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Hinterland Update - September 2003
Quichua Training Center Underway
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
We are grateful to the friends and family who sent their loved ones to us this summer for 9 days of work and worship. We are grateful for you who came and demonstrated your love for the Lord. The fruit of your labor will be a Quichua Training Center that will proclaim His glory. Thank you for making sacrifices to come alongside us and proclaim in English, Spanish and Quichua "The Lord reigns!" Balancing a Steam Roller On the first day of the project for team X, the men pooled their money and hired a backhoe with an operator. Within 2 hours, one of the team was working the backhoe himself, and some of the nationals laughed at his directness, not having seen such "gumption" before. Later, thanks to flexibility on the part of the team and the Ecuadorians, we were able to pour 2/3 of the footers for the building, and build and set the re-bar for 10 columns. We could have spent 6 days digging holes by hand! The work that was accomplished balanced well with maintaining our relationships with the nationals. Our American mindset is often more task-oriented, but this event reminded us of the dual purpose of short term teams. We desire to accomplish a task and expose people to all aspects of mission work. Thanks to flexibility on all sides we have a very real hope of occupying part of the Training Center by year's end. The Heart of a Quichua Church The women sang. The children danced. A white ribbon was cut-and in ceremonial style, the Westminster Confession of Faith class was inaugurated at Sembradores de Cristo (Sowers of Christ). The group meets bimonthly to study the Confession with Rick Aschmann and Segundo Anrango in their mother tongue, Quichua. Jose Manuel and his wife, Manuela, sell fruit at an intersection in order to provide for their family of three boys. They always have a smile for passing drivers even if they don't make a sale. Dave Strumbeck has been training Jose Manuel over the last few years and he now serves as pastor for this little church. The Sembradores property has only a stage, sound system, metal roof and wooden benches, but this skeleton building is clothed weekly in the joy of the Lord among this group of believers. Jose Manuel is one of the reasons why we are here - to help provide Quichua leaders with theological and practical training so they can support their families AND be able to serve their church.
Quichua Class Notes-continue to pray as we feel a bit overwhelmed
returning to language study after summer vacation!
Change is in the Air The Booths and the Strumbecks are back in the States for most of this fall to report to churches ("furlough" is now called HMA - Home Ministry Assignment). We who remain need your prayers as we take on more responsibilities. While Frank & Darlene work on substituting for the team treasurer, Rick & Segundo will continue to teach biweekly at Sembradores de Cristo and to disciple individuals. For vocational training, we will be starting a work-study program at the construction site at San Pablo. Our desire is to complete the first floor of one wing to be used for future training classes. On this date in history... September 9th marks the one year anniversary of Don Williams' death. His widow Terry is planning to return to Quito in March 2004 after the trial of the young men who murdered Don. Please pray for her as she takes this next step as a 'single' missionary. Next month our Hinterland team will begin to evaluate progress and reestablish our goals for the upcoming year. One of our priorities is to help Ramiro Araujo, our national worker, complete his funding in the US. So far, he has about 20% of his needs met through individuals and churches. We thank you for your prayers for our team! Yours in Quito, Frank & Darlene
Address: Frank & Darlene Helmly Casilla 17-08-8403 Quito, ECUADOR Or care of MTW 1600 North Brown Road, Lawrenceville GA 30043 - September 4, 2003 |