Joyce Update July 3, 2009

To all my friends and family, As I write this, we are in Banos, Ecuador.  It is named that because there are a lot of springs coming from the mountains.  There are hot springs and cold springs.  The boys are there now enjoying the warmth.  I wanted to go, but it is cold here, and I don't want to get wet.  By cold, I mean COLD.  It got down to 65, and windy.  So, you all can see how spoiled I am.  We also went another hour to Ambato, a large city in Ecuador.  On the way, we stopped at a market where they do a lot of hand spinning and knitting.  It was very interesting to me.  We saw an active volcano.  It last erupted about 2 years ago, and we saw where all the lava was.  They had to rebuild the road, as it was buried.  I saw gray smoke coming from the top of it.  It was very interesting to me.  We were able to spend the night here.  It was a great blessing to me to do this with my family.  The boys had a good time and everyone seems happier.  It was a nice time for the family to spend together.  I have been here for 8 months and this is the first tourist thing I have done.

We also met a Quechua man who is a Christian and he showed us his Quechua Bible.  It was interesting to see.

When our 2 day vacation is over, it will be back to work for us.  The boys and Mark will be getting into shape for a trip into the jungle.  They will all be going to the Huaroni villages.  Mark found a guide that will take them in, a Christian Pastor.  It is an 8 hour walk through the jungle to get there.  It will be in the middle of July.  Please pray that these people will be helped in finding their relatives, so they can tell them about the Lord.  Also, pray for safety for my family. 

Mark was very sick for quite a few weeks, but seems to be on the mend.  He has been busy translating and printing tracts in Spanish.  We found one I am especially interested in.  It is the wordless book that I grew up hearing, but it is in bracelet form with a bead of each of the colors.  We are making bracelets to hand out to children with a tract explaining it.  I am excited about it.  I want to go to the villages to hand them to the children.

The youth of the church were holding services in a village, but have stopped, because another group is ministering there.  Elvis would like to find another village for the youth to minister in.  It is a good to keep the youth busy with eternal things.  They also do a lot of visiting of other youth that have been to the church, and don't come any more. 

Well, I wrote the first half of this letter a week ago.  We have been to Shandia twice this week.  The first day we went to visit the day-care there.  There are 30 children.  We were able to sing Bible songs to them and pray with them.  The regional director was there that day. She wanted to talk to us and I thought we were going to be asked to leave, as I believe this a government run day-care.  Instead, she thanked us for coming and said it is important that the children hear Bible songs.   Then one of the workers asked us to come back and sing in the school.  We did that today.  There were 40 children there, ages 6 to 12.  John and Tim got to play soccer with them after.  It is a great blessing  to have freedom to share the gospel in  public places.  We all need to take the opportunity to work for God as He opens the doors. 
I feel that this past month I  have taken a giant step backwards in dying to myself.  I have been selfish and grumpy.  I had to repent the other day. I am thankful for God's patience with me. I want to be able to worship and serve Him, but I fall so short of it. I am very thankful that He has called me to Ecuador.  I am learning a lot about living for Him. Thank you for your prayers.  Love, Joyce