>Great news! On Friday we made one of our frequent trips to Quito to chase more paper (jumping hoops trying to obtain visas and/or visa extensions). Well, this time I believe we have a breakthrough! Hopefully I have jumped my last hoop for a while. They approved all the papers for me as the ‘general manager’ for the corporation we set up here and are issuing my 12-VI work visa. I don’t quite have it in hand yet… it’s supposed to be ready to be picked up today by our lawyer and sent by mail or courier to us here in Otavalo. So… no celebrating until it actually arrives 😉
Update on our ministry: Rich and I have two new studies that both came as a result of the phone witnessing on Friday afternoons! Richard’s is a Quichua man named Robert who speaks excellent English. When I talked with him on the phone and told him that we have Bible literature in English, he was very excited to have some. And when I explained our Bible study program, he was even more excited and said ‘Oh! that would be wonderful for me!…when came someone come?’. Richard visited him the following Monday and had an excellent study with him, which he wishes to continue.
The other is a woman who speaks a little English, but when I told her about our English bible literature, said she would like to have that so she can improve her English. When I delivered her magazines, I showed her the ‘Truth tract’ in both English and Spanish. Her husband was there also, who speaks no English at all, but wanted to see the tract in Spanish, so I gave him one also, which he immediately began reading.
The woman, Marisol, told me they used to go to the Catholic church, but stopped because they ‘weren’t getting anything out of it’.
To make a long story short, she accepted a bible study, which is a wonderful situation for all involved. We use the Bible Teach book, both the English and the Spanish versions. Marisol wants me to increase my Spanish, so she insists the I read each paragraph from the Spanish book (and she corrects my mistakes) and she follows by reading the same paragraph from the English book (and I correct her mistakes). Her husband sat in last time and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying hearing the Spanish version (not quite sure yet whether it was my poor reading or the truth he was enjoying… we’ll see).
My study, Anabel is on a trip to Italy for 2 weeks. The last study before she left she had a tough time with the lesson about where the dead are. She said she was going to take along her ‘Teach’ book and read the appendix about it, plus the October magazine on the ‘Five Lies’. It’s a cruise, so she’ll have lots of time to read… we’ll see what happens!
One of Richard’s studies, David, a young single man who is a school teacher, is so profoundly affected by the Bible truths he is learning that he asked “How much do I have to know before I can start teaching others about this?” then added “People aren’t hearing these things… they need to be told!”.
It’s so exciting to be meeting and teaching people who are actually ‘hungering and thirsting’ and who are so appreciative when they ‘find refreshment’!
All for today, I’ll keep you posted on the progress.