gravel; a project of mixing and pouring cement to replace some of our rotting-out house support posts; two more house-shaking earthquakes;  many hearty meals together; and much fun and laughter! Adding four college students to our five resident young people equaled many willing hands to help. We are thankful for God's safety over us in all that we did (especially for His hand in holding up our house as the two earthquakes hit just after we had knocked out our three end house pillars, and had the house temporarily up on wooden blocks as we poured the new cement pillars.)

•    And God's amazing grace in having the privilege to continue ministering to the Awa even in the midst of the busy days. 

This was a month of farewells! Along with Kimberly, we said goodbye to Eli Nelson, the young fellow from our church who stayed with us for the last ten months. We sent Eli off hobbling with eight stitches on the back of his leg, from an accident with a big rock! Another farewell was to Noelle Wagner, our niece who visited the Shaubs over the last two months. Noelle loves birds and enjoyed checking out our great variety of tropical wildlife.

Now our house feels rather empty, with just Kathy and I here. We are thankful for the confidence we have that God is with our kids in the USA, and also for the opportunity we have to take part in their lives through prayer. What a blessing it has been to have our kids with us over the last twenty-plus years--homeschooling here with us, and serving the Lord together as a family! Now we are entering a new phase of life--we pray that God will use us in new ways as parents from afar, and as His servants in the lives of the Awa!

Please pray for the many challenges facing the country of Ecuador. After the earthquake, there have now been over 1,500 aftershocks. The two earthquakes on May 18th were felt across the whole country. Reconstruction is very difficult, and some of the coastal towns will probably not be rebuilt. Many of the coastal inhabitants are living with great fear, as geologists are predicting that the aftershocks will continue.  Many fear that an even bigger earthquake is imminent. Ecuador is also in a time of economic recession; and, like the USA, Ecuador has upcoming elections in 2017, adding some political chaos to the burden the country is facing.

Thanks for your prayers!
In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

 <FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION CLICK HERE>

April Earthquakes

The ground has been shaking here over the last two weeks! Saturday evening, April 16th, a major earthquake hit the western coast of Ecuador, flattening the little town of Pedernales and damaging several neighboring areas. Here at our mountain home, about 120 miles away, we felt the quake quite strongly, and our house was a mess by the end of the shaking as things fell off our shelves and water sloshed everywhere! But we were fine; we spent the rest of the evening cleaning up and looking for news about where the quake was centered. It's sobering to think (as you try to save a few glass dishes from breaking), that somewhere houses are likely falling and people are perhaps trapped and dying. It wasn't until the next morning that we began to hear about the extent of the damage to little towns such as Pedernales. There have been many (over 1000) aftershocks since, many of which we have felt here.

The Liebenzell church in Ibarra has joined other evangelical churches here in the country to send a relief team, taking groceries and other supplies to share and helping to build temporary shelters for the people to live in. Many other organizations have arrived to help, and the Ecuadorian government is coordinating efforts to help the folks rebuild. It's neat to see the Ecuadorian churches pull together in compassion, sharing supplies, finances, work teams, and even those who just go to stand beside those who are suffering. Our friend Pancho told us, "As soon as I heard about the damage, I knew I just had to go and do whatever I could." Pancho helped to dig through the rubble, looking for survivors, a job made difficult by the continuing aftershocks. "Some folks said we were really brave, but I don't think any of us felt brave...we were all afraid to go into the fallen buildings. We just had to believe that God was in control and keep working without worrying too much."

If you would personally like to make a donation to the relief effort, Liebenzell USA has set up an account to channel funds this way. You can find out more at this link:

http://liebenzellmission.org/give/the-bread-fund/

Meanwhile here in our area, the Awa are all fine, although wondering what God is up to..."Is He perhaps punishing our country?" one Awa asked us. These are moments for good conversations! God continues to work in the hearts of the people here. We've had many rainy Sundays, and the roads have been muddy, but the people keep coming Sunday mornings...the other day we realized that attendance has been rising as we have averaged close to 50 each Sunday. But numbers are just...numbers. What makes our hearts rejoice is hearing how God is working in individual hearts. A week ago Gloria shared with us that her brother Milton had asked for her forgiveness for the wrong he had done, and she told him that she was forgiving him, because she knew that God had forgiven him, and she wanted to do likewise. (This in contrast to a year ago, when Gloria and Paulino said they would never forgive their brother for the sin he had committed.) How grateful we are to our amazing God, the great changer of hearts!

We recently shared about Paulino's daughter Sandra and husband Jaime and their wedding. Sandra and Jaime were just told that their daughter Liseth, 8 months old, will possibly need a surgery to correct a skull problem (because of her soft-spot fusing together too early). Liseth also has trouble focusing her eyes and seems to be developing slowly. She will have to be taken to Quito for an appointment with a specialist, in order to begin the process; this is a very scary scenario for Sandra and Jaime. We have promised to help as much as we can. They would appreciate your prayers as they face this trial.


In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

*Photo of Earthquake damage from our co-worker Rainer Kroger's trip to Pedernales

<for a printable copy of this letter click here>

Awa Conference 2016

Greetings from Ecuador!

Despite a wet and rainy start to our 19th Annual Easter Awa Conference, we were amazed with the strong 100 plus attendance each day! The road -- and our trucks--facilitated in transportation this year. (In fact after the conference I had to replace a broken leaf spring from slight overloading...) Praise the Lord with us for the following:

• Great weather for the three days after the initial rainy start
• So many Awa who came--over 100 each day and at least 120 on Sunday (65 kids!)
• Enough food (very important for the Awa)
• Many open hearts as they took in the teaching--believers and new listeners alike

We taught through the passion and resurrection of Jesus focusing on how He loved all those around Him even while suffering great personal agony and physical weakness. He loved us all the way to His death to save us from eternal death.

Following is a picture collage of our time together! (click photo to see bigger)

 

If you are hankering for more details :-) just type (or click) the following link into your web browser for a longer account of the conference written by Chrissy Shaub: http://tinyurl.com/zds9w5k

For those of you praying for Pricilla, she seems to be doing OK, but has had her ups and downs. We haven't been able to see her personally our last few trips to Ibarra, but her aunt who stayed with her just the other night said she is hanging in there. Please continue to pray that we can connect with her, and that the Lord will draw her to Himself through these trials.

Thank you very much for your prayers and support! Looking ahead, April looks to be a quieter month overall. Kimberly is busy finishing up her senior year; we will also be preparing for a visit from a group from Liberty University in May...including our son Kenny! Yay! 

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy 

<For a printable version click here>

A wedding!

What a privilege it was for us to take part in our first Awa church wedding after 20 years of ministry here in Ecuador! The morning of February 7th found us trekking towards Palmira where the festivities were to take place. We had a carload of neighbors joining us for the service. Several times along the way we pulled a little pickup truck, filled with family coming to the wedding, out of the mud. Thank the Lord for good tires and a 4x4! Another praise was the way the Lord provided a beautiful day in the midst of much rain.

Sandra and Jaime had made a marriage commitment several years ago in the traditional Awa way. This commitment was very much a covenant 'til death do us part' agreement made in a meeting of Jaime and Sandra with both of their parents--the correct way to 'get together' in Awa culture. Even back at that time they had shared their desire to eventually have an official government wedding at the civil registry and a 'church' wedding. So even as they started their family together they saved and planned. Finally in these last few months they had enough money to get the paperwork done, buy a dress and a suit, as well as food for the big event. The main course of the wedding meal was a bull they had raised themselves!

It was fun planning with them what things they wanted in the ceremony, and Kevin worked with several people to translate vows into Awapit.  One thing Jaime specifically requested was a skit on the family--not necessarily our favorite thing to do--but something the Awa really seem to love!  

Later, reflecting on the day, we were struck by the Lord's grace in giving us a chance to stand before the Awa communities here and uphold the real meaning of marriage just a year after the Awa church's testimony was so damaged by the infidelity that took place while we were on furlough. God works in wondrous ways.

One note of urgent prayer: A month ago we got a call from Linda, one of Paulino's sisters who lives in the city. Her daughter Prisila was going through a difficult situation and was hurting herself; Linda was at her wit's end and wanted to know if we could talk with her. Kathy visited Prisila then and gave her a Bible and had a good talk. Two weeks later, when we went back to visit Prisila, we found her in the hospital as she had tried to commit suicide by drinking poison. The Lord gave us the opportunity to visit her there in the hospital, and again at her home after she was released. Prisila is a beautiful 16 yr. old with so much life in front of her---we'd appreciate your prayers that she would allow God to bring peace and hope into her life again, and for us to have wisdom as we talk with her.

Thank you for your prayers!
In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

For more pictures click here

Happy New Year - a year in review!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of our favorite past-times is working in our garden. How fun it is to watch the plants grow! The abundant wet season rains cause the papaya trees, yucca plants, banana trees, and sweet potato vines to grow so quickly. The Awa, who are born with a love of farming, love to come and take a tour of our little garden...although they do wonder why anyone would like to eat radishes! They are much more appreciative of Kevin's many varieties of hot peppers. :-) Miguel and Digna have been our friends for many years. We remember the two of them hanging out as teenagers, in love, coming riding in on horseback to the literacy class in Lita.  Now God has blessed them with four very active boys--Alejandro, Mateo, Alexander, and Alex. Both Miguel and Digna are believers, although family issues have kept them on the outskirts of the church family for the last years. Recently Miguel has struggled with a strange skin disease, something that neither the Awa home remedies, nor the local doctors, have been able to cure. For the last few weeks we've been seeking to help Miguel find some answers, taking him first to a dermatologist who was able to rule out both leishmaniasis and skin tuberculosis. Now we are waiting on results from a culture being done in a lab in Quito. As we have chances to spend time with Miguel, we pray that God would pull him back into the church family. Miguel is gifted with a calm spirit of helpfulness and encouragement, and the days he comes to church are always brightened by his interaction with the group. As we come to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, our hearts are grateful to our Lord: -For the great encouragement each of you has been in our lives! Sharing our joys and our struggles with you has taught us anew about the comfort that it is to be a part of the family of God. -The land issue is settled for the minute, awaiting the next steps of officially dividing up the property. -We are seeing God at work in restoring to us a friendship with Milton again; he has been coming by each week to help Kevin work on lessons from the book of Ruth. His desire to spend time together has been a great encouragement, although he has not yet returned to Sunday services. And...we wish each of you a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! May God grace your hearts with an appreciation for Who He is, as well as a thankfulness for the many blessings He has graciously provided. In HIS grip, Kevin & Kathy <For a printable version click here>