I hope you have been well.   It has been awhile since I last wrote.  I’m writing to you from the United States; my term is officially over and my search for a secular job has begun.  Although, I have officially completed my term, Nicole and I plan on returning to the mission field within the next couple of years. 

I want to thank you for your prayers throughout the past 18 months.  I believe through your prayers God has protected me.  I also want to thank you for your financial support.  I know that many of you sacrificed so that I could go and I greatly appreciate it. I would also like to inform you that you may stop your monthly support as I am officially off the field.  Please contact me if you would like information on supporting Phil and Deanna Barber (the missionaries I partnered with in Ecuador).

My last week or two in Ecuador was pretty bittersweet.  I made my final trip to the jungle.  Honestly, Phil and I thought this might be our last trip for good because we had a rocky plane ride and thought we would not be able to climb over the mountains.  We had a couple close calls getting too close to the side of the mountain.  The airplane ride from Quito to Lago Agria was the longest 30 minutes of my life.  However, God is good and he protected us.  Thanks again for your prayers for safety.

Our last trip to the jungle included a medical campaign. We brought 3 doctors from Quito to provide medical care to the Cofans and the Secoya tribes. We saw approximately 300 patients within 2 days. 
This was a great trip as these tribes needed medical care but it was also a difficult trip for me knowing that I probably wouldn’t see these people for a long time or ever again. Fortunately, Nicole and I have plans to go to the jungle to help Phil and Deanna in January of 2010.  They will have a similar medical team coming from the States.  This will be exciting to see friends and familiar faces from the jungle. This will be Nicole’s first trip to the jungle and she is ready to go.  I’m also excited for my friends there to meet her since they ask about her often.

The day before I left was very tough; I was able to go out to the church where I had worked for the past year.  Our workers, William and Segundo, were there as well. They have become like family over the past year. It was pretty amazing seeing how the church had been transformed structurally since I first came.  It was pretty awesome knowing that God chose me to be the vessel to help build and raise money for this church.  

I have made lifelong friendships over this past year and I have learned a lot about what missions is and what missions is not.  I also believe God has called Nicole and I into missions full time. Please be in prayer as we continue to pursue this call. I also want to thank you for all the sacrifices you made that allowed me to work in Ecuador.  May the Lord bless you richly.  



Thank You, 


Adam

Condado Church Before Windows were put up.

With Front door and Windows.

Air Force Plane we took to the jungle.

Cabin was not pressurized.

Pilots after we landed.

The team on the Aquarico  River.

Cofan Village of Dureno, waiting for 

medical attention.

New Glasses.

Getting ready to see the dentist.

Cofans.

Entering into the Secoya Village.

I am with a village elder in the Secoya Village.

I am with Leoncio(Cofan) to my left, he is our boat driver and to my right is Benjamin (Secoya) Vice President of his community.

Secoyan Girl.

Our Wonderful Bathroom that double as our shower room.

Our wonderful "hotel". I promise you this was the hardest floor I have ever slept on.

It has been awhile since I've posted, a lot of things have happened within the past few months. One of the main things that I'm really excited about is that I'm engaged. Nicole and I were engaged on Christmas Eve and will be married October 3 2009. She has been a great support to me even though she has not been able to be here with me. I look forward to spending my life with her. We are extremely excited.

When I came back to Ecuador in January, Phil had been in the hospital for a few days. He is doing much better but please continue to pray for his health.

We have had two construction teams in the past few weeks come and work at the church here in Condado. The first team was the Indiana Men's District team. This team was comprised of various Pastors and lay persons throughout the state of Indiana, many of whom had never been on a missions trip and many of whom said they are ready to come back next year. This was a great team and they accomplished a lot during that week.The next team we had was from my home church in Normal, Illinois. They have been a great blessing to our church in Condado, committing financially to the church. They were able to cover the front of the church with plexiglass, enclosing the front of the church and making the appearance of the church look 100% better.  We look forward to the next team which is coming again in March.

Last week, We had the opportunity to go back into the jungle. This time the team that went was a lot smaller, about 5-6 people. A pastor came down to look at a project in the jungle, so we had the opportunity to take him in. Also, Phil was able to purchase a boat motor for ministry use in the community of San Pablo. This community is comprised of Secoya Indians. They were very thankful for this motor, as it can enable them to do more ministry along the river. 

My dad had asked me for some pictures that I had taken while I was in the jungle, unfortunately I had to tell him I did not take many pictures this time. The reason was that it rained and it rained. On that Wednesday we took a boat ride up to another community of Quechuan Indians that we work with. From San Pablo to Cuyabeno it is 2.5 hours, total of 5 hours. It rained for 5 hours straight.  This was not your typical rain either, at certain points it felt like it was hailing on us. Of course, We all had our rain gear on, but our rain gear was really no match for this type of rain. Needless to say, we were soaking wet after we got back.  The mosquitoes really liked me thistrip as well. I think a mosquito somehow got into my mosquito net and had a feast. When we got back to Quito, I counted all the mosquito bites just on my arms and I had around 114. But all in all it was a good trip, it was good seeing some of our friends in the jungle and catching up with them .

Please continue to pray for us as we will go back into the jungle in a few weeks for an extended period of time. Also please continue to pray for the upcoming teams.

Please be in prayer as my year term ends in May and pray that I will be able to find a good job when I come.As always, thanks again for your monthly support and your prayer support. We greatly appreciate all that you do for us/me. 

Thanks,

Adam

Nicole & I engaged.

Indiana Men's Group.

Me.

Indiana Men's Group.

My favorite laying block.

Our wall was straight.

Normal, Il Team.

Preparing to place the plexiglass up.

Normal team putting the first sheet up.

Almost as fun as laying block.

The final product. Looks great.

Cuyabeno, no words to describe the rain.

Secoyan Indian Church.

Cofan Kids.

Cofan Indian Church.

It was pretty muddy.

It has been awhile since I have written. First and foremost, I trust that you all are having a blessed holiday season. We have been busy in the past few months taking trips to the North and taking a trip to the jungle. We have also been very busy getting things around the church ready for Christmas time. I had the opportunity to go with Phil and Deanna to a town called Atuntaqui where Phil and Deanna had started and helped build a church, but they have had no chance to go back to visit the church. So, Phil had the privilege of preaching there, and we got to see the church. The church has been well maintained and looks great.

I also helped with our churches' Christmas tree. They want a "living Christmas tree" to be built so that the kids from our church could stand on it and play Christmas songs with bells. So we did our best to make the structure look like a tree.

And last, but not least, we had the opportunity to go to the jungle. I had been looking forward to this for several months. We began to prepare a few days before we went. I bought some supplies that I needed: a big backpack to hold everything I needed for 4 days, ponchos to protect me from the rain, and bags to contain everything , such as jeans , shirts , etc,  just in case things got wet.

The first day, we left from the airport here in Quito. The Air Force flew us into the town where the boats were. So, after we arrived, we loaded up all our supplies packed them in the boat and headed out. Six hours and two rainstorms later we arrived at our destination.

We had the opportunity to give each child in all four of the communities we visited ( Zabal, Cuyabeno, San Pablo and Dureno) a bag of candy and teddy bears. We also showed a video of Christ's life from Christmas until His death and His resurrection. We visited Quechuan , Cofan and Secoyan tribes.

As we traveled up and down the river, we saw a few monkeys and 2 fresh water dolphins. There were also plenty of mosquitos. We slept in mosquito nets at night, and bathed in the river. It was also really hot, but it was a good time, and I look forward to going many more times.

The pictures from the trout farm on, are pictures from when Phil, William, Freddy and I drove back from the jungle to Quito. This is the reason that it was so cold because we were in the mountains. The drive was suppose to be 7 hours , but with Freddy stopping at every monument and national park it turned into about a 11 hour drive. Anyways, we got to see some cool stuff out of it.

As always, I appreciate your prayers and monthly support. Please continue to pray for us as we begin to step up our work in the Jungle and on the coast. 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

Thanks,

Adam

 

Church in Atuntaqui.

Church Christmas Tree.

Tree with the kids.

Bear we took to the jungle.

 View from our airplane.

Team in Lago Agria

Mosquito net, slept in here every night.

Jungle house.

Cofan man with all his decorations.

We stayed here in San Pablo.

A girl from San Pablo.

My Bathtub.

Phil, Freddy and I.

Sure beats the snow.

Trout farm.

"Fishing"

A trout I caught.

Freddy and I, man it was cold.

Lagoon on top of a mountain.

Deer.

Andes Mt. Range.