Launch

To my friends and family in support of 7 years of Mission: Ecuador.

Looks like a new phase is launching, and it goes something like this:
* Jhon managed to sign up his whole gang (12 of them) for the city soccer tournament in the park. They invited me to see them practice, I got to meet the coach, and they all did incredibly well for a 2-hour intense work-out... but they ended up discouraged for having lost a scrimmage game, and haven´t gotten back to practice as of yet. Please keep them forever in your prayers,, that they would keep trying and never give up. They´ve made such huge gains and growth steps, to have been able to risk doing something like that. And for strong Christian men to "get in the game" and start backing these kids up... I´m still praying someone will come to follow through with them in their older teenage years.

* I have significant possibilities for continuing here in Quito next year, for doing some interim work with colleagues in the States, any time in the near future, and possibly even specialty recognition. We´ll see what God does there.

* UTalca has let me know (yesterday) that I´m on their payroll for August. I assume that means I should be going down there in the next week or so. It´s a good thing. And very certainly a God-thing.

* My family is doing incredibly well.

* I´m getting ready for a special meeting tonight at the Swissotel and complete with dinner,, sponsored by the Ecuadorian Academy of ORL... they´re formally presenting the Dysphagia book. I wish you could see how excited everybody who has participated on the team is about the whole deal. I hope we have a good turnout. Dr. Juan Carlos Vallejo is just about the most amazing person. He´s president of the Academy, and is the one who decided to take responsibility for us as we grew up in the hospital. He also sat beside me and edited the book line-by-line,, to make sure I was saying what I thought I was saying in Spanish! He has made sure this launch happened. For me, it´s a wonderful closure to this tremendous mission project.

I´m convinced it´s so much more fun to take God with me, in me, wherever I go -- then it can all be used according to His discretion. Staying empty and alert, ready to move as He leads. Nothing boring or even close to predictable that way! And forever seeking His face, because I have to admit constantly that I don´t already know.

Thank you all for trusting me to follow God´s lead and represent Him and you here in Quito. You set an incredible challenge for me, and with God´s provision we all made it a very long way, , with lots of collateral effects. I pray that everything we worked so hard to plant would bring God honor and glory,,, and restore our trust and confidence in Him,, no matter what.

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