Pioneer School

I have to share this bit of news with you. 14 years ago when we first arrived in the country we had the privilege to preach in a small village about two hours from Cuenca called Jima. We spent the entire day preaching and at the time there were no witnesses or congregation in the area. One family (the Morocho family) with 11 children was studying and had invited us to stay after the study and eat lunch. During the study the older girls left to kill a chicken for lunch. This was strange at the time since we usually buy our meat in the grocery store. However, the lunch they prepared was literally one of the most delicious we have ever tasted. We had been walking all day, up mountains, on dirt paths and when we arrived to their home we were happy to be seated around a kitchen table with the entire family. We appreciated their hospitality so much especially since we were so tired. Remember, also that our Spanish at the time was extremely limited.

Now to the point of my story...one of the daughters that we studied with that day, Baltazara, is in our Pioneer School and she reports that the majority of the family is either baptized or studying. What a joy!

Pioneer School

Well it finally happened. Mark and I have been invited to attend Pioneer School a second time. We are so excited! The school starts next Monday right after our District Convention so we will certainly be on a spiritual high for a few weeks! At first I was a bit apprehensive that my bosses wouldn't allow me the time off to attend since I spent 6 weeks in the States. But, they have been extremely supportive and understanding. They told me no problem since it appeared to be so important to me to attend. I really appreciate their flexibility with this and grateful to Jehovah for giving us this wonderful opportunity.

Hopefully I will have some good experiences to share.

Tremor

Woke up this morning with the building shaking. A 6.9 earthquake near Ambato was felt in Cuenca. I must say we were a bit shook up and left the building as soon as the shaking stopped. No damage but was disconcerting.

ENGLISH CONVENTION IN GUAYAQUIL

Every year the Ecuadorian Branch organizes an English District Convention in Guayaquil. It is a blessing for those of us serving in a foreign field to hear the program in our native language. It is like a mini international convention in that there are so many brothers and sisters from other countries that attend. For example there were brothers from Canada, Mexico, England, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, U.S., Austria, Peru, Japan, Korea, China, Sweden, just to name a few.

A moment that really impacted me was during one of the talks the brother asked to see a show of hands of how many in the audience were serving in some sort of full-time service...the majority raised their hands. It was wonderful.

For any of you that want to serve where the need is great and are planning to visit Ecuador, I suggest you try to attend this unique convention. It is always the last weekend in July. You won't regret it.