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News for Friends, Family, and Partners July 29, 2009 Dear praying friends, It has been awhile since we last updated you and many things have happened. First of all we praise the Lord that Robin has finished her 6 weeks of intensive courses at Southern New Hampshire University and is now back in Ecuador. She returned on July 13th and we are both excited about the project she will be doing here. It was a long 2 months of separation for both of us and a number of things happened during those two months that we want to share with you. In May we celebrated the university graduations of William from Covenant College and of Wendy from Georgia College and State University. We attended William’s graduation together and then had a party where we all gathered together and celebrated both of their accomplishments. Robin and Mike then attended a Train the Trainer conference with Mission to the World. In mid-May Mike returned to Ecuador and Robin went to New Hampshire to begin her studies. Upon return from the states Mike began feeling bad with flu like symptoms. His local doctor said that with his symptoms he needed to go to the city hospital and get tested for N1H1 flu. He waited in line two hours to see a doctor who said he needed to be tested. Two hours later he was tested and the results were negative. However, they wanted to keep him overnight for observation and a blood test which would be more accurate. The next day they decided that they wanted him to stay until they got the blood test back. This was Friday and the results would not be ready until either Saturday or Sunday. The results came back Sunday night as negative, but there was no one to discharge him. Monday at 11:00 a.m. he was finally able to leave the hospital. The hard part of this was that he was in complete isolation for 4 days. We are very thankful that he did not have the flu! In June we had a work team from River Oaks Presbyterian Church in Memphis. We had a great experience working with Sembradores church in south Quito. Sembradores had a desire to reach out to another community and do a VBS. We partnered with them and helped put on a 3 day vacation Bible school. We expected about 150 children but God had another plan and 350 children showed up! We had to make some alternative plans but God gave us a great experience with the Capicho Alto community. The biggest blessing was to see 20 members from Sembradores involved as teachers and group leaders and how they grew during the week. Pray for Sembradores as they continue to reach out to the Capicho Alto community which has no evangelical church.
 Part Of The Over 350 Children At The Vbs Last week, several of our team mates partnered with a Quichua church in Paltabamba (5 hours south of Quito) to do a VBS. Our team has visited the community several times to do teacher trainings. Now the church had the opportunity to put their training into practice and do vacation Bible school. We had planned for a work team to visit this Paltabamba this summer, but they were unable to come. Thanks to donations from a couple of churches, we were still able to do the VBS and help some with some construction at the church. Pray for us as we plan future visits in the coming months to do a stewardship workshop, and possibly help the women begin a savings program. On May 31st, Lacy Thompson arrived in Ecuador to spend 6 months as a community development intern. During June and July she has been living with an Ecuadorian family and working to improve her Spanish. In August, she will begin her investigations for her Community Development studies at Covenant College in Atacucho. Pray for her as she lives in the community and does her research. Pray for the church in Atacucho as they finish the apartment so she and David and Johi Vega, the pastor and his wife, will have a place to live in the community. Pray also for us as we support Lacy, and attempt to use her findings to help the Atucucho church reach out into its community. Robin spent six weeks beginning her Master’s degree in a summer intensive program. We are so thankful that she was able to live with the Stieger family, members of a PCA church plant in Manchester, NH. The studies were intense as she and 13 other students from the US, the Philippines and several African countries worked to together to learn about International Community Economic Development. During the next two semesters, Robin will take courses online and work on a community participation project in a small community near Otavalo called Pigulca 2 hours north of Quito. Please pray for growth in the community, not just with regard to economic development, but with regard to spiritual change. The president of the small community is a Christian with a heart for the spiritual condition of his community. Pray for us as we engage with community members, and help them come to understand the ways God has already been at work in their community. We will be visiting Pigulca with a work team beginning August 1. This past Saturday, we again found ourselves at Sembradores church, helping a group of ladies form a savings group. All of the women in the group sell fruit or snacks on the street, and desire to save $2.50 per week. We guided them as they made their rules and elected a president, secretary and treasurer for the group. Robin will meet with the leaders Tuesday evening, and the first savings deposit will be taken on Saturday. Please pray for guidance and protection for this group as they seek to glorify God and to manage their resources well.
 Sembradores Savings Group Prayer and Thanksgiving
In Christ, Mike and Robin McMahan
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Us Address For Donations: July 30, 2009 |