We have had many adventures in the past weeks.  First, we drove about 9,500 miles around the United States visiting with family, friends and some churches.  There were folks we hadn’t seen for years!  It was good to connect and share with many of them about the work in Ecuador.  We started out in Oregon, made some stops on our way to Michigan, swung by Ohio and Pennsylvania and North Carolina to get to Florida.  Picked up an extra there and had a very fun adventure in Kentucky with four of our kids.  Back to Florida to drop off one and then headed to Dallas, TX.  We spent some time there and then hit Abilene & El Paso, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Logan, UT, and Nampa, ID before getting back to Oregon.  I think you get the picture…Oh, wait!  I haven’t put any pictures on here yet!  Here are a few highlights:

 

Friends and a memorial service in Dallas, TX.

While we were traveling, plans were made for Ron and our daughter Julia to go to Michigan to care for Ron’s dad.  They arrived late last night (Wednesday August 16) and will be with Bub until August 27th.  Ron’s brother Rick and family are taking their annual break at a camp in New York state and we are so happy to be able to help them take some time to rest and recharge.

After arriving back in Oregon, we also found out that Esther’s mom is scheduled to have knee replacement surgery.  It has been decided that Esther will be staying on an extra month to care for her mom after her September 5th surgery.  Pray for Ron’s return to Ecuador on September 12th and Esther and Sarah’s return on October 11th.

One of the projects waiting for our return for the next step is the bilingual Cofan/Spanish New Testament.  We are hoping that this project can be completed in the next few months.

On our trip, we stopped by the Faith Comes By Hearing office in Albuquerque, NM and were able to meet many of the people involved in this special ministry and reorder some more Proclaimers for the Cofan New Testament!  Shortly before we came up to the States, we had found out the last few Proclaimers had given out and there were some folks who really wanted some more.  These devices have been updated to be able to hold up to four languages!  So, the new appliances will have both Cofan and Spanish New Testaments!  The shipment should make it to Ecuador by the end of the year.  Any way to get God’s Word into the hands of the people.

Aaron’s plans are moving ahead for Ecola Bible College this fall.  Classes start for him on October 8th.  His summer ended up going differently than we all thought, so he was able to travel with us.  He enjoyed some special times with his siblings, cousins and long-time friends.

Isaac worked on campus at Pensacola Christian College this summer.  He’s starting to get into his fall routine with work now and classes start back up on August 28th.  He will be in his junior year.

Julia enjoyed her summer.  Since she works for the school district, she had a break over the summer and made a fun trip with her friend Elizabeth to New Zealand!  After returning she was able to work a seasonal job during wheat harvest in the Spokane area.  She’s with her dad and grandpa in Michigan right now, but will be starting back to work for the school district the beginning of September.

Sarah was blessed with a job at the Ark Encounter this past summer.  She is in her last few days of work there and then she and her sister Lydia will be driving from Kentucky to Oregon so she can do her jury duty rotation.  She is planning to return to Ecuador in October to help us out in the ministry there.

Ethan and Leanne continue on near Spokane, WA.  They are blessed with their jobs and able to help on Sundays at their church.

Lydia also had a summer job at the Ark Encounter.  When she arrives in Oregon, she will repack and head down to El Paso to meet up with some other missionaries to get to the Mexico Medical Missions compound west of Chihuahua for another year of homeschooling missionary kids.

Continuing to covet your prayers,

Ron, Esther and family