God loves us, we love others!

 

God’s word teaches us that love is the most important of several important character traits. We can always count on God's love, it never ends! February is a good time to celebrate that and also to express our love for others. We love each of you with Christ’s love, and we have seen you demonstrate your love for us in so many ways, including your prayers for our lives and ministry. A lot has happened for us since we last wrote.

We spent some time in Kansas over the holidays. Scott went early in order to help Joel’s family after Jaden had surgery. Kristi had cataract surgery on both eyes. Both were successful! She chose the single vision lens option, so she’s looking forward to getting glasses in a couple of weeks to correct her astigmatism and farsightedness. We were able to have Lindsey with us for 3 weeks during her Christmas break. Kristi’s mom always makes us feel at home during our time in Kansas. We were able to spend 5 days with our entire family. Our 3 boys and their families came from California, New Hampshire and Arkansas. We loved our grandpa and grandma time with our 5 granddaughters! Needless to say, we didn’t have a dull moment with all 14 of us together! Scott ended up staying a week longer as well. His parents are both in assisted living in Omaha and his mom was going through some health issues. He spent some days helping them out.

It feels like a blur since we’ve been back to Ecuador. Kristi jumped right back into her classroom after missing a couple of weeks of school. She has had more behavior issues to work through in the past weeks. Pray for 1 of the girls in Kristi’s class who has missed the past 11 days of school because of a bone infection. She’s been hospitalized and on IV antibiotics. She’s hoping to be able to go home in the middle of this week. We had 2 girls staying with us for a couple of weeks when we got back home. One of them is the new biology teacher and the other is a friend who was transitioning between apartments. Kristi is helping to plan Spiritual Emphasis Week for the elementary students. Our focus will be “Shine God’s Light Around the World.”

Please pray for us as we are trying to renew our identification cards which are an important part of living in Quito. We started working on this nearly a year ago. We were successful in the first step, transferring our visas to our new passports. Our cards expired in May, but we were unable to get an appointment until November. By then another step of paperwork had changed and become more complicated. We didn’t get that back until the end of January. Unfortunately, there were some mistakes and we need to redo it, but there is no way to make changes through their new online system and no other option. We spoke to the school's lawyer who is also extremely frustrated with the new system. She confirmed that at this point there doesn’t really seem to be a clear solution. Please pray!

Scott stays busy teaching as well! He had a great trip to Guayaquil. He taught on two themes from biblical theology: Discerning Good and Evil, Can One See God and Live? Both pointed very clearly and gloriously to Jesus. There was a good group of people who attended the workshop. They were exceptionally attentive and interacted seriously with the material.

Scott’s digestive issues have improved quite a bit. He is still eating a little carefully–things that are easy to digest, especially rice, potatoes, bread, bananas. What has helped him the most are foods rich in probiotics: homemade sauerkraut and kefir. A lot of good help on YouTube. He has gained back 15 very healthy pounds and would still welcome a little more. Thanks for your prayers!

Ordaining a Shepherd of Jesus' Flock

 

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in an ordination service for a pastor in Riobamba. It was a meaningful ceremony and moving to see another pastor dedicate his life for serving the church. Since pictures and video are available on Facebook, I decided to share some of it with you!

Pastor Roberto (and his wife) came before other mature leaders in their church association.

I shared a message from 1 Timothy 4 on the character of a pastor.

Roberto received several important and symbolic gifts. I was chosen to present him with a new poncho.

He even received a sheep to represent his responsibility to care for God's flock.

We gathered around to pray for him.

Several choirs gave special music.

We enjoyed a good meal afterward!

If you want to see some video here are the recordings available on Facebook:

The ceremony

Choirs

The meal and an interview with Pastor Roberto.

Pray for Pastor Roberto and others like him who are working to reach more of their people for Christ.

We are very thankful for God’s faithfulness

 

Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, For His lovingkindness endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 (LSB)

We want to publicly express our thankfulness to God. He is always good! 1 Chronicles 16 speaks of how he was faithful from the time of creation to the time of Israel’s patriarchs and all through the rest of her history. We have seen his goodness in the last year, and really through all our life up to this point. “Forever” is a really long time, and yet we can be confident that his future steadfast love will never waver even for a moment. My (Scott) students continue to make progress in their study of Hebrew. One group is working on Lesson 72. I recently combined two other groups, and with them we began Lesson 35 on Tuesday. During that class several students agreed it seemed like they were arriving at a whole new level. They felt a little intimidated by the challenge of the new material. Nevertheless, when we got to the end of the lesson we read through Genesis 47:1-3 and they were encouraged. One student commented on how wonderful it was to understand the text! Even though the wording is longer and a little more complex than they are used to, she was pleased to see that she could actually understand it all! I (Kristi) am having a good year with my sixth grade students. The class is both easier and smaller than last year. I’m thankful for my co-teacher and for our smooth teamwork. Next Friday we have parent/teacher conferences. I’m expecting it to be much easier than last year, but I would still appreciate your prayers regarding those meetings.

Our family continues to grow as we add grandkids. David and Shelby had their third girl in April. Caroline is growing faster than we can keep up with, and her two older sisters are doing a great job helping her learn the ropes of life.

A few weeks ago, Joel and Jaden finalized the adoption of the two newest members of our family! We are very thankful for the blessing of Talia and Natalie. The four of them are still learning what it means to be a family. The adjustments are definitely not easy, but all of them (and all of us) are thrilled about how good it is to be together.

I (Scott) will be teaching in Guayaquil next weekend. I plan to be there from November 22 to 24. We feel relatively safe in Quito, but Guayaquil continues to have an escalated level of violence. The risks aren’t high enough to give us reason to change our plans, but I will need to take extra precautions and use extra wisdom. We will appreciate your prayers for safety, as well as a productive time of teaching. One of our big reasons for thankfulness is you! Yahweh is using your prayers and financial gifts to touch lives in Ecuador, other parts of Latin America, and even other parts of the world! Thank you for your faithfulness; it testifies to the faithfulness of our Lord!

Video Update

Instead of our normal update, this time we want to share a video. Here's a 5-minute glimpse of our lives and ministry in Quito, and some current prayer requests. We appreciate you!

Summer in the States

 

Greetings from the US. We are back for a few weeks to have some time to connect with family and supporters. So far we've helped celebrate a wedding, visited family, and spoken at three supporting churches. Of course, there are always details to take care of related to personal issues and health too. Pray for God to make this time as effective as possible until we return to Ecuador in early August.

Scott is trying a new low-carb diet to help with his stomach issues. (No potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, fruit, bananas, sugar, beans, nuts, starchy vegetables, etc.) He feels much better and is no longer losing weight. Please pray for continued improvement in this area. We've made some progress on our visas and residency documents, there will be more to do sometime after we get back to Ecuador. For now we have to wait because of a backlog of cases in one of the government offices. We gained a new granddaughter, Caroline Grace, on April 26. Thank you for praying for a healthy baby and a safe delivery!

We'll be traveling for much of the next three weeks, visiting children, grandchildren and seeing several of you. As always, it won't be possible to see everyone, but please know we are extremely grateful for the part each one of you plays in touching lives in Ecuador!

We have a lot to learn about love!

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  –I Corinthians 13 This week during 6th grade Bible class, we read these verses and were talking about what true love is according to God and the Bible. It was a fitting passage as it seems like everyday I hear about something unkind being said. That night I got a voice message from the mother of one of my students. She said her son was really struggling with being jealous of his brother and sisters. He had a very tough morning before school but when he came home and walked through the door he told his mom, “If I didn’t believe in God before I sure do now.”  He went on to tell her about reading verse 4, “Love is not jealous” and how God’s Word spoke to his heart.

Many days can be discouraging for me because my students can be so mean to each other. I have had several difficult parent emails and meetings recently as well. So hearing how God is working in the life of one of my students reminded me again that I need to remain faithful to God. During a recent discussion about heaven, another student asked me how he can know that he is going to heaven. This student has a hard heart but I was able to share with him. Please pray that God will continue to work in his heart and the hearts of my entire class! Scott continues teaching Hebrew 3 times a week. It keeps him busy preparing, teaching, grading and answering many questions. Pray that his students remain faithful with their studies. Also pray for Scott as he prepares each week.

Outside of ministry, our lives have been extra busy. We are working on renewing our Ecuadorian identification cards (similar to a social security card). First of all it required a trip to the South side of Quito. Thankfully we now have a subway that makes the trip in about 30 minutes instead of an hour or more. But we were told that when we received our residential visas about 20 years ago the entire family was given the same number on our visas. Now the system requires us to each have our own number. That’s where it has started to get complicated. Right now we are waiting for a notarized and apostilled letter from Avant in Kansas City in order to continue. Please pray for this process to go smoothly.

During our time in the states in December, Scott started feeling better than he had in months and was able to eat almost normal. Returning to Quito, it seemed as if the high altitude started affecting him and making it worse again. Slowly he began to feel better, still not able to eat too much fiber. But now the past month it has hit hard again and he is eating a super bland diet and trying to recover again. This week he saw a new doctor who is having him go through some more tests. Pray that we can find some new answers for Scott. Pray for our family: David and Shelby are waiting for the birth of their 3rd baby. Shelby has had a rough pregnancy having morning sickness the entire time. The Dr. is watching some complications with the baby very carefully as well. Now Shelby is on modified bed rest because of high blood pressure. They are hoping to get the baby to 37 weeks at which point they plan to induce, less than 2 weeks from now.

Joel and Jaden have been working towards fostering to adopt for the past couple of years. In March they had 2 sisters placed into their home who are 10 and 12. Next fall, after 6 months, they will be able to adopt these girls. We got to meet them for a short time right before we flew back to Quito in January. Of course, Joel and Jaden’s lives have been turned upside down. They are thrilled to be parents but often overwhelmed as well. Pray for their family in all of these changes and that the girls will feel loved, safe and secure in their new home. Luke and Chase are off on a mission trip this week to Guatemala. Luke is teaching Spanish at a small Christian school in Vermont. This school has had a tradition of going to help in a Christian school in Guatemala. They along with 2 other adults and 8 students will be gone for 10 days. I’m sure Luke and Chase are going to thrive in a Latin culture and will love being able to speak Spanish again. Pray for the entire group during this trip!

And Lindsey is finishing up her 2nd year at John Brown University in a few weeks. Pray for her with all of the end of the year projects and exams. Also pray for a summer job for her as well as some internship hours. It’s a big challenge to live up to the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13. We’re thankful that Jesus did it perfectly! Let’s celebrate that this Easter!

Fill my cup, please

 

What does a cup teach us about Jesus? One of the things I do in my Hebrew classes is to present studies on my students' vocabulary words. We sometimes look at how a single word is used in the Bible and observe how it supports the theology taught by the biblical authors. Recently we looked at the word for "cup."

"Cup" is often used to refer metaphorically to one's destiny in life. In the story of Joseph, both he and Pharaoh had special cups that spoke of their important position. Joseph's brothers and Pharaoh's cupbearer each found themselves at a crucial crossroads as a result of their interaction with these cups. (Genesis 40-44) The symbolism goes deeper in other verses where we are told that "Yahweh is the portion of my inheritance and my cup" (Psalm 16:5 LSB) and "Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup" (Psalm 11:6 LSB). God controls our destiny, whether positively or negatively. He even uses his cup to make the wicked drunk with his judgment:

Awaken yourself! Awaken yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,           You who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of His wrath;           The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs. (Isaiah 51:17 LSB) These and similar verses are all in the mind of Jesus when he asks the Father to take his cup from him (Matthew 26:39). But because Jesus was willing to drink the cup of God's wrath, God offers to remove from us his cup of wrath (Isaiah 51:22; Revelation 16:1) and replace it with a cup of blessing (Psalm 23:5; 116:13). Our cup of salvation would not be possible without the work of our Savior. I'm very happy with the advances of those of my students who are working hard to learn Hebrew and see Jesus in all of the Bible. Even those who get tired and decide to quit get a good introduction to the language and a better understanding of how the scriptures all fit together. Our celebration of Christmas gets richer every year as we grow in our understanding of all Jesus is and does. My students are going to get a break in their studies for much of December and the first part of January. Kristi and I are going to the States to spend some time with our kids and grandchildren. Kristi will also undergo a minor surgical procedure during our break. I'm continuing to struggle with digestive issues. I have a tentative diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which apparently can only be diagnosed by ruling everything else out. (It's taken a while, hasn't it?) I've started taking some medication that might prove to be helpful if I indeed have IBS. Unfortunately, it might take weeks or months to be sure, and I may have to experiment with several different medications. Kristi is going to be very busy at school for the last few days before we leave, combining normal classes with additional activities due to local holidays and Christmas break. Her life is also greatly complicated by one specific student who is manifesting serious behavioral issues. Pray for resolution and growth in this child's life. Above all, pray that he would see his need for exchanging his cup for the one that Jesus is offering him. We are very, very thankful for each one of you. God is using you to fill our cup with blessings and to fill the cups of our students as well.