• Friday, Feb 17: We’re having a movie night in Primero de Mayo.  We’ll be showing the new movie, Courageous on the “big screen” in the community center.  Please pray for a good turn-out and that many lives would be impacted by the message.  Pray especially that there would be new people with whom we can follow-up after the movie.
• Saturday, Feb 18: We will be laying the sub-floor for the house for Rosa and her children.  This widow is living in dismal conditions at the moment so we are helping her as a church build a new house. Please pray for safety during the construction and wisdom in how to invest the limited resources that she and the church has.
• Sunday, Feb 19: In addition to our regular Sunday morning activities, we will be hosting an all-nighter for the teens in our home to celebrate Carnaval.  Pray for spiritual openness as we will be having a devotional time in addition to movies and activities.
• Monday, Feb 20: Following the all-nighter at our house, we will be taking the youth group to Mindo for a day of bird-watching, hiking, canopy zip-lines, and playing in the river.  Mindo is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Cayambe down the Andes mountains toward the coast.  Pray especially for safety on the treacherous roads and for a good time of bonding with the teens.
• Tuesday-Saturday, Feb 21-25: We will be spending the rest of the week on the church property preparing for the pour of the concrete slab that will be the roof of our provisional church building.  There is a lot of work to be done tying re-bar and setting the forms.  The big pour will be on Saturday when the whole church will come out to lend a hand mixing and laying the concrete.  The slab will measure 915 square feet (85 square meters). Please pray for a break in the rainy weather we have been having and for safety as we labor together.
• Thursday-Saturday, Mar 1-3: We will be meeting with the other Crossworld missionaries here in Ecuador for a time of prayer, study and business meetings.  The meetings will be held in Puembo, about an hour from Cayambe.
• Mar 8-17: We will be receiving a team from Liberty University.  The team will be doing some small construction work on the church property and will also be doing English workshops in the local High Schools and with our teens during their regular Saturday meetings.

In addition to the upcoming activities, would you also please be praying for the following special requests:

• An MRI revealed that a back injury that Brenda suffered a couple of months ago is a herniated disc.  She has been following a regimen of physical therapy and medication, but is still extremely limited in her mobility.  She has been making good progress in the last two weeks, but please pray for a quick recovery of her normal activity level.
• Our Crossworld co-workers, Glenn and Susie Wittmann, are back in the US right now after the passing of Susie’s father.  We are grateful that Susie was able to go and be with her dad for a few days before he passed away.  Glenn returns on February 23 and Susie will return a week later.  Pray for comfort for them and the family, and safe travel as they return to ministry with us here in Cayambe.
• Our Ecuadorian ministry partners, Pablo and Lourdes, have been going through some trying times as a family.  Pablo recently had an emergency appendectomy which is still healing.  Their daughter, Estefany, is also under a lot of pressure in her Senior year of High School and will be making decisions soon about where she will go to college.  She is also considering the possibility of enrolling in the Word of Life Discipleship Center in Quito in the fall.  Please pray for her to stand strong against temptation in her public High School and for God’s leading in her life as she makes decisions about her future.

What time is a good time for discipleship?

Making disciples is our mandate, it’s our purpose for being here and it’s our principle focus. But when do we make disciples? The short answer is whenever life happens.  In the case of one group of very promising teen boys it means having a discipleship oriented Bible study every Thursday night, from 11 to midnight! Because of over-crowding in the schools, the local public High School has three shifts of classes.  They are all in the third shift, from 6-10:30PM.  All of them also work full-time to help provide for their families during the day.  After many failed attempts at including them with the rest of the teen boys, we finally settled on the 11-midnight time slot as the only time they had.  Ever since the change, they have been faithfully studying the book of Proverbs with us. The group has taken on the name “the night-owls”, and it seems speaks to their heartfelt desire to spend time in God’s word that they are willing to meet in this unusual schedule.  Please pray for these four “night-owls”: David, Salvador, Vigny, and Jose Luis (affectionately known as “Chino”).
Thank you for your patience to read through this list of particularly urgent prayer needs.  We value your role in supporting this ministry through prayer.  God is busy reaching into people’s lives here in Cayambe and He has invited us to participate in it with Him.  We are so grateful to have a team who prays for us back home in the US.  We appreciate each and every one of you.
Together bringing Christ to Cayambe,
Dave, Brenda and the boys.

Praises

• Great opportunities to share Christ during our Christmas and New Years events.
• Awakening of spiritual commitment in our teens.
• Growth of our congregation both in members and in maturity.
• Warm acceptance from the community to our public events.
• Slowly opening doors for expansion of the ministry to new areas.
• Financial provision for construction of the roof on the new building.
• Deepened relationships as a team in the past month.

New Year’s Eve was by far our biggest event during the holiday season.  In general culturally, New Year’s Eve is a much bigger event than Christmas here, and this year was no different. Our church in Primero de Mayo sponsored a contest for the best “old year” display.  The people here build elaborate figures representing the old year to be burned at midnight.  The figures are similar in material to scarecrows and are usually made to represent someone important to the family.  To draw attention to the event, our church built a 16′ tall Papa Smurf.  Under our ministry partner, Pablo’s direction, it took us four days to complete the build out of wood, cardboard and paper maché. The evening was a total success.  We estimated that there were about 350 people in attendance, many of whom have never participated in one of our church’s events before.  The night culminated with a fireworks display and the burning of the “old year” together.  We enjoyed a special time as a church family sharing hugs and words of appreciation for each other as we rung in 2012 together.
If you would like to see more pictures from our Christmas programs, click here.
If you would like to see more pictures from our New Year’s Eve event, click here.

Building Bricks

One of the most exciting things we can see God doing this year is providing for the construction of a meeting place on our new church property.  The congregation of Primero de Mayo has rallied together to build this year.  On January 7, we had an all-church work day during which we cleaned up the property and organized the building materials that had been scattered about. The church leadership is planning on early February for the pour of the cement slab that will serve as the roof on existing construction toward the back of the property.  Once the roof is on, it will be a matter of windows, doors and wiring for lights, and we’ll be able to move out of the community center. After that, we will begin work on bathrooms and the enclosure of the property. In addition to the labor of our local congregation, God has provided us with some teams from the US to help us in various stages throughout 2012. In the next couple of months we will be developing the plans for a three-phase building project. We’ll try to keep you in touch with the progress as it happens.
To see more pictures from our work day, click here.

Building Lives

We believe God has been preparing His people to go out into the harvest fields in Cayambe.  We feel a real sense of revival happening in the congregation.  Our numbers on Sundays have continued to increase, the youth group is growing and on a personal level we are seeing greater commitments to the ministry.  Our prayer is that 2012 will be the year that our disciples make disciples.  It’s already been happening individually, but we believe God is moving among the congregation with the desire to reproduce itself.  The groundwork has been laid for expansion of Bible studies in the downtown Cayambe area and interest has renewed and the doors are opening for ministry in the mountain community of Cangahuapungo.  Please pray with us also for the mountain communities of Santa Monica and Chaupiloma.  We have really struggled to get a response from the people there, but we are continuing to work with the contacts we have.

Building Together

This year we have been more aware of our dependence on our support team than ever before.  God has used your prayers and financial support in some amazing ways during the past year.  We have also seen a deeper level of relationship growing between the ministry here and the ministries of many of your ministries in the US.  We believe that a true sense of brotherhood is being cultivated between Ecuadorians and Americans that began with our international leadership team and is now translating to the members of our congregation and the members of many congregations in the USA. 2012 will be a year of unprecedented partnership and we pray that it will be also be a year of deepened relationships.  Thank you for being a part of it with us.

• For all of the upcoming Christmas presentations.
• For good weather for our Christmas and New Year’s activities which are typically held outside (right now we’re in rainy season).
• For the youth who are turning their lives to Christ.
• For unity and harmony in our church family.
• For leadership from the men both at home and in the church.
• For health and safety for our family during this very busy season.

Praises

• For the four teen girls who have recently trusted Christ.
• For new families attending our fellowship and bringing friends.
• For progress on raising funds for construction on our new church property.
• For energy and enthusiasm for Christ felt in our congregation.
• For the additional help provided by Glenn and Susie Wittmann.
• For many opportunities to minister in new places this Christmas season.

Long-term Investment, Eternal Reward

Vicky has been part of our ministry for almost 6 years.  She started attending our kids club at the age of 11 as one of the first contacts we made when we came to Cayambe.  Through the years she has had her ups and downs, sometimes attending faithfully, sometimes disappearing for months at a time.  Over the past year, she has become increasingly active in the youth group.
Her family are very committed to the Catholic religion.  They would often prohibit her from attending our activities, even beating her or punishing her if they found out she had attended an activity with the “evangelicals”.  Now 17, she only two weeks ago made the commitment to trust Christ as her Savior.
One of the things that impresses us so much about Vicky is that she never made a decision because we told her to.  She understood the seriousness of trusting Christ and resisted until she was truly convinced it was what God was calling her to do.  It was not an easy decision knowing the condemnation she would face in her family.
Since she trusted Christ, we have seen a radical change in her.  She is the happiest girl in the world.  She has not missed a meeting of the youth or the church.  She’s usually one of the first ones there and the last to leave. The change in her has been so dramatic that even her mother has been pleased with her becoming a “Christian”.  The best news of all is her drive to reach others with the hope she has found.  Her younger sister, Jessica, has also now received Christ and is following in her sister’s footsteps in discipleship and making disciples.
In the last few months, we have seen five commitments to Christ in our youth group.  All of them followed by a dramatic change in behavior and lifestyle. The Spirit of God is moving in Cayambe.  Thank you for your continued part in this movement of God through your prayers and financial support.

Open Doors for Christmas

Like in many parts of the world, Christmas is a season of open doors for us.  We are presented with more ministry opportunities in the Christmas season than any other time of the year.  We have already done an evangelistic Christmas presentation with clowns, puppets, games and skits in the plantation where our ministry partner, Pablo, works.  We have received invitations to do presentations in the Christmas programs of at least three other day-care centers in addition to our big Christmas program in Primero de Mayo that is scheduled for December 23rd.  Pray for our whole team as this level of activity is exhausting.  We are excited about the work of God in extending our reach to new contacts, but please pray for physical, emotional and spiritual strength to complete the task laid out before us.

Merry Christmas!

We also want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas.  Even though we are far from our friends and family this year, we feel so very privileged to be with our Ecuadorian friends and our spiritual family this year. Being involved in the God’s work in Cayambe is a blessing that we cannot express in words.  We also know that we would not be here if it were not for the sacrifice of time, prayer and physical resources that you invest in the ministry.  Thank you for all you do to help us bring the Christ of Christmas to Cayambe.

• Nov 18, Cayambe Team Thanksgiving Dinner
• Nov 24-25, Crossworld Ecuador Thanksgiving/Christmas gathering here in Cayambe.
• Dec 3, Association of Churches Youth Missions Rally, Dave is the featured speaker.

Changed Lives

When Gustavo accepted Christ as his personal Savior, his life underwent a radical transformation.  The first change his friends noticed was that his speech lost its foul language.  Then he began to notice his economic situation improving as his salary as a security guard at night and a shoe-maker during the day suddenly stretched farther due to the fact that he was no longer spending his money on alcohol, cigarettes and prostitutes.  His family life changed completely as he suddenly had free time to spend taking them out to the park or to participate in activities of the church, rather than spending his time in bars and dance halls.  His daughter’s grades have begun to rapidly improve.  Even his wife who was a staunch Catholic, has begun attending the church and studying the Bible.  He is meeting with Dave for discipleship twice a week and is soaking up everything he can from the Word of God.  He was also recently baptized with 11 others new believers in our church in testimony to the life-change God has done.

Changed Community

When we first came to Primero de Mayo, the community center was literally falling down and full of cobwebs.  There was a lot of effort put into community dances and parties, but little time was spent on community improvement projects.  When our church began meeting in the community center, there were fleas in the dust on the floor and the ceiling rained dust down on us throughout the service.  After 5 years of bringing Christ to the community, things have changed.  There hasn’t been a drinking party for the last two years.  The dirt roads are being leveled to put down paving stones.  Over the summer, the community center was renovated on the inside by our church with the help of some teams from the US.  Inspired by the interior transformation, the community rallied to renovate the exterior. The roof has been completely replaced and the walls are being patched and painted.  They are even preparing to pave walkways all around the center.  When Christ enters a community, things change.  We have been privileged to be a part of that transformation because of your support of the ministry.  Thank you for your sacrifices to make sure Christ is brought to Cayambe.

Changes in the Midst of Crisis

We told you about Diana in our newsletter last month.  We’d like to update you on how God has been working in that family and give you an opportunity to participate in reaching out to them in Christian love.  We wrote about the transformation we have seen in Diana since her decision to trust Christ as her Savior.  God has recently given her a real test of that transformation.  On the Saturday before our baptism Sunday, Diana was playing a game in youth group and had a bad fall.  She landed right on her left wrist exploding the bones in a compound fracture.  We immediately rushed her to Quito where they operated on her wrist installing four pins.  Two weeks later, the surgeon confirmed that she would need a second surgery to install a permanent plate in her wrist.  Diana was on her high school basketball team and was hoping for an eventual college scholarship.  That all evaporated before her eyes in an instant.  Before knowing Christ, her mother who is not yet a believer told us Diana would have slipped into a deep depression and probably dropped out of school.  Now she is amazed at her daughters positive attitude and hopeful outlook despite the suffering and pain of two surgeries.  Diana is on the mend now, and her mother and older brother now attend the church with her on Sunday mornings.  Please continue to pray for the salvation of her family which is Diana’s greatest desire.
Also, the two surgeries that Diana had on her wrist cost approximately $3000.  We have helped her from our funds as much as we can and we have taken up the majority of a benevolence fund maintained by the Ecuador ministry field.  If God is leading you to do so, would you consider a special gift to the “Ecuador Benevolence Fund” to help us recover the funds we have used?  Any gift for the ministry should be made out to “Crossworld” accompanied by a note stating the purpose of the gift then sent to the address at the base of this E-mail.  Thank you for your active part in this ministry.

We have just gotten the majority of our latest pictures uploaded to Flickr. You can view them by following this link or by clicking on the Flickr icon on any page of our website.