Farnsworth Family Forum October 2015











Greetings from Ecuador!  Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

We are doing well.  The summer ministries came and went, and now we press on with the new activities that began with the new school year: home school, the Bible institute, seminary courses, Liebenzell Mission meetings, men’s ministry, kids club, swimming class, ballet, etc.

Ned continues in his role as pastor of the “Amigos en Cristo” Church, currently preaching through the epistle of First Corinthians.  Recently the leader of the men’s ministry moved away, and Ned and the two church elders (Alfonso and Daniel) assumed the leadership team for this group.  They have planned a mini-retreat for this weekend.  Please pray for God to work in the men’s hearts, as the church needs more male leaders and some of the them seem unwilling to make a strong commitment.

Also, the church partners with a nonprofit foundation, Ecuador Project Hope, to provide breakfast for 50-60 elderly folks, the majority being indigenous, in Cotacachi every weekday morning.  It has been good to reach out to the community in this way, and the leadership team takes turns helping to serve the people each morning.  Ned volunteers on Thursday mornings when the people can also take showers and receive a clean set of clothes.

Eighteen students participate in the current seminary class, Introduction to New Testament, for credit; it is the largest class since our return to Ecuador in 2011.  To maintain this number, Ned works diligently to mentor and help them with their studies.  At the CCB Bible Institute on Thursday nights Ned teaches a course on apologetics.  Pray that we be a blessing to the students and their families.  The new course, Ecclesiology, will take place on Saturday, November 7.

We are practicing with the choir for the Christmas cantata to be held at various locations and churches in December.  This year we have over 35 voices, and a separate team is preparing a drama that goes between the songs.  Pray for Ned as he directs the choir and for Amelia and the other actors as they rehearse the drama.  May God be glorified through our efforts!

Marisol stays busy keeping the household running smoothly.  Our niece, Lauren Farnsworth from Philippi, WV, arrived in August, and how beautiful to see Marisol mentoring and guiding her in this new experience!  Marisol helps at the church as much as possible and bakes tasty treats for Ned’s ministry meetings.

Joel and Amelia have already completed over 40 days of home school, well on their way to finish before we leave for home ministry assignment (furlough) in the USA in June 2016.  We appreciate Lauren’s help with school; two German Impact Team volunteers (Beate and Tabea) also help to teach Joel and Amelia on Thursdays and Fridays (one each day).

Marisol teaches Joel and Amelia Spanish two mornings per week (Ecuadorian history and Spanish grammar) and works with Jacob and Elías on preschool projects each day.  So far we have taken three school field trips (enjoy the pictures from our recent field trip to the Peguche waterfall above).  As you can see, we manage to stay busy. Our kids enjoyed helping in the Vacation Bible School programs during the summer, and they look forward to the new year of kids club at the church in Ibarra, where we live.

It is always a joy to write and let you know what God is doing in our lives.  Please write to us; we would enjoy hearing from you and knowing how we can pray for you.  Thanks for your love and support to us.  God bless you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye Guam, Alii Palau!

Image
Here is a recap of the final days of our friends Hiob and Leah and their children Micah and Jireh in Guam. They have returned to Palau where Hiob will serve as senior pastor of the Koror Evangelical Church. We all started together at PIBC back in fall 2006 and we have worked together, laughed together, cried together, prayed together, and grown together. Although it is hard to say goodbye, we know that they will be a blessing to the Church in Palau, and we find comfort in the words of the Michael W. Smith song "Friends": friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them. Amen! We had a BBQ in their honor on campus at the beginning of June before the Thai mission team left. Delight posed with Micah and Hiob during a break from barbecuing. He is a fantastic barbecuer. Notice he's even holding the tongs, to a barbecuer what a hammer is to a carpenter. As always, everyone enjoyed the food, the centerpiece of any Micronesian celebration. Before our friends left,
Read more

GOOD THINGS HAPPENING 3

Image
 A little background to this story.  I have been a fan of The Waltons from the beginning of the series.  In 2017 I attended the 45th anniversary celebration of the show in Schuyler, Virginia, the small hamlet where the series' creator Earl Hamner, Jr., was born and raised.  Perhaps I can share a bit more about that in a future post. During that weekend in March 2017 I met Reen Christie Bula (a/k/a Tammi Bula), who played John-Boy's love interest Marcia Woolery in the early seasons. Here is a shot of Reen and me, As well as a shot of all the cast member in attendance at the reunion with the exception of Michael Learned who went to bed early due to a play appearance the following day. During the weekend Reen, her husband Gordon and I shared time together, and she shared with me her testimony, how she came to the Lord through the witness of friends (she was working as an RN at the time) and how she saw the sign of Pi in the sky one day which prompted her to check out John 3:14-16
Read more

Guilty Pleasure!

Last Friday night the female staff of Pacific Islands Bible College had a Ladies Night to talk about marriage, dating, and relationships with the female students. I stayed home and put Joel to bed. Then I watched the final two episodes of the third season of "Homicide." (We do not have any TV reception here, so the only TV we get is by VHS or DVD). My mom used to ask me why I watched "Homicide" because in her mind it was a depressing show. To me it always dealt with serious issues in a meaningful way (racism against immigrants, the consequences of adultery, male/female work conflicts, etc.), plus the writing was rivoting and the performances were stellar. That was really the last TV show I had a true passion for. I enjoyed having the time to do that, to have some down time to escape from students arriving late to class,; grading papers, tests and quizzes; and dealing with discipline issues as Assistant Dean of Men. Here I present to you a list of my favorite TV dram
Read more