Tuesday, November 25, 2025
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Ecuador
The God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people;
rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms
and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.
That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain    Â
without a hand being put to it.
At Sunday School and elementary school we moved from grade to grade on Traveling Day. I was young, and the passing of each year meant I’d lived another tenth or more of my entire life. Now the percentage is much smaller. In my “fourth quarter,” as my friend Dale called age 65-85, a year is just a bit more than 1 percent. Time flies. For Miles, who turned nine two weeks ago, this year will seem much longer.
The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future;
this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.
On Wednesday Margaret and I left Austin for Illinois. On Friday Aki and Miles left Austin for Quito, Ecuador’s capital city with a 30-member mission team. We stood with them and many friends under a spreading live oak tree at church the Sunday before they left. It was good to hold hands and share the prayer time with each other. That’s what they’ll be doing in South America all this week. We’ll be getting updates from them each day and praying for them over and over while they’re away.
Here’s some of what we’ve heard so far:
Hello prayer team!
We are grateful to report that our Ecuador team arrived safely and smoothly to Quito with all our bags! As we speak the team is getting situated in their cabins here. There’s a lot of excitement so pray our students will get to bed at a decent hour. Please pray that our team would acclimate well to the altitude and that our immune systems would stay strong.
Our Story team is looking forward to sharing our daily highlights and prayer requests from our days here with you through the week. That’s all for now!Â
Buenos noches!Â
The “Story Team” kicked into gear the next day:
On Friday, our families gathered at the Austin-Bergstrom airport. After checking bags and passing security (a group of 30 takes a while!) we embarked on our journey.Â
The flights were full of fun, across-the-seats pen-palling, movie-watching, and naps for the adults.Â
Saturday morning
The morning on Saturday was mild and chilly as littles played with a few dogs owned by mission staff. We read from our devotional book Kawsana (meaning “dwell” in an Ecuadorian indigenous language).
Breakfast was delicious with flavorful and exotic juice to accompany eggs, fruit, and pancita (little bread). We heard a helpful orientation about the organizational outreaches here and their history.
Afterwards, our new missionary friends led us in a series of team-building games including cones, blankets, and lots of laughter. Along the way, we learned each other’s names and got comfortable in the thin mountain air (we’re 9,000 feet above sea level)!
Lunch was a wonderful experience of the typical Ecuadorian meal: veggie soup, rice, lentils, beef, and spicy ahĂÂ sauce for flavor.
A highlight was playing the card game ERS with friends when we’d eaten.
After lunch, staff led us through more team-building activities. Our team hiked up a mountain as the fog rolled in, stopping to complete different camp-style team challenges along the way—like swinging across rope bridges, or hoisting each person up to climb through a tire in the air. Our adventure ended at a high ropes course, where we harnessed up and walked across shaky bridges with the jungle under our feet. Each activity had a ministry-related metaphor: communicating with teammates, being flexible (physically and spiritually), or trusting God in uncertain times.
Our team-building activities had two purposes: to unify our team in preparation for the days ahead, and to better understand the local ministry.
Please pray for health and recovery for those suffering from altitude sickness–a few of our teammates have been under the weather. We are helping lead a church service in the nearby village of Calacali tomorrow! Please pray that church would go smoothly and that we’d be able to bless families who attend.
It has been such a joy to get to know the team better. Many of us have been friends for a while and we cherish this opportunity to spend a week with them.
I’ll continue to share some of these stories from South America as we receive them. There’s a lot to be said for vicarious travel, especially for us as our bodies are wearing out quicker than before. And there is, of course, a lot to be said about the gift of praying for the folks who put their willing bodies on the line.
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(Daniel 2, Daniel 3, Revelation 2, Luke 21)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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