Earth Moving

I felt my first earthquake yesterday! Luckily it was only a little wobble. It could have been an aftershock from the earthquake in the north of Chile Wednesday. It was enough to make the bed shake and the windows rattle, and I was pleased to only be in a 'bungalow' and not up higher .
Alex

discipling nations

I am reading a very interesting and thought-provoking book at the mo, Old Testament Template by Landa Cope. Christians are called not to just tell all nations about Jesus, but also to disciple all nations... but what is discipleship? a discipled nation should see the influence of Christianity in all domains of life, health, education, government science, education, etc. is this being seen nowin countries around the world, in Ecuador?

one part made me think about what I am doing now... Jesus at the end of his life (his short life) was able to say that
"I have brought you (His father) glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do" (John 17.4)
Jesus knew his job and ensured it was complete.

do I know my job? and am I doing all I can to complete it or am I getting sidetracked?

In this three years in Shell I think my job is to train our Shuar water technicians sufficiently that they can work alone and to set up model communities that can be templates for other communities to copy.

am I achieving this? at the moment I feel I could be doing far more to focus on this goal... maybe less is more and we should do less projects but do them better... do more training and less doing!

these are just my initial thoughts... I'll keep you posted as I ponder and develop thinking further
alex

UK Itinerary

here is our UPDATED itinerary for December in england. we still have a few days free so if you'd like to see us please write and we'll fit you in.

5th December: arrive Gatwick 8.30am, going to Howarths, Coventry

6th

7th evening Birmingham

8th lunch EDAT reunion Leamington Spa, evening Coventry

9th evening Sunbridge Road mission, Bradford
10th UK office, Bradford

11th bradford

12th travelling to hull

13th Hull, prayer group afternoon and church presentation evening
14th- 19th Coventry. presenting in Park Fellowship Sunday morning
20th Leicester

21st maybe doing something in the mountains or in Stowmarket

22, 23rd

24th -26th isle of wight,Christmas with family and visit friends on island
27th afternoon London
28th- 2nd holiday in Europe (Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam)
3rd island... packing
4th leave Gatwick 9.30am

see you soon!

Prayers and Praise November

here is our prayers and praise for the month

Praise:

- we now have a truck in shell, and while we were prepared for an old 'bagger' just to get us (and all the materials) around we have been blessed with a nice big, pretty green toyota.

- the design for the Amazonas water system has been finished and handed in to ECORAE

- we were invited to the 'municipio' assemby where they plan the next years projects with the community leaders. it was nice to be included and 5 communities have requested funds for us to work with them next year

- Eduardo, Alfredo' brither spent the summer with us in shell doing our autocad drawings and any other work I gave him. he was a real blessing and has now returned to Quito to study 4th year engineering.

Prayers:

- that the Amazonas project is approved by ECORAE. they approached us asking us to complete the design but when we handed it in they said the money was no longer available... so we are waiting for their engineer to review the project and whether we0'll have money this year or next year

- Alfredo's older brother is currently living with us as he is struggling with financial and marital problems and has come to Puyo to look for a new job. pray that we have wisdom to know what to say to him and how to help him.

- pray for our time in England. that we can increase the number of supporters and have many opportunities to tell of Gods work in the Ecuadorian jungle. we'll be there 5th December until 4th January.

alex and Alfredo

lightening visit to Kusuime

On Tuesday I finally got to visit Kusuime, though only for an hour and half! This is a community way down south that has asked for a water system. they have money available in the 'Municipio' (local government) and we have to produce the project budget. We have been waiting for a good flight combination because to pay for the whole flight would cost about $800! Because of rain the previous day the flight schedule was full so I had to wait for the plane to return from another trip before we could go, so I didn't arrive until 2pm and we had to leave quickly to get back to Shell before nightfall. I was able to visit their water sources and talk a little with them about the project and gave them the meter tape to draw me a accurate map of the community with dimensions.

The picture is of the canoe they have built in order to go up stream to 'civilization'. I crossed the river in this and it wobbled a lot, I cannot imagine travelling 4 hours in it to get to the nearest port with road access. we plan to transport the materials by canoe rather than airplane because it allows the community to contribute more to the project and will reduce the transport costs, allowing them to have a bigger water system built.

This project will be our first outside of the Parroquia (parish) Makuma, and by moving south we are moving closer to the communities that have previously rejected the 'evangelicals'. Water projects are opening up new doors for the gospel, please pray that people will not only want the physical clean water but also the real water that quenches thirst, Jesus Christ.

a piece of history is disappearing

For those who have worked in Hospital Vozandes del Oriente or who have visited Shell, Ecuador these pictures might bring a tear to your eye. The old hospital that sits on the main road is being pulled down as we speak. After serving for years as the mission hospital it then became the mission guest house, providing accommodation to all the visitors, work groups and holiday'ing missionaries. After standing nearly 50 years it has become a home to termites who have enjoyed feasting on the wooden framework, so it has gradually become unsafe. Alfredo was born in this hospital!

News on Fernando

Fernando, Alfredo's Dad now has a prosthesis and has a new job in a local government in the northern Ecuadorian Jungle. He started last week and is settling in. He travelled by bus the first time (10 hours) but plans to try flying to Coca instead as its only 1hr away. Please keep him in your prayers: we are worried about him maintaining his diet and looking after his health when he doesn't have lots of family nagging him and he is at least an hour away from the nearest doctor.