Grieving

"If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans." Romans 8:27 (The Message)

On August 29th we received a phone call that a dear friend and fellow missionary, Darrel Klassen, had entered into the presence of the Lord. Unfortuanately he chose to end his own life. Hearing this news shook up our lives. We have worked quite closely with the Klassen's, especially during the last years. Darrel often played the role of Grandpa in the lives of our children. They left Ecuador in May to return to Canada. So much of what keeps Scott busy these days, was passed on to him by Darrel. Darrel was the one who taught Scott so many of the ins and outs of dealing with all the city offices here in Quito. As we have been processing his death, we have had to focus on God's faithfulness instead of all the questions filling our minds. Please join us in praying especially for his wife Mandy and the rest of his family.

Darrel Klassen

From Scott:
I have been busier with teaching this month. I am teaching Greek III during two weekends this month. Five students have persisted through Greek I and II and for the first time I have students ready for the final class. We have finished the first weekend and I'll be back on September 28-29 to finish up. It's a real joy to work with these students who are the most committed to learning. I also taught a one-day workshop on what the Bible teaches about angels to a group of 40 Quichuas. They seemed to enjoy that topic and we had lots of good discussion. Opportunities like these remind me that there's nothing on earth I'd rather be doing!

The process of updating our title deed on our mission property here in Quito was put on hold by the city of Quito for most of the summer. Please continue to pray for this process so we can once again put this property up for sale. Also when I head to the coast in a week to teach Greek, I'll be going a couple of days early to work through some problems regarding donation of the mission's property in Guayaquil. It has been hours and hours working through details on these properties so we'll be thankful when everything with these properties comes to a close.

Family News:
As the school year starts again this year, we have 1 in college, 1 in high school, 1 in middle school and 1 in elementary. David is in his 3rd year of college. This year he is still living at Wheaton, but all of his Engineering classes are in downtown Chicago at Illinois Institute of Technology. He spends a lot of hours each week taking the train into Chicago. Joel is a senior this year. He's especially excited for the mock presidential election he'll be part of in his government class this semester. Pray for Joel this year as he has a lot of decisions to make about what to do after high school. Luke is in 7th grade and learning to adjust to all the new things like lockers, different teachers for each class, etc. He seems to be enjoying the new challenges and responsibilities. Lindsey is in 2nd grade and thriving with all of her friends. She loves to come home and ride her bike after school.

First Day of School

Joel had a great time visiting the US this summer and experienced a lot of opportunities for growth. His favorite parts were spent with family, at the Art Institute in Chicago and in drama camp at Camp Witness.

Drama Camp

The rest of us enjoyed a few short vacations. We took a trip to the beach and got to go whale watching.

Scott, Luke and Lindsey enjoyed a couple of weekends of camping. They camped in two extremes: a wet mountainside and an arid Andes forest.

Lindsey seems to be turning into a budding photographer. Here’s some of Ecuador's beauty that she captured.

From Kristi:
I am once again working at Alliance this year but my position was cut to part time. I am in the same classroom working in 6th grade along with the same teacher as last year. I stay busy grading papers, helping students, making copies, entering grades, doing bulletin boards, etc. We have 38 sixth graders this year. It is a wonderful opportunity to reach out to kids when they are struggling, encourage them with biblical truths and share my faith with those who don't believe. I love my job and am so thankful for the opportunities God sends my way day to day!

Here recently when I've been listening to Christian radio online, this song keeps popping up and has been an encouragement.

Pray for those who are grieving the loss of Darrel
Praise the Lord for good teaching opportunities for Scott
Pray for the process of selling and donating property
Pray for each of our children and their new school year
Praise the Lord for Kristi's ministry at Alliance

New Routine

We are thankful for the 8 weeks we were able to be back in the US this summer. Here are some of the the things we will remember from our summer:

• Getting to spend these weeks with David. He stayed busy painting and took 2 classes at a local junior college.
• Being able to care for Kristi's mom following her knee surgery. We are always thankful for the room she has for us and for her putting up with all the extra noise, etc.
• Being able to visit nearly all of our family. The kids e
  njoyed some fun times with cousins.
• Joel was able to join the youth group from our home church and go to Denver on a missions trip. They were able to do a VBS for some inner city kids and some work projects at a World Impact camp.
• Luke was able to attend a basketball camp with his cousin. The camp was put on by a former Jayhawk player, Wayne Simeon, who is a Christian.
• A record setting hot summer with nearly every day being over 100 degrees.
• Being able to visit many of our supporting churches and individual supporters and share about our work in Ecuador. And it always is such an encouragement to us being able to spend time with you our family, friends and supporters.

We have now been back in Quito for almost 3 weeks. It is good to be home again. On the way home from the airport, Luke commented how good it was to be back home in Quito with the busy stop and go of traffic. We don't all enjoy that but it is good to have our spring like weather back. It is also good to be back with friends here. And it is good to be getting back into a routine again.

It is a new routine for us. Kristi is working full time at Alliance Academy this year. She is working as a teacher's aide in 6th grade. She has enjoyed her first two weeks of work, even thought it is a new challenge after being home with the kids the past 19 years. Pray for her as she tries to get everything done at home and also as she works in the classroom.

Lindsey is in 1st grade this year. She is reading more and more. Luke is in 6th grade and gets to be in the classroom with his mom part of the day. Joel is a Junior. Pray for him as the homework can get a bit heavy at times. David also is back at Wheaton for his 2nd year. He is getting a start to some of his engineering classes.

One of the biggest issues we are facing here in Quito is the sale of mission property. The guesthouse has been sold but hasn't been turned over to the new owners yet, because of some legal issues we are working through. To make a long story short, our mission needs to be registered with a new government agency before we can renew the registration of the Executive Board and then deal with the Land Titles Office. Meanwhile, the sale of our other property with the office building and apartments fell through. We are the only Avant missionaries in Quito for 2 months, so for now Scott is the one working through these issues and maintaining the properties.

Peniel Seminary is beginning a new year of classes the end of this week. Scott will not be teaching for now because of his responsibilities in Quito. Nevertheless, continue to pray for growth for the students and further development of the seminary program.

Pray for Scott as he prepares a one-day conference on October 4 in San Bernardo concerning biblical doctrine.

We received some difficult news just over a month ago regarding our brother-in-law, Dan Penner (Scott's sister's husband). He has liver cancer and things are looking very serious for him. He will soon begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments, hopefully followed by a liver transplant. Please pray for his health and for strength for Cheryl and their four children, ages 5 to 15.

Praise the Lord for a good summer in the US.

Praise the Lord for our return home to a normal routine.

Praise the Lord for Kristi's teacher's aide position.

Pray for adjustment to her new responsibilities.

Pray for each of the kids in their educational needs.

Pray for Scott as he maintains the Quito properties.

Pray for legal issues to be resolved in the sale of property.

Pray for the new school year at Peniel Seminary.

Pray for Scott's conference on Oct. 4.

Pray for health for Dan Penner and strength for his family.