Quito

Today we were more urban than rural with a city church that East/West (the mission organization that I am traveling with) is iniating a relationship. Their goal is to organize several churches in an area who will faithfully follow up on the decisions made during our week here. If we were to spend an entire week in one location, it would overwhelm a church's ability to appropriately contact all of the leads and provide support and encouragement to the new believers. So I appreciate the strategy as we have focused on 4 different churches in the Quito area. We have shared the gospel 243 Ecuadorians and 149 made a commitment for faith in Christ.  Today was a medical clinic and I spent 5 1/2 hours pricking fingers... I loved it💉.  They get their blood pressure checked, eye glasses, blood sugar and a gospel presentation.  In this church, the pastor was also able to have a doctor on hand. I did a lady and her mother who both had blood sugar close to 400, hadn't seen a doctor in...

We traveled to San Francisco today, not the one in California but a suburb of Quito. I am having a hard time wrapping my arms around the geography of this place. Partly because it has been so cloudy and rainy so I can't see and also realizing that at 9000 feet, pretty much any direction is down... Today was sunny so as we headed towards our destination, a vast expanse opened up as we descended a switchback that definitely had me hoping the brakes were in good shape. The picture doesn't do it justice... There was a lot more 'down' after the town you see here.  Our morning started with a training of local church workers. They were so engaged and asked great questions ( one of the team so they were like the Bereans in Acts). So eager to hear and learn. Even so, two of the older men made commitments of faith and then asked to be baptized. After lunch, we broke up into teams to do home visits. I had the opportunity to lead a convenience store owner to Christ standing in the ...

Today was back up the mountains to San Jose des Minas for a medical clinic. Our host had invited the whole town so we could expect between 20 to 200. We ended up with about 60 townspeople coming through. I started off at the glucose table and it didn't take me too long to get into a rhythm.  They got their blood pressure checked, their eyes to see if they needed readers (we had glasses to give if needed), and a gospel presentation.  I believe that 36 made a first time prayer of faith.  It is always a challenge with the weather but the team was prepared. The East/West organization has done a great job in supporting what we are doing here and will continue with follow up after we leave.  I am not sure if we fed everyone that came but it seems like they did. I was able to give a mother a helping hand while she ate. Tomorrow the plan is to visit a local church for training of the locals in the morning and then do home visits. Appreciate your prayers and support. Bryan

 This morning started with a three hour bus ride north to a small town San Hosea des Minas. Pastor Marcos from Quito is planning on a starting a church here and the Catholic Church let us use their facilities.  The 'plan' was to train the locals in how to present the gospel to their neighbors but with about 10 minutes left, we found out some of the locals were unbelievers... quick changing of gears and the training session became a real gospel presentation with 5 indicating a decision of faith.   After lunch together where I was able to make a few friends...   we started going door with our translator and the local worker. We were able to share with one pre-planned visit and then just random individuals. My opportunity to share was with a store worker who was standing outside of her pharmacy waiting for customers. It was so exciting to walk her through the gospel and share and explain Romans 6:23. When she realized the gift of God and it's not by works she praye...

 Sunday morning came early as we gathered for breakfast and left via bus to the church service. Pastor Marcos spoke first to a group of about 50. For those of you on life group... it was interesting because he started off with the example of Kintsugi which I had just started a project with my Christmas gift and was able to show him what I was doing. For those not familiar..kintsugi is japanese art form that repairs broken pottery because they feel it still has value and the finished product highlights the fracture making it beautiful. google it. I wanted to try it because it reflects so well the way God fixes the broken pieces of our life to make something beautiful. After the service we broke up into teams with a translator and went into people's home. My teammate and I were able to share with 2 families, a Mom and her 10 year old son and another Mom with her 20 year old son. The three adults accepted Christ and the 10 year had done early in the children's meeting. There is a ...

 it's 1:43am and all 14 of us are on a bus headed to our hotel. The trip included two 3 hour layovers in Denver and then Houston. So far the journey has been uneventful and I have had the opportunity to get to know most of my team. Many walks of life and age groups. I am not the oldest but I'm not too far from the top of that list. Some have been on multiple STM (Short Term Missions) trips and some this is their first. It was a little difficult for me as I only casually knew 2 of the team and more than once I thought to myself..."What are you doing???" The other thought was that since I retired in 2020, Cindi and I have basically done everything together and maybe been apart for 1-2 nights. But sitting on the plane listening to one of the team behind me leading his row mate to give her life to the Lord. Wow.. I know this will be a stretch for me and definitely out of my comfort zone,  but I know it is God calling me to a new thing. Yesterday as I was packing and think...