Joy Miller: Summer Update
Well, summer is over. But what a summer it was! Here at Teen Missions the summer months are by far the most action packed months of the year- we get a lot done and have a lot of fun!
Friends from the USA
First we had a group of 31 youth people and their leaders join us for three weeks. And I had the opportunity to be a hosting missionary for the first time. It was so much fun!! We played hard and worked harder. They were so excited to be a part of God’s work here in Ecuador and worked like machines! We (the leaders and I) sure had our hands full trying to stay ahead of them- keeping the game plan up to date, buying materials and such. In the little time they were here they tore up our old brick sidewalks (which were dangerously slippery every time it rained) and replaced them with concrete, built a new gate for the property, built shelving units in one of our storage rooms (they make a world of difference), helped build up our security wall, and started construction of a new chicken coop. They also shared at local churches and did programs with our local children that come on Wednesday. They presented the Gospel using the wordless book and 12 of our very own kids finally came to the full realization that religion couldn’t save them, that they needed a personal relationship with Jesus, and accepted Him into their hearts. Not only did God work mightily through this group of young people, He also did a great work in them- many of them felt God’s call on their life to serve Him full time as a missionary. Pray for these young people- that the seeds planted this summer will not be forgotten, but will grow and bear fruit.
Over 1,000 Saved
The Lord blessed us with 105 teens and leaders this year, and we had 5 teams. Two teams (Machala and Guayguil) were evangelism teams to the coast of Ecuador, two more (Macas and Arajuno) traveled into the jungle to share the gospel with “hardly reached” Indian tribes, and one (Yambo) was a construction team that helped a new church paint. The people of Ecuador were incredibly responsive to the gospel! Macas saw an entire community turn to Christ! And in total all the teams saw over a thousand people accept Christ. Praise the Lord! And not only this, but God is raising up a generation of Christian evangelists, pastors, and missionaries in Ecuador- the last night before all the teens when home, an altar call was given for those who felt God calling them into full-time Christian service. Many young people came forward and made that commitment. We are definitely seeing the winds of revival starting to stir in Ecuador- please pray that God would call the people of Ecuador to Himself more then ever before.
New Beginnings
This week was the first week of a new term for our Bible school. The Lord has blessed us with 6 new students. We are very excited to see what He is going to do this year through the school. With the new term we are starting new ministries- the students will be helping to plant two new churches on the weekends (one group will be in Yambo and the other in a small town called Pujili) and we hope to expand our children’s ministry to reach the nearby community of Pichalo. Also, we are working towards the possibility of the students going on a missions trip to Peru. We are very, very excited about this possibility, it’s a wonderful opportunity for the students because most of them have never had the opportunity to serve God outside of their own country before.
Please pray for us as we press forward in the ministry.
Your sister in Christ,
Joy Miller
Prayer Requests:
-For health and safety for all the staff and students here
-For the students ministries in Yambo and Pujili
-For the Wednesday night children’s ministry
-For God to lay it on someone’s heart to plant a church in Cundalo and/or Lipo. Because of our Wednesday night ministry there is a growing number of young believers in these villages, but as of now there is no Church.
-For my visa renewal to go smoothly
