The Home Stretch
Hola everyone,
We love and miss you! As we wind down our time in Ecuador, we are getting excited about returning to the States and getting to see y'all. Thanks so much for your support this summer. We are humbled by how many of you have checked in on us and prayed for us during our time here. We can't do enough to thank you!
The past few weeks have been a little crazy, as Christina was sick for a week and had to stay in bed. Thankfully, a doctor from the church came and took care of her and now she is better! On a few of the nights when she was sick, I had to go teach pastors in a small town around 45 minutes away, but thankfully some of the college students from the church came and kept her company. Christina has continued to build relationships with these students the past few weeks. She has learned so much from their faith and they love to spend time with her and look up to her!
We have also had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the missionary families and learn from them. They welcome us into their homes, feed us, and let us ask them anything we want. We are so thankful for their willingness to teach us and have us tag along wherever they go! Last night, we got to babysit for one of the families so the parents could go on a date. Christina made them dinner and we watched a movie with the kiddos. One of the most important parts of any short-term mission trip is serving and encouraging the missionaries already there!
Last Sunday, I preached at the local church here in Cuenca right before 6 people got baptized (of all ages!). I tried to encourage them to rejoice in their salvation and called the entire congregation to help disciple them. This past week, I helped the other missionaries train church leaders in Paute, a nearby city. Each night we would teach for around 3 hours. The believers there were so eager to learn and would have stayed there all night if possible! I got to teach on the rise of the Roman Catholic Church and their doctrine (nearly all the students used to be Catholic, so they were very interested in that), Islam, and how Christianity arrived and developed in the Americas. We had great discussion about the terrible way that Catholicism first came to their country (convert or be killed) but also discussed the great example of men like Jim Eliot, who peacefully and sacrificially brought the good news of Jesus to Ecuador. Most people in Ecuador (around 85%) would identify as Catholic, but many are very nominal in their faith. The Catholicism here is also very different than many other places in the world because it is blended with ancient religions that were here before the Europeans arrived. People often put their ultimate hope in superstitions, sacrifices, Mary, or their own works rather than trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ. We want to show them that Jesus has already done everything for their salvation, and that by His grace alone through faith alone they can be set free from their sin and receive eternal life!
As we move into our last week here, we are preparing for one last trip. Tomorrow, we will be traveling back to the city of Guayaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador) to put on a conference for believers from all over the city. The missionaries here hope that after they do this conference, they can start a new training site for church leaders in this city in the fall. Over 3 days this weekend, I will get to teach on discipleship twice and relationships twice (dating and marriage). Please pray for me--I have never taught so much in such a short amount of time! Pray that I would encourage them to be disciples of Jesus who make other disciples of Jesus and that I would explain the beauty of Christian marriage and how that impacts the way we should date.
We will be returning next weekend and while we are excited to see all of you, we are also sad about leaving. We have learned so much during our time here and made many wonderful friends. We do not know for sure yet where God is leading us in the future, but this summer has been extremely helpful to our discernment process and has better equipped us for ministry when we get back to the States! This next school year, we will be attending and helping serve at a Hispanic church in Pelham--Jesus el Buen Pastor. Our time in Ecuador has made us super-excited to learn from and contribute to the ministry of this church when we return. We can't wait to see all that God will do during our time there!
Thanks again for your support and God bless!
--Russell and Christina
We love and miss you! As we wind down our time in Ecuador, we are getting excited about returning to the States and getting to see y'all. Thanks so much for your support this summer. We are humbled by how many of you have checked in on us and prayed for us during our time here. We can't do enough to thank you!
The past few weeks have been a little crazy, as Christina was sick for a week and had to stay in bed. Thankfully, a doctor from the church came and took care of her and now she is better! On a few of the nights when she was sick, I had to go teach pastors in a small town around 45 minutes away, but thankfully some of the college students from the church came and kept her company. Christina has continued to build relationships with these students the past few weeks. She has learned so much from their faith and they love to spend time with her and look up to her!
We have also had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the missionary families and learn from them. They welcome us into their homes, feed us, and let us ask them anything we want. We are so thankful for their willingness to teach us and have us tag along wherever they go! Last night, we got to babysit for one of the families so the parents could go on a date. Christina made them dinner and we watched a movie with the kiddos. One of the most important parts of any short-term mission trip is serving and encouraging the missionaries already there!
Last Sunday, I preached at the local church here in Cuenca right before 6 people got baptized (of all ages!). I tried to encourage them to rejoice in their salvation and called the entire congregation to help disciple them. This past week, I helped the other missionaries train church leaders in Paute, a nearby city. Each night we would teach for around 3 hours. The believers there were so eager to learn and would have stayed there all night if possible! I got to teach on the rise of the Roman Catholic Church and their doctrine (nearly all the students used to be Catholic, so they were very interested in that), Islam, and how Christianity arrived and developed in the Americas. We had great discussion about the terrible way that Catholicism first came to their country (convert or be killed) but also discussed the great example of men like Jim Eliot, who peacefully and sacrificially brought the good news of Jesus to Ecuador. Most people in Ecuador (around 85%) would identify as Catholic, but many are very nominal in their faith. The Catholicism here is also very different than many other places in the world because it is blended with ancient religions that were here before the Europeans arrived. People often put their ultimate hope in superstitions, sacrifices, Mary, or their own works rather than trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ. We want to show them that Jesus has already done everything for their salvation, and that by His grace alone through faith alone they can be set free from their sin and receive eternal life!
As we move into our last week here, we are preparing for one last trip. Tomorrow, we will be traveling back to the city of Guayaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador) to put on a conference for believers from all over the city. The missionaries here hope that after they do this conference, they can start a new training site for church leaders in this city in the fall. Over 3 days this weekend, I will get to teach on discipleship twice and relationships twice (dating and marriage). Please pray for me--I have never taught so much in such a short amount of time! Pray that I would encourage them to be disciples of Jesus who make other disciples of Jesus and that I would explain the beauty of Christian marriage and how that impacts the way we should date.
We will be returning next weekend and while we are excited to see all of you, we are also sad about leaving. We have learned so much during our time here and made many wonderful friends. We do not know for sure yet where God is leading us in the future, but this summer has been extremely helpful to our discernment process and has better equipped us for ministry when we get back to the States! This next school year, we will be attending and helping serve at a Hispanic church in Pelham--Jesus el Buen Pastor. Our time in Ecuador has made us super-excited to learn from and contribute to the ministry of this church when we return. We can't wait to see all that God will do during our time there!
Thanks again for your support and God bless!
--Russell and Christina
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| Christina hanging out with the girls from the church. |
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| Russell preaching last Sunday. |
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| Playing UNO with the youth. |
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| Russell watching a movie with one of the missionary kids. |
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| All the college students and some of the missionaries after we taught on relationships. |
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| Looking down on mountains and clouds. |
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