One more night...

Well- the combination of weather and equipment has our morning flight delayed and leaving late this afternoon at 5:50 PM, so it looks like we will be spending the night in Miami tonight, and arriving in Birmingham tomorrow afternoon around 12:30 PM. So...
Be praying.
Chris


As of 4:45PM Saturday we are officially "at the gate" waiting to board later. If you would ask the Lord for grace for hotel vouchers for us when we get to Miami. We hear conflicting reports that there may be no help for us with hotel charges- so we shall see after we get there. 
Hopefully see you guys Sunday afternoon!

Lord willing...

If the Lord wills, our friend Juan will be swinging by to pick us up in a van on Saturday morning (December 17, 2011) for a short ride to the Mariscal Sucre Airport. We plan to walk through the mystic portal to climb on an American Airlines flight to Miami, then another one onward to Birmingham, hopefully arriving at around 8:30 PM Saturday night in the Magic City!
Pray for clearing skies in Quito since the fog here has been horrific in the last few days due to the chilly rain in the Andes.
And yes...the dog is doing better.
Hope to see many of you soon.
Thankful to be among the redeemed in Christ with you all,

Bendiciones!

Chris and Vickie and family...

Dog Days in December

Now our apartment (the lower floor of a large house) has a set of iron bars and an enormous flowering hedge that stretches across the front of the place. It isn’t exactly Fort Knox, but you would need to do some climbing to come over into the tiny garden area at the front. I am guessing that is why there are bars on the front and side windows of the house, so that if Joe Crook decides he feels like hopping over, he still has to contend with the bars. There are still some vulnerable points left for us to consider...

Which is why we have a dog (See his picture from a couple of months ago...). I like dogs, although I would not consider myself a dog fanatic. My brother and sister and I grew up in a “one generation removed from the farm” type environment, which basically leads us to conclude that dogs are dogs. God put fur on them so they can live outside and feel really nice. Yep- that’s why they have fur coats on all the time. So- when our 5-month-old really fine looking German Shepherd (Pastor Areman in Spanish) was feeling sickly on Friday, I simply let him have some water and sleep it off. But when Saturday afternoon rolled around and he was losing fluid at both ends, it was time to take some action.

Not sure if you have ever tried to communicate with a Spanish speaking veterinarian about a dog who is not keeping anything down, but it is an interesting dynamic.

After 2 shots, a prescription, and paying the bill, and after the walk back up the mountain toward home with my now medicated dog, I soon left again for an excellent band and choir concert (Great job Ann Coe!) at the school. During the intermission of the performance I made a hasty walk through the dark and the diesel fumes to the pharmacy nearby to get some additional medicine for him. Now the dog was curled up like any sick puppy when I got back home, so I petted him, confident that the shots would have him back on his feet soon. On Sunday morning early I went out to offer some very bland and watery chicken and rice, only to find him missing… yes, missing.

Well this “missing dog status” certainly started all kinds of conspiracy theories about theft and about other possibilities. It is hard enough to medicate a sick dog with pills, and it is impossible to medicate a missing dog. We sadly resigned ourselves that he was gone. But behold, Tuesday morning he shows up on our doorstep. Was he stolen and returned because he would not fetch the price due to his illness? Did he find a way to wriggle free of the iron bars only to find his way back?

So begins Spanish speaking doggie doc trip number two with more medicine, and more frustration. He just isn’t doing well, so hospitalization may be next? We will see...

Honestly, the series of the last few days with X-rays and MRI’s for Kayla’s knee joint injury, and Spanish speaking cardiologist visits and eye exams and eyeglasses and heart monitors and echocardiograms for Kory, and family intervention for some actions from Kyle, plus a miserable cold for Vickie, and 2 vet visits along with the other normal daily items for 9 children on 3 continents has us all extremely ready for a few days of Christmas vacation.

But, in the midst of this, God’s word has continued to magnify Christ as we share it, and to encourage us as we most need it. Even in the last few days, the opportunities to bring the Gospel to bear on various situations have come flooding in, from mentoring to marriage counseling to questions from Ecuadorian kids who want to know why I believe the Bible, so keep praying that we are strengthened by His Spirit to display His power even as we feel crushed sometimes. Pray that we are not distracted from the joyous work of the gospel by the stressing situations of life in another context. We are so thankful for your prayers, your email notes to us, and your financial support for us, but more than anything else this Christmas season, we are so thankful for your faith in Christ who came for us all.

         “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…”

        

(Ephesians 1:15-18 ESV)

Blessings!

Chris and Vickie

In the last 10 days...

On Saturday morning (not this last one but the one before that), Vickie and I attended a seminar that an HCJB radio mission pastor was leading here near the school. We had our kids relaxing, studying, playing soccer with friends, etc. so we could focus on the meeting. About one hour into it, one of the school’s chaplain leaders came to find me. Yep- that is never a good sign.

We followed him out the iron door gate and headed toward the fence around the AAI school soccer field to see Kayla lying flat on the 1940’s vintage wood bleachers. Yet another thing that is never a good sign. The ice bag on the knee told the story. Knee injuries are tough to diagnose, and especially tough when they first happen and you don’t have x-ray vision. So, we chose the ice/rest/wait till Monday morning approach. After the taxi left to take her up the massive hillside street where we live, our attention turned back to the seminar. Vickie and I breathlessly hurried our way back in and tried to refocus. Of course the morning break began about the time we rejoined the group, so we thankfully had a cup of coffee to settle back in. It was then that I noticed I had missed a call on my tiny cell phone from an unknown number. Again, this is never a good sign. As I began writing, the phone rang again, and so I ducked outside to catch it. Our daughter Kelsey began with “Dad, we have a problem.”

Our son Karson and our two college daughters were slated to fly out to come to Quito, and they should have been leaving Birmingham that morning. We knew they had made it to the airport, and we were excited that by midnight we would see the three of them! The only problem now was that Karson’s passport was too close to expiration for him to fly. God gave great grace and miracles with friends in Birmingham, and with the government, and with the airlines for Karson to go that Monday to Atlanta to get a renewal. Delta allowed him to then be able to fly out that Monday afternoon to join us by around midnight.

So our family time together here (except for Kollin in Ukraine) began with a couple of glitches but then settled out quickly. What now? Well- it came to diagnosis time for Kayla and “the knee”. So this required an X-ray, then a doctor visit, then an MRI at 8:30 PM at night a couple of days later, then a report the next day… (all of this was in Spanish, all of this via taxi or walking, so keep this in mind as you casually think of your American doctor visits)

Now hold all those pictures in suspended animation while you change scenes. This scene involves our adopted son Kyle, age 19. He is here with us. It is no secret that kids from backgrounds of abuse, and neglect, and from birth parents that abused alcohol don’t always make the best decisions. He came to be with us between 12-13 yeas of age from an orphanage, and yes he came from a background like that. And, true to form, he has made several decisions lately that just don’t make sense. So, let’s just leave this poor judgment crisis running in the background for now while we tackle other issues.

So here we are on Monday, getting ready for some sports tryouts for the boys. The doctor in a routine physical exam for Kole and Kory shows me a funny heartbeat in Kory. This little discovery leads to an EKG, and then to a cardiologist visit today. This points to the need for an echocardiogram set for tomorrow, and then 24 hours of wearing a heart monitor. We’ll find out more later on this matter. Oh yes, and he failed the eye test on his physical too, so we scheduled the Ophthalmologist visit on the same day.

End result? He needs glasses. Should be interesting to strap some vision correction on this boy who climbs, jumps, grabs, throws, swings, runs, and flips on a moment-to-moment basis.

Now while these little events are going on, let’s circle back to Kayla’s “knee” and see how that is going. Off we go in a taxi with our films and MRI results to Metropolitano Hospital. Our very confident doctor takes a look. The verdict comes back for Kayla- it’s a blown ACL (I’ll spare you the medical jargon, but suffice to say that this is not good news). So now the dilemma is when to schedule surgery for her.

Okay- now you all know plenty of ways to pray: wisdom, grace, sustaining strength, and the opportunity to display Christ in all these difficulties.

Vickie and I obviously have been less than focused on normal work deadlines in the last few days, so we would seek grace for this as well.

Thank you for your help and prayers for us, we praise God for your faith!

The Gospel and Thanksgiving at AAI in Quito

 This Sunday afternoon, if you could be an electron on the Google Earth screen of your computer, and fly up from “Where-ever-you-are”, and drop down to our flat spot next to Juan Jose Villalengua Street and into our school conference room, you would find a small gathering of part of our school faculty. We’ll be gathered there for a brief time of prayer, sharing, thanksgiving, and encouragement in the word.

We won’t be focused on turkey and dressing, because we won’t be cooking any that day (although we will be later in the week Lord willing!)

 We will be there hearing from one another, praying for one another, and offering thanks to God for His work on our behalf in so many ways!

So if you are reading this now, I would ask, for the sake of the truth of the Gospel message, and for the sake of His glory to Ecuador and to every nation, that you might spend 5 minutes praying.

Pray for our time on Sunday both in house church, and in the faculty gathering.

Pray for R. and S. and B. and C., who are men that God has given to me to mentor in word, and prayer, and simply in “life on life” experience. Pray for a 5^th one that seeks to be led but whose work schedule seems to prevent it.

Pray that our English conversations/relationship multiplies into their Spanish conversations and relationships that make disciples!

Pray for M and B and their kids, a cross cultural family that is part of our house church, that God would use His word to have eternal impact through their lives. Pray for wisdom for us as we walk together in the gospel.

Pray for lost students from 23 countries at AAI to be open to the Gospel. There are Buddhist kids, atheist kids of missionaries, unbelieving kids whose parents are Roman Catholic in family tradition but who have no relationship with Christ, kids whose parents are living in other countries for economic reasons, and a myriad of other situations.

Pray for our AAI staff to be encouraged, and to be strengthened by His Spirit to obey His word, and to be the gospel in all ways.

Pray for Vickie and for me, for our marriage to display the glory of Christ, and especially for wisdom in Christ to lead our family, and to know how to love them well in the midst of mission, in the midst of multiple cultures, and with the unique challenge of 5 adopted plus 4 biological children scattered on 3 continents.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-18

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Things to think through on Friday afternoon

A few little things about life here, that you probably take for granted in Birmingham daily life... that you might smile about.


1) dishwashing machines -a rare thing here, and we have the dishpan hands to prove it.


2) Natural gas line direct to your house - we have 4 separate propane tanks... one tank for the stove, one for the dryer, and two for the beloved calephones (water heaters)...these tanks are about twice as large & heavy as a US propane tank, and yes they do run out at 5:30 AM- I have experienced it.


3) Starting a car and driving wherever you want. - You think the DMV is trouble there? Ha! Step one toward even getting a license here (legally) is a blood test, yes a blood test.


4) Lanes, driving in lanes... no such thing.


5) Seasoning packets for tacos, chili, etc., virtually non-existent.


6) You cannot bring your grocery basket through the cashier line, so you leave it and unload onto the conveyor belt, thereby leaving a mass of baskets in the way. I mean hundreds of them.


7) No dropping your bills in the mail for phone, electricity, etc. You go stand in line and pay a service company to pay your bill for you. You pray they don't ask you complicated questions while you are in line.


8) Everywhere has an armed guard. Everywhere. Get used to it. 


9) Flat sidewalks without tripping hazards. Really?


10) Car alarms are like my night time lullaby and my alarm clock now. They put me to sleep. They wake me up. 


Thankful for all of you-
Blessings!
Chris and Vickie

The Old, the New, the Secret, and the Glory… (not in that order)

So the end of last week was just a bit weird, since the Ecuadorian folks have paired up a couple of holidays back to back, and then these holidays run up against a Friday so, you guessed it, they take that day off as well. All that means is that we finally had a couple of days out of the school routine to enjoy together. I have not seen so many closed storefronts since Christmas day in the states.

During this slack point in the schedule, our family got to make a trek with another family from our house church to the Old City part of Quito. We really only touched on some of it, so I look forward to more in the days ahead, but let it suffice to say that it is quite fascinating to look at the place, where at least 500 years of culture have blended in one spot.

Take a look at this wonderful spot for a relatively new church plant to meet together out in a small town about an hour away in the rural area East of Quito. We were so humbled to ride out on a Sunday morning with our friend Les, a very kind Ecuadorian pastor/church planter, to visit and help them clean and organize the tiny donated space. We stopped along the way in a village to pick up some paint to cover up the moldy ceiling. A pig was being slaughtered 25 feet away from our van as we awkwardly waited.  I was so thankful to be able to pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ as a group as they begin meeting together there in the town.

If you don’t know it yet, the Lord graciously allowed us to host Secret Church here at Alliance Academy. Keep in mind, this was at the final day of a 3-day holiday and on a Friday night also, and we still had almost 30 people attend! It was an incredibly encouraging time to be worshipping through the word with other believers in Ecuador, and Birmingham, and around the world.

In addition, we had the chance to gaze at the glory of God through His creation as we rode a cable car up the side of Pichincha, and then hiked a breathless trail onward and upward to about 13,500 feet to catch a quick glimpse of Rucu Pichincha volcano’s peak (over 2000 feet higher than this photo point) before the clouds engulfed us all on the mountain.

We are thankful for God’s glory expressed in each of you and would ask for you to pray for us as we seek Christ more to use us to be the gospel to kids and parents and teachers placed here from 23+ countries. Pray for us to be wise about leading our own children, and especially for our children scattered on 3 continents. We face an interesting array of opportunities daily that can detract from our focus on gospel advance, so we seek you to pray early and often for how best to make disciples in our family and with our family.

Blessings!

Chris and Vickie and family

The view from my window…

When you look out my window about 5:30AM, if the sky is a purple shade of clear, you can see the volcano Cayambe (kah- yahm- be) clearly stretching up into the horizon over the other peaks nearby it. It stands there, silently capped with snow, posing behind a foreground full of streetlights and houses of all shapes and sizes and income levels. This is Quito. Each direction you look, and each time of day you look, everything is slightly different from the moment before. Our apartment here in the lower floor of an older house, is located on the side of the lower slopes of another volcano called Rucu Pichincha. From here we walk a flat 30 yards and then make a hard left turn downhill, dodging taxis and buses all the way to our international school. The trip back home is a whole other cardiovascular experience.

But more than what I see geographically, I see other things as well. I see a school community, composed of teachers and students from a variety of places and backgrounds. I see a diverse parent community, with hopes and dreams and fears just like families in Birmingham, who struggle with teenagers and marital issues and special needs kids, and every other thing under the sun.

Besides the multiple array of cultures represented in the school, there are multiple economic levels represented as well. Some families have been graced by God to be scholarship recipients for their kids to attend. Literally, some parents and students and siblings are sleeping in tiny apartments nearby on foam mattresses, while the parents travel to work an hour away each morning as their kids go to school.

I even know one case with a sibling group of young Ecuadorian kids who are being cared for and educated here at AAI, whose parents aren’t even truly identified at this point, because the person they were living with has multiple identities. Neither the courts or the school knows the ages of these kids, because the documents just plain don’t exist for the environment where they were born. There are parents who have chosen careers over their family. They make a really good living by being gone, and I mean gone all the time. They choose the school because they hear that it has good values, and a US style of teaching. Then we get to deal with the aftermath of missing discipline in the kid’s lives. So North American culture has no monopoly on interesting family situations. This is at least some of what I see.

Bottom line is this. The Gospel has power to save, and this I clearly see. I have been specifically asking in recent days for God to use AAI to save many women and men. So yesterday when I met and shared a word about disciple-making with a group of Latin American pastors who volunteer at the school, one of them told me how a lady came to the office in the last couple of days to meet for counseling. This parent shared that she was not a Christian, but her husband was a Christian. She continued by saying that after she came to AAI this year with her child, she saw that the Christianity that her husband claimed to have was nothing like the Christianity she was seeing from people at AAI, and she wanted to know Christ like that! My Latin American brother was able to share Gospel truth with her and see her trust in Jesus Christ to save her soul that day. So, as I looked out my window this morning in the chilly air, I didn't just see geography, but I saw clearly yet again how God answers our prayers that glorify His Son, even when we can’t see or imagine the end result.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 ESV)

The Gospel and S.E.W.

First, thank you for being patient with our blog post delay. We have just changed locations for our family to be more centrally located for ministry here in the city of Quito! But we will talk more about that in a few moments!

So what’s SEW? Here at the foot of Pichincha Volcano in Quito, Ecuador, at Alliance Academy International, it means Spiritual Emphasis Week at the school. This past week, the entire group of secondary students at our school from Ecuador, China, Japan, Indonesia, Jordan, Colombia, Korea, (and the list continues…) all got 5 straight daily segments of biblical proclamation just before lunchtime each day here at the school. A pastor from an Acts 29 church in Guatemala shared each day by “Busting Myths about God” which seems to be an incredibly needy thing in various cultures around the world, and not just in Ecuador.

We set up the week by having panel discussions several days beforehand in a variety of settings and times, where students asked basically any question they wanted to ask about God. Our team spent hours praying for God to speak to their hearts through His word. God does not disappoint when it comes to the glory of His Name because at mid-week, 20-25 students indicated that they have now placed their trust in Jesus Christ for the very first time! Please join us in thanking God for this response to His Gospel, and in asking Him for further opportunities to make disciples through their lives! We are humbled at His grace shown to us in this work.

So now back to the relocation to Quito for our family. Just to refresh everyone on our current family setup: We have an adopted son who is a senior in High School and is living with another family in the U.S. We also have two daughters currently studying at Mississippi State, working as RA’s in the University housing system. We also have one adopted son, who has graduated out of high school, and he is temporarily with us here in Ecuador. We are examining if obtaining a Visa might be an effective plan for him right now. In addition, we have another 18 year-old adopted son who is currently living in Ukraine, and we are praying and working toward helping him see the Gospel and ultimately gain independence in life. Obviously this leaves 4 more children here in Ecuador with us, specifically two biological and two adopted children, who are currently with us at AAI in grades 12,9, 8 and 7.

My role as Director of Spiritual Life here at Alliance Academy International is providing multiple avenues for ministry as God provides frequent disciple-making opportunities. The exciting part is that many of these are with bi-lingual nationals or through bi-lingual expatriates who have direct influence into the lives of nationals here! The Lord has clearly displayed His presence and power for multiplying the gospel through making disciples, and the immediate chance to have impact here despite the language barrier is a very significant part of this display.

Christ has continued to increase my desire, as part of the leadership team here, to invest more fully during the weekdays into this work here in the city. Our school CSO groups, which have adult leaders and High school students working together, meet on each Wednesday until around 6 PM. Their areas of ministry are numerous and widespread in scope (hospitals, street kids, English tutoring, orphanage work, etc.) By God’s amazing design, the ultimate shape and direction of these ministries at Alliance Academy International are a part of my responsibilities here. Also, our Counseling and Chaplaincy programs are extensive ministry areas at Alliance. The Chaplaincy program is one of the most exciting opportunities to engage a diverse student body with the gospel truth that I have ever seen. The Counseling team touches dozens of struggling parent and student relationships and issues with care and gospel influence on a weekly basis, not to mention the opportunity for upcoming Gospel based seminars and leader training. Our Lord has been so gracious to provide many “pastoral care moments” with staff members here that have only really been addressed during my time on campus, unless I stay in Quito well past our normal commute time.

As a Health and Guided Resource Class (for ESL students) teacher here, Vickie has opportunities daily to provide spiritual leadership and mentoring to students and adults. Several additional avenues for gospel influence have been presented to her because of her experience level in coaching, and the Lord has clearly given her a desire to invest in those ways more in the days ahead.

God has also given me personal opportunity to work with CAF (Centro de Apoyo Familiar), which is a small group of national pastors and wives from ministries across Quito and beyond. This group volunteers their time to help minister to families here at the school. This seems to be an incredible chance to grow a disciple-making network here in country, and to possibly even aid the DMP summer disciple-making camp process through developing all these relationships!

Finally, as we have prayed together, God has also shown us that the current logistical makeup of our 9 children’s life stages points to a need for a place for some of them (or all of them) to stay with us and/or work alongside us here in Ecuador periodically. With both Vickie and I working at Alliance Academy, our schedule and location in Conocoto has presented a variety of interesting issues for our family, including safety, space, adequate rest, family discipleship time, and meal prep and study times.

As a result, we believe that God has graciously led us to be able to relocate our family into rented space in the lower floor of a house about 10 blocks up the mountain from the school campus in order to pursue what we see as the maximum disciple-making opportunities at this time. So as God has given us clarity, we have decided to step away from the Camp Development roles with Disciple-Making Partners in order to invest ourselves fully into the disciple making opportunities that He has given right in front of us here in Quito at Alliance Academy International.

Now this location change for our family to focus on disciple-making here does not diminish our desire to see the DMP Camp ministry out in Conocoto grow and prosper in disciple making! In fact, we obviously want to maintain gospel centered relational and spiritual connections with our co-laborers Bob and Ann Coe who will remain there at the camp in the Los Chillos Valle. We plan to pray for them and their family consistently, to contribute relationally and financially, and to support the entire camp work there toward all gospel purposes. We thank God for the opportunity to be in the initial development roles of the ministry there, and look forward to partnering with DMP in multiple ways in the days ahead.

So continue praying for us as we continually discover the plans of God for using our lives for His glory in this spot at this time!

        

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

        

(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

Lessons Learned

Last Saturday, the Coe family and the Nichols family decided to host a small gringo style “cookout” for our friends down the hill in the Davis Foundation just to say “ thank you” for their help to us in a variety of ways. We also invited a few people from Alliance Academy in Quito that have expressed interest in ministry alongside the camp and orphanage here in the valley.

Now, North Americans frequently like to cookout in the early evening. You know, a nice Saturday afternoon, some good conversations, and time to just be together. We strategically invited some bi-lingual folks to help us with the conversations. So on Friday night our two families shopped for food, and carried the multiple bags back to our little enclave in the mountainside. I think we estimated 32 people total would be in attendance. Our flat concrete roof is a great spot to host a crowd like this.

Well, our kind brothers and sisters did not tell us when they accepted the invitation, because they are so gracious as to not offend us in any way, that during these months there is a really high probability of a rainstorm after about 2 PM each day. Not that we had not experienced it before, but I think we just failed to connect the dots that it may happen on a daily basis for several days in a row.

The morning started out beautifully, and Vickie and I walked into town and bought enough strawberries for dessert to feed an army for about 2 $ from the local market. As the day progressed we accomplished some tasks and then Bob Coe fired up the grill around 4:15 PM. Yep- you guessed it. Around 5:00 PM, or right around our projected arrival time for the meal, we received what we call in the southern US as a “frog-strangler” rainstorm. Let’s put it this way. I don’t know if it is something to do with the equator or the altitude but it was raining buckets, sideways buckets.

See our photos of both food prep and wall-to-wall guests in our house. Around 30 very wet Americans and Ecuadorians all under one roof. All, despite the storm, had a good time. Now, clean up was a different story as we continued to mop muddy floors until 11PM. Thankful to be exhausted from serving our friends here.

Blessings!

 

         “… the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 Matthew 20:28

        

The Gospel and Staff Retreat

Thank you.

Thank you for praying, because this weekend our entire school staff met together in downtown Quito including teachers, maintenance staff, guards, board members, student teachers and all their spouses. It was a beautiful thing to see North Americans, Ecuadorians, Koreans, Columbians, Brazilians, Argentineans, Palestinians, Canadians, and third-culture kids (people who grew up on the mission field that really stutter for a moment when you ask, “where are you from?”), and they all were gathered in one dining room.

My friend Ricky, an Ecuadorian intern from the chaplaincy office, worked hard last week with gathering prayer requests from members of the leadership team, as we planned together about sessions for the retreat time. God led us to plan a worship gathering, which would include nothing but God-glorifying music, prayer (biblical, gospel believing, written prayers, in English and in Spanish) and the reading of Bible verses that bring out truth from the storehouse of all truth.

Saturday night was incredibly encouraging. People praying for one another in English and Spanish, a sort of “unplugged” worship music set with only acoustic guitars, a saxophone, and a Cajon’, and lots of people obviously enjoying the worship of God through prayer and word.

Sunday morning, we cranked it up a bit more adding some wind instruments, a few more strings, and a full drum set this time, and it was glorious to see everyone singing out and praising God, from multi-denominational backgrounds, multiple age groups, cross cultural married couples, all in one room.

Then, God allowed an opportunity for us all to look together into an incredible passage in Hebrews 12:28 through 13:21 as we talked about “Risk, Challenge, and the Ultimate Goal.”

I was so encouraged to hear from so many people today about how this passage spoke individually to people’s hearts all across the room on Sunday morning in a variety of ways. His word is good…and He is faithful to answer our pleading for Him to glorify Himself through His word.

May we all have grace for receiving a “kingdom that cannot be shaken…”

Blessings,

Chris and Vickie

Something to chew on...

Every once in a while (but not very often), I have to sort of remind myself that I am in a very different place than Birmingham. Now, pictured at left is one of those “snap you back to reality” moments, where you look outside your house on a Sunday afternoon, and realize this fact fresh and new. See my two llama (pronounced yah’-mah) friends here as they enjoy some of the local produce of our camp area. I actually have two blankets on my bed made from some of the furry wool you see on their back (okay- maybe another llama’s furry back- but my two blankets are made of llama wool).

 

Here’s a picture (see right) of our newer walking route to the bus stop since we moved up the mountain. This little 3 foot wide concrete structure goes over a nice little gorge about 60 or 70 feet deep, but only about 25 feet wide, so you really can’t see the bottom.

On a more serious, and important note, here are some specific ways you can pray for us. It is so vital to the mission of Christ in us that you continue this, for much is accomplished through your devotion in asking God for favor and strength for us in these ways:

1)      Pray for our school staff retreat this weekend here in Quito. I will have the opportunity to teach on Sunday morning, and to lead in various other sessions as well, so please ask the Lord to use this time powerfully for His glory and our good, and to sustain me and conform me to His character.

2)    Pray for God to draw students from all over the world that are in school here to salvation in Christ. Pray for opportunities for the Word to reach their ears and hearts.

3)    Pray especially for our family as we wrestle with the complexity of having children spread on three continents, and all that goes with this arrangement.

4)    Pray for wisdom and healing for my Dad back in the US, as his staff infection from a hip surgery last year has returned suddenly. My Mom needs sustaining grace in this time as well.

5)    Pray for us to continually learn Spanish, to love the people here as Christ does, and to be wise in all things related to the gospel camp area here. 

C   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
    "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Classes, Crutches, Caliphones, and the Gospel

Thursday was day one. It was “opening day” for students at Alliance Academy here in Quito. We bounced and rocked our way (with our kids in a van with us) out of our little town square, and then on to the Autopista to head up the mountain toward the toll-booth, while the engine strained like a mixer in a bowl. Then we turn and climb for the next 25 minutes along a fast road called Simon Bolivar, where the hairpin turns make your weight shift from one side of the van to the other in a “not-so-smooth” motion. Now this road, that winds back and forth along the ridge that leads into Quito, is sort of like a Six Flags ride. As Ann Coe put it, “Can we get a bar to pull down over our shoulders to hold on to? ” If you know which direction to look, you can see 5 different snow- covered volcanoes on the way between the clouds in the valley below and the wispy white clouds above. (Birmingham is a beautiful place, but you won’t exactly see this type of scenery on the way down Highway 119 in the morning.)

The last few days have been interesting regarding mobility. Kyndal fractured a bone in her ankle and tore some ligaments about 3 weeks ago, and it took about 7 days to discover this bone issue. Once the swelling went down some and the pain persisted, we had a bilingual helper go with us to a hospital in Quito. Yep- she got a cast from toes to mid-calf. Crutches are obviously needed. I plan on shooting a video of the walk from our newer place to the bus stop here so you can get a feel for the terrain she has had to negotiate on two aluminum sticks. Let’s put it this way. I enjoyed a whole other level of cardio workout for a couple of days where I gave her piggyback rides for some of the rougher parts of the trip.

I may have mentioned the water heater issue at our new spot up the mountain. After a half-day repair process, we got it working to the point that you could manually “light the rocket” and get some hot water. After several days of this practice we decided to spring for a new one. These little machines are called “caliphones”, and after a half-day venture to the local “home-depot” type store, we had our friend Ephraim help install it. Beautiful.  Now only one problem now. It runs about 1 minute and then, surprise! Out comes the chilly mountain water. After about 3 days of experimentation, it was time to take further action. My friends at Alliance helped us get a technician on the phone. The next day I timed my departure from school to get to Conocoto to meet the tech. He calls while I am on the bus and I manage to understand that he is at the gate and I tell him 10 minutes. At bridge 6, I hit the ground running and make it to the gate. No tech. Then 2 phone calls later I realize he is at the “other” gate - the one about ¼ mile down the mountain. So down the hill I go to find him. Wow. He’s at the bottom of the hill all right. No truck, no taxi. It’s just him and a backpack with a few tools in it. Are you kidding me? Okay, we then both trek back up the mountain. Summary- high temp switch is broken (on a brand new machine), it will be Saturday to replace it, but thankfully he fixes it temporarily so we get a treat of automatic hot water for the first time since we have been in this house!

But the Gospel is beyond this, more important than this, and it will outlast all of this. And when I stood in the school on Thursday morning and watched 600 faces of the next generation along with their parents, from all over the world, walk in and begin a year of Gospel influence, it renews in my heart the reason why we are here.

Pray for a Biblical Gospel to be shared here. Pray for a glorious Gospel to be shown. Pray for a righteous Gospel to be taught daily. Pray for eternal responses as we serve the world.

So thankful for all of you!

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

On A Clear Day...

Someone, maybe one of my sweet daughters, snapped this picture back in late June as we were exploring a cultural route before any mission teams arrived here.

I have it here because a) it points to the glory of our God, and b) I thought it is a good photo to accompany the following scripture passage.

My first day serving with the leadership team at Alliance Academy was Monday. God graciously allowed me to have the chance to lead a devotional time there. This meant walking out of the metal gate below my casa at 6:30 AM onto the dusty road, already showered, shaved, dressed, fed, and prayed up for the day. Clear and chilly air that makes your breath come out in a brief cloud in August- amazing. There are always lots of paths to choose from when you have the chance to lead, but why talk about anything else other than what is below?

Psalm 145:1-21

I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

            ²      Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

            ³      Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

            ⁴      One generation shall commend your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

            ⁵      On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

            ⁶      They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

            ⁷      They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

            ⁸      The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

            ⁹      The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

            ¹⁰      All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

and all your saints shall bless you!

            ¹¹      They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

and tell of your power,

            ¹²      to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

            ¹³      Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

                  [The Lord is faithful in all his words

and kind in all his works.]

            ¹⁴      The Lord upholds all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

            ¹⁵      The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

            ¹⁶      You open your hand;

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

            ¹⁷      The Lord is righteous in all his ways

and kind in all his works.

            ¹⁸      The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

            ¹⁹      He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he also hears their cry and saves them.

            ²⁰      The Lord preserves all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

            ²¹      My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Here are my thoughts on vv 14-21:

·      Watch for the merciful character of our King.

o   He meets needs of humanity regardless of their response to Him.

o   He hears the plea of humanity when they call to Him in truth.

·      Watch for the eternal justice of our God.

o   We must continually consider the devotion of our own lives…

o   We must continually consider the outcome of the lives around us.

·      Let our lives continually speak His praise.

Blessings!

Chris and Vickie and family