Thanksgiving (better late than never)

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

-1 Thess. 5:18

I (Ian) recently shared this verse with our NILI group here in Ecuador, during our last group devotional time.  That time just so happened to be the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day.  I reminded our group, as they prepared to end what has been a very challenging experience--studying abroad for a semester--that the command here is to give thanks "in every thing," not for every thing.

Studying abroad this semester has been challenging for our students; living abroad for these first 3 months has been very challenging for Hillary and I.  Yet, even during those times when we are less than thankful for our trying circumstances, we have this command to give thanks.  In fact, the Scriptures tell us that "this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

The will of God is something that college students and young, recent graduates like ourselves are constantly asking about.  To the question, "What is the will of God for me?" one answer the Scriptures give is "to give thanks!"

For what, though?  Many things, but the Psalms give us some of the best reasons:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (Ps. 107:1, & many other places)

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness. (Ps. 7:17)

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men (Ps. 107:8,15,21,31)

The command to give thanks in the Scriptures is rooted in the character of God.  He is good.  He is righteous.  He is faithful.  Etc.  Though our circumstances may often try and tempt us, God's character remains unchanged;  therefore, we have reason to "give thanks in every thing."

We are thankful for how faithful our God has been to us so far in our time here in Ecuador.  We are also thankful that he has used you to bless us in our time serving here.  Your prayers have been felt.  Your support has extended our reach and eased our minds.  Your willingness to send us a quick message has encouraged our hearts.

WE GIVE THANKS for our great God and how is has been at work through you to bless us!

Ministry Week in South Quito: "Los Treboles"

     Wed and Thurs of ministry week we were in a South Quito church called "Treboles del Sur." Like our first church, our plan was to help paint in the mornings and do kids outreach in the neighborhood in the afternoons. Unlike our first church, "Los Treboles" was nearly completely constructed, but no one had ever painted in the church before. We were amazed, though, when we arrived at the church Wed morning and saw the size of the sanctuary. It was enormous! Here are some before pictures:

The great arch and platform at the front of the sanctuary.

Underneath the balcony in the back of the sanctuary.

     Since the church had already sanded and primed all of the surfaces, we jumped right in with the painting! Pastor Miguel, pastor of the church, and Lucy, our NILI Director, coordinated the colors of the walls, columns, steps, and arch.  Brothers from the church also came to help with the painting those two days, since it was such a big job. Thankfully, they were able to find scaffolding to use. So while we painted the low places, they followed behind and painted the high places.

Giving the walls a second coat of "durazno" ("peach").

Our brothers from the church, painting the very high parts.

Me and Rut finishing up one of the columns.

      We also had two wonderful afternoons with the kids in that neighborhood. To draw them to us, we used our little speaker to play kids music from the church a few hours beforehand, announcing every 30 minutes or so that we'd be playing games in front of the church soon. We met on the sidewalk/curb caddy corner to the church, and though the number of kids we had was smaller than the first church, we were able to spend significant time with each child.
     At the end of Thurs afternoon, one little boy and his small brother grabbed Ian's hand and said (in Spanish) "Come with me, I want to take you to my house so you can meet my Mom!" So Ian and I walked down the street to these little guys' house and were able to share with his family briefly about Christ and the "Los Treboles" church just down the road.

Jumping rope before starting the program.

Meeting on the curb for our kids ministry.

Puppets!

     Thurs night we were able to be a part of a service with the "Los Treboles" church. Since this church was also largely indigenous, there was lots of praise and worship in Spanish and in Quechuan. Our NILI group sang a couple songs for the church in Spanish and English, and the women of the church sang several for us in Spanish and Quechuan.
     Pastor Miguel thanked us for our time and service in the church, and afterwards several members came forward and presented each of us with beautiful, wool scarves. The emphasis of the service was on the body of Christ being one -- regardless of race, ethnicity, or language. After the service, the church had a huge dinner of "paella" (rice with meat and veggies). They had invited us to stay, but we needed to take our food to go since it was late and we still had a long drive back to the seminary.

Praise & Worship with the church in their newly painted sanctuary. (Pastor Miguel is at the bottom right in the red poncho.)

Women of the church singing in Spanish or Quechuan.

Before going up to sing, one of the women handed Ian this little guy to hold for her. :) (The scarf he's wearing is one of the scarves presented to us by the church.)

Ministry Week in South Quito! "JesuCristo Redentor" Church

    Thank you, dear friends and family, for your encouragement and prayers surrounding our week-long ministry in South Quito just two weeks ago. Though it was an incredibly busy and, at times, difficult week full of physical labor and neighborhood outreach, God's presence was with us, and we were able to see His hand at work in each of the churches we served. God is good! Here's a quick glimpse of what we were up to that week.
     Early each weekday morning, NILI staff and students loaded into our little Sprinter van and headed South. Mon and Tues we served at a small church called JesuCristo Redentor ("Jesus Christ Redeemer"). When we arrived, we realized the need. While Work and Witness crews had begun building the church, only the first floor's walls and ceiling (and the entire structure's roof) had been completed. The church was temporarily meeting in this first floor as they gradually work on completing the second floor and balcony (the future sanctuary). None of the building had been painted yet; all was bare concrete walls. So we immediately set to work at cleaning off the first-floor walls, preparing to paint and bring some life into the make-shift sanctuary.

Meeting and praying with District Superintendent Pastor Hernan (left) & Pastor Jorge (right), pastor of the church before beginning our work there.

Beginning to paint! The concrete walls really sucked up the paint; we had to use several coats to cover the walls well.

Cleaning off another wall before painting.

     After a quick lunch, we donned our NILI t-shirts and walked around the neighborhood, inviting any kids or families we saw to the local park, where we were going to host a kids' ministry that afternoon. At first we were a little disappointed because we had only seen a few kids in the area, but we headed to the park, set up our things, cranked up our kids' music, and started playing frisbee, soccer, and jump rope. By the time we ended our program that afternoon, we had about 50 kids total! It's amazing how music and games in the park drew so many people to us.

Learning how to pray.

Ready for fun!

     During our second morning at JesuCristo Redentor, we finished the painting work by painting the columns inside and painting the front, outside wall of the church. The end result was pretty stunning!

Outside the church after the front wall was painted.

Ian finishing up the columns inside.

     That afternoon, we also had another kids ministry in the park with games, songs, puppets, and a short skit. Lots of parents came the second day, and it was great to get to share with them about why we were there and what we were doing with JesuCristo Redentor Church. Some of them even committed to visiting the church in the future.

     Then Tues evening we were privileged to get to share in a service with the congregation of the church where we'd been working. It was wonderful to worship with these folks in their newly-painted sanctuary! Because the church is largely an indigenous church and because our NILI group had prepared several songs to share with them, we worshiped together in English, Spanish, and Quichuan. The pastor preached in Spanish, emphasizing that though we represent two countries and three different languages, we are all one as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ!

 

One of the English praise & worship songs we shared with the church: "Glory to God Forever"

 

One of the Spanish worship songs the church shared with us: "Here are my hands, I will praise you"

 One of the Quichuan worship songs the church shared with us.

Leading by Serving

    Ian and I (Hillary) have been blessed to be a part of several ministries here through NILI and the Nazarene Seminary. One of my favorite parts of serving with NILI so far, has been leading our NILI students in our weekly service projects.  Every Monday afternoon after lunch, the four NILI students and us staff members load into our Sprinter (our little van) and head to either the Extreme Response day care in Zambizo, the city's garbage dump, or to Betania, a local home for older adults.
   The day care in Zambizo was begun by a non-profit organization called Extreme Response. Extreme realized the great need when they saw the 300+ people living and working in the city's garbage every day, surviving on what they found in the trash. Now, Extreme not only offers day care services to the preschool aged children of Zambizo workers, they also provide family counseling, hygiene classes, education assistance, and more. Their story really is an incredible one (to read more about it, visit: Extreme Response & the Zambizo Dump Day Care).
    Usually during our visits to the Zambizo Dump Day Care, we lead the kids in singing, Bible stories, art projects, puppets, games, and English lessons. During our last visit, we used the Creation story to help teach the kids their numbers in English and Spanish.

Going through the days of Creation to teach numbers one through seven.

Playing "Memory" game with numbers.

Ready for the next activity!

    If we're not at Zambizo on Monday afternoons, then we're usually serving at Betania, the local home for older adults. Betania was founded in 1970 by a group of evangelical women who wanted to provide meals and shelter to seniors without family in the Quito area. It really is a wonderful ministry to these seniors who have no one else to care for them. Here is a little video glimpse of Betania, though the video is a bit dated and renovations to Betania have taken place since then: Betania Video
   When we go to Betania, our primary goal is to just visit with the residents there. Often we talk, read the Bible together, read stories, paint the women's finger nails, and do art projects. On our last visit, we did a Fruit of the Spirit art project and read the story of Lazarus. I sat with a group of older women who wanted me to read the story over and over again they were so moved by it.

Kayla helping one of the women with her art project.

Listening to the story while finishing their art projects.

Miranda reading a story to one of the women.

    It is always an exciting time when we're serving on Monday afternoons. From rounding up energetic little ones at Zambizo to catching pigeons that sometimes wander into the cafeteria at Betania, we're always kept on our toes! 

    One neat story we have from Betania is from our first visit there. Jen had told us about Gloria, one of the dear women residents there, who loves sharing her testimony with everyone she meets. Gloria tells everyone about how she is able to walk again after the Lord healed her legs a few years ago. She also tells them that what she is looking forward to most is seeing Jesus in Heaven. Once we arrived at Betania, Ian and one of the NILIs went back to Gloria's room to visit with her. As soon as Ian (with a full beard) walked into the room, Gloria exclaimed "¡Jesús! ¡Jesús!" ("Jesus! Jesus!"). Ian quickly introduced himself as "Ian," but then ministered to her as I think Jesus would have, listening and encouraging her throughout the afternoon.

    In addition to helping the NILIs with their service projects at Zambizo and Betania, Ian and I have also been helping with CENIC, a ministry here on the seminary campus that raises funds for the Church by facilitating events for local churches on campus. We hope to post more about our work with CENIC very soon.
    Also, this coming week, we'll be taking the NILI students to Southern Quito to work in two indigenous churches there: painting, doing kids ministry, and participating in worship services through song. We'll also be traveling to Latacunga, a small town south of Quito, on Saturday, in order to do a large kids outreach event there in a local park. Please pray for us as we travel and minister there! We'll look forward to seeing all God has in store for us; we're expecting great things.
    Thank you SO much for your continued prayer and support!  If we can be praying for you in any specific ways, please let us know.
    Many blessings!