Vacation and Hard Work

We are enjoying the change summer vacation is bringing to our family! The kids finished up classes on the 7th. The last weeks of school ended up being totally crazy! Here is part of what kept the family busy!

The 6th graders did an excellent job on their musical, Jailhouse Rock. Luke played a part as one of the camp counselors.

We were coaching Luke’s basketball team. Though we had a “learning” season, we really enjoyed working with these kids!

Kristi is one of the junior class sponsors so we enjoyed attending the junior-senior banquet.

On June 6, Luke graduated from 6th grade. In Ecuador the end of 6th grade marks the beginning of high school.

I (Kristi) will never forget this school year! I grew to love these 36 sixth graders! So many highlights to remember. But at the top of my list was being able to have Luke in my classroom every day! He is growing up to be a great young man and I'm so proud to be his mom. I loved having him come in every day and say "Hi, mom"! One of the last days of school, his other teacher told me that when asked the question “where is your favorite place to be at school”, his response was "in Mr. Tuten's room because that is where my mom is!” I will forever be grateful for these memories and for the relationship we have between us as he heads off to middle school!

In May and June, I (Scott) spent 2 weekends teaching Greek II to 4 students. This second level course is one in which the students are getting proficient enough to begin to analyze verses in the Greek New Testament. My highlight from this course came while we were looking at some verses from John 1 in the Greek Bible. One of my students said, “so basically what this is saying is...” and I saw a light come on in his eyes as he understood the text in a whole new way! It's moments like that which make teaching worth every bit of effort that I invest.

So we now are all enjoying summer vacation! Scott’s parents are spending 3 weeks with us this month. They arrived in time to get in on Luke and Lindsey’s field days and Luke’s graduation! We are mostly just hanging out at home, though doing a few other fun things with them as well.

Joel will be leaving Wednesday for the US to spend a couple of months this summer. He actually will be flying to Chicago to spend some time with David. Then he’ll be spending 5 weeks at Camp Witness in Nebraska both as a camper and a junior counselor. He can hardly wait! Please pray for him this summer as he’ll be out on his own. It’s scary as parents sending him off, wondering if he’ll lose his passport, remember to go to bed at night, and so on. But we know that God has some wonderful plans for him this summer and are excited along with him!

Many of Scott’s hours are being spent dealing with the selling of Avant mission property. A year ago we sold the Avant guesthouse here in Quito. The buyers totally paid for the property but we have run into one roadblock after another during the past year trying to get the title deed ready to be put into their name. Because of the time it is taking, they are backing out of the deal and asking for their money back. The past month has been very difficult for Scott as he is dealing through all this. It looks like the money will be returned to them either this week or the beginning of next week. We then need to wait for the city to update our title deed and then go through the process of selling this property again. Our colleagues the Klassen’s have left Ecuador, so this process now falls on Scott. Please pray for wisdom as we walk down this newest adventure.

In our last update, we wrote that Kristi was experiencing pain again. The Dr. diagnosed it as bursitis and tendonitis in the hip. It has been a really slow process of healing but she is improving. Continue to pray for her healing.

Praise the Lord for a good end to the school year and summer vacation.
Praise the Lord for a great experience for Kristi teaching this year.
Praise the Lord for growth in the lives of Scott's Greek students.
Praise the Lord that Scott's parents can visit this month.
Pray for a good summer for Joel visiting family and doing camp ministry.
Pray for details regarding property sales here in Quito.
Pray for healing for Kristi's hip.

New Prayer Requests

In the past month, Scott was able to spend three days in Guayaquil down on the coast of Ecuador. He presented the material on the Avant statement of faith. Pray for those who attended, that they will be able to go back to their own churches and share it with their own church members. He was able to videotape it and now hopes to have time to edit it and put together a simple DVD to share in other locations that have interest.

He also was back in Colta teaching a day on the Doctrine of Christ. For that day he had 60 in attendance. This group meets once a month and it is exciting to see how it is growing in number. Please pray that they also are growing in their walk with Christ.

In a couple of weeks Scott is scheduled to be back on the coast in the city of Babahoyo teaching Greek in the Spanish seminary, May 11-12. It has been a couple of years since the last time he taught Greek. It has been a difficult class for his previous students to grasp. It takes a lot of work outside of class and many of his previous students haven't been willing to put the time into it that is needed. Pray for Scott to take a difficult subject and make the material interesting and practical for these students.

Last month we asked you to pray for our brother-in-law Dan. Because of liver cancer he was on the transplant list. Two days after we sent out our update, He got a call in the middle of the night that there was a liver for him. It was amazing to be kept up to date by emails from his wife throughout the day. By 8:00 that night he was out of surgery with a new liver! It has been an up and down kind of month for them. They feared he was rejecting the liver, so he had a biopsy done a few days ago but the results showed all to be good. Please continue praying for healing for Dan. He has a long recovery ahead of him. Also pray for his family for strength to continue on and for a return to normal life.

David finishes up his 2nd year of college in 2 more weeks. We are thankful for a summer job/internship with one of his professors for 10 weeks this summer. They'll be working on designing a water system for a 3rd world country. Since he is studying civil engineering, and after living in a 3rd world country, he is excited about this opportunity. He'll be able to live in on-campus housing but will be cooking for himself for the first time.

Joel turned 17 today! In the last months he has passed Scott up in height. We're going to be having a party for him next weekend with friends. We're putting together a murder mystery party, "A Knight of Murder," for him. Pray for him as he finishes his Junior year and begins to think of his future after high school.

Luke and his class are in the middle of working on the 6th grade musical that will be performed in a month. He has one of the speaking parts. Kristi also is in the middle of helping with this. It makes the days in 6th grade extra busy, but it is fun watching it all coming together.

This past week Kristi developed weakness in her left leg and has been in quite a bit of pain. We are in the midst of having it checked out, but are pretty sure it is a problem with one of her discs in her lower back. She'll be seeing an orthopedic doctor who specializes on the spine Monday afternoon. Please pray for Kristi to be able to get help with this problem. She took the day off of work on Friday and is spending the weekend resting. Walking is difficult and seems to irritate her back.

Praise the Lord for a good conference in Guayaquil.

Pray for growth in the lives of the leaders in Colta.

Pray that Scott's Greek students will apply themselves to their study.

Pray that Scott will teach the Greek class well.

Praise the Lord for providing a liver for Dan.

Pray for recovery for Dan and strength for his family.

Praise the Lord for providing a summer internship for David.

Pray for Joel as he considers his future plans.

Pray that the 6^th grade musical will be a good ministry to families.

Pray for help for Kristi's back pain.

Building Character

Just sitting here this morning thinking about all the things that have happened in the life of our family since the last time we wrote. We have been faced with some challenging circumstances as well as some encouraging times.

I've been reading Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" and am being challenged.

We pray for comfort instead of character. We pray for an easy way out instead of the strength to make it through. We pray for no pain when the result would be no gain. Maybe we should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants us to get out of those difficult circumstances.

Definitely a lot easier to say than to put into practice! Especially during the month of February when one of the main sewer lines in our house was clogged up. Part of our basement flooded. Our landlord decided to have about 30 feet of the line replaced.

It involved digging up the tile and cement floor in our basement.

It was a lot easier to complain about the mess, dirt and sewer smell than to ask God to help grow my character.

As of this past weekend we finally have everything cleaned up and put back into place.

Though we have turned over the keys to both of our Quito properties, there has still been a lot of paperwork to finish up. Scott met with the buyers of the guesthouse a few weeks ago as we still are trying to get all the papers ready so we can sign. Avant bought the property back before there were even streets. So the land deed says there is more land than there actually is because part of it was taken for building a street and sidewalk and the title deed was never changed. This past month we had the property surveyed so that we can make the necessary changes before the buyers get the property transferred into their name. The buyers are ready to help get this pushed through, but after living in Quito for 9 years we know that these unusual circumstances can be quite time consuming. Pray for these details to be completed in God's time.

The beginning of March Scott had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Colta. Several Quichua leaders asked him to come and teach on the Avant Declaration of Faith (our doctrinal statement).

They worked hard on promoting this and they had around 80 pastors and church leaders in attendance.

It is an important issue because there is so much doctrinal controversy within these churches. There are many churches with Biblical roots which have strayed in one way or another. At the end of the first day (after 8 hours of teaching) they were all so riveted on the material that they continued an hour overtime.

They left time at the end of the second day for discussion on how they would be able to take the material home and use it. Scott had challenged them to consider adopting a similar document for themselves and that was considered very seriously. Though most of the discussion happened in their native language of Quichua, Scott caught on that they were giving highly positive feedback. Very encouraging! You can see a 3 minute video with highlights from the conference here:

One of the leaders from Guayaquil was also in attendance and has asked Scott to come and share the same material with Quichua leaders there. So please pray for Scott next week as he'll be teaching again March 28-30. Someone suggested making the conference available on DVD, so we are considering whether we can videotape the one that happens next week. Scott has already shared the material with a couple of key leaders who will hopefully be able to help spread it in other areas. Pray that it can be spread to the extent that it is needed.

Kristi and the kids are starting their 4th quarter this week. You can pray for Kristi on the 26th and 27th as she will be subbing for 6th grade Math and Science those 2 days. Another challenge we have taken on is coordinating the intramural basketball program for 4th-6th grade at Alliance. We had our first practice this week with over 50 kids signed up. We are so thankful for a group of wonderful coaches who really want to see the kids grow and learn! I think it will be a great 2 months! But it does add some additional stress to our already busy lives.

We ask you to keep praying for Scott's brother-in-law Dan as he continues to fight liver cancer. He's on the transplant list waiting for a new liver. Till then, he is receiving chemo to try and keep the cancer from growing. This past week he has been very sick from it and in the hospital.

Please pray for Dan, Cheryl and their 4 children, that God will give them the strength they need day by day for this very difficult time in their lives. You can read updates directly from them on Dan's Caring Bridge website.

When you worship God in the worst of circumstances, you never know what is going to happen next. The circumstances you complain about become chains that imprison you. And worship is the way out. Worship reframes our problems and refocuses our lives. It helps up get through the bad days by reminding us of how good God is. And when you are worshipful, your eyes are more open to notice the miracles that are happening all around you all the time.

-Mark Batterson

Pray that we will be open to building character in all circumstances.

Praise the Lord for an end to the sewer problems we were having.

Pray for a conclusion to the details of selling properties.

Praise the Lord for a good conference on the Declaration of Faith.

Pray that churches would follow through by considering their own doctrine.

Pray for another good conference in Guayaquil.

Pray about how we can make this material more available to others.

Pray for Kristi as she substitute teaches next week.

Pray for a good experience with the intramural basketball program.

Pray for Dan's health and the eventual provision of a liver transplant.

Pray for patience and trust for Dan's entire family.

Marching Into the New Year

Things continue to change around here. The biggest news is that we have given the keys for both of our Quito properties to the new owners since the beginning of the new year.

Office, Guesthouse and Apartment Building in Quito

In November and December, Scott was in the middle of sorting through more than 50 years of papers and other things that had accumulated in the Avant office. Many papers were shredded and thrown away but we still have quite a stack of boxes of financial records at our house now.

Many of the other things, office furniture, supplies, etc. were given away to other ministries. There are still more details to be taken care of with these properties and others around the country, but things are definitely winding down. As this is taken care of, Scott will once again be able to spend more time teaching.

Scott's next teaching engagement is coming up on February 7 when he will be teaching a one-day workshop on the doctrine of God. Pray for Scott's preparation and for a good impact on the churches of Chimborazo Province.

This week is finals week at Alliance Academy. You can pray for Joel that he finish his semester well with his different exams. The kids will have Thursday afternoon and Friday off of school.

December was a busy month. Here are a few highlights. Lindsey celebrated her 7th birthday.

She also played in her first piano recital. Both Luke and Lindsey were part of the Alliance Christmas Program.

And David arrived home for 3 weeks of vacation.

The last day of school before Christmas, Luke was on the playground, was walking backwards, tripped and fell. Immediately you could tell his arm was broken because of the way it was bent. So we spent the afternoon in the ER. He needed surgery to set the bone and they put a temporary pin in as well. He has an appointment this coming Friday the 20th. Please pray that the bone has healed correctly and that they will be able to remove his cast.

Scott and David also had quite the adventure. David had always dreamed of climbing one of the snow covered mountains here in Ecuador. So they chose Cotopaxi, a 19,300 foot volcanic mountain.

They hired a guide and rented some equipment. They were able to drive up to about 15,000. From there they climbed up to the refuge at 16,000 where they rested and waited till night. It is the safest to climb at night when the snow is frozen. So they took off at 1 in the morning and reached the summit at 6:30 in the morning. As they reached the summit it was snowing and the wind really picked up so all they could see was a few feet in front of them. We're thankful for the experience and for the safety God gave them.

We are also very thankful for each one of you--for your faithful prayers and faithful support! 2011 was a year when our cost of living increased significantly mostly because of having to move out of our mission-owned apartment. But God provided for each of our needs through many of you! Thank you!

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or imagine according to the power that is at work in us." Epesians 3:20

Praise the Lord for the sale of our mission property in Quito.

Pray for remaining details regarding transfer of property.

Pray for students at the workshop in February.

Pray for Joel to finish his semester well.

Pray for healing for Luke's arm.

Praise the Lord for special family activities in the past month.

Praise the Lord for faithful support through his people.

We are thankful!

Our entire family wants to say Happy Thanksgiving to you, our family and friends! We are so thankful for the way you have stood faithfully behind us through the 9 years we have been in Ecuador. We wouldn't be here without you and all the prayers and financial support you faithfully give! Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts.

Scott

Above all, I am thankful for God's marvelous plan for this world. In spite of the fact that there are often difficult things in our lives, I am thankful that our God is all-wise and that everything is purposely designed to give us joy as we see His glory shine through the darkest of circumstances. I am thankful that we can have this confidence because of the scriptures that God gave us.

I am also immeasurably grateful for the blessing of my family. God has given me a wife that supports me in so many ways, helping to make me a much better person and making me more effective in ministry. He knew we were well suited for each other and I am thankful for His good plan in bringing us together.

I am thankful for each one of my children and how they are displaying godly character and growing in maturity weekly. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord.

I am thankful for the amazing priviledge it is to be involved in God's global work of calling a people to himself even if I just have a very small part of it here in Ecuador.

I am extremely thankful for each one of our supporters who have a part in our ministry through prayer and financial giving to make our work possible.

Kristi

I am so thankful for so many blessings from God! My husband of 22 years, who is always there for me, loving me unconditionally. My children who make me laugh and cry. What would I do without them! They bring so much life to our home. Right now we are counting down the days till David comes home for 3 weeks at Christmas. Only 22 days to go. Thankful he loves school and has adjusted so well.

I am thankful for health. The last years have been very difficult for me as I have dealt with so many health issues. I am celebrating 1 year without surgery this month after having 3 major surgeries within 18 months. A year ago I was recovering from surgery and just lay on the couch watching my family decorate the Christmas tree.

I am so thankful to God that he has my life planned out! "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future". I feel overwhelmed by the way God has provided a place of ministry this year. I love the opportunity to be a full time teachers aid for the 6th grade class! I love the co-workers I have and my 35 6th graders. After staying home with my children for 19 years, I didn't know how I would adjust to this huge change in my life. But I wake up in the mornings looking forward to my days! So thankful to see how God is still working in my life and molding me into who he wants me to be.

Joel

I be thankful for my family and the opportunity to have a wonderful house to live in. I am also thankful that David gets to come back for Christmas this year. This is not to mention the fact that I am very thankful to have a wonderful home to go to. This is Kansas of course.

Luke

I am thankful for GOD because of all the wonderful things he gives me. I am also greatful for AAI (my school) not just because of the education but the friends. I love my family so much, so in that case I am definitely thankful for them. I'm also very happy for all the little things in life like the pretty view from our house, a bed, blanket and pillow, a house, food, water, plants, my older brother Joel, and a yard. :P There are so many more things but they would not fit on this page.

Lindsey

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for my family. And I am thankful for the world. And I am thankful for my house that keeps me safe. And for God who made me.

Prayer Update

It has been a BUSY month but a good one. Scott has been trying to keep up with a variety of things. The biggest news is that we have an offer on the Avant office and apartments. Please pray that things go smoothly, for all the paperwork to be in place, for understanding with the real estate agent as she has been rather difficult to work with, and for all the other details required.

The other side of the property was originally supposed to be turned over to the new buyers in July but still hasn't actually happened. We finished up the paperwork on our end the end of September and now the buyers are doing some on their end. Please pray that this will all get finalized quickly with no further problems.

Thanks for praying for Kristi's transition to working at Alliance Academy this school year. The transition has been much easier than we would have imagined. Kristi wasn't sure whether she would really like going back to work outside of the home, but now she says she loves her job! We are overwhelmed by God's loving guidance in providing this job as it allows our 3 children to continue attending Alliance Academy. In the past Avant has had teachers at the school giving credit for our children to attend at a reduced rate. This year we are thankful for the credit Kristi receives going towards the tuition.

Alliance Academy is a missionary kids school that has been here in Quito for more than 80 years. This year the school has a near record enrollment of over 600 students. Kristi is working as a teachers aide in 6th grade along with the math and science teacher. There are 34 6th graders this year, Luke being one of them. They are a wonderful group of kids. She spends her days grading papers, making copies, answering questions, or anything to help out the teacher. Please pray for Kristi as she develops relationships with the kids and strives to meet the many needs represented among them.

Scott recently took a trip to Chimborazo to teach a one-day workshop on one portion of our declaration of faith. It was well appreciated and they are asking for more workshops to be offered to a wider group of people. Pray that we could reach some churches where there is doctrinal confusion about where they stand and help them to be more firm in their acceptance of Biblical truth.

Scott took another trip to Babahoyo about a week ago to help connect some pastors in that area with a group of retired pastors who are hoping to begin a discipleship program for younger pastors. It was exciting to see Ecuadorians initiate this ministry and to be a part of helping make the necessary connections. Pray that much good would come out of this in the lives and ministries of the pastors in the Babahoyo area.

Pray for details related to sale of the Avant property.

Praise the Lord for a good experience for Kristi at her new job.

Pray for good use of opportunities to share Biblical doctrine.

Praise the Lord for a new discipleship ministry in Babahoyo.

Pray for pastors in this area to make good use of the opportunity.

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.