Last night we met with Manuel and Elvia to talk about the tasks we have before us this upcoming month.  There are plenty of things that can be done, but we wanted to focus on what the Rosero´s specific needs are, and what we can feasibly help with in 5 weeks.  Here is what we landed on:

• Translate letters and documents
  The “Child Care” program is run by the Free Methodist church and gives people in the states the opportunity to sponsor children all over the world.  The task of translating the letters falls on the directors of the programs, which in this case is Elvia.  We are happy to help with this, and save Elvia precious time and money.
• Teaching and Children’s Programs
  Manuel and Elvia help tutor public school students for free.  We will help them by joining the tutoring, and helping with the Awana program that follows.
• Youth Group for the Church
  I was not so sure about this one to start with.  When they asked us to help out with starting a youth group, I thought there was no way that we would have enough time.  Then we found out that they have had a youth group, but they have been on break.  They would like us to meet with the leaders and help put a program/curriculum together.  There is a great guy named Santiago who is ready to lead the group, they would just like our input and guidance over the next 5 weeks.
• Worship Team for the Church
  The church has a youth led worship team that is very talented.  Manuel would like me to work with them on becoming more than individual musicians, but a worship team.  The leader of the group is named Danilo, and I have spoken with him, and we are both excited to see how God can use and develop the team.

There are a few other small tasks such as a web page design and clerical work we will help with.  We are also seeing a wide variety of opportunities to serve, and are discussing future projects with Manuel and Elvia.  We are extremely anxious to see what God has in store, and we are listening for our next steps
Please pray specifically for the above mentioned tasks we have set, and for God´s continued guidance.

We are very excited for this weekend. We will be traveling to Quito, to spend time working with the our friends Manuel and Elvia Rosero. Manuel and Elvia run a church in South Quito (Which is the poorest part of Quito) and also run a program to help public school students with their homework.

We have enjoyed our time in La Concordia. Rob has been working creating 3 websites, including a site for sponsoring the tuition for the poorer students of the school. Kirstie has been absorbing the culture, and working on her Spanish (which is coming along great).

With Rob spending 10 hours a day with his website ministry, and Kirstie at home with Bela, we have not had the opportunities to serve here in La Concordia that we would have imagined. The school has rock solid leadership, a knowledgebale computer teacher, and a great English teacher. We have not seen any area that can really utilize our gifts, talents and abilities. The church is also doing well, and we cannot offer anything to help them that they do not already have.

It is much different in Quito. In the one week that we spent there in April, our eyes were opened to the possibility of working in Quito. Manuel and Elvia Rosero have a desire to start a Christian school in South Quito, and are only lacking the help to get it going. The have specifically voiced the needs for a computer lab and teacher, English teacher, and people to aid with students with special needs. (Sound like anyone you guys know?)
Their church is also growing, and they many youth, and a desire to start a youth group, which is a huge passion of ours as well.

We are seeking the Lord’s guidance. If he calls us to Quito, we will be thrilled, but we are preparing ourselves to hear His plans for our next steps, not make our plans first. Please continue to pray for us in this! Thanks all.

Hey everyone!  We have been hanging out in Quito a little longer than expected because today Bela has some nasty diareah, and food was just going right through her.  We went to the doctor to have her looked at (only $8 !) and he did not see anything wrong, but wants to do a stool sample to be sure.  She has gotten some medicine, and lots of pedalyte.  So far she seems to be doing better but pray for her and for me ( I hate seeing my baby in pain).  We appreciate it.

Everyone knows what they say about Johnny and an overacheiving work ethic.
Thursdays have become our rest day, as Saturday and Sunday we are usually busy with ministry activities. It works out well to, as Veronica Mason doesn’t have to teach on Thursdays… With 9 0 degree weather and a sweltering “Winter” sun as they say here, the local pools have become a refreshing break in the week.

This week I have been getting closer to the things needed for our computer lab. Our Prayer Team is hard at work helping find some hardware that we need sent down. I’ll write a little bit more about that later.

Other than that things are going very well, and we are starting to see God guide us to ministries that he could really utilize us in. I won’t say much more now, but continue to pray the God grants us clear vision for our next steps.

Most of you have noticed that our site has been down.  This happened as a result of the web host company I use having a bad hard drive.

Just before we were leaving, a friend reminded me to be on my guard, because as our ministry was getting closer, Satan would try harder to distract us from the ministry God has before us.
Well Satan got through.  Just moments after our plane took off from MSP last Wednesday, the server crashed.  This happened at about the worst time possible, as we were days away from being settled in, and ready to use our computers.  Then, on Friday, I became ill with severe stomach problems and de-hydration, which prohibited me from trying to restore the site.  I was better this Monday.
On top of all of that, I learned that the company I use as my host failed to back up my site as my service claimed they would.  Thankfully, I had a backup that I accidentally made of our site´s database a few weeks ago, so we only lost a few posts and comments.  Unfortunately, the layout and appearance of the site was lost, so over the next few weeks, we will be trying to make the site a little more like it was.

Satan certainly knew where to hit us the hardest, by attempting to prevent us from sharing our ministry with our support team.  Also, as so much of our work entails web design and computer work, he seems to have known where to strike.   We rejoice and rest in the fact that no matter what Satan throws at us, our ministry, and the Lord’s work will persevere!

We are safely in La Concordia, and everyone is doing well, we will write again in the next couple of days with some pictures to let you know a bit more in detail what we have been up to this week.  We are just glad that the site is back up!