Beach bound

This one's for you Mom!

How do you like your eggs?

Puppies!

Hola amigos! Just a quick post to let you know I will be without the computer this next week. We are heading to the coast to check out an English group in Manta and to get a few days of sand and hopefully not too much sun. I am not sure how much access to the internet I will have, but I will be sure to post pictures and experiences next week when we get back.

Calling all brothers!

It has been a busy week here in Cuenca. Service has been good. You never know where you are going to find an English speaking person. Maria and I found a young Ecuadorian mom this week who has a boyfriend from Kentucky. She said I didn't sound like I was from Kentucky. Then she said, "My boyfriend has a strong accent and I am trying to learn English. His accent isn't helping me. Sometimes I don't understand what he is saying." I just laughed and told her that I live there and don't always understand everyone. We were able to demonstrate the study though, and she accepted! Hopefully we will have it this week. One sister we met in Atuntaqui had a big dry erase board to keep track of all the studies she had! So maybe before we leave I might need to get one?! Goals are good. The English congregation is only a year old here. Figuring out how to work the territory in an efficient way can be a challenge for the brothers. There is also a shortage of English bibles and Bible Teach books. If anyone is planning on coming down, throw a few in your suitcase! Speaking of coming down......The study conductor today was discussing paragraph 2. It said, "there continues to be a need for men to take the lead in spiritual matters." It also mentioned that there were over 100,000 congregations worldwide. He then stated that in Ecuador alone there were 1,000 congregations & 77,000 publishers. He said each congregation should have at least 3 elders and it would be good to have 5 servants per congregation. So, how many brothers are serving here in Ecuador? 2,500 elders and 3,000 servants. This leaves a deficit  of 500 elders and 2,000 servants! Calling all brothers! Even coming in for a short time helps alleviate the responsibility these brothers have. In the Cuenca English congregation 2 of the elders are Ecuadorian brothers that switched in part because their kids wanted to try it. So, they are not only serving as elders in a new congregation, they are learning a new language as well. Their willingness to help is such a good example. Well time to go to sleep, the sun rises early on the equator! Hasta luego!

Sweet beginnings & endings

Our Tuesday morning field service group walking to the territory.

Cotton candy confections at the classical concert in Cuenca.

Concert in the park.

Preaching in the rain!

Brother Vasquez and Sister Tony

 Preaching in the rain w/ Sister Vasquez. (Take note my California friends)

 Cuenca English Sunday meeting

Austin and Cleo w/ some of the young people in the congregation.

Service, Service, Service

  This week has been filled with theocratic activity. The Cuenca English congregation had their circuit overseer visit. Robert Vasquez and his wife Wanda were so encouraging. They have the foreign language circuit here in Ecuador. They visit all the foreign language congregations or groups here. They take care of English, Chinese, Russian, Sign Language, Creole, and a few indigenous groups I don't know how to spell. No, he doesn't actually speak all of these languages. They speak Spanish and English. When he visits the others he uses a translator, which requires that he cut the time of his talks in half so as not to go overtime. They go from the city of Cuenca to the jungles of the Rainforest. They are very loving and encouraging to the friends and we have really enjoyed getting to know them. This Sunday we had 72 in attendance for his talk. There are about 25 actual publishers in the congregation. One man was there today for the very first time. Someone had given him and invitation last week and he just decided to come!
  Service here is a little different. The friends start at 9am, work until noonish, go home for lunch and siesta, then meet back at 3pm for a few more hours of service. Some of us "Gringos" have lunch and then continue on doing street witnessing until it's time to meet back, especially those of us who are a little behind on our time for the year. The Ecuadorians are in general a very kind and warm people who value family. One morning we had just finished the service meeting and were leaving. There was a young family standing on the sidewalk looking very curious about the Kingdom Hall. The spanish speaking  friends talked with them. The man had talked with a brother at work who was telling him about the Kingdom Hall and the meetings there. So he just decided to walk up to check it out. He was told the meeting times and said he and his family would like to come. We find English speaking people every day, not all interested, but they are out there.
  I'll take this opportunity to clear up a bit of a rumor. Seems that there is a story going around that Austin was mugged at knifepoint and robbed of al his money. So, here is the real story: While in Quito on a very crowded bus coming back from the ministry, Cleo noticed a man brush his hand by her purse. She quickly pulled it closer, knowing that the buses were known for pickpockets. That night at the meeting she noticed a "rip" in her purse. She thought she caught it on something. I told her it was a clean cut and someone had slashed her purse, hoping to slide their hand in and pull out her wallet. They didn't succeed, but did ruin her purse. So, no real danger involved. Most crimes here involve petty theft, they just want your stuff. Now the part involving Austin. Again, no horrific story of Austin getting mugged by a 4'6'' Ecuadorian thug. He simply put his cash in a spot in his messenger bag that wasn't very secure and it most likely fell out when we were on the bus. If he had been pick pocketed they would have surely taken his passport too, which was right next to the envelope of money. So, his life was never in danger and he probably fed some Ecuadorian family for 6 months! Anytime you travel, you make yourself a target to someone, you just have to be aware and observant. We have heard of worse things happening to other friends when they come into the country to serve here. One couple had their backpack stolen within the first few days. It contained their laptop, money, passports, a deed to a house they bought here and other important documents. Yet it did not dampen their enthusiasm for being here and serving where the need is greater. And Jehovah is taking care of them in spite of it all. But that is the kind of God we serve isn't it. He allows us to undergo certain trials, but never beyond what we can handle. If we continue in our determination to fulfill our spiritual goals, he always blesses our efforts. Our first few days were a little rough and hectic and not everything went perfect. We had moments of doubt, should we really be here? Maybe we should have stayed home? Those doubts lasted for a few short moments. Then we recall how Jehovah has always guided us through past endeavors and the experiences we gain are worth everything it takes to come here, to be here.

More pictures

The Andes somewhere between Quito and Cuenca

                                            Telephone witnessing in Otavalo.

                      Indigenous people washing clothes in the river.

                                         Ecuadorian favorite, Qui, or guinea pig

                                               Downtown Cuenca Center at night.

                                             Field Service in Cuenca.

                                           Pioneer meeting.

Quito to Cuenca

Hola Amigos! We have made it to Cuenca and love this place. We also enjoyed the week we spent with the English group up North in Atutaqui. This group has about 20 publishers, but meets with a much larger Spanish congregation for now. I think in the next year they may become a congregation. One couple we met moved there 3 months ago from North Dakota. The sister already has 11 bible studies and 6 more she is trying to develop. One of the families we stayed with were the Newmans. They have been there for 6 years now and are a great example of relying on Jehovah. They were so helpful to us. We called them from Quito to introduce ourselves and let them know we were coming that way for a few days and wanted to find out about meeting/service times. They insisted that we stay with them, and even picked us up in the pouring rain at the busstop (yes, it did rain). They also have two days that they do telephone witnessing there. They basically have the phone book for each little city, start at the beginning and call every number, saying that they are taking a census looking for English speaking people. It has been quite successful and saves a lot of bus rides. We probably would've stayed a little longer with this group, but we wanted to be in Cuenca for the CO's visit. So on Thursday we hopped on a Bus and stopped halfway to Cuenca in Riobamba. This town has an English group as well. The city sits between a mountain and an active volcano that is constantly spewing ash. We stayed with a lovely Ecuadorian family that are all learning English to help the group. In this group, they were told to stop canvasing the city for English speaking and cultivate the 500, yes 500, people they have already found. They also have an assembly hall there. We were able to go there on Friday and help the caretakers, Cindy and Harold do some maintenance on the facility. Saturday we hopped on another bus to finish our journey to Cuenca. 5 hours later, thru some of the most stunning scenery, we arrived. An Elder and his wife picked us up and took us to a brothers bed and breakfast. We have been here since Saturday. Tomorrow we will be moving to an apartment owned by a sister. Cuenca is a little bigger than Cincinnati, but without hi-rises. 4 rivers run thru the city and unlike the other cities we've seen has lots of big trees. We take taxis or walk everywhere. Today was our first day in service here. The CO is visiting. We met at the hall at 8:45 and spent the morning trying to return on people that have already been found. The sister and I walked an hour before we found the first call, but we found him home. He was a young college student and spoke excellent english. We covered the first question in the truth tract and arranged to come back in 2 weeks after his exams were over. Then we work territory and found an older woman who good english as well. She took the tract, asked for my phone number and promised to call me when she got back from her vacation. So in two hours I had 2 return visits with very good potential for turning into bible studies. They also had the pioneer meeting this evening. They have 15 regular pioneers here. So with those plus the auxiliary pioneers and our family we barely fit in the living room of the sisters house. We even used the steps to sit on because she didn't have enough chairs! So we are having a great time here. I've rambled on enough for now. Promise to make them a little shorter, some things will just have to wait until I have to get home. Enjoy!