Shuar Bible Dedication

Umberto and the Drowns

Genesis in Shuar

Jim and Norma Hedlund being presented a bible

The Cashindu girls were trying to look after Benjamin most of the day (Photo Chad Irwin)

Alfredo receiving a Shuar bible (photo Chad Irwin)

Last Saturday we joined a number of Shell missionaries on a flight to Makuma for the dedication of the newly printed Shuar bible. Our good friends Jim and Norma Hedlund have been working on this project with the Shuar church association for many years to get a partial translation of the Old testament and a revision of the New Testament ready for print.

The dedication was all planned and presented by the church association and they did a beautiful job. For me, the most touching part was the reciting of Nehemiah 12.27+ (dedication of the wall) by all the tranlators who had worked on the bible.

Bibles were given to all the translators, to people who had supplied food faithfully over many years for when the translators came to makuma and to the different missionaries and Missions who have been involved over the years. Even Alfredo was given a bible on behalf of the work of HCJB water projects with the Shuar. This brought a tear to my eye as Daniel Chu, the president of the church association presented the bible to 'mi amigo Alfredo' (my friend Alfredo)- it highlighted the good relationships we have with these people and that the local church view as partners in their work.

It was a joy to see Umberto present at the event. He lost the use of his legs when a tree fell on him many years ago and he has been the longest-serving translator, working 30 years on both the original new testament and the revision and Old Testament publication. It is very unusual for someone to survive so long in the jungle in a wheelchair and he recognises that God has protected him all this time so he could work on this project. Many times I was working in Makuma on water projects and would pop into the translation room to find Norma Hedlund and Umberto working together on Old testament passages. Umberto lives in a community down in the southern jungle and would come for a fortnight each month. Lately he has been unable to come to mauma because his community airstrip was in bad repair and was closed down. It was a real blessing for the strip to be opened in the last week so he could come to this celebration. They will have another dedication in his community later in the year.

Marie and Frank Drown returned to Ecuador for the dedication. They worked many years with the Shuar and we often hear about 'Don Pancho' because in addition to all his bible and transtaion work he had a vision of community development and has left long-lasting influence in the areas we work. It was an honour to meet them both. Their story can be read in 'Mission to the headhunters' and great book about the people we work with.


May many eyes and hearts be opened amongst the Shuar as they receive the bible in their own language. To God be all the Glory.

Some Photos of the past two weeks

August Praise and Prayers

written 9th August

Dear Friends and Family,

Benjamin and I have been back in Ecuador nearly two weeks now and we are all back in our house in Shell, but bags are still not unpacked and boxes still in storage! As always, we hit the ground running, with friends from Redcliffe College arriving in Ecuador two days before I did so they could see our work. We spent part of last week in the jungle, seeing Jim and Norma in Makuma and showing Wim and Nienke a few projects. Alfredo and Wim then went to Cangaime to repair the system while we returned to Shell for the weekend. Tonight we are all together again in Shell and tomorrow we head up to mountain to see the projects in Chimborazo.

Thank you for all the prayers for flying with Benjamin. It was a very long day but Benjamin did sleep a little on the planes and he walked the whole way in Miami airport, pulling his Trunki suitcase behind him so although it was slow it meant I didn’t have to carry him the whole way! We were able to get the little airport car for part of the distance. Benjamin got the babycot on the first flight and his own seat on the second flight. When we arrived in Quito I went straight to bed while Benjamin showed all his toys off to the family! He has quickly recovered to Ecuadorian time and is sleeping till 7am now we are back in Shell.

We had another echo when I got to Shell to again try and see the sex of the baby and this time the legs were tight together and not showing much… however the doctor said he thought it might be a boy… whereas the UK guess was a girl… so we are still not sure! However the baby is healthy and growing fine, so that is the important thing! It is due mid November.

Praise:
The family is all back together in Shell

For a good jungle trip and Benjamin loved walking in the mud and rain!

That Wim and Nienke were able to include us in their mission tour of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador and get a taste of what we do. They want to be missionaries to Latin America when they finish at Redcliffe and don’t know where to go yet (maybe in the jungle with us!)

Prayers:
Next week life will settle down a little more and we can start planning for the coming months. Pray with us as we decide how to use our time in Shell, which jungle projects to take on and what involvement we accept in the Hospital maintenance department.

Steph Smithers arrives next week for 6 months with us and Fraenzi is now in language school in Quito before she joins us in Shell for a year. Pray for our water projects team!

Pray for our finances. We have been blessed with many new people joining our support team in the past few months, and for that we are grateful. With an increase in HCJB admin costs, a bad exchange rate and increase in the reserve with need to maintain in the UK account (for flights home etc) our monthly allowance has actually decreased from last year, despite the new donors! We had hoped it would increase in anticipation of the baby! So for those of you who have standing order forms that you keep intending to fill in, please go find it now and send it off, and for those interested in joining the support team write to me agriffin@hcjb.org.ec or print of the form at the HCJB-Uk website (http://www.hcjbglobal.org.uk/get-involved-mainmenu-125/give-mainmenu-131.html) . Remember to say it is for the Leon family.

Thank you for giving us a wonderful time in the UK. It was a blessing seeing so many of you and sharing some fun times. Let us know if you want a holiday in the Ecuadorian jungle (we won’t make you work too hard!)

Big hugs and blessings
Alex, Alfredo, Benjamin and Bump.

July praise and prayers

Dear friends,
We are on the Isle of Wight and Alfredo is preparing to return to Ecuador on Sunday (and is not happy that he'll be in the air for the world cup final!)
We have had a good month. It was sad to leave all our friends at Redcliffe College but the last week of 'cleaning' was fun and graduation was lovely. We visited friends in Bradford, Newcastle and Reading and have presented at Park Fellowship, East Cowes Methodist, Sunbridge Road Mission, Church on the Green, St Albans and two schools.

We had the 20 week scan and all is well with the baby and it's likely to be a girl (now accepting name suggestions).

Praises
For fun and safe travelling around the country and for old and new friends we have met.
For the new supporters who have joined our team this month
That Alfredo's English has greatly improved while in England

Prayers
For the time we are apart. Alfredo returns Sunday and I return with Benjamin 27th July.
For our finances. We are still below the recommended support level. Please pray for new regular supporters to join our team.
For work in Ecuador. August is already busy with two working visitors and two friends from Redcliffe coming and Alfredo might go to Haiti at the end of August. Pray we can settle back into Shell life quickly.
For planning. We have numerous requests from communities to help their water systems or build new ones. Pray with us for clear guidance on which communities to work with.

Our diary for July:
Fri 9th Holy Cross School
Sun 11th Alfredo leaves the UK.
Wed 14th Womens Union, St James Church Hall, East Cowes, 2.30pm
Sun 18th St James, East Cowes, 9.30am
Sat 24th Lawrence and Jen?s wedding
Sun 25th Bethany Evangelical Church, Newport 11am
Tue 27th Alex and Benjamin leave the UK.

Thank you for all the love, care and support we have received while in the UK. I hope to see a few more of you in the coming month.

Hugs and blessings

Alex, Alfredo, Benjamin and Bump.

students working in the mountain projects

Here is some news of what is happening while we are gone. This is in the mountain projects. If you are a student and interested in coming to work with us in Ecuador get in contact!

Eight summer interns in Ecuador joined a work team in the Quichua community of Pigulca to help the rural residents create a clean water source and lead the children in vacation Bible school. The team included two water technicians from HCJB Global’s clean water project ministry. The objective during the team’s weeklong stay was to protect three springs and hold Bible classes and activities with the children.

Pigulca had no clean water and only a few spigots for several dozen families. Community leaders asked for help last year and have been working closely with HCJB Global’s clean water project's team since then, making plans to rectify their water system. Team members worked alongside the men and women of Pigulca, creating a long “bucket brigade” to pass rocks, concrete and sand from the top of the hill down to the springs where the supplies were needed.

On their last night in the community, the people expressed thanks to the team for their work, their encouragement and for instilling God’s Word in their children’s lives.

June praise and prayers

Hello there!
We are in our final week of Redcliffe and classes have finished and we are spending our time cleaning, packing and eating lots in all the social events planned. We head to the Isle of Wight on Saturday, hopefully arriving in time for Alfredo to watch the first world cup game (he is supporting England this year as Ecuador didn't qualify).

The house we are living in got broken into a fortnight ago and we lost our digital camera, some cash and Alfredo's brand-new suit that we had bought for the wedding that weekend! We hope to get a new camera soon, but there won't be any photos for a bit.

We had a lovely half term holiday, first in Devon for Lizzie and James's wedding and then in Coventry to relax in the garden and meet church friends.

One of our reasons for being in the UK is to increase our financial support for our work in Ecuador. What with the family growing in size and the exchange rate dropping, our current support is only about a 1/3 of what the mission recommend. We greatly appreciate all you guys who give regularly to our work. Please prayerfully consider either becoming a regular supporter (standing order form attached) or increasing your monthly support. Please remember to say that one-off gifts and regular giving if for the Leon family. Donations can be sent to HCJB-UK, 131 Grattan Road, Bradford, BD1 2HS

Praise:
For all the friends we have seen on our travels last month and that Benjamin quite enjoys travelling!
For the great time we have had at Redcliffe College, for the friends made and the lessons learnt.
For the great work Steph and Lizzie did in the jungle while we have been gone. They are both back in the UK... Steph hopes to return to Ecuador in August to continue working and Lizzie plans to come to Redcliffe in a year! Adeline is also preparing to go the bible college in September, with an idea of returning to the jungle, yeh!
That no one was hurt and there was no damage from the robbery and that no one lost anything irreplaceable or valuable.

Prayers
we are a bit gypsy-like this month with our base on the Isle of Wight but visits planned for Bradford, Newcastle and Reading. Pray for time to relax and that we enjoy the travelling.
Pray we can replace the camera quickly. We had to buy a new suit a day later so Alfredo had something smart for the wedding!
Pray for our financial support
Pray for planning as we start to think about what we do when we return to Ecuador. We already have two friends from Redcliffe visiting in August, Steph arriving back, Franzi arriving in Shell in September, so we will hit the ground running.

Diary for coming month:
12th leave Redcliffe
13th East Cowes Methodist Church, Isle of Wight, 10.30am
18th HCJB office, Bradford and Thurgood's church
20th Sunbridge Road Mission Church, Bradford, morning and evening service
21st-24th Newcastle?
25th-27th Reading (Adeline)

May's exciting news

Dear friends,

we are already in our last month of study at Redcliffe College,
doesn't time fly!

We have good news to share: we are expecting another baby, due in
November. There must be something in the Redcliffe water as there are
currently 6 of us pregnant!

This month is busy: we were in Hull last weekend, sharing at the HCJB
prayer group, St Aidan's and Priory Baptist Church.

Coming up...
in Cambridge this weekend (with the Shields)
then Frodsham, Cheshire sun 16th
Gurnard Isle of Wight 23rd
and in Devon for Lizzie's wedding at the end of the month.
The half term holiday (1-6th june) we'll be back in Coventry.

Praise:
that we had a lovely Easter holiday on the Isle of Wight, London,
Barrow, Kents Bank and Leamington Spa. Praise that Benjamin likes
travelling in trains and coaches!

That we have a lighter schedule of classes this term so we get some
down time during the week as we are away each weekend.

That Benjamin is very sociable and adapts well to all the different
homes we stay at and people we meet.

Prayers:
that we can enjoy and take full benefit of our final month at Redcliffe

that we will not be too worn-out with all the travelling

that the pregnancy goes smoothly

that our financial support will increase as the family grows!

Thank you for you interest and prayers. We hope to see many of you
over the coming months. Write us if you see we are speaking in your area

blessings
Alex, Alfredo and Benjamin