September news

In a certain sense, there have been some dark clouds hanging over the small group of believers in this community. There has been much sickness going around, and several folks have not been attending the Sunday teaching regularly. There are rumors going around that one of the believers was drunk and dancing with his whole family a few weeks ago.  (We are still working through this one. I don’t believe it’s true—but folks do love to accuse the believers of such sins!) Another one of the believers has been going through a time of trial on several fronts—a large debt, sickness, and family discord. Instead of wholeheartedly turning to the Lord in his time of need, he’s been seeking out different ‘curers’. Last Sunday he attended the service here, and then later in the day went to his brother-in-law’s house for an ‘honra’ ceremony, remembering the fifth anniversary of his nephew’s suicide. (These ceremonies are known for being occasions of drinking and dancing, as the family tries to convince the spirit of the dead one that they are ‘happy’ and that he should go on to heaven and leave them alone. Food and clothing are left out as gifts to the spirit.) Milton’s shepherd’s heart has been saddened by all the community’s rumors and accusations, as well as seeing the poor testimony of this fellow believer. (On a positive note, these situations have brought Milton to our house for several good times of discussion and counsel. He shared with me that he has been reading in Matthew, and that despite all that is going on, the Lord continues to encourage him.)

On the home front, Kathy and I have also been suffering with much sickness and feeling a bit low. Back in July we both had a vicious stomach flu that really wiped us out. Since then, Kathy especially has been struggling to regain her strength. She underwent lab work and several doctor visits without finding much help—the Dr. felt like it was a type of chronic fatigue brought on by the virus. The last few weeks have found her slowly regaining strength…until we were both hit again by a nasty cold. Last Sunday I woke up at 4 a.m. with a terrible sinus headache. It was a real struggle just to make it through the service---we are so thankful for the Lord’s strength and grace in pulling us through that day! Despite my throbbing head, I was able to teach and we had a long and lively discussion afterwards, as several had questions they wanted to ask. Thanks so much for praying for us—we have felt His strength upholding us. At this point, we thank the Lord that we are both again on the mend.

2 Corinthians 12 reminds us that His power is perfected in our weakness—and that His grace is sufficient for us. We’d appreciate your prayers that the Lord will uphold Milton, the believers, and us as missionaries through these ‘cloudy’ days. We love to remember that the work is the Lord’s (not ours) and that yes, HE IS ABLE! Amen. :-)

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>

View from my window

Odd things you see in Ecuador!

Forget your scrawny little bass woofers; I’ve got a BIG BARK!

Totally decked out beetle!

 

Translation Checking

Doug and Dorcas Williams arrived to visit this week. Although they are now living in the USA, Doug continues to translate portions of the O.T. as he is able. This week here on the mountain we are in the midst of several days of checking O.T. portions. In the past we have found it difficult to find Awa folks who were willing to help us do this—for such active people, the hours of sitting down doing such painstaking literary work discourage many would-be helpers! But we are thankful for 8 helpers who have showed up to help—both Milton and Paulino among them, and two brothers who come for the first time—Marco and Edwin. There is good camaraderie around the table as they discuss what the best way to say a certain phrase. Questions arise—what would the Awa call a ‘threshing floor’? The answer: a dried grain shelling/husking place (pippa kilpu k+hshmukin). (At the moment they are working on the last verses of Genesis 50, where Jacob dies and is greatly mourned by Joseph at the threshing floor of Atad.)

Kimberly and her cousin Elena also arrived on the same flight from Atlanta with the Williams. We were glad they had someone to travel with for the last leg of their trip home. It is nice to have our Kimberly back! She is enjoying a few weeks of vacation before digging into homeschool for her sophomore year of high school.

Thanks for standing with us as we continue to bring God’s Word to the Awa,

Kevin and Kathy

July 2013 update

Part of the work here includes much rejoicing in seeing hearts softening towards the Lord, while at the same time sorrowing when we see other hearts seeming to harden and move away from Him. We thank you for joining with us in praying that many will respond to His call by desiring to listen to the Bible teaching. Understanding the Gospel is often a slow process for the Awa, as they have very little concept of who God is to start with. As they begin to listen, there is much to think on! Recently Carlos and his wife Maria have shown a beginning interest in joining us on Sundays, along with their 3 youngest kids. Maria is very talkative, and especially seems to enjoy the kids’ lesson that Milton teaches. As he teaches, she interacts by repeating phrases, making comments, doing her best to follow along. We have also seen some changes in the teacher from Paulino’s community, Andrew, and his family. They are faithful attendees when we teach in their community, and are following the OT lessons with great fascination (on our last trip up there Kevin taught about Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea).

The government has been installing computers in each of the community schools, bringing modern technology to the Awa. However, there are very few who know how to use the computers (although we’ve noticed that, as in every culture, there are teenage boys on hand, just hankering to get those machines figured out!) Kevin has been asked by three Awa communities to teach them how to make use of these computers in the schools—a task he thoroughly enjoys! We pray that helping in this way will help to open new doors in the future to be able to share the ‘bigger’ reason that we are here. We’ve made two trips to a new community in the last few weeks—a community we had not felt welcome in before.

In the last month a situation arose in which one of the believers owed another believer a large sum of money. (We’ll call them Hector and Victor.)  Victor had been planning to sell Hector a piece of land, but the deal fell thru when his grown children changed their minds and decided that the land shouldn’t leave their family. Our hearts were fearful that this situation could cause a huge tear in the fellowship of the believers, as many were taking sides and beginning to talk negatively. On two occasions Hector travelled many hours to meet with Victor and clear up the issue, but Victor didn’t show up. Two Sundays ago we sat with Hector with heavy hearts, as it seemed that no progress was being made. At the same time Hector shared with us that he had been tempted to make a big fuss in the community, talking about the problem Victor had caused him. But because Victor is a brother in Christ, Hector said he realized that he didn’t want to try to settle the problem in that way, but to rather work it out in good fellowship, the way that God’s Word teaches. Our hearts were blessed by his Godly attitude, especially when he stands to lose so much in an economic sense. This past Sunday, Hector and Victor both came to the Sunday service, and were able to talk about the issue calmly, and Victor returned about one-third of the funds that he owed, while promising to continue to return the remaining funds as he is able. Kathy and I were gone to Palm community to teach (but praying!) and were so thankful to hear this good news from Andy and Chrissy when we returned. Andy said he mostly just sat and listened while the believers openly talked and worked out the issue! We were so thrilled to see the believers putting what they have learned into practice in a difficult situation. Amen…the Lord is able!!

Thankful hearts…
• The Lord gave us 3 excellent days with our friends Shelia, Dr. Tim, Dr. Kim, and the rest of the medical caravan folks. We were able to see over 400 Awa from at least seven different communities. Milton and Paulino had chosen the story of Jonah to teach to the waiting crowd, and Kevin took turns with the two of them teaching those who gathered around. The Awa thoroughly enjoyed the teaching, making comments and repeating key phrases---at times it was hard to pull them away when it was their turn in the doctor’s office! Since then we have heard many comments that the medical help was greatly appreciated (especially the parasite medicine!)
• Due to someone dropping out, Kenny was able to go back to work at Liberty U. 5 days/week over the summer at the IT Help-Desk position---a job he thoroughly enjoys; while still working weekends at J.Crew. He was glad to get a couple of days off for July 4th! Keilah and Kimberly are doing well at camp in Missouri—there are pictures posted on Facebook at Whispering Winds Bible Camp if you are interested in checking them out!

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<click here for a printable version>

Do your eyes cry for the lost?