Planning continues . . .

Well, things seem to be coming along well. I'm still awaiting official word from the project in Cayambe for an invitation to return, but received an email the other day from my friend Veronica, the sister of the director and she indicated it would be a huge blessing to have me there. The reason for needing an invite is that the current sponsoring organization, SIFAT, is handing over the project to Veronica's brother and the church to continue development on their own. SIFAT is interested in building communities and not necessarily fully developing projects, just helping them to get started.

Things you can be praying for:

• My CARE team. I am in the process of selecting people from my church to be apart of a team that will take care of much of the practical work that needs to be done back here in Colorado for me while I am gone including mailing future support letters, mentoring me, sending care packages, and most importantly regular prayer support. These are going to be friends of mine who are very interested and want to give some of their time to help me out with what I can't do simply because I'm gone.
• Support. I feel good about my support situation, it looks like my goal for this year is going to be about $10,000, $4000 of which is for training, and another $1000 for moving/logistical expenses. This is a pretty light budget for missionaries, but I still need to come up with it. I will be sending out letters just as soon as I figure out who will be the recepient. For tax and practical purposes I am not allowed to receive the money, it must go to either a church or non-profit organization where the money is managed and then given to me in monthly stipends. Because of the situation I just explained with SIFAT, there is some confusion as to whether they will handle this or not. If not, then I should be able to work something out with my church.
• Spiritual preparation - you can pray for me to be diligent with my daily quiet time reading the Bible and prayer as that is something I struggle with
  
• Praise for the opportunity to continue my job at IBM for a few months prior to training, it will be nice to have a little bit of cash for emergencies/future planning
  

Welcome to my Ecuador blog!

I will be using this to post my updates about my upcoming work in Ecuador and also use it to communicate once I am down there!