Dear friends,
Here is a brief update on happenings at the Outpost!
Christmas
December 22nd we celebrated a special Christmas Sunday with 75 Awá (plus or minus a few, it was hard to count!) While we were a little disappointed that many of those who were invited didn’t show up (many were dealing with hangovers from another community’s Christmas bash the day before), yet we had quite a few visitors. Both Paulino and Milton enjoyed the opportunity to share with their own people the importance of Christmas and the gift of God’s Son to pay for our sin. In fact, Milton preached for almost an hour, sharing from passages in Ephesians and Romans that he had carefully marked and studied for the occasion. His great desire to communicate showed clearly in his earnest tone and gestures, and he didn’t mince any words as he encouraged the Awá who were laughing in the back to be sure and listen carefully so they could learn how to escape going to hell. Kevin also shared a short message, and several of the children stood up to recite John 3:16 in Awá. After the long service, we shared a meal of boiled pork, rice, plantains, yucca, and onion salad, which many of the ladies had helped to cook. The food was plenteous, which here in Awaland means the party was a success! We do pray that the unsaved Awá who visited that day went away thinking about God’s gift to them. December 28th we repeated the program in another Awá community, with a smaller group of believers and family members.
2009 is here!
Happy new year! Since January is one of our rainiest months, our year began with lots of rainfall, muddy trails, and a few new mudslides on our road. With the cooler temperatures and dampness, we Bruces are known to down lots of coffee and tea while huddling around our cookstove. (Okay, it only gets down to about 60 degrees, which means that many of you New Englanders would get out your summer attire. But if you add the dampness and brisk winds and fog that blow over our mountaintop..well, we get cold!) But in the next week or two we’ll be enjoying warmer and drier temperatures here in our house thanks to a new addition---a wood stove made out of a barrel! We’ll try to post some pictures when we get the stove functioning.
Conflict
Heavy on our minds this month has been the conflict between Virgilio, one of the believers, and his brother Francisco. There has been tension between the brothers for years, and a few fights from time to time. Over the last month or two, we have felt the old conflict re-surfacing. In December we heard rumors that many were saying that Kevin must be teaching Virgilio bad ways from God’s Word. We began to pray that God’s testimony in the community would not be hurt, and that Virgilio could choose to work things out in a Godly way. Monday, December 29th, another one of the believers (Milton) called Kevin to quickly come down to the community meeting, as there was trouble between the brothers. Kevin arrived to find the two men hollering back and forth, with the whole community taking part, yelling about the rumors and gossip and problems. “So-and-so said you said you were going to kill me!” Francisco was yelling, although Virgilio denied this. On and on the conflict went, while Kevin tried, without much success, to encourage the men to work out the problem calmly. The fight soon turned into a fist fight, and then a machete was pulled out. Kevin said his knees were shaking as he looked at the two muscular fellows there fighting, knowing he had to intervene somehow. (Yes, we do need your prayers! We feel very inadequate at these times.) Milton said that he was also scared, so he started to leave. “But the Lord gave me strength to return, so I did,” he told us later. Milton grabbed Francisco, while Kevin pulled Virgilio away, bringing the fight to an end. As the men gradually calmed down, the community leader wrote a paper for them to sign saying they would respect each other’s land borders and not threaten each other anymore. Virgilio said he would forgive his brother and signed it, although Francisco refused to sign it saying that if he ever heard any more he would just wait by the trail with his shotgun. Later, as Virgilio made his way home from the meeting, he stopped in at our house. This time Kevin was able to share with him many principles from God’s Word about how to handle conflict, and he listened carefully. “How can I treat my brother kindly when he is so bad to me?” was one of his questions. This opened the door to sharing many truths. You know, God forgave us for all our sins when we were just dirty, ugly sinners! Virgilio asked us to pray for him, which Kevin did. The next Sunday our kids acted out the parable (of the unmerciful servant) Jesus told when Peter asked Him how many times we are to forgive our brothers. (See Matthew 18:21ff). Since then, we have sensed a calmness in Virgilio, and a slow change in his attitude toward his brother. Please pray that he will be able to put into practice the new truths he is hearing from Scripture. It is definitely a battle to leave behind the old ways of dealing with such a problem.
Thank you so much for your prayers!
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Kevin & Kathy Bruce
Liebenzell Mission
Casilla 10-01-692
Ibarra, Imbabura
ECUADOR
+593 9 478-7811
