March 25, 2022

Taking a break to catch my breath and chat with the community members in San Isidro de Chipo (photo credit: Bob Hoeksema)

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. - Matthew 7:24-25

Hello all!

I am now three weeks into my intensive language studies in the coastal city of Manta. The weather has been quite warm here, hovering around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity at 70%+. It has been a bit of a shock coming from a Michigan winter. The Pacific Ocean has been beautiful, however, and has more than offset the warm weather with temperatures that are perfect for swimming to cool off, and some nice sunsets to boot. I have three more weeks of language study here before moving back to Riobamba to start long-term engineering work.

Before arriving in Manta I spent a week with a group of Calvin University students. I accompanied the group while they visited the community of San Isidro de Chipo, where they performed water testing, led a vacation bible school for the children of the community, and also worked for a morning alongside the community, backfilling trenches where water pipes had already been installed. I worked alongside community members more than two and a half times my age during this physical work. It is inspiring to see these community members so deeply value these water systems.

The group then traveled to Shell where we stayed at the La Centa guesthouse, which is run by fellow CTEN missionaries Chet and Katie Williams. One group of students collected data for a senior design project while the others did clean up and improvements around the property. Chet and Katie Williams are working to provide space for skills training and fellowship for the local people, including folks from the Waorani tribes (which you may be familiar with from such media as Elisabeth Elliot's book "Through Gates of Splendor" and the film "End of the Spear").

Through supporting work in these two communities, I was reminded of the power of God's Word. On one of the days of VBS in San Isidro de Chipo, the Calvin group spoke about the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. In this parable Jesus speaks about the importance of hearing the Word and building your life upon that Word.

The Calvin students followed up the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders with a craft of building spaghetti and marshmallow structures with the community children (photo credit: Claire Sheppard)

Just two days later, I heard a personal story while in Shell that provided a real-life response to the call in this parable. In Shell, I met and worked alongside Miipo, who is a grandson of one of the Waorani men who killed the five missionaries in 1956. He spoke about the faith of his grandfather, who after the killing, opened himself up to hear the Gospel and believe. Miipo's grandfather could never read, and the Waorani people still have only a portion of the scriptures translated into their language of Wao Tededo. But, through hearing the Word and prayer, Miipo's grandfather believed and passed that faith on to Miipo. It's an inspiring story of grace, forgiveness, and faith, and it speaks to the power of the spoken Word and the blessing of the written Word as well.

I pray that we all might have and act upon such faith. Not only can we build a life from this foundation that is solid and true, I believe it is from this solid foundation that we can provide grace, love, and blessing to others.

Finally, a quick shoutout and thank you to the Calvin student group for brainstorming the name to this newsletter. While this newsletter contains words that I have written, I hope these words are full of grace and truth and speak clearly to the hope of the Gospel that comes with faith in Jesus Christ.

The Calvin group at the La Centa guesthouse in Shell (photo credit: Bob Hoeksema)

Prayer Requests
Thank you, all, for your notes of prayer and encouragement! I am so blessed to be surrounded by such thoughtful and consistent support. I ask for your prayers in the following areas:

• Diligence in language study
• Safe travels when I return to Riobamba in a few weeks
• Work for the CODEINSE team in Riobamba

I hope this partnership can be one where I “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “mourn with those who mourn” as it says in the book of Romans. Please reach out with any prayer requests or praises you may have!

Financial Update
I am very close to having monthly commitments to cover my targeted budget of $4200 per month. At the moment, I am at $3900 per month. Thank you all for your partnership in this ministry!