LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS

I can no other answer make 

but thanks and ever thanks.          

 —Shakespeare

Where there is great love, 

there are always miracles.               

—Willa Cather

Thank you for being part of our lives in 2012. 

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad from Ecuador!

With prayers for great thanksgiving 

and great love in your lives in 2013,

     Love,  

Dave & Beth, 

Levi, Luke, Aaron & Evangeline Saavedra

P.S. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, 

so here's the equivalent of ten thousand words about our lives in 2012!

P.P.S. 

A computer crash delayed our sending out the link for this post.

We're working on a different communication system for 2013, 

so we don't run into this problem again.

Thanks for your patience - and we look forward to staying in touch in 2013!

GIVING IT AWAY

        One of the gifts (and challenges) of living in Ecuador is that we are seen by many as “rich North Americans.” In a country where minimum wage is under $2/hour, there’s a lot of truth to that perspective. We have a wealth of opportunities and resources simply by virtue of our passports! When we are frequently asked for financial help, we want to be thankful for the reminder of the abundance in our lives, even as we look to wisely share what we have.  

Photo: Duane Birkey

        Each month we budget for benevolence opportunities and it is YOUR generosity that frees us to give. We thought you might enjoy hearing how your donations have blessed others recently:

• Paid a month’s rent for a single mom between jobs (she’s got a new job now!).
• Covered some test fees for an AAI alumna applying to U.S. colleges (she won scholarships and is now studying in Chicago).
• Helped with repair costs on another missionary’s car.
• Made a loan for a street vendor to buy a heavy-duty umbrella like the ones pictured above (she’s paying us back in flowers!).
• Purchased a new school uniform for a needy boy.
• Bought groceries for our church's food pantry.

        All of these gifts have occurred in the context of relationship—our relationship with the people God has put in our path, and YOUR relationship partnering with us financially through HCJB Global. It is such a joy to be able to pass on blessings to others and we want you to know that your donations to our work with HCJB have a long reach. Thank you for your trust in our stewardship!

RECENT HAPPENINGS (IN PICTURES!)

Summer School: The rowdy crowd Beth led music
and chapels for this summer (in our elementary atrium)

First Day of Class: It's not just new glasses making
Dave look more scholarly; this year he's an adjunct
professor with Northwestern College, teaching
"Life of Christ" as dual enrollment for the AAI high
school students who want college credit.

Entre Nosotras: The kick-off for our moms' group at
school. Pray for Beth as she continues teaching in
Spanish. She's excited for this year's theme of receiving
God's love in order to give God's love.

With grateful hearts,

Dave & Beth and kids

BUDDHISM, COMMUNISM, ATHEISM, AGNOSTICISM, WITCHCRAFT, AND CHRISTIANITY?

Dave with some 2012 grads from the AAI

What do Buddhism, communism, atheism, agnosticism, witchcraft and Christianity have in common? They are all worldviews embraced by the students in my (Dave's) Bible classes this year. Yep, you heard me right! I have the challenge and tremendous blessing to work with teens who are convinced either that Jesus never lived, that Buddhism is the only reasonable religion, that faith in a Divine Being is the source of the world's greatest evil, that witchcraft can heal a wounded soul, or that knowledge of absolute truth is impossible. I love my job! Seriously, what other job can have you discussing historical evidence for the person of Jesus at 8a.m., debating the philosophical foundations for absolute truth at 10a.m., praying with a hungry group of Christ followers at lunch, and hearing the confessions of a practicing witch after school? This is our new current reality at the Alliance Academy International (AAI). Please pray for continued Holy Spirit-given wisdom to love these students well! I believe that Jesus was on to something: by our love (which can mean listening to an eighteen-year-old atheist rant and rave about the hypocrisy of Christians) people will know us to be disciples of Jesus.   

Lina, our own 2027 grad of the AAI? 

 INTERCESSORS UPDATE

In short, the Intercessors CSO (Christian Service Outreach) went very well. Thank you to all who prayed for this new ministry! It has been a great experience to challenge, encourage and equip students to be prayer warriors. 

The Intercessors show off their team T-shirts

For many of the students, prayer became a more natural expression of their faith. This was most clearly demonstrated when the students were given the task of planning and executing a fifty minute chapel service dedicated to the theme of prayer. When I first challenged them with this task, they couldn't believe I would entrust a whole chapel service to them. To their own amazement, the service was very well received. Each student shared a mini-lesson on a different kind of prayer. Once the teaching was done, each student oversaw a different prayer station. For the next 35 minutes, students moved around the chapel engaging in a variety of kinds of prayer. I was so proud of my students for stepping out of their comfort zones. Some students commented that this was the best chapel all year. Others insisted that this kind of student-led chapel should happen more often. 

Intercessors now has a core group of student leaders who have tasted and seen the power of God through prayer. This ministry will start its second year with a lot of momentum. How encouraging to see these young men and women respond to the Holy Spirit's work in prayer! 

Students at prayer during chapel

WHY BETH IS LIKE A HOT DOG

A friend recently said being a missionary is a little like a hot dog. Everyone knows what a hot dog is, but we're a little unclear about what all goes into it. Dave's work as a Bible teachers is kind of like an all-beef wiener... we can pretty much picture the ingredients. But Beth? More like a mystery-meat frankfurter. There's a neat freedom in being able to fill up my time with a variety of ingredients, and I'd like to share some of the joys of the mix of my life recently.

Some of the main ingredients in my hot dog:
Levi, Dave and Luke on the slopes of
the volcano Cotopaxi

In January, I taught four classes of moms from the Alliance Academy International about sharing the gospel with our kids. What a thrill to see the lights go on as we discussed that the gospel is bigger than just saying a prayer for salvation; it means the power of the kingdom of God has entered history to renew the world! I've got four more classes coming up in April (topic: praying for our kids) and am planning some informal gatherings for moms who want more.

Beth (middle of top row) with the smallest of the four classes
that meet for Entre Nosotras (Between Us Ladies)

A favorite ingredient in my life is Wednesday morning moms' playgroup. Anywhere from four to eight moms regularly gather at our house to share lives while the kids romp. One mom told me, "There's no place else like this group, where everyone understands what it means to be a cross-cultural family, to deal with the family dynamics, the paperwork... Wednesday is my favorite day of the week!" I agree!

All these playgroup moms are blessed (and challenged)
to be in cross-cultural marriages

Music is another key part of the hot dog of my life. I fill in directing music at our church from time to time and recently had the honor of playing in a special prayer meeting for "Freedom Sunday" to raise awareness about human trafficking. This issue is very real in Quito and I invite you to join me in making it a focus of prayers and action.

Playing with an amazing Ecuadorian violinist, who
also happens to be one of Dave's students at school

Finally, there's a dash of this and that to spice life up: lots of hosting, some mentoring, some work in the school nurse's office, and some communication with friends like you... who I hope now have a better picture of what goes into this busy Ecuadorian hot dog!

PLEASE PRAY WITH US!


We need YOU to stand with us in prayer about the following issues:

• The government is moving to increase control over private schools like ours, which may affect our ability to teach Bible as we do now. Meetings and paperwork are still in process.
• Spiritual Emphasis Week just wrapped up at school, with some of the strongest chapel speakers we've seen. There were good responses from many students; now the task is to have good follow-up from staff. 
• Dave continues to mentor a number of young men, several of whom are not believers. He desires wisdom and insight for navigating these relationships. 
• Dear missionary friends here are on a rescue mission to provide a home for 60 orphans. Many obstacles remain before they can take guardianship of these needy kids. Read more here about how to help them out. 
• The Latin American Region (LAR) or our mission is in a time of seeking and prayer for the future. As HCJB Global shifts to focus more on unreached people groups, we need to determine what this means for LAR, a largely evangelized area. Some of our fellow missionaries are relocating to other regions, others are focusing on training Latin American nationals for mission work among unreached peoples. 

The powerful Creator of this volcano is also
powerful to answer our prayers!

JOIN THE TEAM!

It's simple to partner with our work with HCJB Global. Check out how below or on the side bar. And thank you!

Aaron enjoys a volcano of a different kind: cake!

Evangeline is blessed to be part of
a community of people like you!