two months into 2026!

 

January/February 2026

Baby Mabel

The highlight of January was the birth of our granddaughter Mabel Moon Burt, born in Missouri on January 14th. It was a blessing it was to be with our daughter Kimberly and Zach for the birth of their first child. We felt God’s presence with us, even in the timing of Mabel’s birth: we flew from Ecuador on Kimberly’s due date, and Mabel was born five days later!

Return to Rainy Season!

Arriving back in Ecuador early in February right at the height of rainy season, we saw what 36 inches of rain can do in one month! Landslides and road washouts met us as we returned to AwaLand. And yet again, God’s timing was perfect….we made it through this landslide about a minute after the road was opened while the cars in front of us had waited most of the night. Thank You, Lord!

Back in the swing of things….

Coming back to green mountains and warm temperatures was rather nice. :-) After cleaning some of the mold from our house (shut up for a month in the wettest season of the year!) we have happily jumped back into the Awa ministry. 

Here are a few of the ministry items we are focusing on in 2026:
•    Sunday teaching: We continue to teach through the book of Acts, encour-aging the group of believers to grow in maturity as we study the account of the early church. We are especially hoping to put an emphasis on the topic of prayer this year.
•    King of Glory course….Another group of 35 middle school children are go-ing through the course. Kathy and coworker Chrissy Shaub are teaching 4 different classes each Sunday as well as make-up lessons on Tuesdays and Fridays. We pray the children understand and take to heart what they are hearing.
•    Steven and Gwen Anderson continue to move forward in their Spanish study and in their plans to join us in the Awa ministry in the future. This week we helped them to reach an agreement on the land where they will build their future home here in AwaLand. Pray for their progress in Spanish learning, and also for the birth of their fourth child in April.
•    Gloria continues to joyfully help in teaching the younger children’s class in Palmira; she goes over the weekly lesson with us each Friday. Many have asked about her health…she continues to struggle with her arm (after the infection and hospitalization back in December). Her hands are also stiff and she struggles to write or to cook. Please pray for Gloria’s continued healing.
•    OT translation is on hold at the moment as our coworkers the Shaubs will be travelling in the coming weeks. Pray for guidance as we make plans to begin working with the translation team again soon. We’ll keep you post-ed.
 

In His grip,

 

December 2025

-‘Tis the Season….for the Light to shine! 

Wishing each of you a (belated) Merry Christmas! Here in AwaLand the month of December just seemed to fly by! Looking back at the calendar, we can see why….we were invited to do Christmas programs in six different locations, for a total of nine services. Invitations are pretty normal (as the people hope for Christmas cookie bags and gifts) :-) But this year two different Awa teachers invited us to their schoolrooms “to teach God’s Word, about baby Jesus being born”, which is always a blessing to hear. One of these, teacher Wilo, has a one-room schoolhouse two hours’ drive up into the mountains, at an altitude of over 10,000 feet. This little community is home to about 100 people who earn a living by dairy farming. We were blessed to be invited to share with these mountain folk!

We also were able to plan an overnight outing with the youth to the town of Cotacachi where we joined up with Pastor Walter and some of the youth from his church to hike around Cuicocha lake. Twelve kilometers at 11,000+ feet left us feeling a bit oxygen deprived, but also fun to have that special time with the young folks!
 

 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…..
For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given.” (Isaiah 9:2,6)

‘Jesus is the light of the world!’ was the message that we shared through songs and verses in each of the Christmas programs. We do pray that hearts that dwell in hopelessness would turn toward the Light! In the community of Middle Rio Verde, we have offered to come and teach the story of the Bible if even one person would like to hear. Pray with us that there will be at least a handful with a hunger to know God and to hear His story!

And thanks for your prayers for strength and energy! Over these last few weeks we have felt God’s renewing in the midst of the busyness. We also give thanks for Abraham and Gloria who happily helped us with most of the Christmas programs!

January brings new adventures as we fly to accompany our daughter Kimberly and Zach for the birth of their first child! We appreciate your prayers for the Shaubs as they hold down the fort for two weeks, and our Kichwa friend Angel who will also be covering for two Sundays during the time we are away.

Wishing each of you a blessed and joyful 
new year as God brings us into 2026!

In His grip,

November 2025

 November 2025 ~ Thankfulness

 
We returned from our quick trip to the USA on November 12th thankful that God helped all to go as scheduled. Thanks for your prayers!
 
Hearts of Gratitude
We missed getting this letter out by Thanksgiving but pray that each of you had a blessed time remembering to thank our Lord for His goodness!
 
Our hearts are also filled with gratitude:

Through many avenues, God has encouraged us to faithfully continue in the work of discipling the believers, reaching out to the lost, and working to establish a church here among the Awa. Recently this verse from a daily devotional jumped out at us: He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it! (1 Thess 5:24)
Our quick USA trip for the Liebenzell conference went well! The time with other missionaries was encouraging; the speaker reminded us that we are co-heirs with Christ and have a Heavenly Father who loves to hear us and provide for us! Spending a few days with our son Kenny and family was an added blessing; Grandma and Grandpa time is sure a joy!
Even on short notice, a good group of youth showed up for a Saturday together on November 22nd! We played a Bible review game, and were encouraged to hear the participation of many as they remembered the Bible accounts and what God was doing in each situation. We are beginning to study some lessons from Paul’s letter to Timothy and hope for continued good understanding!
This week we spent many hours with our coworkers the Shaubs, Ethnos 360 consultant Bruce Higham, and eight different Awa doing a check on the Awa translation of Joshua chapters 1-10. Our regular translation team (David, Oscar, and Guillermo) sat and listened as we read through the chapters with Deicy, Ana, Abraham, and Jeison. These four were new to the passages; their job was to listen to the read-through and explain what they heard. This was hard work for the Awa; they would find it easier to clear a field with a machete! But it was good to hear what they understood and helped Andy Shaub, as the main translator, know where more clarity is needed. Abraham was especially quick to share what he understood and helped the others feel more comfortable talking!

To leave you with a prayer request: Pray for us, said Paul to the Colossians, that God would open a door for His word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I would speak with wisdom & clarity and make the best use of my time. We have had many invitations this year for doing Christmas programs, and we appreciate your prayers, just as Paul asked, for the wisdom needed to share that precious story of Jesus' birth in an understandable way!

In His grip,

October 2025

 

God’s grace evident in the mud under a tarp… We were with about a dozen Awa sitting just outside Arturo’s wooden house, under a black plastic roof, with the rain coming down and drizzling through our midst in the dusk. The yard was muddy and rather smelly, with a few chickens meandering through. We had both forgotten our jackets, so felt damp and cold. And the voices around us were angry and full of accusations, as an estranged couple voiced their irritation with each other. The young wife was carrying their 1 yr old son, and had stitches on her forehead where her husband had hit her while he was drunk. Her voice was angry and unhappy as she listed off his lack of help with food and finances, his drunkenness, and lack of concern for her and the children. He, in his turn, talked about her angry demands and complaints, her threats to do him harm by putting poison in his food, and her lack of cooking and caring for him in their home.   Other family members took turns giving counsel, sometimes adding to the general tone of irritation and frustration, and revealing more ugly words that had been said. Our hearts ached listening to this flow of revelation of such darkness. Looking around at the small group, I counted…among the dozen or so Awa sitting there were five believers as well as Kathy and I. “Oh Lord, please allow Your presence to be felt here!” became our prayer. And as the moments passed, we saw Him answer that prayer through the voices of His children.   Several times I was asked to speak and was able to share a little of God’s truth. “In the beginning God made the first couple, and they sinned. Then God came looking for them in the garden. As He talked with them, both Adam and Eve blamed another for their sin, when God wanted them to acknowledge it and be reconciled to Him. Here it is the same, everyone is blaming someone else when what is needed is for each of you to acknowledge your part in this division and to ask each other’s forgiveness.”   Several of the other believers shared good thoughts. “I think you need to chose to follow God, instead of going your own way,” said the brother of the young husband. “For the sake of your children, you need to forgive and get back together, and both of you follow God’s way,” said his cousin, herself a young mom. His mother reminded him, “Your father isn’t here, he is with God, but he didn’t teach you to be drinking and fighting like that! He wanted you to follow God’s path.”   After about two hours, the group broke up. As the young husband began to walk away, I put my arm around his shoulders and reminded him, “You know, God is calling to you!” “I know, I heard your words,” he replied.   We didn’t see any reconciliation that night, but were told the next day that the young man had returned home and the two were working things out. Yesterday we visited the wife, who confirmed that her husband had returned and acknowledged to her that he had done wrong, and that the two of them were talking again. Please pray for this young couple, Luis and Beatriz, to recognize their need for God and to chose to turn to Him. We are surrounded by so many hurting and needy Awa. This week another couple split up after he came home drunk and cut her arm with a machete. Lisandro’s wife committed suicide by hanging herself two weeks ago; his niece encouraged him to come to church this last Sunday (and he came!) How we pray these needy ones will turn to God in the midst of their pain! Our Awa friend Gloria recently told us, “God’s House of Prayer is right in the community and the Awa know we are there and will welcome them; I just keep inviting and praying they will come!”

Prayer requests: For Luis and Beatriz to entrust their lives to Jesus For the many other hurting couples around us For Lisandro, and especially his little sick baby who is now being raised by his grandma For the Awa believers to make a real difference in the lives of those around them For peace in Ecuador - we have had over 3 weeks of national strikes blocking the major highway between us and the capital city of Quito For continued progress as we work on translation of portions of the Old Testament into the Awa language. For our travel plans the end of this month as we fly to the USA for meetings at our Liebenzell USA headquarters in NJ (Oct 27 to Nov 12 – a quick trip!) For our coworkers as they hold down the fort in our absence Many thanks for your prayers! In His grip,

September 2025

 

Gold fever!

In the last few years gold mining here in the Andes Mountains has brought in a flood of change to the Awa people in the communities surrounding us. Some have found work in the mining firms; others have gotten involved in small mining operations that are continually being shut down by the military as they are not safe or sanctioned by the government. Chemicals used in the gold mining process have now contaminated the Lita River. Our friend Marco Antonio recently lost his 12 year old son, who drowned in a nearby river when his aunt was taking him along to watch her baby while she panned for gold. While many have been caught up in the hope of earning easy money, the presence of gold seems to have brought more hardship to the land and the people than it has brought blessing. 
 

More precious than gold…

Psalm 19 reminds us that God’s words are way more precious than gold; what a treasure we have been given in His Word! We are thankful to be able to offer this treasure to the Awa. The month of September has our team working extra to prepare portions of Joshua for a consultant check coming up in October. The process includes our coworker Andy first doing a rough translation into Awa, which we then review along with Guillermo, David, and Ramiro, the translation team. The resulting work needs to be checked by three separate Awa individuals (or groups) and back-translated into Spanish in order to check for comprehension and content. Needless to say, there is much work involved, and yet we recognize the value of having God’s precious Word for the Awa in words that they understand. Please join us in prayer for this important work!

 

Running with perseverance…with our eyes fixed on Jesus! (Heb 12:1-2)

August ended up with a special retreat with our Liebenzell Ecuador team. Our former coworkers Doug and Dorcas Williams joined us for the retreat, and we were encouraged by Doug’s teaching on the topic of “perseverance”. The Awa also enjoyed being reunited with Doug and Dorcas after about twelve years and enjoyed hearing Doug share in the Awa language!

As we are reminded in Hebrews chapter 12, please pray for us to not become weary, but to remember Jesus’ example and persevere! (verse 3)

We pray the same for you!

In His grip,

July August 2025

 

Summer Update 2025 (pictures below!) I believe we felt God’s answer to your prayers for us this summer as He carried us through an incredibly full schedule for June, July, and August! We felt His strength in our weariness, and His abundant provision in opening doors for ministry and supplying our needs. Thank you for walking beside us over the last weeks! As Ecuador struggles with a rising rate of crime and security concerns, we are so grateful for the open doors God has granted us here in AwaLand. This summer God allowed us to continue with our youth Saturdays each month, join the local mother’s group for their school year end program, participate in the Palmira high school graduation, and hold VBS programs in two communities…so many good opportunities to share God’s love! Our medical caravan team came in July and two busloads of Awa were able to receive medical help. And Shelia and the medical team worked hard to provide medical training and supplies for our three local medics! The summer VBS programs win the prize for providing the most fun and laughter—our prayer beforehand was that God would give us opportunities to share His love with the children and God abundantly answered that prayer. About 60 children joined us in each community and had fun with our “fish” theme and our big mascot “Freddy”. Our coworkers the Shaubs, summer intern Jada, and the Anderson family added more helping hands; and it was a joy that several Awa moms (and one grandma!) came to help with the small children. So yes, we are finishing up the summer a bit weary but also thankful for God’s help and provision of strength along the way. How much we appreciate your prayers! Two last events will round out the summer as we finish up the month of August: handing out school supplies to the 152 students in the Palmira school this coming weekend (Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd) and then our Ecuador Mission team retreat the last week of the month.   In His Grip,

Two youth Saturdays

Wedding (Dave & Carolina)

HS graduation for Jeison and Richard

Medical training with Dr. Tim

A visit from friends Owen & Ashley

Jada, our LMUSA summer intern

Cement project finished!

Our VBS mascot Freddy 😁

VBS fun in two communities

Sunrise in AwaLand! Thanks again for your prayers!

May/June 2025

 May in Review: Light in the darkness

Looking back over the month of May, we are struck by a certain sadness--several events in May reminded us of the hardness of living in a fallen world. We heard that two young Awa fellows had committed suicide, one 16 years old and another 22 years old, the latter with a young wife and son. I visited a 9 year old girl who broke her leg in a motorcycle accident; her father has refused to take her to the hospital so her leg is not healing correctly. We were able to help her by providing crutches, but not by getting her better medical help. A few weeks ago some of the believers took part in a curing ceremony/party for an elderly grandpa; some of the same youth who attended our youth class in the morning were drinking and fighting that evening.
 
Sometimes the darkness seems so very dark!
Please pray that the same God who spoke light into existence in the beginning would continue to shine the Light of the Gospel here among the Awa! And pray that we would not become discouraged; sometimes we feel like the Light we share is a small candle in the midst of a very dark world.
 
And yet God’s light, shining through His word, continues to bring truth to the Awa who are willing to listen! This month of May we also saw signs of spiritual growth in the believers: Christian and Ana Patricia, and Jaime and Sandra, along with five other families, have taken up the challenge of reading a Bible passage at home each week. Two young men, both believers, told us that they had felt uncomfortable at the above mentioned curing party and had left early. Oscar, David, and Guillermo continue to help with Old Testament translation and are learning much; we enjoy hearing their comments as they understand something new!
 
The month of June has so far been a whirlwind with a youth Saturday, several special visits in Rio Verde, a wedding, and a farewell get-together with our Mission coworkers. Our coworkers the Shaubs are also travelling this month. One of our jobs this month is to set the calendar for July and August, as we host a LMUSA intern, take part in the annual medical caravan, and figure out dates for summer events like VBS programs. Thanks for praying for God’s guidance in planning!
 

In His grip,