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News for Friends, Family, and Partners September 25, 2007 Dear Praying Friends, We are so thankful for your on-going prayer and financial support. It has been an eventful couple of months, and we are in the midst of new opportunities which we want to share with you. SUMMER MONTHS We had a wonderful and busy summer with work teams and trips to the US. As we mentioned in our last update, our third work team, Faith Pres from Birmingham, arrived August 3, and continued work on the bakery, and did a wonderful English club, as well as having several good cultural and spiritual exchanges with La Gracia church. Whitney and Waverly had a wonderful time this summer, first helping with the first two teams, and then heading to the US for a month to visit friends, and have a few college visits. Robin joined the girls in the US to visit friends, help with the college visits, and attend her grandmother’s 100th birthday party. Mike was able to join the family in the US for about 4 days to attend the party. All returned home by August 19th. SCHOOL YEAR STARTS With the beginning of the new school year, we have seen other new starts as well. Whitney and Waverly have begun their final year of high school. Waverly is also playing soccer, and Whitney is participating in the fall drama production. Both are also involved in Christian Service Outreach. Their class load is heavy, and they are staying very busy. We adults have begun a few new projects as well. Robin traveled recently to Guayaquil to help begin a new women’s savings group in a marginal area of Guayaquil, alongside Caty Tate (team member), and church member Elizabeth Alava. Elizabeth works for a pro-child, pro-family organization as a community educator. She had participated in a women’s savings group Robin started several years ago, and wants to offer the same opportunity to the women with whom she works. She also sees the group as an opportunity for the gospel in this community. Pray for Robin and for Caty as they seek to support Elizabeth in this project. Both of us are teaching “Planning a Better Business for the Glory of God” in two new areas. Some time ago, we met a young pastor, David Vega, who works with several independent churches here. He administers a loan program for four or five groups in two separate communities. When we offered small business training, he was very encouraged. Last week we began the class in both communities, and participants seem very encouraged. Please pray for another new project, which is doing biblical integration of another small business module called “Manage Your Business Money.” We have asked Ecuadorian team members to help with the project, but all of us are busy, and getting together has been a challenge. Please pray for the project, as there is a women’s group at the El Tejar church downtown waiting for us to have it ready. As a team, we have made teaching reading in Quichua a priority, since many Quichua brothers and sisters understand their Bible much better in Quichua. Those who read, mostly only ready Spanish, and many do not read at all. Currently, we are training a group of brothers and sisters from the Planters for Christ Church to be able to teach reading in their own church. Pray for those who are being trained, and pray for those of us involved in the training. Our goal is that God would be glorified as more of His children have access to His Word. This past weekend, we traveled back to the little church north of Otavalo where we worked in July to discuss doing some teaching. It was such a joy to see that they had completed work on the church that they had begun while we were there- all the ceramic tile is installed, the walls are finished and painted. We presented them with a bulletin board covered with pictures from the trip. On the spot, we were asked to do some teaching on stewardship, and since we have been preparing for an upcoming workshop on the topic (in the La Gracia church), we were able to teach for an hour or so on Saturday. We will return the middle of October to do a 4 hour workshop, also on stewardship. Pray for wisdom in counseling with people who, materially, have so little. On Sunday morning, when we arrived at worship, one of the elders asked Mike if he would preach. Thinking through what we had talked about on Saturday, and drawing from a previous sermon on Ephesians 2:1-10, Mike preached in Spanish, and our Quichua brother, Segundo, translated. When we return for the workshop, Mike will be preaching specifically on a stewardship theme. Pray for his good preparation. This is a topic of great interest in all of the churches where we have relationships. Mike continues to act as team treasurer, with all the responsibilities that involves. Pray for him and Craig Pohl as they plan the budget for next year- ‘tis the season. Robin continues to prepare the Bible study on the book of Mark for the women of our team, and has recently added teaching a similar study for the women at the La Gracia church, where we attend. Several times we have mentioned health issues. Robin continues to have some intestinal health issues. After negative test results for lactose intolerance and Celiac’s disease, she will have another endoscopy tomorrow. Please pray for a safe procedure and wisdom for her doctor. Again, thank you for your prayers and care for us. It is a blessing to know that you are with us even as we are apart. Let us know how we can pray for you. Blessings in our Savior Jesus, Mike and Robin McMahan
Write us at: Mike and Robin McMahan
Email: Vonage phone: 770-573-0586
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September 25, 2007 |