Feb 2025 - Ready or not

 

“Are you ready?”  February 2025

There is a question that we have been asked often over the last few weeks as we prepare for returning to Ecuador. That question is “Are you ready to go back?” Over and over our answer has been a resounding YES. And no, it is not because we want to flee the cold weather….we actually enjoyed the winter! 😊
 

 

Many commented to us as we shared with them our ‘Home Assignment’ schedule and the many miles we were traveling to see people, churches, and family, that they thought we came home to the USA to rest. And yes, rest was part of the equation as we planned our days here, but not the primary reason. Paul in Romans chapter one, when sharing of his desire to go to Rome and share with the believers living there, says this in verse 12: “that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”  As we sought to share with you how God’s grace is reaching into our lives personally and into the lives of the people in Ecuador, we also received much encouragement from your faith as well! That is how Kathy and I view our time of home assignment: as a time of mutual encouragement. As we rub shoulders with each of you, hearing and seeing firsthand how God is at work in your lives, we are re-energized and strengthened. That’s why we can say ‘Yes’--we are ready to return.

So this week we packed our suitcases, dusted off the car, and said goodbye to our bungalow in snowy New Hampshire!
 

We are looking forward to many good things. Our new coworkers the Andersons arrived safely last week in Ecuador. They are settling in and ready to embark on learning Spanish and adapting to the Ecuadorian culture.  Our Awa brothers and sisters are planning a welcome feast for our arrival. We heard the news that there were 13 chickens promised for the meal! We feel super blessed by their generosity towards us! Coworkers Andy and Chrissy are also looking forward to us being there to help carry the ministry load. 😊 It will be exciting to dig into the Old Testament translation project, as we seek to incorporate a discipleship component to our group work sessions with our Awa brothers and sisters.

Lord willing, our next update will come to you all the way from the equator! A big thank you to all of you who hosted us, fed us, and blessed us by your generosity. We pray that we have in some small way also been an encouragement to the many of you we were able to see over the last six months

In His grip,

Kevin & Kathy

Ecuador bound - January 2025

 Ecuador bound! January 2025

And just like that, 2025 is here! Happy New Year to all! One of our January customs is working on our year end review as well as setting goals for the coming year. We are so thankful for God’s faithfulness over 2024. We have truly seen our Lord’s sustaining hand during our time with the Awa in Ecuador and over the many miles we have traveled while here in the USA on home assignment. We have been greatly encouraged and blessed by all of you who hosted us or listened to us as we shared our hearts. We are heading back refreshed, encouraged, and ready to see what the Lord will do in this new year.

Christmas was special this year as we were able to spend several days with Kenny & Sophia and the boys as well as Kimberly & Zach. Family time together is always a blessing! Although some of us were fighting off a bit of the flu we really enjoyed the fellowship as well as the good food we all cooked together. I think we raised a brood of ‘foodies’ but hey, the Bible says there will be feasting in heaven too! That is something to look forward to, an eternal feast where ‘goodbye’ is no longer part of our vocabulary!

 

Thank you for keeping Andy and Chrissy Shaub in your prayers as they hold down the fort during our time here in the USA. By God’s grace Andy has been able to make some progress in OT translation, a feat he really didn’t think would be possible with us away. But God has put a determination in our Awa friend Guillermo’s heart to keep making progress!

 

A big answer to prayer this month is Steven and Gwen Anderson, enroute to Ecuador, getting their visas this last week! They now have a date to fly early in February. Please pray for them as they pack, say goodbyes, and embark on a new chapter in their life.  Their arrival is a big answer to prayer as we have been praying for some new younger coworkers for several years now. Pray that God will give us unity as we work together in the years to come.

 

Our return tickets are bought, the suitcases are standing ready, and the pile to take back with us is growing as we near the time to return to Ecuador in mid-February! These next weeks we will visit our last two supporting churches and spend time with friends here at our home church. One weekend in Waterville, Maine (Faith Evangelical Free Church) and a quick trip to Florida to visit my (Kevin’s) parents will round out our travels. Please keep us in your prayers, as we also keep you in ours.

 

In His grip,
Kevin & Kathy

With Thankful Hearts - November 2024

 

Enter His gates with thanksgiving! Ps 100:4 November 2024

This last week we pulled into the driveway of the New Hampshire house we will call home until we return to Ecuador in February! As we unpacked and settled in, our hearts were filled with humble gratitude for the kindness, hospitality, and encouragement we’ve received from so many folks during these weeks on the road. Summing up the last three months in numbers, we are amazed at our Father’s provision:
 

1 car (thanks to Kenny & Sophia!)
8 supporting church visits
15 church presentations
19 states
28 beds 😃
10,000+ miles
Plus….MANY friends and family!!

 
This all definitely adds up to an overwhelming sense of thankfulness both to God and His provision and to so many who have welcomed us into their homes! Here’s some highlights from along the way:
 

CCEF National Conference on REST	A visit to the Ark Adventure
Good visits to our supporting churches	Opportunities to share & encourage
Checking in with the Andersons as they prepare to leave for Ecuador in January	Fun with our Venezuelan friends in the big state of Texas
A trip to Sight and Sound Theater with Kimberly and Zach	Representing Liebenzell at John Brown University in Arkansas

 
Life in Ecuador continues to be challenging with drought and electrical outages. Tensions are running high as the economy suffers. In AwaLand, our coworkers the Shaubs carry on with regular ministry responsibilities, and are thankful that despite their busy schedule they’ve had some good opportunities to work on OT translation of portions of Joshua with some of the Awa. Thanks for your continued prayers that God will give strength for ministry to each of those on the Ecuador team!

In His grip,
Kevin & Kathy

September 2024 Blessed Reunions!

 Since we left Ecuador seven weeks ago, we’ve been thrilled to spend good time with our daughter Keilah & family in Paraguay, and then our son Kenny & family in Virginia. The end of August we made it to see my parents at their cabin in northern Maine. The good fishing and the beauty of the lake made for an extra relaxing time! We are still looking forward to seeing our daughter Kimberly & Zach and Kathy’s mom and family in the Midwest in just a few weeks!

Here's a quick look at our schedule for the next few weeks:
Sept 22-29 VT and NH (Marlow Village Church, Grace Community EFree Church)
Sept 29-Oct 8 Heading south via NJ, VA, TN (friends and family, CCEF conference)
Oct 8-20 KY and MO (Lighthouse Baptist Church, Living Hope church, and Kimberly!!)
Oct 21-Nov 2 OK (Kathy’s mom and family) and TX (more friends and supporters)
Nov 3-7 John Brown University World Awareness week
Mid Nov we’ll be heading back to New England (more churches and supporters along the way)

Meanwhile, back in Ecuador….
Keep praying for our coworkers Andy & Chrissy as they keep the ministry going in our absence. Pray for God’s grace in daily strength and endurance! Our Awa friend Gloria continues to help them teach the children; please pray for her as she is struggling with her health. And pray for the country of Ecuador—low water levels in the hydroelectric dams are again causing nationwide electric outages.

In His grip,
Kevin & Kathy

En Route ~ August 2024

 Greetings from Paraguay! Yes, you read that right; we made it to Paraguay! June and July were busy months for us as we scrambled to wrap things up back in Ecuador. The last three weeks were a bit crazy as we finished several classes we were teaching with the Awa, packed up our place in Rio Verde, and said goodbye to our Awa friends and Liebenzell field coworkers. We arrived here in Paraguay July 26th to visit our daughter Keilah and her family. By God’s grace we arrived before Keilah gave birth to our fifth grandchild, Waylon Daniel, who was born on the 30th. Kathy was glad to be able to help Keilah with the birthing process, and was even the step-in-midwife as our sweet little Waylon arrived before the real midwife did!

We are enjoying these special days with our grandchildren here, as well as sweet baby time as we try to help Keilah and Jeremy catch a few winks of sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

With so much to report on, we thought we’d make a photo album showing the happenings of the last two months. Here’s the link for those who are interested:
June & July Photo Album
or scan the qr code below:

We are looking forward to arriving in the USA in a couple of weeks to spend the next several months traveling and visiting family, friends, and churches. Our first stop is at our son Kenny & Sophia’s house to get in some special time with them and their two boys as well. More grandparent time! 😊 (You can tell where our priorities are these days! Ha!) We’ll see my family in New England in September and then we’ll be heading to Oklahoma and Missouri to see our daughter Kimberly & Zach as well as Kathy’s family. We do appreciate your prayers for safety in travelling all those miles!

A special thank you to all of you who faithfully pray for us and to those of you who financially support us. We appreciate you greatly and are looking forward to being able to see many of you in person.

In His grip,

Kevin & Kathy

Of Chickens and Cultural Identification ~ June 2024

 This last month we lost a dozen chickens to a predator! While we were a bit clueless to what was happening, our Awa neighbors and friends jumped in to give us a hand. The whole affair turned into a rousing topic of cultural identification :-) as we heard stories of chicken loss due to hawks, weasels, possums, and ocelots. Different friends showed us the clues that we were missing. “Don’t you see the scratches in the bark of this tree and the feathers on the ground here?” Guillermo asked us. In the end, the predator was pronounced to be a possum coming in the night. Neighbor Delia kindly made us an Awa-style trap and stopped by daily to make sure the bait was fresh. A few nights later in the wee morning hours we woke up to a ruckus in the chicken pen. The predicted possum was out there, trying to get one of our hens! That was the end of that possum, although we have been warned that he was a young one that may have a big family!
 
And now we have much more sympathy when the Awa tell us stories of losing their chickens!

Two weeks ago we lost our faithful dog Toby. After living to the ripe old (dog) age of fourteen years here at the Outpost, he was mostly blind and deaf, although still faithfully announcing with loud barking each visitor that appeared in the driveway. We will miss him!
 
And again, our Awa neighbors and friends were sympathetic to our loss.

Living here among the people full-time is sometimes tiring. Sometimes we struggle to have a smile for the next visitor and energy for the next request for help. And yet living close to the Awa keeps us in their world, understanding their lives, and relating to their struggles. It also shapes our teaching each Sunday as we work to bring God’s truth near to them. Pray for daily strength for this around-the-clock life! And pray for a Jesus-like response as we interact with the many Awa who arrive on our doorstep.
 
In a few more weeks we will be packing up our suitcases and heading out on our travels to Paraguay and then the USA. Pray for our coworkers Andy & Chrissy as they hold down the fort in the months we are gone!
 

Young Families…and a Broken Arm

We love looking out at the Sunday crowd in Palmira and seeing many young families sitting together on one of the benches! There are six of these families attending regularly. While we have usually drawn a good crowd of children, seeing more adults (and especially complete families) among the crowd is encouraging!

One of these young couples is Jaime & Sandra. This last month has been a hard one for their family, as son Jimson broke his arm while playing in the churchyard while his mom helped the Shaubs with translation work. The local Awa bone-fixer man was called, and after rubbing and moving Jimson’s arm this way and that, he said the bone was definitely broken. He tied Jimson’s arm up with a strip of cloth, saying it would probably heal up. Over the next few days Jimson’s arm swelled up and was quite painful, so in the end Sandra and Jaime took him out to the hospital for x-rays. The hospital visit turned into a week-long stay before Jimson finally had surgery to set the bones in their proper place.
 
This has been a real time of testing for Jaime and Sandra. They haven’t returned to church yet and we sense they have pulled away from involvement in the translation work. Pray that they won’t lose their faith in this trial! Pray also for Jimson’s arm to heal properly.
 

Thank God and pray with us:

• Praise for a good day with the youth May 18; and pray for our next Saturday June 22
• For Jaime & Sandra, and for little Jimson’s healing
• Pray for the upcoming medical caravan team coming later this month
• For these last weeks in Ecuador as we wrap things up; and for coworkers in our absence
• For coming travels to Paraguay the end of July and the safe birth of Baby Windler

In His grip,
Kevin & Kathy

 

May 2024 The Tower of Babel

“Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words,” begins Genesis chapter 11 (ESV). But by verse 9 we are told: “…there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth.” And yes, that’s how God started us all on the tongue-twisting journey of languages!

Since we arrived in AwaLand almost 30 years ago, we have seen the shame many of the Awa feel about their language. Over the years they’ve been laughed at by Ecuadorian nationals who didn’t understand their tribal tongue. On one occasion I remember hearing a national saying to an Awa, “Speak like a human, not like a pig!” As we were studying and learning Awa words and phrases, we found much joy in telling them, “You know, it was God who made the different languages. And don’t be ashamed, your words are good!”

In March we received a request from a group of Awa to teach them how to write in their own language. Thrilled to see this interest, we joyfully began preparing. And how exciting it has been to teach this class each Friday with a group of about 25 students, a mixture of adults and children. We are learning from them at the same time they are learning from us; and we all have fun working out a phrase together. Big smiles erupt when we remind them, “We know about the letters, but YOU are the expert Awa speakers!”

The timing is perfect as our coworkers, Andy and Chrissy Shaub, are beginning to work on translating Old Testament portions that are lacking. How helpful it is to have translation helpers that are also able to write Awa words!

Pray for these students to learn well and that more Awa would be interested; and pray also for the Shaubs as they work on the translation project.

We continue to plan our months in the USA later this year. We now have tickets to begin our journey by flying to Paraguay July 25 to help welcome a new Baby Windler. These are exciting moments for grandparents! :-) If all goes well, mid-August should see us arriving in the USA. Thanks to all those who have responded as we make our travel plans! We look forward to seeing many of you face to face.

In His grip,
Kevin&Kathy