Mission Visits

Whatever I have,
wherever I am,
I can make it through anything
in the One
who makes me who I am.

Phil 4:12b-13 the Message

John enjoying the crowd in El Guabo

Before we left for the States we made a visit to each of the churches that we have planted around the country- and those John covers as part of the national council of Verbo. We were able to visit Gualaquiza, Loja, Vilcabamba, the 3 churches in the province of El Oro; El Guabo, Pasaje and Machala, and Manta. That's a lot of miles the highway!

In Manta we had a special time- John shared about the importance of blessing your children. Above are Cinthia and Darwin, one of the young couples who work with Fabian and Clara, praying for their kids.


We had a series of meetings with the church in Loja (above and below) - seminars for leaders in the mornings, and meetings for the congregation in the evenings. It was wonderful to see the response from the leadership all the way through the congregation.

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The church in Vilcabamba is growing steadily, thanks to the dedication of Alfredo Erizalde, (that's him in the lower right corner in the photo of the Loja congregation) who is going down every week to meet and disciple these young Christians. Above, Mauricio Alvarez, the pastor from Loja, is praying for the group in the small room they rent for their meetings. Below, some of the church members waiting for the January medical team in the municipal building in downtown Vilcabamba.


The greatest blessing for us was to spend time with each of these leaders, individually and as teams, sharing our hearts and concerns for them. They all reassured us that in spite of the normal difficulties of learning to relate as teams and with their congregations, they were convinced that God had them where they were, and they were passionate about pursuing His will for their lives! Just amazing.

Visit to Loja and Gualaquiza

Last week we took a trip down south to visit two of the churches that we cover. We broke it up a little, since John is trying to take care of his back. He hurt it in July, and has had sciatica ever since. So, first we drove to Vilcabamba, a little south of Loja. We have a medical team that goes there to work every January, and because of that outreach, there is a small group of believers who regularly meet with one of the leaders from Loja. We are praying that it will grow to be an official church plant soon. Above is a view of the central park. John and Bob Capaldi had meetings with the leaders on Thanksgiving day, and Lauren and I enjoyed a Mexican food lunch and watched our men at work. It was a nice break, strolling around town when it wasn't raining.

After that we headed east and north to Gualaquiza. The "highway" passes so many beautiful waterfalls. We especially enjoyed the sign placed in the middle of this waterfall- it says "enjoy nature- don't deface it" hmmm.

Here is a nice looking bridge. Kind of the opposite of a suspension bridge. I wonder what it would be called! (I doubt the engineers would name it a sagging bridge!) At least there are no potholes!

Our church in Cuenca sent Daniel Quiroz and his wife Martha to Gualaquiza to plant a church about 6 months ago. It wasn't an easy start for them but they rented a new building a month ago, and are seeing great fruit. We were there for their very first youth group meeting. (above photo) Very fun to see a new group excited about all that the Lord is doing in and through them. On Sunday, John shared and then they prepared a meal for everyone who attended. There were about 10 first time visitors among the 112 who attended!