Swenson - nosnewS

LONG TIME COMING

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:26:00 -0500

It has been a little over a month since I was installed as interim pastor at Jipi Japa church and all I can say is thank you for your prayers. Not only are they welcome but they are needed. Leading a church is an incredible responsibility and while I'm taking on this role with all of my heart I can honestly say I really like that I've not felt called to this role in a permanent capacity. Through just this month I've come to believe that my many many dear friends that are pastors are in addition completely out of their minds. Perhaps the pastoral role is different in the U.S.A. but in my current context the pastoral office is one of immense authority in which you become the source for counsel for a myriad of issues that range from spiritual to medial, marital to financial. And yet, while sometimes it feels like way more than any human should be expected to endure, this experience more than anything else I have ever done has driven me to an understanding of my need for God. This experience more than anything else has helped me to understand God's love for his people as well as possible disappointment, frustration, irritation, anger and yet compassion for we his terribly flawed followers. And while I struggle with learning how to juggle the roles, responsibilities, pressures and difficulties of the church I have to acknowledge that I am loving this challenge and the pleasure of watching the Lord work in and through the lives of the people I've been charged with shepherding during this time. Please continue to pray as the pastoral team seeks the Lords direction in this process. While this all sounds like incredibly big news, there is another piece of my puzzle which I've not yet had the opportunity to share with you but one that brings me incredible joy. As you might have guessed from the image, yours truly has come to the end of a long life of bachelordom. As you may or may not know, one of my greatest desires in life has always been to find someone to share my life with. I have prayed for years for this someone, (not as many years as my mother and father and possibly not as passionately) and I am glad to announce that the prayer has been answered in a way that has surpassed my expectations and exceeded my most incredible dreams. Six months ago a friend of mine (missionary in Indonesia) started to bug me about her dear friend Naomi (a fellow missionary in Indonesia). Her claims of Naomi's beauty, intelligence, heart for the Lord, sense of humor and many other virtues sounded a lot like many other attempts that many other friends had made at "setting me up". My interest was non-existent and I blew off poor Jael time and time again. Finally one day Jael made her last stand and promised to leave me alone if I would just commit to spending one week chatting with Naomi. I being the resolute oak that I am laughed and agreed after which I wrote Naomi a quick e-mail letting her know that I had no interest in pursuing anything with her. Her response was direct, intelligent and to the point, she wasn't looking for anything either, worse case scenario there is nothing wrong with a new friend. For fear of boring you with a long story I'll simply say this... This oak has been struck by lightning and has fallen and the bolt that brought me down is a beautiful woman named Naomi. When it became apparent that our connection was way too good to simply leave to chance Naomi and I began to seek the chance to meet face to face and miraculously she was able to travel to the USA for Christmas break. It just so happens that Naomi's mother lives only two hours away from where my parents live and we were able to spend the entire holiday together, getting to know each other in person, getting to know each other's families and confirming our suspicions that we might hit it off. After our holiday together, I came back to Ecuador and Naomi returned to Indonesia. :( Yes that's a sad face. As we've continued to process what we feel God is leading us in we've decided that the time for developing our relationship long distance has come to an end and we must be near each other. It is with this in mind that Naomi has resigned from her position as a missionary with New Tribes in Indonesia and will be coming to Ecuador at the beginning of May to not only be near me but to get to know my life in Ecuador and study Spanish as well. She will be staying in Ecuador for three months and leaving for the U.S. at the beginning of August. My term here ends on the 25th of August so I will follow only a few weeks later. That is all I'm going to say for the time being other than to ask for prayer as Naomi and I see the Lord's guidance for our future. We are both committed to overseas missions but do not yet know where. We want to go where the Lord leads, be it back to Ecuador or back to Indonesia. Please keep us in your prayers. Miracles do happen!

NEVER in a Million YEARS

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:46:00 -0500

About a year ago a couple of friends asked me to take them to church. As my church was on the far South side of the city I decided to take them to one of our churches nearer where we live. It's always kind of embarrassing to bring guests to church when it's attendance that day is around 20 people. The name of the church is Jipi Japa which means straw hat in Quichua. After the service a long time friend of mine named Pablo Velazquez approached me to explain why so many seats were empty. Only a week earlier their pastor had been fired and when he left close to forty families followed him leaving the church nearly empty. I've heard many versions of the story so I won't speculate on the reason any of it happened but I will say that I felt an incredible burden for that congregation on that day. The church that I had been attending is the church that my parents were a part of while they were missionaries here. It is our largest church in the country and it has a weekly attendance of thousands. I naturally felt drawn to it because of our history but I always felt somewhat disconnected and lost in the crowd. My desire to serve and be involved never seemed to be realized during my time there so when I heard of the mass exodus at Jipi Japa I thought perhaps I could be of more use there. My attendance there began shortly before my knee surgery which was followed by mono which was followed by various other things that kept me from being able to immediately get involved but I continued to attend regularly and started to get to know more and more of the people that were attending. During that year, the denomination leadership had determined the need to supply the church with an interim pastor of sorts, someone who could provide, "pastoral covering" as they like to call it here. Throughout the course of 2011 I would meet periodically with my friend Pablo and inevitably we would discuss the church and it's needs and the insufficiency of this "pastoral covering". During one of our meetings I remember Pablo asking me if I would ever be willing to become involved with the church at the pastoral level. My immediate though was, "NEVER in a Million Years". While I am seminary trained and could seek pastoral work and ordination, I've never really felt called to be the pastor of a church and yet for some reason the burden I've felt for this congregation has been burning inside of me since I visited that first day. Time and time again Pablo would bring up the church's need for a pastor and would continue to ask me if I would be willing to get involved at that level. The more I thought about it and the more I prayed for the church and it's direction and leadership the more I felt pulled to say, "YES", I will get involved if that is where the Lord wants me. It was with this thought in mind that I finally gave into the pleading of some influential people in my life and I applied for pastoral licensing with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Two weeks ago, the denominational intervention / pastoral covering was lifted and the leadership team met to discuss the next step in the direction of the church. It was during this meeting that they decided to put together a pastoral team. Several names were discussed in this process and mine was among them. I happened to be preaching that week and after the service I was asked to join the team at the leadership meeting. During that time I was asked if I was willing to put my hat in the ring to be considered for a part in the pastoral team. While I would normally have said no way, the burden I've been feeling for the church compelled me to accept. There were five candidates being voted upon to fill a three slot pastoral team. Long story short and coming to the conclusion you've probably assumed since the second paragraph, I was asked to be a part of the pastoral team that leads the church for the next year. This sunday, Pablo Velazquez, Mauricio Agila and I were all installed by a representative of the Denomination and we accepted the charge of serving the church as pastors. We've had several meeting and are ironing out our roles. Nothing concrete has been decided but it looks like I'll be taking on much of the spiritual direction, theological education and preaching. Please, and I can't stress this enough, pray for us as we venture into this role and responsibility. This is a broken and hurt church with a very difficult history and we are well aware that we cannot lead it by our own strength and wisdom but that we require the Lord's guidance and hand in all of this. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and support. Blessings from Ecuador Joshua

Out with the Old In with the New

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0500

Happy New Year. Forgive me for taking so long to write but last year's end proved to be wonderful and busy and things like newsletters were neglected. As you know, I've been developing a microenterprise training program to present at local churches. Towards the end of November last year I took a trip to Medellin, Colombia to visit some of the microenterprise work that is going on there in an effort to get more perspective on what other countries/ministries are doing in this realm. It was a wonderful visit full of great memories from the past as well as some wonderful new experiences. It had been 22 years since I had been to Medellin after our Evacuation in 1989 when we were told on a Friday that we had to be out of the country by Monday. It took me a few days but I soon felt like I had returned home. Having lived there for 13 years as a child, Medellin is probably the City that most formed me as a child. It was fun to reconnect with friends I had not seen in two decades as I visited homes as well as the church that was started in our living room over 27 years ago. It was also very encouraging to see church sponsored schools, children's homes and microenterprise based outreach throughout the city. Twenty Two years after being evacuated from what was at the time the most dangerous city and the world and wow how it has changed. Please remember to pray for the work in Medellin and especially for the microenterprise ministry that seeks to rescue women who work in Bars as prostitutes and seeks to teach them a new trade. I'd also ask that you pray for the boys in "House of Peace". This is a home outside of the city where a hand full of boys that live in very poor and dangerous neighborhoods go to get away from the stress and pressures of that life in order to go to school and be discipled. I had the pleasure of visiting them while I was in Medellin. We had a blast playing soccer, goofing off, taking pictures and just loving each other in a beautiful country setting. Pray for the boys as this opportunity means being separated from their mothers for most of the academic year. (Some of the boys from the house pictured above). Finally, I'm excited to announce that starting in March we will be launching the pilot program for the microenterprise development. We will be teaching the course for three months on Saturdays after which we will be holding an expo for our students so that they can present their projects / ideas. My goal is to be able to bring in Local business owners /entrepreneurs and investors who can get connected with projects that interest them and serve as support and encouragement to our graduates. The classes will be taught in a local church where we hope to be able to develop relationships and share the gospel with our students. Please keep me in your prayers as I button up the material and book the various speakers who will be helping teach the course. Blessings and Happy New Year. Joshua. P.S. Stay tuned for new and exciting news in the next installment of Nosnews.

Rejoicing

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:30:00 -0500

It's a beautiful day in Quito Ecuador, looking out my window I can see a beautiful snow capped mountain on this clear day. Despite living here I'm still always blown away at how beautiful this country is and feel so blessed to be able to take it in. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of going to the pastoral retreat where I was asked to speak to the children (youth) of pastors. I was asked to talk on the subject of life as the child of a pastor and what that means for us and our relationship with the Lord. My focus was the need to develop our own identity in Christ. Sometimes growing up in a home that is constantly in "ministry" can be difficult. Often times for children of pastors our identity is wrapped up in our parent's work and our own spiritual growth can be hindered by rebellion or complacency or even our need to be "perfect". I think in many cases that is even stronger here in Ecuador where often times a pastor's children are expected to be a part of the ministry or do things out of expectation rather than a calling. In many cases they are expected to be a part of the worship band, teach sunday school, preach, be the youth pastor... It is often simply by default rather than a true calling or passion and that personal relationship with Christ can be lost in the mix. This is also a culture in which your are told what to believe rather than encouraged to study, discern and develop your own understanding of Christ and what it means to be a christian. I encouraged the kids to not get lost in all of the expectations of perfection but to truly seek out a personal relationship with the Lord, to make it real for them rather than to simply follow along because of who their father is. I believe it was an encouraging time for them as they were able to voice some of their concerns or frustrations with being constantly under the church's microscope. The following week I traveled out to a Bible school where I translated for my friend Aune Carlson as she spoke to the students about community. The Bible school is an 3 month, annual gathering of students from Ecuador and Sweden where they study the book of Acts and learn about missions, ministry and what it means to be the church. Our time with the students was wonderful and we were able to challenge them on going deeper in community. Because of the severe cultural differences there are some very clear divisions that are perpetuated by each culture's observation of differences in how things are viewed or how they respond to various scenarios. In many cases, these differences are viewed in a negative light. We asked the students to list out some of the differences that they had noticed in their time there and it was interesting to hear how the differences are often times described in Us vs Them language with the end result being a clear expression of our way is better. Our challenge to the students was to re-frame their way of looking at differences to try to understand the why behind the differences in order to potentially understand that different isn't wrong or worse but that there are some cultural reasons for those differences and that we can learn from them and potentially find a valid purpose in them. At first when we challenged them simply on their language and on what we had observed as divisive perspectives, the students became defensive wanting to claim that in fact they were doing great in the area of community and didn't need to change. Even the director of the school responded and admitted to not liking the challenge when it was first issued but then reflecting on it and realizing that perhaps an outside perspective allowed them to see things that they couldn't see from the inside. In the end I believe we were able to encourage them to find areas of commonality as the springboard for deepening their community as a way to approach their identity within the community that is "the church". Please pray for the students at the school as this is their last week and they will all be heading back to their countries or home towns. May this three months not have been simply a gathering but that they will be able to return to their homes with a renewed passion for the Kingdom and the sharing of the love of Christ as they share the gospel with their friends and families and the communities that they engage in on a daily basis. FINALLY...as related to the title of this letter. I am rejoicing as this week I read that a friend of mine is being baptized this Sunday. My friend is a musician who I met years ago at one of his shows in Chicago. He is a brilliant singer/songwriter who in the 80's was touring the USA and getting a lot of radio play with his band. When we met he was shocked at the fact that I was a seminary student and as we became closer we got to discuss God and theology. At one point he had told me that if he ever got married again he wanted me to perform the ceremony. At the time he was very much living the rock and roll lifestyle so this week it was encouraging to see that the seeds that have been planted in him have born fruit. His name is Chris Shaffer. Here is the song that put them on the map back in the day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajbHkLk6LgY Please join me in praising the Lord for his life and his new found relationship and identity in the Lord. This week I'll be traveling to Colombia for the first time in 22 years since we were evacuated in 1989. I'll be spending time with our missionaries there visiting some of the microenterprise projects that they are working with as I get close to completing the curriculum I've been writing and preparing to launch the program in churches here in Ecuador. Please continue to pray for that process as I wrap up the writing and begin the training. We will be running our pilot program at the church "Rios de Agua Viva" (Rivers of living Water).

New Fruit

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:36:00 -0500

Despite what has been a difficult year, the Lord continues to work in and around me in some amazing ways. During the last couple of years I've been developing some important relationship with the guys that Joey and I used to play soccer with. During this time my desire has always been to be able to study the bible with these friends in a deep and meaningful way and the time has finally come. Especially over the last year I've been suggesting to them individually that I would love to study the word with them and as time has passed they have become more and more receptive. You know their names because I've asked you to pray for them from time to time and this last Wednesday I invited Pedro, David, and Daniel, along with their wives and or girl friends over for dinner. Joined by my good friend and fellow missionary David Gardeen and his wife we've been praying for these friends and seeking the Lord's guidance so that beyond the gospel that we've been sharing with them on a day to day basis we would be able to enter into something deeper. After dinner this Wednesday I asked the group if they would be willing to go through a Bible study with me and as is the Lord's faithful standard, their hearts were open and they are all willing. Starting next Wednesday we will be meeting every other week to go through a Bible study that takes us through the biblical narrative from Creation to Christ. Please pray for David and Carolina, Pedro and Elena, Daniel and Gabriela, David and Linsey and me as we delve into the scriptures together. May God be revealed in a powerful life changing way and may his name be honored and glorified in this process. Additional Prayer Requests: This has continued to be a difficult year for me as the physical struggles have at times turned into other struggles. Please pray that I will find the strength to continue on. In addition to the micro enterprise development curriculum that I'm still in the process of writing, I am hoping to be able to start a 20's and 30's young professionals group in the city of Quito. I Please pray for wisdom as we seek direction in this area. Blessings to you and thank you for your continued prayer and support. Joshua

Summer Comes to an End

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:27:00 -0500

Well, despite a difficult beginning of the year, the summer proved to be amazing. My trip to work with the Waorani as well as my time in the coastal jungle town of Zancudo made the summer overshadow the difficulties of the beginning of the year. I joined Chet Williams and his family again this summer helping to lead a couple of short term teams into the jungles of Ecuador this summer. We partnered with a group that works with the Waorani and we put on a couple of camps for youth. The town of Zancudo (mosquito) is on the western side of Ecuador near the border with Colombia. After riding a bus all night from Quito you arrive at a little town where you have to then get on a motorized canoe to then procede another three hours up river to the first of three communities. Zancudo, Santo Domingo and Colon are three small villages populated by the decedents of escaped African slaves. When slave ships were circling the continent, they would pull into fresh water inlets for a few days to kill the barnacles that had accumulated on the boat so that they could then be scraped off of the hull. Sometimes in this fresh water inlets the slaves would revolt and escape into the jungle. Our team was based out of Zancudo where we held the youth camp but a group of us was asked to travel to the other two communities up river to do VBS type activities with the kids. We spent two days in each of the villages playing with the kids, singing songs, sharing some skits and sharing the gospel. The village of Colon which is the farthest away has a very large population of children and our first day there was crazy. Santo Domingo has many children as well but all of the teachers at the school are Christian and the children are quite obviously better behaved than those in Colon. Because our first day of activities was so hectic we devised a plan to assign 10-15 kids to each one of the team that was traveling with me in order to keep them occupied and try to maintain a little more control over the activities. Once we arrived and the children had all congregated in the school yard I had them all line up by size and I divided them up. Once all of the other leaders had been assigned a group there were still about 20 teen age boys who had not been assigned. As most of the planned activities were more geared to the younger children, I grabbed a soccer ball and had the boys come with me to another area of the town where I hung out with them and played games. When it was time for my team to break for lunch I handed the young men the soccer ball, got them split up into teams, started the soccer game and told them I would return. Upon my return from lunch I noticed that the game had ended and most of the boys were upset at either the ref or their own team. I asked them to sit down in the shade and we began to talk about why it was important to have a standard set of rules to play by as well as direction on a team. About 15 guys were remaining and I began to share my story and the gospel with them using their frustration in the soccer game as a launching point to talk about Jesus and his role in my life. Once I had done a quick overview I asked them if I could continue sharing deeper. I told them that they didn't have to stay and listen and offered them the chance to take the soccer ball and go play something else if they wanted but explained that I would like to share something very important with them. All 15 guys said that they wanted to stay. I explained that I wasn't taking down names and that I didn't get any special points for them listening and also explained that I didn't have anything to give them if they stayed to listen. I gave them every possible reason to walk away but they all said they wanted to hear what I had to say and they stayed. I walked them through an overview of the story of the Bible from the Creation to Christ. I spent some time explaining the separation from God caused by sin, the need to atonement in the old testament and God's gift of his son Jesus. I then spoke of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. I had some candy in my pocket so I used it to explain the fact that it's a free gift but that we have to choose to accept that gift much like they choose to accept the candy or not accept it. I also shared John 10:10 with them explaining what life in abundance is. Finally I asked them if they would like to know Jesus and pursue the life that a relationship with him entails. All 15 of them said that they would and I lead them in a prayer of committing their lives to Jesus and the acceptance of the gift of his salvation. It was amazing and so very simple, a true reminder that God is at work. When we were done I explained that this commitment meant accountability and learning and we all walked back to the school yard so that I could introduce them to Sixto who lives and works there. Sixto explained to them that he would be discipling them and would be keeping them accountable. I told them I would try to send them bibles the next chance I got. That hour with those young men made this whole year worth while as I was again reminded of God's love for his people. I give God the glory that those young men are now in process of knowing him and hopefully carrying his message to their families. Please join me in prayer for these young men, for Sixto and Libio who are there as missionaries to their own people and for the three towns. May God's name be honored and glorified! The photos is of me with the young men who that day gave their life to Jesus.

It's a JUNGLE out there!

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:57:00 -0500

In 1956 five missionaries working in Ecuador were desperately trying to make contact with an indigenous group in the jungle in order to save their lives. There was external pressure for the Ecuadorian government to go into the jungle and wipe out the Waorani people. According to some anthropologists, the Waorani at that time were the most murderous people group in history. Through revenge killings from one village to another was devastating their population. Their intolerance for visitors was just as violent and there was rumors of government intervention to wipe them out completely. Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian and Nate Saint had decided to go into the jungle in an attempt to share the gospel with the Waorani. Nate, a pilot with Missionary Aviation Fellowship had spotted a Waorani village while flying over the jungle and had been using a basket to lower gifts to them. Contact had been made from the air but when the missionaries tried to make personal contact by landing on a small beach they were speared to death. Through a Waorani woman who had walked out of the jungle and made contact with outsiders, the missionaries widows and their children later moved into the jungle and spent time with the Waorani sharing the gospel with them and forgiving them for the killing of their husbands and fathers. That marked the end of the murderous era for the Waorani who continue to live in the jungle but have chosen a non murderous/vengeful existence. Last week I had the privilege of going into the Waorani village of Nuneno to join some missionaries who work with the Waorani. We were joined by Cypress Church from California who has been visiting the village and developing relationship with them for the last three years. Without going into detail about all of the activities from playing with the kids to eating monkey or singing, I'd like to simply share my highlights. As the "translator" for the team, I was asked to translate for one of the older men in the village who wanted to share his testimony. The testimony I had the privilege of translating was that of one of the men who took part in the killing of the five missionaries. I was in tears as I heard him (Grandpa Mincaye) share not only the details of what and how the killing happened but continued on to tell of how the Lord has changed his life. Later that week as we gathered in the river to baptize those who had decided to publicly demonstrate their obedience to the Lord I was again moved to tears as Grandpa Mincaye spoke to someone he was baptizing. His message to them was so passionate and so heartfelt I couldn't contain my tears of Joy. Nearly sixty years after he had speared the men that were trying to share the gospel with him he was in the river baptizing in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. I too was asked to be a part of the baptism as we sang and rejoiced together with the Waorani who were coming to the waters to show their obedience in baptism. Praise the Lord! Please join me in prayer for the Waorani. While there are many believers, there is little support. They live very isolated and are constantly being bombarded by tourists and visitors who bring in temptations from the outside. There are very few missionaries and many villages that they can only get to a few times a year. Please pray also for the various missionaries who have been called to share the Love of our Lord with this amazing group of people. Finally, please pray for me as I continue in a busy summer. I returned from the jungle just last night and the day after tomorrow I'll be going to another village, this time in the coastal jungle to a community of descendants of escaped slaves. They live in nearly complete isolation from the rest of Ecuador and can only be reached by a three hour motorized canoe ride upriver. We will be going in to put on a similar program to the one we did for the Waorani and will be doing so in support of the handful of local christians who have returned to their birthplace because they feel the call to minister among their people. Pray for the safety of the team that joins us from California and the rest of the missionaries who are leading the trip. God is already at work in this place, pray that we will be sensitive to his leading to how we can be a part of the work. (Pictured above: Grandson Mincaye - Missionary to the Waorani, Miriam - a young girl who is a Shuar indian but works with the missionaries to the Waorani, ME. Miriam was one of the 20 people baptized in the Shiripuno that day)

HE IS RISEN

Wed, 18 May 2011 18:40:00 -0500

I know, according to the church calendar I'm a few weeks late on using this title but it's a truth that always rings true no matter what the date. It's also what someone said at the denominational offices here in Quito when they saw me this week. I apologize for the long silence in my communication but it's been a very rough 2011. He is risen was an appropriate comment towards me because it had been nearly two months since I had been seen anywhere outside of my own home. As you well know I started my year with an end of January knee surgery. After nearly two months of physical therapy I was feeling in tip top shape when I started to feel ill. Normally when I start to feel sick I refuse to allow it to take over and in fact 90% of the time I feel better the next day. Even when others around me are getting sick I refuse to allow it to attack me and sure enough I don't get sick. I thought it would be the same this time but as luck would have it, a week after I had started to feel ill I was feeling worse every day. Finally after about a week and a half I woke up one day and every single joint in my body ached so bad that I could barely move. I couldn't straighten my elbows, my glands in the back of my neck were swollen, my fingers, back, toes, ankles, and knees were in unbearable pain. My stubbornness knows a limit so I willed myself out of bed, into the shower and down to a clinic. Finding nothing obviously wrong with me they ran some blood tests and told me it was a viral infection. The beauty of a viral infection is that it is untreatable. The only way to deal with it is to REST. I'm not a big fan of said treatment but was told it would probably only last another week. I went home, put on a movie or two and rested...and rested....and rested...and I wasn't feeling any better. I knew that there was one outstanding blood test result that takes longer to get so a friend went to the hospital and picked it up for me. There in the numbers and strange names was my answer. Epstein Bar. No, not a jewish law exam but what we commonly know as the kissing disease, MONO. After researching online and asking a few nurse friends the conclusion was unanimous MONO. Naturally, I was perplexed because I had read that the incubation period for this wonderful new friend of mine is between one and two months and I had only started my kissing spree during the last couple of weeks. I later found out that a friend who I had been with during Christmas had been ill with MONO and despite it's friendly street name, MONO can be transmitted by means other than kissing. This was a relief to me because I didn't remember kissing him. So that puts me at nearly two months since I first started feeling sick and I'm glad to say that I've ended my relationship with MONO. Sure I'm still feeling the aftereffects but I have more and more strength every day. Thank you for all your prayers even if you didn't know that I was going through this experience. While it was horrible it gave me lots of time and freedom to do a lot of reading and I actually enjoyed the time to pray and spend time in the word without any schedule to rush me. Rewinding a few months... After what was a very difficult time working with the Youth Leadership here in Ecuador I've requested some new options that have been approved by the leadership here. I have been given six months to develop the church's website as well as a microenterprise training program. I'm mostly done with the website save a few peripheral issues and have started working on the training program. I'll go into the details of the training program in my next communique but wanted to share a few prayer requests. 1. Please continue to pray for renewed health as I get stronger and stronger every day, right now even just a couple of hours of activity can wear me out. 2. Please continue to pray for our friend Earl. He is currently living with my parents but still desperately needs to the weight that is affecting his health. He has sent a video into the biggest looser but has not heard back from them. I've laid out strict diet plan for him but it is very much up to him if he keeps it. 3. I have a busy summer with teaching at camp, short term teams, translating, and teaching for two weeks at a mini seminary for youth. I need wisdom, energy and more energy. Blessings. Joshua

Quick Update

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:48:00 -0500

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It's been an incredibly crazy beginning of the year with some amazing blessings as well as some tough challenges. The blessings have come by way of countless opportunities to share Christ with people in all kinds of different settings. My friend Garrett (backpacker) came over a couple of weeks ago and I was able to have a great conversation with him about the Lord. He is not new to church and God but had walked away from both years ago. I was able to encourage him to seek the Lord and was able to pray with him and give him some guidance. Please continue to pray for him as the Lord works in his heart. In addition, please continue to pray for the Andrade family (owners of the gym where I work out). Sybill, the owners wife has been coming to church with me on a regular basis and we continue to pray for her husband. Lately it seems as though he is at a breaking point and seems to be more and more open to hearing about Christ and the Lord. Today he(David) and Sybill told me they want to dedicate their daughter in the church and asked me if I would be willing to do that. Please continue to pray that the Lord will work in his heart and that doors would open for me to share the gospel with him. Finally, as far as trials are concerned, three weeks ago I had knee surgery. I've been in the process of recovery and physical therapy and while they are amazed at how quickly I am recovering, it is a very hard time. Physical therapy really wears me out and I am sometimes discouraged because I want to be better NOW! On a positive note, being in therapy every day gives me entrance into the lives of my therapists as well as many other patients and it seems as though every day God opens another door for me to share his love with others. Please pray for my quick recovery as well as wisdom and gentleness as I walk through those open doors. May God be magnified and honored in my sharing of his gospel. Blessings

Breaking / Broken News

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:51:00 -0500

Just a quick update / prayer request. 1. While working out this morning I aggravated a preexisting injury and tore my meniscus. I spent most of the day at the physical therapist and then at the doctor's office. Really they should pay me because my diagnosis was right on the money. I've got a torn meniscus and need surgery. On Saturday at 8:00 am I'll be going into surgery...I get to watch again. This comes at a bad time because the big annual youth worker's meeting is on Saturday and I will not be able to be in attendance. The good news is that this morning after I injured myself working out doing wall balls I convinced my trainer to modify the workout and I was able to complete the session (in throbbing pain but I completed it.) 2. I got a message today from a guy named Garrett. I met Garrett last year when he showed up on my doorstep with another backpacker touring Ecuador. They stayed with me for about a week and now Garrett is back for another few weeks. The message I got from Garret reads like this. "For the last couple of years I´ve been living for me and the moment but I think I´m finally to the point where I want to make a change. I´m tired of going to bed every night feeling empty inside. What do I need to do to follow Jesus more closely and experience his love in my life?" I think I had mentioned before how God plops ministry opportunities into my lap. Here is a clear example. Please pray for me as I seek wisdom and the right way to speak to Garrett. Pray also for Garrett and his heart as the Lord works in him. Thank you for being a part of this amazing support team. Josh

Opportunity Knocks

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:43:00 -0500

Sometimes it's funny to think of what I do as work. I realize this probably isn't the "correct" way to start a newsletter received by everyone on my support team but before you delete the e-mail and call my boss to pull your check... When I say it's funny to think of it as work what I really mean is, I don't really do anything... Ok, perhaps another bad start but it seems to be true in my estimation. Sure, I "do" what I'm supposed to. Lately that has meant working on the restructuring of the youth workers as well as attending various meetings, involvement in church, speaking at this or that youth group, etc. But the reality of what I do here or at least what I see as true ministry seems to happen outside of the ecclesial structure and when I say I don't do anything, I mean, I recognize that the Lord is always paving the way. It seems as though time and time again the Lord is putting me in relationships and allowing me to see his grace at work in people's lives. Most recently I've experienced this at my box (crossfit gym) where I've been working out during the past couple of months. I get to go for free because I built their website and have been helping develop their marketing. At any rate, I've quickly become friends with the owners and we have been getting to know each other. The other day, Sybil, the owners wife approached me and told me that her husband had mentioned that I am a believer. She shared with me that she too is a believer but that she has not been able to go to or find a church since they came to Quito over five months ago and asked if she could come to church with me. That Sunday we went to a nearby church that unbeknownst to me had recently been through a major split where they lost their pastor and over 400 members. We showed up to a nearly empty church with a borrowed pastor. Experience has taught me well that the situation in the building and during the service does not impede the work of the Spirit so I began to pray for Sybil and her experience that morning. After we left church she thanked me and told me that she had really enjoyed it. I shouldn't be surprised but I always marvel at how the Lord can touch someone even in the most unexpected situations. The following Sunday i.e. three days ago I took her to the church that I normally attend. What a contrast. This is a church on the south side of Quito with a few thousand members and three morning services that pack the sanctuary. Again, she loved it and asked me if I would be willing to take her every Sunday. She prays for her family and asked me to join her in trying to share the message of Jesus with them. I am humbled by the way that the Lord consistently allows me to watch his work in people's lives. Please join me in praying for Sybil and the Andrade family. Additional PRAYER requests. 1. Continued prayer for my support base. I was able to leave the USA and come to Ecuador with 80% of my support for the two year term but I am still short around $9,000 (spread out over the two year period) 2. I'm in the process of trying to start up a Bible study with some of my friends here but scheduling seems to be a very difficult hurdle. Please pray that everyone's schedule would open up in a way that would accomodate a time for studying God's word. Finally, I want to thank all of you who have been praying with me for my good friend Earl. During Christmas break while my family was in Houston, Earl stayed at my parents house and took care of the Dogs. Upon their return to Chicago, my parents asked him to stay...so I've been replaced. As I've written before, Earl has had some health problems in the past, in many cases this is related to his weight as well as the fact that he has been living on the street. Please join me in praying for his health as he enters into a completely new routine that will hopefully alleviate some of the issues that have been affecting him. In addition, Earl has submitted his application to be on "The Biggest Looser" so join me in praying for God's direction in that opportunity as well. Blessings. Joshua. (photo: That is me at the gym doing a supine burpee - Basically that means that with a 25lb plate, I do a situp but instead of simply returning to a lie down position, I stand up and press the plate at the apex of the situp before I return to said lying position.)

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:07:00 -0500

Surely, my time here has not been what I expected prior to my arrival. As you know, my expectation was to arrive in Ecuador and hit the ground running. I expected to visit a number of soccer schools, assess where their needs were and begin working with the coaches to develop a comprehensive coaching, outreach, discipleship program. Instead of hitting the ground running, I simply hit the ground and stood still....relatively speaking. Shortly after my arrival I was summoned to a meeting with the sports outreach (si se puede panas - known here as PANAS) leadership team. It was at this meeting that I quickly found out that in fact all of the soccer schools had ceased to exist, were on break, had lost it's coaching staff, etc. This was not what I expected to find within the first month of my arrival in Ecuador. To cap this off, the leadership of the, "Covenant Youth Workers in Ecuador" (JPE) has been in some relative disarray. The leadership team is comprised of a Coordinator who serves in somewhat of a pastoral/ administrative role, as well as a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. This year, the coordinator left for the US to learn English and then go to seminary. This might not seem like that big of a deal but said coordinator was the do it all for the group and when he left no one else really knew what needed to be done. In addition, the secretary had left for Sweden for three months in order to be a part of a mission training school called Acts 29. The treasurer was reported MIA which I later found out was related to him feeling excluded by the rest of the cabinet. The president had a relatively critical personal issue and was forced to resign. If you are keeping with the math, that leaves us with a VP who like all the others is a volunteer in said capacity but has a full time job that is his priority. So, needless to say, when I arrived there was little to no leadership, In response to the void, the denominational leadership here in Ecuador has asked a former President to step in as interim coordinator to help JPE close out the year and I have been asked to assist in this process. We are in the process of re-defining the hierarchical structure of JPE as well as developing strategies for the future. The general assembly will gather at the end of January to vote on our proposed changes and to elect the new officers. Please keep me and JPE in your prayers as we attempt to move forward in a way that is practical, effective and honoring of the Lord and the work here in Ecuador among the youth. Meanwhile, I finally broke down and renewed my Ecuadorian drivers license this week. I spent most of the day at the DMV running from one desk to the other attempting to get my paperwork sorted out. My original DL was from 1991 and had long since expired. I can't say I was surprised when they couldn't locate any record for my DL in their computers so I had to visit a "data" office in order to bring my information up to date before I could take the "very easy" test and then take my photo and get my DL. While I am not a big fan of sitting in govt buildings to get paperwork taken care of, I did meed a young police officer who was there to take his written motorcycle test. We quickly became friends. After I aced my test I was told I would need to wait for an hour while the "camera" people at lunch so I asked my new friend Jacob to lunch. During lunch Jacob asked me about my job and my life here in Ecuador and after a few minutes of reflection mentioned his need to seek and connect with the Lord. Being a police officer and a fraternity of corruption I told him that there was no way he could ever connect with God. I then got up, stormed off and smiled for the photos with my self righteous indignation. Of course I kid, I didn't smile for the photo....and didn't really storm off. I did however invite him to join me for Church. I'm hoping that he can come with me on Sunday. So please pray for Jacob. I don't yet know much of his story but I ask that the Lord with reveal himself to Jacob and shower him with his love and grace. Also continue to pray for my friend Earl. I've been in touch with him lately via facebook and he has mentioned his health issues. I'm very concerned for my brother and his poor diet as well as the impending winter and all that it brings. Pray also for the rest of the homeless and their wellbeing during the cold difficult winter. Finally, continue to pray for me as I look for my place and charge here in Ecuador. Blessings and Season's greetings.

President is Rescued

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:09:00 -0500

Thank you for your prayers for Ecuador. Last night after nearly 16 hours being held hostage, President Correa was rescued by Ecuador's armed forces. Early in the morning yesterday, Correa went to the presidential palace to answer police concerns over a new law that he and congress passed cutting bonuses in the public sector. This essentially meant that the police would not be receiving their unmerited annual bonuses. Despite Correa's presidency having raised the minimum wage of a police officer from $200 a month to $750, the police were unhappy and sequestered Correa and went on strike. By noon yesterday all of the schools in the city had sent their students home and vandals, bandits and criminals took to the streets to take advantage of a city void of a police force. There was mass looting in grocery stores, malls and even some banks were robbed. By 2:00 in the afternoon the city was a ghost town with only a hand full of cars and people on the street, all shops and stores locked up and closed for the day. For the greater part of the day there was a stalemate between the national police force holding Correa captive and his cabinet which refused to overturn the new law. During the time, the military began to mobilize into the city of Quito, take over the airport and position themselves near the Police hospital Correa was being kept in. Simultaneously, various bands of the rogue police officers made their way to television stations as well as the "antena farm" at the top of Pichincha (mountain de-marking the western border of the city) to attempt to cut news feeds. The picture you see is of a military helicopter circling the antena farm looking for those policemen trying to sabotage the news feeds. As the sun started to set the tension on the news channels grew as did the sounds of gunshots that echoed off of Pichincha. By about 8:30pm the military forces had positioned themselves around the perimeter of the hospital and the firefight began. Glued to the television my roommates, a few friends and I watched the battle unfold as the stoccato of gunfire resounded through the valley. Finally at about 10:30 pm the television showed a rush of military escorts pulling Correa out of the hospital and into safety after which he was immediately escorted to the presidential palace where he spoke to the mass that had been gathered in vigil during the day. His firey speech to the crowd was impassioned with his resolve that the country would continue to move forward, justice would prevail and the forces that seek to derail democracy would be dealt with. Today, all seems to be back to normal. There are cars on the street, shops are open and police officers are patrolling the city. This doesn't end this way though. There are many heads that will roll and there will be backlash. Correa's statement today claimed that there will be no forgiveness for those involved in this attempted coup. Please continue to pray for this country and its leadership. I believe this to be an incredible opportunity for the country's leaders to clean up a lot of the corruption that exists within the police department as long as there is a genuine desire on behalf of the politicians to bring about change. Please continue also pray for the missionaries that are in Ecuador as rumors of US involvement in the insurrection circulate and could possibly cause some animosity towards us. Blessings, thank you for your prayers.

Urgent Prayer for Ecuador

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:22:00 -0500

Please pray for Ecuador. Today at 7:00 am the national police force stormed the capital building and congressional hall. They are upset that the president passed a bill that eliminates their bonuses. These are fairly high and unreasonable bonuses that are very taxing on the country's economy. Because there is no police force, criminals have been running rampant through the city, robbing banks, ransacking shopping malls and destroying grocery stores. Today is the first day of the riots and hopefully they will be resolved swiftly but until then we have been asked to stay in our homes...I hope I have enough food in the fridge. Thank you for your prayers.

Pico Y Placa how long will you torment me?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:07:00 -0500

I don't usually write this often but when life gives you adventure in repetition you have to take advantage of it. When I first arrived and was issued the "mission" car that I have been driving, I was told that my day for "Pico y Placa" (PYP) was wednesday. Ok Quick review on what Pico Y Placa is... The last number on a car's license plate determines the day of the week that the rule or system applies to that car. For example, if your plates end in a 1 or a 2 you may not drive your car during rush hour or 7:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 7:30pm on Monday. If your plates en in 3 or 4 the same applies for Tuesday - etc all the way to Friday which limits plates 9 and 0. This is done in an attempt to alleviate some of the congestion on the city streets....back to my story. So I was told that I was not allowed to drive during rush hour on Wednesdays. I accepted what I was told, didn't pay attention to my license plate and have been driving around under that assumption for the past couple of weeks. I've driven during rush hour on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and I've been a good little boy and had the car parked during rush hour on Wednesday. So Tuesday of this week I was running a few errands and stopped by the Alliance Academy to help Dave Gardeen get a router working in his office. After working on that for a while I decided to head home and was going to drive another friend to their place on my way. I joyfully pulled out of the Alliance lot and onto one of the main roads heading to my house. The first traffic light I encountered was green so I zipped right through the intersection but noticed an officer standing on the corner who pointed at me and whistled. Now, whistles in Ecuador can mean many things. Traffic cops use them to direct traffic. People that watch cars on the street use them to help you in and out of parking spots. Other people use the whistles to get your attention in hopes that you will buy their product or enter into their store. At any rate, I tend to notice them with relative disinterest. Tuesday however, for some reason I felt that the whistle was for me. As I continued down the road I noticed another police officer pull off of the curb on his motorcycle and begin following me. It didn't take long for him to catch up and ask me to pull over. I fought my urge to put the peddle to the metal and become a missionary on the lam and I pulled over. When he pulled up beside me he simply stated that I had PYP and that my car was going to be impounded. Noticing the "security seals" still on the car he quickly pointed out that I had been impounded before and assumed that it was for the same offense. I weakly tried to tell him the Delp story but decided it wasn't as important as dealing with the issue at hand. I pleaded with the police officer explaining that while I had in fact committed the infraction, it had really not been my fault but the fault of the people who had told me I was fine to drive on a Tuesday. I asked him to help me out and just let me go a few more blocks to my house where I could park the car and not be a burden on society or it's streets ...until at least 7:30 that evening. The officer took my DL and registration, told me he would see what he could do and that I should park at a nearby pharmacy. After waiting for about 30 minutes at the pharmacy my new found friend showed up and told me that he was going to help me out but that in return I should help him out as well. 35 years of Latin American context means I know what is happening....let the corruption begin. I played dumb and simply asked him what he meant. Looking around to make sure that no one was paying attention to our dealings he explained to me that the law stated that my car needed to be impounded and that I would be fined $80 for my transgression. He asked me if I wanted to deal with said consequence. I naturally said no, I would rather not pay $80 and have to go through the whole process to get my car out of jail. He repeated his desire to "help" me and wanted to know what I was willing to do in return. I again played dumb and simply acted like I didn't know what he was talking about, asking him what he meant. Once more, my buddy explained the consequences to my sin and then sought my own solution to the problem to which my response was again pure and unadulterated gringo ignorance. We played this little game a few more times until he finally realized that I was too dense to understand the intricacies of subtle communication and he flat out asked me to give him a fraction of the $80 in return for not impounding my car and not being charged the fine. Aha! now I understand...he wants a bribe... I think he was probably shocked when I explained that I couldn't do that. I smiled at him, let him know that I wasn't angry at him and that I fully understood his need to pull me over and the consequence of my vile actions. I even told him that I was ok with my car being impounded and of my need to pay the fine. I was simply hoping that he would show me some mercy and grace as I was new to the system and my grievance was one born of ignorance. With a somewhat stunned look on his face he handed me my documents and told me to make sure I didn't move the car from the pharmacy parking lot until after 7:30 and he let me go. I shook his hand, told him that I hoped we would have a chance to meet under different circumstances in the future and I walked the rest of the way home. I think we can all learn a lesson from this story. Don't trust your colleagues to know your license plate number...check for yourself. More to come in the near future. I travel to Guayaquil (port city) tomorrow. I'll be spending some time seeing the work there as well as meeting with the director of the Youth Workers for the country to iron out some of my roles within the programs. Please continue to pray for me as I get more and more settled and begin to travel about the country seeing the various works that I will be involved in. Blessings