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The Fernane News The Fernane News The Nippon Initiative Missions Conference |
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Hola desde Quito! Paul and Susan Fernane – Serving in Ecuador We would like to send our “Greetings” to all of you from Ecuador. The Lord continues to do some great things and we are grateful that He allows us to participate in them. One of the locations that God continues to bless is the Montanita Verde Children’s Home on the coast. We spent much of the last three months there ministering to the children and community. This home has come to be a very special place to Susan and me. It has been fun to get to know the children and see how God has provided and changed their lives. Since our first visit back in February of 2006; we have seen the physical facilities change and we have seen the lives and hopes of the children change too. The home is technically an Orphanage, but it is really a home full of love. The foundation that supports the home is called Por Amor (For Love) and that is what pours from the hearts of Peter and Juanita (house parents) and Pearl and Allan Jackson (foundation directors). The family gathers in the living room nightly to spend time in God’s Word and pray. During this time we get to hear how God is changing their lives. In June and July we hosted a couple of teams at the home. One was from a church in Michigan. In 2007, they had spent time at the home and community and said coming back was like a family reunion. They came back to help put on the finishing touch of house #2, that, God willing will soon be a home for more children. Helping get the home ready reminds me of the verses in the book of John 14:1-3; that tells us that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for all who become children of God. The team helped prepare the home to be ready to take in and change lives of abandoned and/or abused children. This house will be a home for young children, including babies. This team also spent many hours in the small town of San Lorenzo. In 2007 they developed many friendships with the people there. They poured out Christ-like love in many different ways. They spent time with the children each morning before school started. By the time the team left, the Director of the school had delayed the start of school each morning to give the team more time with the 150+ children. The team also helped reach out to the community by helping at the new, but not yet opened high school. The high school was lacking three classrooms and the government wasn’t providing the funds to finish them. So, the community decided to build them out of their own pockets. The team spent time helping get the foundations and framework of the new classrooms started. The team also demonstrated Christ-like love to the children of the home in many different ways. I love to see how God puts teams together and how each of the team members brings a different gift to impact lives. We firmly believe that through these acts of obedience and love, lives are being impacted for all eternity. This team also ministered to the people at the Manta city dump. They demonstrated love to them by some time talking and singing to them. They also distributed some bags of food. The bags of food were small, but the people truly appreciate them. Pray that these simply acts of kindness help soften the peoples hearts to the gospel. We will be putting on a Christmas party in November for these families. The party will include a clear presentation of the gospel. They second team was from a church in Canada came and spent almost a full month at the home. They also helped put on the finishing touches to house #2 and reached out to the children of the home and to the local community. The team spent the first few days pouring the concrete for the foundations of the three classrooms in San Lorenzo. The team spent a Saturday in San Lorenzo working with a team from a church in Manta who is trying to plant a church there. We had a great time playing and sharing God’s Word. The team accomplished many different physical things around the homes, but they also found time to minister to the children’s spiritual needs. This was a youth team and we saw how God used them to reach the children, especially some of the older children. They joined in during the nightly devotions and some nights a teen from the team shared from the Word of God. A few of the teens on the team brought their trumpet, guitar, and flute. The team put on a great concert one night. Moments like this always get me thinking about how it might sound in heaven. It is awesome to see people sitting around singing praise songs to our Almighty Lord and just how awesome it will be when the children of God are singing together in heaven. Please pray for this big family and for the community of San Lorenzo. Pray that God continues to bless the foundation and softens hearts of the people in San Lorenzo. These teams help put in the foundations in three classrooms, but we hope that we soon see the foundation of a church being laid. We pray that the Christ-like love of these teams and the efforts of local church planting teams will help change the lives there. We also ask that you pray for the Pastor Faben of the church in Pacoche. This is the church that the children from the home attend. He and his wife have a heart for the children and the people of the community. They have faced many challenges over this past year and can use our prayers. Pray that God softens the hearts of the people in the community and that He provides for their family. Before and after these teams we continue to help minister to the children and adults at the Quito dump. The Wednesday afternoon Kid’s Club has moved from the room in the middle of trash to the Day Care Center. It was interesting to see the reactions of the children as they sat in their new meeting place. They seem to reflect a sense of belonging and of being valued. We pray that the weekly club is an instrument to help them come to have a personal relationship with Christ and experience the love He has for them. Pray for the children and adults that come and hear the Word of God. Pray that the memory verses and Bible stories soften their hearts and many become children of God. Pray for those who go out and love and teach the children. The new school year is nearly here, so pray for the new team of teenagers that we come together to minister this year. We have been helping minister to the night shift workers at the dump. This is a fairly new ministry that Pastor José would like to see grow. Right now, we are reaching out to the people by providing a cafecito (coffee break) a few times a month. During the cafecito we provide a hot drink and a snack and Pastor José has shared the gospel. We have already seen the fruits of this ministry; recently some of the people have asked Christ to be their Savior. I like how one our ERI staff put it “From garbage to Streets of Gold”. Pray that this ministry grows and more come to place their faith in Christ. Another ministry that Extreme Response International has for the families at the dump is home construction. These people live in extremely poor places and their houses are made of wood, cardboard, plastic, and bricks. Pastor José visits these homes weekly. He ministers to three areas in their lives; spiritual, material, and emotional. He shares the gospel with them and prays that God will provide for them. In 2006 we had a team come down and build a house for one of the families. This year we have a group of people and a church that have a heart to see this ministry become a yearly event. They are proving the funds and are coming down to build a house for a family. The mother (Gloria) is a single mother who cares for 5 young daughters and her mother. This group will be coming down in September to do an Extreme makeover of this family’s house. I am not sure if we will have a bus to move, but I know that it will be a very special moment when the family sees their new home. Pray for Gloria’s family and the other families that work at the dump. Pray for us as we prepare for this project and that God is glorified through it all. Another ministry that we have had an opportunity to serve at this summer is the Hogar Betania (home for the elderly) with Ruth and Santiago Arteaga. Ruth and Santi and others go out on Sunday’s and hold a church service for the residents. We simply go and help get the people into the hall for the service, listen to them (not that I understand everything they say), and sing along with them and try to encourage them. Pray that God continues to provide for this ministry and for the spiritual needs of the people. We want to thank you for your prayers and support (Dios te Paga – May God repay you). We pray daily for the church and for the needs that we hear about. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. We look forward to serving with the team in December. It will be exciting to see how God uses the team to change lives. Love, Paul and Susan |
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