Foursquare Convention

How can we possibly describe everything that happened this past week at the Foursquare Convention in Anaheim, CA? Perhaps in a book!? God blessed us time and again as we found ourselves in His place and at His time. We connected and reconnected with many pastors who have been or will be part of our spiritual and financial support.

However, the biggest thing that took place was undoubtedly our connection with the two Pastors who came from Quito, Ecuador, Alejandro Visuete (also a member of the board of the Ecuadorean Foursquare Church) and Edisson Valle. God moved so powerfully as we were immediately knit together as family and had the opportunity to pray together for the move of God that we all desire to see in Ecuador. Their recommendation is for us to travel to Ecuador in November (if we haven't already moved by then) to meet with the entire board.

We have only scratched the surface of the entirety of what God did, but suffice it to say that He did "exceedingly abundantly above" all that we could ask or imagine!

Check out more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/calltothenations/sets/72157619070369795/show/

Board Approval!

Finally! This has been a long process through which we have learned to have a lot of patience and to trust in God even more. We found out today that we were board-approved on last Thursday. This means that the only remaining hurdle to going to Ecuador is raising the financial support, and we have complete freedom to begin this process. (We had been limited to friends & family.) We are now officially "Missionary Candidates" with Foursquare until we have raised the support needed and are deployed. Then we are officially Foursquare Missionaries to Ecuador! For now we will have to live with the memories of our time in Cuenca like here on the Tomebamba River. Please be praying for us. Thanks to all of you who are so faithful in your prayers and financial support.

Prayer Trip

We recently returned from our prayer trip to Cuenca. It was an amazing time and God confirmed our calling to Ecuador. During our time, we met the pastors of the only Foursquare church in Cuenca, Fercen & Patricia Granja. We spent some time getting to know each other as we will be working with them as we acclimate to our new home. Thank you to all of you who prayed and gave.

Our Prayer Trip To Cuenca

In preparation for our move to Ecuador, we (Michael & Jennifer) will be taking a trip to Cuenca in August. While we certainly have many questions we would like to answer before our move, our primary purpose is to hear from God whatever He wants to show us. Logistical planning is important, but we want to be fully prepared spiritually. The dates of our trip are August 14-23. Please pray for us.

Hope For The Nations Church on Yakama

We had a great time at the First Nations Conference back in March. One of the couples we met are Frank & Mary East. Today we had the privilege of sharing at the church they pastor on the Yakama Reservation in Toppenish, WA. Their church blessed us financially, but we are especially excited about the relationship we are developing with them. Frank & Mary have pastored native peoples for over 20 years and have a lot of wisdom to share regarding the challenges we will soon face reaching out to the indigenous people of Ecuador.

Foursquare Missions Intensive

As part of our continuing appointment process with FMI, we were asked to complete a number of different tasks to help prepare us for the transition to Ecuador. One of those tasks was to attend a Missions Intensive. We just completed this eight-day training in Federal Way, WA. This was a wonderful time where we learned a tremendous amount, made some wonderful new friends, and were able to visit friends & family since the training was at our former church. We see the hand of God orchestrating so many things with regards to our preparation. We can't wait to see what God has in store next!

Foursquare First Nations Conference

This weekend, March 14-16, is the annual Foursquare First Nations Conference. It is being held once again in Escondido, CA, the site of the conference in 2004 when the vision for Call to the Nations was birthed. We will have a table displaying our brochures and other information about the ministry. Nastassja and Michael, Jr. will be selling handmade, knitted scarves and other crafts at our display to raise money for their room in Ecuador. You can order a scarf for $5 by contacting us through our website. Please keep us in prayer as we hope to make contacts for raising support at this event.