Flexibility

snfco02

Plans never seem to go as I would expect, but that's life in rural Ecuador. Last Thursday with the teachers, we had talked about beginning classes with the story of Abraham when he had to sacrifice his son. When I asked this Thursday how the classes went, Dani told me he had given an introduction to the Bible, beginning with the Creation. Not what I had planned, but I appreciate his initiative and respect his decisions. After all, he's on site and knows the folks better than I do. I asked Jenny, the children's teacher, how the class went. She responded, "I only had one child show up." Actually, it's fun to be flexible. I'm not so concerned that we follow a set plan or not. The goal is to teach the adults and the children. As long as they eventually learn, we're good.

Teaching teachers

SnFco01

Now, every Thursday night, I'm meeting with Danilo and two girls who are going to teach the adults, youth, and children at the church in the community of San Francisco, near Riobamba. After teaching children on Zoom for one year, now I have the challenge of teaching teachers. Lord willing, we're going to study an overview of the bible. The real challenge is to learn what their gifts are and what the class dynamic is going to be like. This Sunday they will hold the first class, and next Thursday we will have an evaluation time and then plan for the next week.

Memories

goliat

Back in 2014, I had begun Bible classes with the folks at Capulispungo. We decided to act out some of the Old Testament stories. Here in their old sanctuary, the whole church participated in "David and Goliath," (as well as a couple of other skits). Recently one of the members, now living in Quito, pulled up the video from where I had placed it on YouTube and shared it on the church's Whatsapp. (He's the one in the green skirt.) Brings back many memories. At the time I couldn't understand any of the Quichua, but now I can catch a few words and phrases.

To see the video click:
here

San Francisco

D14

Danilo (a youth leader in "Shobol Llinllin") is in charge of the Christian Education program in this country church in "San Francisco." He invited us to attend the Sunday service and give the message so we could meet the members and work with Danilo in developing a program designed for them. For the message I used some visuals which work well in these country churches. Afterwards we met with the leaders to discuss a new schedule for the classes. Danilo and I are going to work together on Wednesday nights via Zoom to develop teaching materials. We pray for wisdom.


IMG_5908abramfolletoIMG_5914