New president of Reach Beyond

September 1 marked the first day for the new president of Reach Beyond. Steve Harling. He and his wife Becky (who is also a well-known author and speaker) had been pastoring churches for 36 years.

In October they visited our offices in Quito and Shell. It was great being able to meet them and get to know a little bit more of their heart for missions.

Thinking of others

Our dog is a bit special. Her food dish is normally outside, but that location attracts a lot of birds. There was one day when our dog wasn't hungry and she was enjoying laying down in the sun. Her dish still had food in it and the birds were eating from it, so Marlene placed a small piece of plywood over the dish so the birds couldn't get at the food.

Marlene went back inside and a few minutes later watched Petra get up, walk over to her food dish, knock the plywood cover off and then go lay down again.

Just the other day, we had her food dish inside (so the birds wouldn't eat from it) and we watched Petra enter the house and then exit. Enter and exit. Curious, Marlene watched what she was doing and saw Petra bringing food out of the house in her mouth and then depositing it on the ground below a tree. The only conclusion we could come to was that she was making sure the birds could eat some of the food.


Now that is concern for your neighbours.

How to relax...

When do they bloom?

We have had this Orchid plant for several years now. Where we were living last year, it was in a sheltered location where it received plenty of sunshine. We watered it, but the plant never received direct rain. It did not bloom that year.

When we moved into our new place, we placed the orchid in the garden where it gets plenty of sunshine and rain. It has grown immensely in the past ten months. As you may see in the photo, it has bloomed as well!

But here's the interesting part. It didn't bloom until we had entered the rainy season and it had been through many rain storms, putting up with all of the pounding raindrops. Twelve days ago a stem appeared and now we have the flowers.

Many times we as persons can't bloom until we have been through the storm and have been "rained on". Only then, can God take what we have and make something truly beautiful from it.

The Virtual Fridge...

Both Joel and Joshua really enjoy art. It's funny how when we were buying supplies for their art classes (the second time, in other words, we bought the wrong stuff the first time), Joel told me, "Don't worry dad. I know what I need." and he found it too!

This is one of the pictures that Joel liked best from his paintings and drawings this past spring.

Joel posing with his painting and Joshua at the science fair at school.

Surgery

This past Friday afternoon we saw a pediatric surgeon to get his opinion on an abscess that was growing on Joel's left arm. It was concerning to us as it continued to grow even after a round of antibiotics. Since it was ready to break-open, the doctor thought it best to take it out immediately and booked an operating room for the next morning (Saturday).

Even though Joel was nervous before the surgery, he was brave and was joking and talking with everyone, including the doctor, anesthesiologist and nurses. The procedure only took about 40 minutes but we were in the hospital from 9 am until 4 pm.

Joel is doing very well and already misses his friends at school (he is off from school this week).

Clowning around before surgery.

Recovering and showing off his wound.

Schools and blessings

It is so neat how God continues to open doors to give our talk. At the end of August we had the director of a school call us to request that we give our hyperactive children talk to the teachers. It was a bit strange for us to receive the request, but when we asked how he had heard about us, he mentioned that a family member of his had been at a church where we had given the talk and had called him to indicate that it would be of interest to the school. Praise God!

Broken window

We were with family at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World), when the 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit. Where we were it felt like a series of waves moving across the earth. It seemed to go on for about 35 seconds. What we heard of the quake from those in Quito was that it was very sharp and short. I suspect it has a lot to do with type of soil and what type of building you happen to be in.


When we got home, our dog was very nervous, probably in part because where she normally sleeps is directly below the window that broke and there was bits of glass all over the area. It must have been terrifying for her. The next day I went to find some glass to replace the window.

 

Allas para Volar

Con Alas para Volar (in English, "With Wings to Fly"), is a full-length movie made in Ecuador and sponsored by CristoPol (the organization of Christian Police). The plot-line follows a young couple who meet, fall in love, get married have a son and then separate. The story is told from the perspective of the son as he works at getting his parents back together. In the end the family learns about Jesus and how He needs to be Lord of their lives.

The story is great and very timely as it treats a topic which has been growing in importance here in Ecuador. The movie is receiving very positive comments from people exiting the theaters after viewing it.

Pray with us that God would use this movie to touch lives and marriages for His glory!

Closer to home

Last night at 11:23 pm we had a rude awakening. I woke up to the sound of glass smashing and then I realized that the building was shaking. Just 10 Km north-east of Quito was the epicenter for a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. It was quite shallow at a depth of 8 Km.

Joshua woke up and shouted earthquake and Joel slept through it all.

Marlene told me that the window in Joshua's room was broken and when we looked out through the curtains in our room we noticed that we didn't have much glass in our window either.

I went to find some plastic and tape to cover the windows. Before stepping too close to the building to put the plastic up, I was examining the windows and walls to make sure nothing was going to fall me.

There were two broken windows from the owner's apartment as well.

An hour later the lights came back on and we could try to get back to sleep.

From the reports we've seen this morning there was light damage, mostly broken windows and a couple of slight injuries as a result.

The personalized touch

Near the end of June we were able to share with a family who have a son who is hyperactive (Anderson, far right in the photo). They had been unable to come to one of the conferences we had given and contacted us to see if we could share with them.

Near the end of the time with them, the parents gave their hearts to Jesus! We were able to direct them to a church that is in their area of the city and we are trusting that God will continue to draw this family to Himself and help them to grow in their knowledge and love for Him.

Ministry

We had another opportunity to share with teachers at a local school about food allergies and hyperactivity. While we had a couple of technical problems, the interaction was a benefit to those present.

The group was 26 teachers and at the end several stayed behind to ask us more questions. This is a common pattern wherever we go. Always someone can identify with what we are sharing and can take the information and use it.

It is always a joy to be able to share our faith at these talks.

Spelling Bee Champ

The school the boys attend held a Spelling Bee in English with various levels for the different grades.

For the two weeks previous to the event, Joshua would come home, do his homework, and then ask me to help test him from the list of 250 words they had given him. Some of those words were fairly difficult!

From each class only a few students were picked so I guess his practicing was paying off as he was one of those selected for the competition.

When the day of the contest arrived, Marlene and I went to watch him. There was one time when he was given a word that he had difficulty spelling the night before. I was thinking, "Only one L, Only one L." He remembered his practice and spelled it correctly.

When it came down to Joshua and one other student, they went back and forth, each providing the correct answer. But then the other student made a mistake and Joshua was able to spell the word and won his level! We all thought he would just get a certificate of achievement, but he ended up with a $25 gift certificate as well. We were telling him that all of his hard work had paid off.

Garlic anyone?

We had a few garlic cloves sprout before we could use them so we decided to plant them. I've never actually seen a garlic plant live so it is kind of neat seeing them grow. They have good sunshine and water, and the soil is fertilized and the evidence is in the plants growing.

We didn't see anything for about three weeks after planting them, but just within the past two weeks they have really starting growing.

That's how it is with God's word. We can plant seeds and we can be watering seeds wherever we may go. But many times we don't see any results. That can be discouraging.

But we need to remember Paul's words to the Corinthians. "So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." 1 Cor. 3:7. So, although we may not see the results immediately (or even possibly in this life), we must continue to do our part and let God do the growing.

Moving on...

There continues to be quite a lot of seismic activity. This morning we were woken up at 2:57 am with the building shaking for about 10 seconds. The tremor was a 6.7 just off the cost of Ecuador, basically in the same area of all the other quakes.

Just 10 minutes ago (11:46 am Quito time) there was another 6.6 tremor in the same area. We felt this one in Quito as well for around 30 seconds.

Both of these were a rolling sensation, once again like standing on a pile of Jell-O.

I haven't heard anything of damage reports yet but we'll try and keep you informed.

Earthquake!

Saturday night we had just arrived home when disaster struck. At 6:58pm, April 16, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Ecuador near a town called Muisne in the province of Esmeraldas.

It has been devastating for the people who have lost homes and family members. The country is working to get help to the affected areas. There are so many needs that it can be overwhelming.

Here in Quito, we definitely felt the quake which went on for about 45 seconds. I have become accustomed to the short jarring quakes which we get here quite often, but this one was a rolling one which didn't seem to stop. Even after it stopped, you weren't sure as your legs continued to give the impression that the earth was moving

Even though there were reports of damage to a few buildings in the south of Quito, and people reporting that things had fallen off of shelves or the walls, we didn't experience that.

Please be praying for the people of Ecuador as many work to figure out from where and when their next meal will be coming, and where they will be sleeping, and for the many who have lost family members. The story was on the news about one young man whose entire immediate family died when their building collapsed.

A loooong trip to Germany

The first week of February I was in Mosbach, Germany for a meeting of Reach Beyond's IT managers and then to attend ICCM. The events were at the OM Germany facility which you can see in two of the photos.

Every two years we try to get together the IT team from our various offices for a time of encouragement and planning. This was the first time in four years that we have met face-to-face. There were two long days of our meetings followed by three days of the ICCM conference.

The International Conference on Computing and Mission (ICCM) is a unique conference focused on techies serving mission and ministries organized by these same people. The Reach Beyond IT group attended the ICCM Europe conference as it provided a more central location for our people coming from England, Spain, Malaysia, the U.S. and Ecuador.

What a great time to encourage each other as we serve Jesus as techies!

The train from Frankfurt was fairly high-speed and we hit 200 Kmh.

I purposely didn't include photos of people in this as many work in difficult areas.

New life!

Marlene had the opportunity to share with Adriana about the problems we had with lactose in the diet of our son.

Her son, Martin, was having behavioral problems and she wanted to hear anything which might be of help to her.

During the time Marlene spent with her, she heard about how different foods can affect people and more importantly, how much God loves her. During their time together, Adriana prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

That is what I call getting a lot of good news!

Alejandro y Sara

While in Canada last summer we shared about Alejandro and Sara. She had received a vaccination that made her very ill (about 3 years ago) and Alejandro had fallen 4 meters through a skylight and hit his head (8 months ago). She has recovered well but he is having problems. Due to the brain damage he received it appears that he is losing his vision and the doctors here indicated that he needed surgery.

We put him in contact with Dr. Roy who just happened to be here for Jornadas Medicas (a medical conference hosted by the Hospital Vozandes) which invites healthcare givers from all over to participate. Dr. Roy had given a session at the conference and by God's arrangement Marlene was able to talk with him and it turns out in his family he has experienced similar problems to what Alejandro is experiencing. He agreed to talk with this couple.

Dr. Roy was able to provide some encouragement to Alenjandro and Sara but it wasn't the news that they may have been expecting.

Please continue to pray for this couple as they seek to overcome some depression and continue to work on the physical and mental therapy that Alejandro needs to stop the degeneration of his vision. In the midst of this we pray that God would heal their hearts as they see that God is real and loves us even facing difficult situations. In fact many times he allows these same situations so we will look to him.

Food allergies

Last week we gave our talk on very active children to a group of teachers and staff at a small daycare facility. Once again one of the attendees came up to talk with us afterwards. It turns out that her own son was describing to her the same symptoms that we had been describing in the talk when someone has an intolerance of lactose.

She felt terrible because she had made her son drink milk because of her concern that he not suffer malnutrition without realizing that the very thing which she thought was best for him, caused him the most trouble.

The responses we have been receiving from people who hear us, encourage us to carry on. The more people who understand how food allergies affect children the better.

At the close we were able to pray with the group of teachers and care-givers who look after a number of children during the day and evening when their parent or parents are out working as street vendors. What a challenge to help these young lives and we pray that many of them would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Faraday cage

Not sure how many of you know what a Faraday cage is. It is a wire mesh or cage which is used to protect something from radio frequencies or voltages, etc. For example, the first photo shows a Faraday Cage being used to protect a human being from very high voltage (artificial lightning).



When Reach Beyond (previously HCJB) had our transmitter site in Pifo, we had the engineers houses wrapped in wire to protect the families from the radiation off of the antennas.

Well, the other day as I was walking to work, I came across a local version of the Faraday Cage.