Dear Praying Friends,

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His Holy Name!"

These words were on our hearts and indeed on our lips as we spent time in Ecuador. Thank you for your prayers; we were so conscious of them. The trip was a great blessing to us, and things at home went very well while we were away. God is so good. Hang on 'cause this is little long!

First, we should tell you that Summer Conference was really great. We had great teaching from Brian Chapell (President of Covenant Seminary) and Randy Nabors (Pastor at New City Fellowship, Chattanooga). It was a blessing to hear from these men and their wives. The workshop on micro-economic development went well. Few people attended, but those who were there asked great questions. The evaluations came back very favorably. We also had a wonderful time with other missionaries - the Helmly's teammates from Quito, and our dear friends the Gildard's who serve in France.

As soon as we got back from Ridge Haven, we put Whitney and Waverly on a plane to Texas, where they were able to visit Robin' mom and Mike's sister (and most of the rest of his family as well!). A couple of days later we left for Ecuador. The first 5 days or so were spent in Guayaquil. We visited many of our friends, and it was a joy to be with them again. We really thought that we would be encouraging our savings and loan groups to start up again, since the last we had heard they were not really meeting. What a surprise it was instead to discover that not only have they been meeting, but they are thriving! We can see real growth in both of them. The larger one, which had 15 members when we left, is now up to 35 members! They are seeing good gains on their deposits, and have access to loans up to $150. They have now experienced their first bad loan, dealt with it, and continue to prosper financially. We were concerned about whether the church was taking spiritual oversight of the group since our friend Daniel had a time conflict because of a college course. We discovered that Daniel had taken two other church members with him, and that the group is blessed to have them. We were excited because the church is taking an active role in the group. Even though we brought Daniel along from the beginning of this group, we felt that we had not given the church an adequate vision of how this group could really be an outreach. Now, it seems that the church has caught that vision, and is running with it.

We also visited our other savings and loan group, and attended their meeting since Pastor Jim was away. This group has also grown, but in different ways. This was the first group we had started, and they have always been less aggressive in their activities. For instance, in the last 6 months they have not given a single loan. The group is primarily composed of savers, but they like it this way. As we talked with them, we discovered that they had a couple of new people, and that they did not attend the meetings. Since they were a bit upset by this we asked them about their rules. They had not really taken a good look at their rules for some time, so they decided that they needed to do this. The rules say that attendance at meetings is mandatory, and they even have a fine for not attending. However, they had never enforced this aspect of their rules. We noticed that the group was more conscious of its need for rules, and that they showed more "ownership" of the group. We mainly encouraged them to make their rules current and to take make sure that each member has a copy. It was a blessing to be with them.

We really had a good visit to Guayaquil, but it was difficult to tell our friends that we would be living in Quito when we return. However, our team is very supportive of our desire to travel monthly or every other month to continue to work in Guayaquil. We desire to continue encouraging the groups, but we also want to train others to start similar groups in the Guayaquil area. We would also like to help Rose of Sharon start a group that is composed of church members and their neighbors.

Next, we went on a spiritual retreat with all of the Ecuador team, from both Guayaquil and Quito. It was a good time to worship, pray and fellowship with team members. On the free day, we and two others went out on a small fishing boat to see humpback whales. We were overcome by how big God is, both because of the vastness of the ocean and our relative smallness, and also because of the beauty of the whales. We even got a couple of good pictures! An added bonus was that Robin got to visit with Cecilia who is an Ecuadorian on our team. She ministers to Quichua women, and started a literacy program for the women at the Sembradores church on the south side of Quito. She is looking for others to help, and Robin is definitely interested!

The last five days were spent in Quito. It was awesome to worship in a well-established Ecuadorian Presbyterian church. It was wonderful to worship in Spanish again. Monday through Thursday of that week we spent in team vision and planning meetings. It was the first time for us to meet with the combined (Guayaquil and Quito) team, and they made us feel wonderfully welcomed. We are excited about the possibilities for ministry in both Guayaquil and Quito. Please continue to pray for the team as they put flesh onto the bones of plans that were made. Pray for us that we will move forward, and that we will not be paralyzed if things don't go according to "our" plans. We are all committed to being led by the Holy Spirit, and not vainly hanging onto plans or ministries just because we have "always done it that way."

When we said that we were conscious of your prayers we were really serious! Everything went well at home while we were away. We were healthy in Ecuador. Renewing the car registration in Guayaquil went very smoothly, and relatively quickly. All of us were safe in all of our travels. Team retreat and team planning went really well. Robin did not have any trouble with altitude sickness! She said several times, "I know that people must be praying because I really feel great!"

What about support and fall scheduling? We are still at the same amount of monthly support. However, we just learned that another church is interested in interviewing us - and we did not know that they were still considering us - yeah! Also, we are still putting our plans together, but we will be going to Chattanooga next week, Kansas (and maybe St. Louis) in September and Arizona (and possibly Florida!) in October. If you or someone you know would be interested in hosting a dinner or dessert and inviting some friends to hear about the work in Ecuador, please contact us. We would love to do it! The trip to Ecuador really served to rev us up for returning in January. We are so excited about what the Lord is preparing for us. Would you please pray for folks that God would have support the work? We continue to be blessed by your financial and prayer support. Thank you for serving God in this way.

By the way…We take Wendy to college on Saturday, Aug. 13 (that's tomorrow!). Please pray for her adjustment to life in a dorm, away from home. And pray for all of us who are returning home on Sunday without her. We will all miss her terribly, even though this is a really exciting time for her. Wendy will be attending Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA, about 3 hours from Carrollton. She plans to study nursing. The course work is very demanding, and the program is very competitive. Pray that God would be strengthening and directing Wendy in all that she does.

We are so blessed by your ministry to us.

Blessings in the Savior,

Mike and Robin McMahan

Contact us at:
email: mmcmahan@mtwla.org
Home phone: 770-834-2474
Cell phone: 817-637-9774
Address:
1916 Hwy 27 S.
Carrollton, GA 30117

August 12, 2005