We had a great Thanksgiving celebration last month. Of course we miss getting together with family at times like this, but what makes our celebration really special is to focus on the rich friendships we have here.
Discipleship
I (Scott) have been spending some time lately in discipling a young man who is young in his faith. It's a real joy to see his hunger for truth from God's Word and growth in his life. Please pray for growth for Cristian.
Pastors' Conference
I will be teaching from God's Word next Tuesday at a nationwide conference for Quichua pastors. The theme will be “Shared Ministry.” Pray that what I prepare will be helpful for those who need to hear it.
Kristi's Students
One of Kristi's students in sixth grade this year is a new girl from China. She began school without knowing English, which has caused an extra challenge for Kristi. However, along with that comes the reward of seeing her grow by leaps and bounds. She is very intelligent and is started to communicate a lot more. Her family doesn't even own a Bible, but Kristi found a Mandarin Bible in the school library. This girl was excited to be able to read from it for the first time ever in her own language. She is now learning the basics of the Christmas story. Pray for Kristi as she takes advantage of the amazing opportunities to influence this girl's spiritual life and that of the other students in her classroom at Alliance Academy.
Macuma
Our colleague in ministry, Jim Hedlund, has been working really hard on some property issues in Macuma. The mission has owned some property in this jungle village for several years, but we are donating it to nationals in the area who will be able to make better use of it as we move forward. It looks like the legal documents are close to being ready for signing. Our hope is that later this month things will be ready for our legal representative and me to travel to Macas, the capital of the province, to do the signing.
David
David is in his final year of civil engineering studies at Wheaton College and Illinois Institute of Technology. He will be coming to visit us for almost a month over Christmas. During that time he will also be making a presentation at a conference here in Quito called International Perspectives on Water Resources & the Environment. He has had a lot of opportunities to learn about water treatment and is seeing his interest grow in that area. Pray for guidance for him as he considers the next step after he graduates this spring.
Financial Need
Our support account at the mission dipped quite low this fall as a result of expenses for home ministry in the summer. Some of you have done some extra giving to help meet this need and we really appreciate that. Nevertheless, this month we weren't able to receive our full salary because of a lack of funds to cover it. Things will be really tight this month, but we think we will be okay. Nevertheless, if you are able to send an extra donation to Avant Ministries this month, it will be really significant in helping us start the new year with a good financial margin. You can make an online donation by clicking here, or print this donation form for mailing in with a check.
