One Trip Down, Two More To Go...

I arrived home just after 7:30pm on Sunday night and now I'm at the Toronto airport sending you this short update. I'm headed to Orlando, Florida on the second of three back to back trips I have in November/Decemeber.

I just spent 4 days in Indiana at a missions and mental health conference. I heard talks on things like resiliency in transition, third culture kids in the 21st century, and rest. I enjoyed the road trip with my teammates (see picture above) and the opportunity to learn things that will help us know how to more effectively prepare and send both our long term and short term international staff.

My trip to Orlando is a personal trip to visit my brother's family. We'll celebrate American thanksgiving together, have some fun, and I'll also be helping them do some packing as they will be moving overseas in the new year. 

November 30th (two days after I return from Florida) I will fly to East Asia. Myself and another teammate will be visiting our international interns there. Please pray that I would stay healthy, and that we would be a blessing and encouragement to the two teams we will visit. 

Thank you for standing with me in this ministry. Your prayers and support mean a lot.

Road trip to Indiana - getting some last minute work done in the back seat before we cross into the US and I can no longer use the data on my phone.

Update from Ecuador!

Dear everyone,

I hope you are all doing well, having survived the sugar rush of Halloween and are now looking forward to Christmas. :)

Life here has been a bit of a roller coaster here the past few months. Some problems have arisen in the church that have also come to affect the school and we are still working through the after effects of these problems. Please pray for leadership in both the church and the school and that wisdom, truth and God’s word would reign over all the obstacles the enemy throws in our way.

Thankfully, in spite of the upheaval, youth group has still been going pretty well. In September the older youth had the desire to put on a big youth event focused on the gospel. It was such a blessing for us to see them caring about the spiritual health of the other youth and doing the work to make the event happen. The evening focused on Joseph and the parallels between his life, that of Jesus, and our own. In October we were also able to go as a youth group to a conference at another church and were pleased with the turn out. Please pray these youth will keep growing in the right direction.

Jasmine Martin is down here and has been such a blessing. She is working with kids who need extra help with their school work and she and her roommate often have a few kids over at their home after school. She has jumped into Ecuadorian life with enthusiasm and has impressed me with her drive to learn Spanish and soccer. J Please keep her in your prayers as she finishes out her last month and a half here. We will be sad to see her go.

A few weeks ago, Raúl and I sent in his visa application for Canada. We would love if you would pray with us that the Canadian government officials would look with favour on his application. We would like to come at Christmas time as he has never seen snow and has never experienced what I call a “real” Christmas.  More than anything I want to be able to show him my world up there, and also for him to meet each of you too.

Thank you again for your prayers and continued care for us,

Jessenia and Raúl

Enjoying Ecuador’s scenery with Jasmine and Sherrie Martin (Sherrie was only able to stay for 2 weeks.

The youth group on their way to the conference.

Just six weeks left. I want to make the most of it!

As we’ve just gone through a season of Thanksgiving, I have had an opportunity to reflect on the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for technology that has allowed me to stay in contact with my family and friends the past couple months. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to be part of the hospital which allows me to make friends with our patients.

One patient in particular became my little buddy. Everyday she would come into my office for a hug and stickers. I pray that during her stay onboard the ship she experienced the love of Christ as we cared for her.

I’m also thankful for the opportunity to visit an orphanage every other week. I love watching the kids faces when we get there. To hear them laughing and singing for a couple hours brings me joy knowing that they can forget about life for a while. I also love snuggling the babies.

I’m thankful for the beautiful sunsets I get to enjoy each evening. I have to say that Guinea has some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen.

Finally, I’m so thankful for God’s gift of grace. As I’ve being studying the book of Ephesians, I have been reminded over and over again of God’s love for his people and the undeserving gift of salvation he has given me.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me. Without your prayers and support this would not be possible.

PRAYER CORNER:

PRAISE
- For the way my small group has bonded as we are studying the book of Ephesians
- For opportunities to hand out and back for the youth group even though I can’t be a part of it

PRAYER
- For wounds to heal - many of our plastics patients have open wounds that are not healing well
- For the future patients who come to the ship - that they would be healed spiritually and physically
- That training will go well with my replacement - that I would be able to teach in a way that she understands and that she will learn quickly

Floating in His Mercy,

Krystal

Students Reaching Students in North Africa

Making Sharing the Gospel Simple

"GUESS WHAT?!!!" the text message read. "Julia just accepted Jesus into her life!!!!!!!"

Iris, who recently made a decision to follow Jesus, was taking the initiative to share her new found faith with her friends. "I went to [Julia’s] dorm room and used the GodTools app to share about Jesus with her. And then we prayed together. I’M SO EXCITED!!!!"

This story was relayed to us by a missionary team trying to reach students in one of the hardest to reach north Africa countries. In a place where as westerners we will likely never travel, God is using your partnership to draw people to himself.

This month, 1 of the 61,700 users of GodTools was Iris sharing the gospel with Julia. Our team doesn’t just make apps, we help make disciples!

Thank you for the part you play in leading the next generation of digital missions.

Praying for our move to Singapore…
Our plans to transition to an assignment in Singapore are coming along. We recently had a big garage sale to pair down our belongings. You can join us in prayer.
- In the next week we’d like to find a renter for our home in Orlando.
- Russ travels to Singapore Nov 11-13 to try and secure an apartment for our family.

Special Moments
- Gwenyth braves a roller coast
- Heath with his superhero ointments
- Meredith’s birthday candle

Esther's 80th Birthday!