Thanksgiving with the Ecuador Farnsworths











 










 


Hello Prayer Warriors!

Greetings from the Ciudad Blanca (“White City”) of Ibarra, Ecuador, named thus for the beautiful whitewashed colonial houses in the historical district of the city!

We especially think of and give thanks to God for your friendship and love during this time of Thanksgiving.  We shared Thanksgiving Day with Marisol’s parents and sister as well as our friend Marisol.  Although the turkey, pilgrim pie, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and apply pie turned out delicious and we stuffed ourselves more than the turkey did, we don’t want to focus on the feast but rather on God’s goodness.

Thank you for praying for our parents this year.  The doctors continue to be encouraged that no further cancer cells have been detected since Ned’s father Glennis underwent surgery in February.  His mother Marilyn gains more strength each day following her bout with two tick-borne illnesses.  We give thanks for Ned’s siblings Heidi, Laura, and Mark, who are providing care in Ned’s absence.  Marisol’s mother Zulema will be having two surgeries in the coming months, one for cataracts and the other for a foot ailment.  Please keep the prayers coming.  Thank you.

In this year of great change in our lives we thank God for our four children (Joel, 9; Amelia, 7 next month; and Jacob and Elías, almost 10 months old, hard to believe).  Joel and Amelia have been such troopers through this BIG change for them, helping to watch them, play with them, etc.  We thank God for Joel and Amelia, for their faith in Jesus as their Savior and for their love for God and others.  This week Amelia celebrated her third spiritual birthday (she trusted Christ at Awana in Guam) while June marked Joel’s fourth spiritual birthday (he asked Jesus to be his Savior during a missions trip to the Pacific island of Palau in 2008).

Last week we escaped work for vacation and took two day trips, to the Quito Zoo and to the Oasis Water Park, which brought back memories of Guam.  We don’t take these family outings for granted because they are few and far between.  We thank God for this opportunity to be together.

Home school is going well.  Three members of the German Impact team (Sarah, Mirjam and Daniel) are helping us two days a week with school.  This is a much-needed break for the children and us.  We thank God for Sarah, Mirjam and Daniel.

We also thank God for allowing us to serve Him in Ecuador; we count it a privilege.  “And God has chosen me to be his missionary, to preach to the Gentiles and to teach them,” 2 Timothy 1:11, TLB).  We had approximately 80 people in attendance for the most recent MINTS course, Genesis: Creation versus Evolution.  It was the largest group for a MINTS course since MINTS began in Ibarra in 2007.  Over 20 of the attendees are taking the course for academic credit.  Ned is thankful for his MINTS helper (and sister-in-law) Miryan; he couldn’t do it without her.

The volunteers at Radio Punto continue to be a blessing in our lives.  The radio station reaches MANY people with God’s love, and it wouldn’t be possible without the ministry team of Radio Punto.

Thank YOU for praying for us so faithfully.  May we keep on thanking the Lord EVERY DAY for all He does in our lives.

With gratitude,
Ned and Marisol Farnsworth

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