Season of Change

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." Ecc. 3:1

Darryl and I find ourselves going through a season of change as I write this update.  Most people who leave for the mission field, leave their parents behind.  I have the had the most wonderful blessing of joining mine when we arrived in 2005.  However, as it says in Ecclesiates, to everything there is a season, and the season for my parent's retirement is upon us.  We said good-bye to them on Wednesday, and I have found myself wondering around in a dazed-like state wondering, "What now?"  They have been our best friends, our trustiest confidants, our wisest source of advice.  We have been so thankful for the years we have had together.  We have learned so much from them and have enjoyed watching how the people respond to them.  They are so loved and respected by everyone, and it has been a privilege to observe their relationships with their Ecuadorian brothers and sisters in Christ.  We have been given a wonderful legacy to follow, and our prayer is that we will leave as rich a legacy behind us as the one we have been handed.  Please pray for Mike and Bonnie Shrode as they begin this new season in their lives.  Pray that they will quickly adjust to life in the states and that the Lord will open up new opportunities for ministry as they continue to serve him.

entertainment  center before

entertainment center after

During the first two weeks of September, we were finally able to do some work on our apartment.  It was in desperate need of some sprucing up.  We did a little remodeling, some painting, and finally ordered some furniture.  I guess it's about time after six years!  As in true Ecuadorian fashion, we are still waiting for our furniture (one month later), but our part is finished!  Well, all but the final decorative touches, which, for those of you who know me know that decorative touches are not my forte!

September 18th-24th we were with a group of nursing students from Indiana Wesleyan University.  We were at a missions conference at IWU when we received our call into full-time missions, so it was special to work with a group from there.  We spent the week in a small little village called Susudel, where we attended around 700 paitents.  We left the church with lots of follow-up work to do, as many people accepted the Lord for the first time or requested a home visit to learn more about the gospel message that was presented.  Please pray for pastor Carlos and his ministry team as they begin the follow up work of visiting the homes of those who accepted the Lord or requested home visits.

On September 25th, we attended the 34th annual anniversary celebration of the church association that we work with.  Each year, for the anniversary celebration, all of the churches of the Central District get together for a worship service.  This year, the service was held at Yatchil in the exact place where two of the current pastors were persecuted for several days for being Christians.  It was very inspirational to hear a brief account of the suffering and torture that they endured and to rejoice with them at God's goodness and mercy for so faithfully bringing them through that horrible ordeal.  It was a very exciting day for us because we were officially introduced as the District Liaisons for the Central District.  It was extra special because my parents were there with us on the stage receiving recognition for their thirty-one years of service, while we were being recognized for the start of our new ministry.  Please continue to lift us before the throne as we begin this new season in our ministry.

Dwight, Tandy and Jonathan

For the next ten days we are getting to play "grandparents" to Jonathan.  Dwight and Tandy Martin, who have become like family, are in the process of adopting Jonathan.  They currently need to be in the states, and Jonathan does not have the necessary paperwork to travel to the U.S., so we get to keep him until they return.  Please pray for Jonathan as he adjusts to us and to his new surroundings.  Pray for peace for Dwight and Tandy as they leave Jonathan with us to take care of some much needed business in the states.  Pray for extra energy, patience and wisdom for us as we attempt to keep up with a very energetic three year old!

We pray that whatever season you are in at this point in your lives, that you will walk in the knowledge and assurance that God is right there with you!

Building God's Kingdom,

Kelly, for the Chambers

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."

Matthew 5:13-14

 

This morning during my devotion time I was challenged by a few questions. "Are you salty salt?  Does your presence in the world cause others to thirst after the Fountain of Living Water?"  We are called to have a distinctive "flavor" from those who are not saved.  If our lives are indistguishable from those who don't claim to follow Christ, then what are we doing here?   Good food for thought!

Our VBS in Puyo was great.  We took a team of seven down to help with a week-long VBS the first week in August.  We had 96 kids that came during the week, and our group was responsible for arts and crafts, music, game time and helping out wherever needed.   Darryl and I were very moved by how the group immediately loved on and ministered to all of the children.  Even through language barriers, the group was able to have a wonderful impact in the lives of so many children as well as the national team members who we worked with during the week.  This video was taken during one of the opening ceremonies.  In it the kids are singing, "My Savior is not dead.  He is not in the grave.  My Savior is not dead, because he has risen.  Christ lives!"

Alejandro & Rosa performing with their family

Our "high" for the week came when the Lord put an opportunity before us to witness to and pray with a family of Shuar Indians.  We met Rosa on Sunday night when she, along with her children and a few other Shuar women, came to do a special presentation for our group. During the church service she shared her sadness of living with an alcoholic husband who, even that night, was out drunk in the street.  The group committed to pray for her during the week, and on Tuesday night, during the evening service, we noticed that Alejandro, her husband, had come to church with her.  On Wednesday, we had the chance to go to Alejandro and Rosa's home to visit and pray with them.  It was such a moving time, as Alejandro rededicated his life to the Lord and then spoke a blessing over each of his children and over Rosa.  What a blessing to be used by God even in a small way in the transformation of that family.  On Friday, when we had our closing ceremony for VBS, Alejandro and his family came to do one more presentation for us, and as he led his family in praising the Lord through songs and dance, we all were moved to tears. 

Jess & Ryan at the rehearsal

We sent the group off on the morning of August 7th and filled the house with wedding guests that evening for the following week.  My sister Jessica and her fiancee Ryan got married August 12th here in Quito, and we had a week filled with activites for the family and friends who came to Ecuador for the wedding.  It was such a fun week, and we enjoyed getting to know Ryan's family and friends better.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and we were so blessed to be able to be a part of that special time for Ryan and Jess.

Thankfully, we have a pretty slow couple of weeks coming up.  We have a full guest house this week, but after that, things slow down a little bit, and we plan on FINALLY working on our apartment.  We have made improvements to every part of the guest house except for our apartment.  Hopefully, we will be able to at least get it painted before things pick up again.

We pray that your presence will cause others to thirst for the Fountain of Living Water this week.

Building His Kingdom in Ecuador,
Kelly, for the Chambers

Greetings from Ecuador.  We just want to assure you that we are still alive!!  Extremely busy, but alive. God, as always, has been faithfully sustaining us with just the right amount of energy and health to run a full guest house, to continue to work with teams, attend meetings and all of the daily activities that life sends our way.  We continue to value and depend on your prayers, and we are so thankful to have each one of you as part of our ministry team.

Our meetings in June with the association that we work with did not go as well as we were hoping, but we continue to desire to maintain a working relationship with the AIEE.  We are currently looking for other opportunities for ministry as well and are excited about the possibilities for church planting in Ecuador.  Thank you for your prayers for our meeting.

We had our annual business meeting last week.  It was great to be together as a mission family once again.  We were really blessed to have a group come from North Carolina to bless us by taking care of the kids and with some great teaching each morning before we began our business meetings.  Thank you to the Fletchers and the Baylors for your willingness to come and serve the Lord by serving our mission family!

On Saturday, our next group arrives.  Our dear friends, Doug and Cindy Tankersley are bringing down a Vacation Bible School team to minister to our church in Puyo.  We asked you to pray for a team for this church and God graciously provided us with this team as an answer.  The team arrives on Saturday, and we will be leaving on Sunday for Puyo.  We will hold our VBS from Monday through Friday, and return to Quito on Saturday.  The team will return to the states on the August 7th. 

On the 7th, we have the house reserved for my sister's wedding.  She is getting married on August 12, and most of the wedding guests will be staying with us.  It is an exciting time for our family and we are so happy it is taking place here so we can be a part of it.

Praise Reports:

• Thank you for praying for our team in June.  The Lord had his hand of protection over us as we traveled, everyone stayed healthy, and they were able to have some very productive meetings with the pastors at each of the churches in our district.
• Praise God for his presence and guidance during our annual meetings.  We had several decisions to make about our future ministry here, and we felt God's presence and peace at every session.  We are excited about where we are heading and the ministry opportunities that lie ahead.
• Join us in praising God for his continual provision of health and energy for Darryl and me.  We have gone for several months now with very few days off, yet we continue to be able to keep on going.  God is so faithful!

Prayer Requests:

• Please continue to pray for our relationship with the AIEE.  We want to continue to work with the churches that want to work with us.  Pray also as we look for new churches to partner with.
• Pray for the Tankersley team and the VBS in Puyo.  Pray for travel safety, for good health, and for the children who will attend.  
• Please pray for my sister Jessica and Ryan as they begin their life together.  Pray for all of the guests as they travel to Ecuador, and pray for us as we show them a "good time" while they are here. 
• Josh has had some health problems lately.  He had to spend the night in the emergency room, get a cat scan, plus he needs some follow up with a doctor, all of this with no insurance.  Please pray that the doctor will find the problem quickly and that somehow he will find the means to pay for everything.

We appreciate you and love you all dearly.  We pray that God will bless each of you as you continue to walk with him.

Building God's Kingdom in Ecuador,
Kelly, for the Chambers

On The Road Again!

Even though I'm a day late, Happy Father's Day to all you daddies out there.  We pray that you all had a wonderful day and received the honor you so deserve!  I enjoyed spending the day with my dad, and was reminded, once again, just how blessed I am to have my parents here with me in Ecuador.

We have had a whirlwind couple of weeks, and things are not going to slow down anytime soon.  We so enjoyed having the Tankersleys here and the opportunity that we had to travel with them as they said good-bye to the pastors and congregations that they have served so lovingly over the last four years.  We are going to miss them as co-workers here in Ecuador, but are excited for the opportunity that God has put before them for the next three years, and we are thrilled to be taking over their ministry as liaisons in the Central District.

Having said that, even though we are not scheduled to start that ministry officially until September, we have had the opportunity to travel with Antonio Zabala, the district superintendent over the last couple of weeks, and it has been an absolute joy to get to know him better as well as the pastors we will be serving.

We also had the privilege of traveling with my parents to a church service in their honor in Milagro.  The church we visited was the first church that my dad helped plant when we arrived, and it was the church we attended when we lived in Guayaquil.  It was so touching to see how much the church has grown and what wonderful ministries they are involved in presently.  I have added a picture of the church today.  It is quite a bit different from the tiny garage we met in before.  God is so good!

Tomorrow we have a small group that will be arriving to do a scouting mission for future partnership opportunities in our district.  They arrive tomorrow evening and we take off early Wednesday morning.  Here is our schedule so that you know how to pray:
Wednesday:  Travel to Ibarra to meet with the pastor and the leadership team.  Church service that night.
Thursday:  Travel to Latacunga to meet with the pastor.  Travel to Sucre for an evening service.
Friday:  Meeting with the pastor and leadership team in Pillaro.  Meeting with pastor and leadership team in Puyo. Evening service in Puyo.
Saturday: Meeting with FLET students in Salcedo in the morning.  Travel to Ambato for a meeting with the pastor.  Evening service in Yatchil.  Travel back to Ambato that night to sleep.
Sunday: Morning service (10:00) in Riobamba.  Meet with pastor and leadership team after service.  Return to Quito in the afternoon.
Monday: Day of tourism in Quito and a debriefing meeting with Antonio and the team.
Tuesday: Team returns to Indiana.
As you can see, we need a LOT of prayer for travel safety.  I know that you have no idea where these towns are located, but all of them are in the Andes Mountains and the roads are quite curvy. The team will also be eating most of their meals in local restaurants, so please pray for their health while they are here as well.  Pray also that as the team meets with the different pastors, they will be sensitive to the Lord's guidance as to future ministry in this district.  The team members are Alan Landes, and Bill and Spring Brown.

On June 29th, I will be flying to Cuenca for a meeting with the AIEE (our partner association) to look at the future of our partnership.  Please pray that the Holy Spirit will be noticeably present as we look at how we can work together in the future.  The last time we had a joint meeting, it was not very pleasant, and we want to avoid another meeting like that.  Pray for the association president Alfredo Gonzales, who seems to have some bad feelings toward the mission.  Pray that we will be an example of Christ's love to him and to each member of the association that will be present.  Pray for our field leader, Tom Stiles, as well, for wisdom as he directs the meeting.

We have much more coming up in July, but I will close for now.  Thank each of you for your prayer coverage.  It is evident to us each day and we are so grateful.  May God richly bless each one of you this week!

Building God's Kingdom in Ecuador,
Kelly, for the Chambers

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope that as you reflect today on your gratitude for those who have sacrificed that we may live in freedom, you will also take the time to thank the ONE who sacrificed His life that we may live in victory!  I also want to take this time to say Happy 51st to my beloved!  ( I just had to get the age in there somehow, Darryl.)

We have had a very busy three weeks.  Thank you so much for praying for the UIndy medical team.  We had a team of 34 members including doctors, nurses and missionaries.  Even though it was quite warm, and we had several who had to battle through illnesses, we were able to attend over 700 patients in four and a half days.  I have heard several numbers, but I think that the final number of those who made decisions for Christ was 311.  We ask you to  pray for the team in Santo Domingo that is responsible for the follow up on each person who made a decision for the Lord.  They definitely have their work cut out for them!

We sent the team back to the states on May 19th, and left on May 20th for Cuenca, where we attended two days of mission meetings.  As the OMS Ecuador team, we had to come together to make some decisions about the future of our ministry here and our future partnership with one of the associations that we currently work with.  Thank you so much for praying for us as we met.  I know that the Holy Spirit was present as we met as a team to look at our future.  We still have hopes of being able to continue in partnership with the A.I.E.E., and we are excited about the opportunities to form new partnerships as well.  Please pray for us as the leadership committees of OMS and  A.I.E.E.  meet together here at the guest house to look at our future partnership on June 28th.

On Saturday I was able to participate in a women's retreat for the women of the Central District with my mom and Cindy Tankersley.  We had a time of teaching and group activity in the morning.  The afternoon session was a special service to honor my mom for 31 years of missionary service.  It was such a blessing to me to be able to have a small part in honoring my mom for her influence in my life, and to listen as many women shared of the impact her life and her ministry have had on so many people over the last 31 years.  I know that she and my dad will be greatly missed when they retire in October!

Darryl and I are excited to announce an upcoming change in ministry.  We have been so blessed to be able to coordinate all of the mission teams that have come to Ecuador to serve the Lord in ministry over the past six years.  It has enabled us to be involved in work all over the country.  However, we have been feeling a tug at our hearts to be more directly involved with our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters in Christ.  Starting in September, we will serve as the District Liaisons for the Central District.  We will be serving in a support role for 14 different churches.  We will come alongside the pastors and their wives to help them grow and strengthen their existing churches.  We will also be helping them with the planting of new churches.  We are so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity to move into a different area of ministry, but we are also a little intimidated by all that this ministry will require.  Thankfully, we have a really big God who equips those he calls with exactly what they need to do the task!   We will still run the guest house and coordinate them teams that come into our district, so we will continue to have a "full plate"!

We have one week in Quito and then we will be off and traveling again.  We are hoping to travel with Doug and Cindy Tankersley (the current district liaisons) next week as they inform the churches of their change in ministry.  They will be serving stateside for the next three years.  This trip will be a time for them to say good-bye to the churches they worked with for the past four years and to introduce us as the new liaisons.  Please pray for the Tankersleys as they transition into a new ministry and for us as we continue on with the liaison ministry in the central district.

Praise Reports:

• Courtney made all A's for the first time in her school career!  We are so proud of her.
• We also want to praise the Lord and thank you for your prayers for Courtney as she has struggled with some difficult choices in her life.  She informed us on Mother's Day that she had ended a relationship that we were very concerned about.   Thank you for praying for our kids!
• We had another good month in our support account!  Thanks to all of you who faithfully give so that we can stay here.
• Praise God for the 311 new believers in Santo Domingo.
• We are praising God for giving us such a wonderful team of missionaries to work with here in Ecuador.
• Praise God for blessing Darryl and me with 14 years of a wonderful life together this month.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for my (Kelly) health.   I have a very sore throat right now, and we have a lot of traveling coming up.  Please pray for a quick healing! 
• Continue to pray for Josh and Courtney as they figure out what their relationship with the Lord is going to be.  Pray that God will reveal himself in mighty ways that they can not ignore.
• Please keep my parents (Mike and Bonnie Shrode) in your prayers as they finish up their time here in Ecuador.  They still are involved in ministry, are planning my sister's wedding in August here in Ecuador, and are trying to take care of all of the things that come with retirement.  Pray for strength, health and stamina as they finish their time here and prepare to return to the states in October.
• We have a team coming from June 19th -28th.  Pray for us as we get the final preparations done for thatteam. 
• Join us in praying for all of those who are suffering due to the natural disasters around the world.  We know that many in the states have been devastated by the recent tornadoes. We are praying that in the midst of such hard times, people will turn to the Lord for their strength.

We pray that each of you has a blessed week as you walk with the Lord.

Serving the King,
Kelly, for the Chambers

We finally did it!  We shut down the guest house for four days and took a vacation.  It was a much needed break for us, as we have only had three days with no guests since January.  Last Tuesday, Darryl and I headed for Baños, one of our favorite places to "get away".  As we were leaving Quito, Darryl mentioned how glad he was that we finally were able to get out of the city without anything getting in our way and stopping us as has happened several times before.


About an hour into our trip, I looked up and noticed a strange "cloud" in the sky.  I told Darryl that I thought it looked like Tungurahua, an active volcano here in Ecuador, was erupting.  We stopped and pulled over to take some pictures, and just about that time we saw an explosion of black ash coming from the crater.  Wouldn't you know that Tungurahua is located right where we were going!  I looked at Darryl and said, "Well, we thought nothing was going to stop us this time!"  Darryl, however, with the excitement a child has on Christmas morning looked at me and said, "Never in my life did I think I would have the chance to see a volcano erupting.  We are going to get as close as we can!"

As we drove toward the erupting volcano, we noticed a continuous stream of smoke and ash shooting out.  We stopped several times to take pictures, just waiting to come to a blockade where we would have to turn around.  However, we never arrived at that blockade.  About ten minutes before we arrived in Baños, we pulled over, stood at the base of the volcano, and marveled at one of God's amazing creations.

We did end up staying in Baños just as planned.  We were able to sit on the terrace of our hotel and watch Tungurahua erupt for three days.  We drove up to a lookout point where we were 2.5 kilometers from the volcano.  We heard it rumbling, saw the ash and smoke spewing, and even went back up at night to see the lava shooting out.  It was quite an amazing and exciting spectacle.

We had a wonderful, relaxing time in Baños.  On Thursday, we rented bikes and rode 35 kilometers (round trip) to see a waterfall.  It was a beautiful site and another reminder of how creation speaks of God's majesty.  The 17.5 kilometers back to Baños were mostly all uphill and took us about two and a half hours to finish.  But we did finish!  We turned our bikes in, cleaned up and proceeded directly to get massages on our aching bodies!

We planned to leave on Friday, which was just perfect, as Thursday night, the winds shifted, and we awoke to an ash-covered Baños Friday morning.  Everyone in the town was out in their masks, sweeping the ash from the sidewalks and streets.  The whole trip was a fun, new experience for us...one that we will never forget!

On Sunday, we attended a church service in Riobamba.  They are building a new church and had a celebration Sunday for the next phase of their building process.  They had a special service to collect funds for this next phase, and Darryl and I had the privilege of praying for each person (or family) as they gave their offering to the project.  We then had a prayer service at the sight of the new church.  It was great to be able to see how far they have come on the building.  Currently, two families from the church spend the night on the property each night so that none of the materials get stolen.  Every night different families are on "duty".  Is that dedication, or what?  Would you please pray for this body of believers in Riobamba as they work to build their new place of worship?

This week we are preparing for our next team.  The team arrives on May 9th, and we will head out on May 10th to Santo Domingo for a medical ministry.  We are still trying to locate at least one more doctor for this team, so please be in prayer for that.  We also are trying to finish up with the transportation arrangements.  This will be a team of 32 members altogether, so transportation is an issue.  Please pray for the 17 nursing students from University of Indianapolis as well as the three team leaders and two doctors as they prepare to come and minister to the physical and spiritual health of all those who will be attending.

We return from Santo Domingo on the 17th for two days of "touristy" activities before the group returns to the states.  Then, on the 20th, we leave for Cuenca, where we will be attending an extraordinary field council meeting.   We are going to be taking a close look at each of our ministries, at our partnerships, and at the future direction that we as a mission are going to be headed.  It is a very important meeting, and we really need God's guidance as we look at the future of OMS Ecuador.  Please join us in prayer as we seek God's wisdom for our meetings on May 21st-23rd.

We pray that each of you will have a blessed week!

Building God's Kingdom in Ecuador,
Kelly, for the Chambers

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.'"  Galatians 6:9

Yes, we are still alive!  It has been way too long since our last update, I know, and I do apologize.  I have sat down four different times to write this update, and each time it seemed like something or someone else needed my attention.  It is a Sunday afternoon, the door to our apartment is shut, the guests are quiet, and I am going to try to get this update finished.

Darryl has been gone for two weeks working with a team at our camp in Pallatanga.  The team is working on building a new dorm for the camp and set a goal of building one wall a day for the remaining nine days that they had.  Darryl has been the designated cement mixer for the team.  I don't know how many of you have mixed cement by hand (or shovel, I should say), but for those of you who have had the privilege of that experience you can imagine how sore Darryl is!  Praise the Lord, it looks like they are going to accomplish their goal, and Darryl will be returning on Tuesday.

With Darryl in Pallatanga, I have had the sole responsibility of running the guest house.  I had a week with 17 guests, then an easy week with only 5 guests.  Today the house is full again with 15 guests.  One thing I have discovered....running a guest house is a two-person ministry!  I am grateful for God's provision of energy and good health while Darryl has been away, but I am even more grateful that these two weeks are almost over!

Thank you so much for your prayers for us in March with the Asbury team.  An hour before the team arrived it looked like we were going to have to scrap the project and quickly come up with something else for the team to do.  However, after much prayer, we felt the Lord's guidance to continue with part of the project and another project in the same town where we were staying just "fell" into our laps.  God is so good and so faithful to those who call upon his name!  The four students from Asbury were amazing and came willing to serve in whatever capacity they could.  We completely finished both projects and were able to worship with the congregations of both churches that we worked in.  They were so pleased to have "new and improved" places to worship. 

Our next team arrives May 9th, so we are gearing up for them.  We are going to be doing a medical team in Santo Domingo with 17 nursing students from University of Indianapolis.  We will leave for Santo Domingo on May 10th, begin our ministry on the 11th and then return to Quito for a couple of days of sight-seeing and "touristy" things on the 17th.  Please pray that God will be preparing the hearts of those who are coming to serve as well as the hearts of the Ecuadorians who will be coming to receive.  We currently are short a couple of doctors for this team, so please pray that God will lead us to the right people soon!

I still do not have a driver's license yet!  I have been 5 different times, and each time I have come away empty handed.  The last I heard, there is a possibility that I can drive using my Texas license because of a recent law change.  The only problem is that no one can seem to find an actual written copy of the new law, so until it is found, I continue to "hoof" it or depend on others to get me where I need to be.

One last update from our last blog.  When I went to visit my dermatologist about my skin cancer, he assured me that there was going to be no more cutting for a while.  YIPPEE!!!  I only need to come in every couple of months to have the spots on my skin observed.  He felt very positive about my biopsy results and didn't see any need to do any further biopsies.  Thank you so much for praying for me!

Praise Reports:

• Praise God for answered prayers for the Asbury team.
• Praise him for a good report from the dermatologist.
• Praise him for his faithfulness to both Darryl and to me as we have been involved in separate ministries over the past two weeks.
• Thank you, Lord, for faithful supporters!

Prayer Requests:

• Please continue to pray for my license situation.
• Pray for the upcoming medical team May 9th-20th.  WE NEED DOCTORS!
• Pray for Darryl as he travels back from Pallatanga on Tuesday.  He is tired and sore and has a six hour drive through the mountains.
• Please pray for Josh's health.  Two weeks ago he was watching TV when he started feeling dizzy and and quickly got a high fever.  He ended up passing out and having seizures.  We aren't sure what is going on, so please keep him in your prayers.
• We are still looking for a VBS team for our church in Puyo sometime in July or August.  Pray that a team will step forward, or that God will give us peace about not being able to fulfill that request.

We pray that as you enter into this holy week, you will experience the joy of knowing that Christ has risen.  He has risen indeed!

Serving the King,

Kelly, for the Chambers

"give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1Thessalonians 5:18

Every week I sit and stare at a blank screen for what seems like forever.  What can I say that will capture your attention?  How can I be "clever" this week?  "Please, Lord, bring to mind the things I need to share with our ministry partners."  Tonight is no different.  I started this at 9:00, and it is now 9:34, and up until 9:33, my screen was blank.  It has been a hard week, and nothing cute and clever comes to mind...just the thought of how thankful I am that I serve a sovereign God; a God who is in control, who lets nothing touch me without his knowledge and permission.  I am thankful that he works his purposes out in my life, even in the difficult circumstances.  Aren't you?  What an awesome God we serve!!!

The results from my biopsies did not come back as I had wished.  Both spots turned out to be skin cancer.  I went to get my stitches out on Friday, but they had not healed enough.  I took my results for the doctor to look at, and she said that unfortunately it meant I would have to get all of the spots on my skin cut out and biopsied.  So far she has found 5 more.  Needless to say, I am not looking forward to that!  I go back to my dermatologist on Wednesday. Maybe he will have some better news.  One praise report is that my skin cancer was just on the surface, so by removing the spots the problem was taken care of according to the plastic surgeon.   Thank you, Lord!

We didn't fare any better in the attempt to get my license either.  Happy news...I didn't fail the test.  Of course, I didn't take it either.  When we arrived, there had to have been about a bazillion people in line in front of us.  We didn't wait.  Monday and Tuesday the offices are closed for Carnaval, and Wednesday I go back to get my stitches taken out and see the doctor.  It looks like Thursday will be the next chance to get my license.  I'm loving it, because that means I don't have to drive in this crazy traffic.  Darryl, on the other hand, is not too happy about waiting another week for me to get my license!

We also gave a praise report about finding a couple to run the guest house while we are working with the Asbury team.  Unfortunately, we are not sure if that is going to pan out.  We haven't received any confirmation from them yet.   Depending on what the doctor says, we might not need them after all.  If I have to get the spots removed immediately, I will be here instead of with the team.

My parents were able to visit the church in Nuevo Zapotal, and they decided that replacing the roof was not a possibility for this team.  It will be a much bigger project than what this group is prepared to do.  We will look for a team that can come and help the church out, but as far as the Asbury team, we are back to doing what we originally planned.  The team will be arriving on Saturday.  We will meet them on Sunday and begin working on Monday.  We can't wait to get to work!

Praise Reports:

• We praise God that my skin cancer was only on the surface.
• Thank you, Lord for a few days with no guests lately.  We needed the rest! 
• Praise the Lord for such a faithful support team--both prayer support and financial support. 

Prayer Requests:

• Please continue to pray for me as I go through this skin cancer process.
• Once again, please pray that I will get my driver's license this week.
• Pray for the Asbury team and the work we will be doing on the two churches (March 14-17); also for our travel safety and health during the week.
• Please pray that the couple will be able to run the guest house while we are gone.

We pray that no matter what your circumstances are this week, you can join us in giving thanks for each thing, knowing that God is in control.

Serving the King,

Kelly, for the Chambers

Hello, friends.  I can't believe tomorrow is March 1st!  Normally, this would be the start of our "busy" season, but we really haven't seen an end of the "busy" season since last year!  We praise the Lord, though, for all of the opportunities for ministry that he places before us every day.

For two years I have had the intention of getting a spot removed from my right arm that I have watched grow for the last 11 years.  Finally, at the insistence of my family, I had that spot and another one like it on my left arm removed on Thursday.  It is amazing just how far down into your arm people can cut!  I am having biopsies done on them, and I should get the results on Wednesday.  Hopefully, that will be the end of all of that mess, as I do not relish having any more digging done on my body!

Thank you all for praying for our trip to Santo Domingo.  Fabian had some "connections" and we were able to take a taxi to Santo Domingo instead of a bus.  It was a little more expensive , but well worth the peace of mind that I had when we travelled.  Actually, I was much calmer than usual when we make that trip in our car.  I certainly knew that people were praying for me.  Our trip went well and we were able to get pretty much everything done in one day, so we got to come home a day earlier.

Now we are gearing up for a team coming from Asbury University.  A team of four college students and two leaders will arrive on March 12th to work on two work projects, one in Nuevo Zapotal and one in El Laurel.  Both projects are on churches in those communities.  We did hear from the pastor today that he would like to change the project from painting and some general improvements to replacing the roof of the church.  We will be discussing the possibility of that when we meet tomorrow with my parents.  The group will be here from March 12th-18th.

In the meantime, we have a house full of people for the next couple of weeks.  The couple who we thought was going to be able to run the guest house while we are with the Asbury team informed us today that the dates don't work out for them.  Wouldn't you know it that just today I was visiting with a lady who said she and her husband would be willing to come during that time!  Praise the Lord!!

Praise Reports:

• I found my document that I asked you to pray about last week in the pocket of a pair of pants the very next day.  Thank you for praying.
• Praise God for leading us to a couple that can run the guest house while we are gone.
• Praise God for guiding us during our trip to Santo Domingo.  Everything fell into place, and the church we will be working with is very excited to have us there!
• We are so grateful to God for good health and for just enough energy to get us through each task he places in front of us.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that my biopsy reports will come back clean.
• Pray that we will be wise in deciding how to handle Pastor Adolfo's request about replacing the roof on the church in Nuevo Zapotal.
• Pray that I will be able to pass the written driver's test to renew my license.  I will be taking that test on Thursday.
• Pray for my mom as she flies home tomorrow morning from Guayaquil.  She has spent the last several days helping our treasurer with all of her end of the year paperwork which is due in April.
• Pray for the Asbury team and their leaders Paul Cox and Randy Coleman as they prepare to come serve the Lord in a little less than two weeks.
• We have developed a friendship with a man who has stayed at the guest house several times over the last two years.   His four year old son has begun testing to try and find out why he is throwing up every morning and having headaches and double vision for a couple of hours every morning as well.  Tom's son is named Brady.  He is currently here in Ecuador while his son is undergoing the testing, so please pray for his wife Carey as well.
• Continue to pray for Josh and Courtney and their walk with the Lord.

We, as always, thank God so much for the blessing of having each one of you as part of our ministry team.  We pray that God will pour out his blessings in new and fresh ways on you this week.  We love you!

Serving the King,
Kelly, for the Chambers

Greetings from a guest-free house!  This is the first night this year that we do not have anyone in the house.  Darryl has been gone for the weekend and was scheduled to come home tomorrow, but when he realized that we were going to have one night with no guests, he surprised me and came home today.  The Lord has blessed this guest house ministry in such a big way by bringing a constant stream of wonderful people who come to Ecuador to serve God and to bless the Ecuadorians, and we are so thankful to be a part of it.  However, it has been nice to have a quiet night at home with just the two of us before it starts up again tomorrow night.

Today in church we celebrated ten baptisms.  It was a really special time for me, as I have had the privilege of watching several of those who got baptised today grow in their walk with Christ over the last few years.  An extra special blessing was to be there for the baptism of Jeremy Cortez, the son of Fabian and Levis Cortez.  Fabian is the coordinator of our ECC work here.  ECC (Every Community for Christ) is the church planting branch of OMS.  Fabian is currently pastoring Iglesia Biblica Familiar where we attend, so he was able to baptize Jeremy.  It was a very precious time for their family, and I was so glad to be a part of it.

One of the special things about running this guest house is that we often get to see our guests involved in ministry.  Yesterday, Rosa, who often visits our home asking for food, shoes and clothes, came while I was out.  I arrived just in time to see one of our guests taking the time to talk with and pray with Rosa.  She had given her a bag of food that her group had purchased for their meals while they are staying at the guest house, and she was just about to begin praying with her.  I was so touched by Bekah's tender heart towards Rosa, and was reminded of the importance of taking time out of my schedule and busy day to just listen to the people who come to our house in need.  Darryl and I find that we tend to get a little bit cynical of the many people who come to our house with their stories of why they are in need.  Seeing Bekah reach out and take Rosa's hand and pray with her for her needs was a much needed reminder of what is important...of why we are here.

Darryl went to Pallatanga on Friday to help out with a team who is working on finishing another dorm for our camp there.  He was blessed to be able to meet a wonderful group of brothers and sisters in Christ from Canada and to be able to spend a couple of days working with them on the dorm.  He came back good and sore from moving so many heavy cement blocks, but blessed by his time in Pallatanga.

On Tuesday Darryl and I, along with Fabian Cortez, will be leaving for Santo Domingo.  We will meet up with my parents to make the final arrangements for a medical team from the University of Indianapolis that will be coming in May.  We are going to be going there on the bus.  Not only is the road to Santo Domingo a challenging road, but I have already had what I consider to be a "near death" experience the last time I took a trip by bus.  Needless to say, I am experiencing a little...no, a LOT of uneasiness about this trip.

Praise Reports:

• My parents held a mini retreat this weekend in Santo Domingo.  I talked with them today and they reported that things went very well.  Thank you, Lord, for answered prayer!
• We praise God for Darryl's safe travel to and from our camp in Pallatanga. 
• Join us in praising God for the ten believers at Iglesia Biblica Familiar who were baptised today.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for our trip to Santo Domingo.  Pray that I will be able to put aside my fear and that the Lord will have his hand on the bus and the bus driver as we travel that dangerous road.
• Pray also, that we will be able to finalize all of the arrangements for the May medical team.
• Pray for me as I take the test to renew my license this week.  My license expired in December, and I have put off renewing it as long as I can.  I have to pass the written driving test in order to renew it.
• I have lost a very important document which shows I am legal to live here.  Please pray that I will be able to remember or to run across my censo this week.  If I don't find it, the process to get another one is not a simple one, so it would be much easier just to find it.
• Continue to pray for a couple to run the guest house from March 11th-19th while we are away working with a team.
• We are still looking for a team to come do a VBS in August, as well as two other work teams.
• Pray for continued energy for us as we continue to try and manage two different ministries; especially for Darryl, as he has done quite a bit of traveling lately.

We pray that each of you have a very blessed week as well!

Serving the King,

Kelly, for the Chambers

Greetings to you all and Happy Valentine's Day! (That is for tomorrow!) As you celebrate this special day dedicated to love, Darryl and I pray that you will walk in confidence knowing that "neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39)


We want to thank you all for praying for the national assembly of the association that we partner with. We asked you to pray that my parents would be instruments of peace during the week, and God answered. My parents' presence there was well received and they even were honored several times during the week by the pastors that they have spent the last 31 years working beside to build God's kingdom here in Ecuador. It was a very positive week and my parents left feeling much more encouraged about our partnership with the AIEE. We would appreciate your prayers as we (OMS) continue to look for ways to improve our relationship with the AIEE.

Darryl and I had a wonderful surprise last week when we received a visit from BJ, Andi, Elijah and Lydia Williamson. We have been praying that the Lord would bless them during their time in the states while raising funds and bring them back quickly. They have had several "issues" to deal with since they returned; one of them caused them to have to come to Quito, which was a treat for us. Once again, we were reminded of how blessed we are to have such a wonderful OMS family. Please pray for the Williamsons as they tackle visa and car problems over the next week, and especially for Elijah, who fractured his leg the day after he left our house.

Today we traveled to Pillaro with my parents to visit one of our OMS churches. The pastor invited my parents to come visit before they leave Ecuador for retirement. It was so great to listen to people honor my parents for their years of service. Darryl and I only hope that we will be that well-loved and respected when we retire. On the 19th and 20th, they will be doing a mini retreat for a church in Santo Domingo. Please pray for them as they finish preparing for that event and as they prepare for retirement over the next several months.

We continue to have a busy guest house, with people coming and going almost every day. We are still trying to find a couple who can come and run the guest house in March while we are with team doing a work project. We have a couple who can possibly come during that time. Please pray that we will be able to find someone quickly.

Finally, we are looking to line up a couple of teams for several projects. We have a church on the edge of the jungle who has requested a VBS team for late July or early August. We also have two work projects we would like to find teams for. One is helping to finish construction on a new church and the other is a work project on one of our pastor's homes. If you are interested in putting a team together for any of these projects, we would love to visit with you--especially for a VBS team in Puyo, as July will be here quickly. Please join us in praying that we will sense God's direction as we try to put these three teams together.

Have a great week!

Serving the King,

Kelly, for the Chambers

Greetings from sunny Quito. (Hee hee hee!) We have been watching the news and reading reports on the Internet of this winter storm many of you are living through right now--one more reason for us to be thankful for our call to a beautiful country with perfect weather year-round.

Well, it finally happened....Darryl and I performed our first "duet" in church on Sunday. We were invited to attend a new church plant in the south part of Quito. When we arrived the pastor informed us that the church members would love to receive a greeting from OMS and to hear us sing a special in English. What can ya do? We did give a disclaimer before we sang, just so they wouldn't be expecting something spectacular. We sang "Open the Eyes of Our Heart, Lord", which they sing in Spanish, so we weren't singing alone for long. It was a lot of fun, and as always, we were so blessed by our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters in Christ. They are just so great!

This week the church association that we partner with is having their general assembly. This is really our main prayer request of the week. Things between the mission and the leader of the association are a little tense, so we are just praying that the presence of the missionaries at the assembly this week will be a blessing. My parents are there and we are looking forward to hearing from them as to how things are going throughout the week. Please pray that the Holy Spirit's presence will be evident to all this week. Pray also that the decisions made will honor God and will be positive decisions that help us move forward in building God's kingdom here in Ecuador.

I received several inquiries about our guest blogger and if he had anything else to say, so I will continue to post his remaining blogs in the next couple of weeks.

Guest Blogger….part 3

I shared earlier about how Kelly and Darryl had such a positive impact on our ministry. We were there to work with some of the poorest people in Quito. Our days generally started before 6am as we took our turns in the showers, and had devotions before getting picked up by the bus at 7:30a. In between those events, we were treated to a great breakfast that Kelly and Darryl prepared for us. I’m not talking about toast and cold cereal here. How about pancakes, homemade coffee cake, breakfast burritos with eggs, sausage, bacon and cheese, passion fruit or guanabana juice, freshly baked banana bread…well, you get the idea.

We arrived on Tuesday night and got started bright and early on Wednesday. Our day was generally divided into two parts: preparation and outreach. Extreme Response works with smaller ministry partners and helps them fulfill their ministry through leadership development, fund raising operations and encouragement. On Wednesday morning we unloaded over 50,000 pounds of food from two trucks, prepared children’s gift bags (called Navidad bags) and got packed up for our ministry day. That afternoon we split into two groups to hold Christmas parties for two organizations; Pan de Vida (Bread of Life), an organization that provides spiritual and physical food for people in Quito, and Hogar Betania, a Christian facility for elderly people. In total we ministered to over 550 people that first day. After cleaning up and getting everything ready for day 2, we were beat. We got back to the OMS house at about 9pm. When we arrived Darryl and Kelly were there to listen to our stories, share snacks and hot tea and just make us feel welcome and loved. It was a great way to end an amazing day.

On Thursday the day started much the same: great breakfast courtesy of the Chambers, early bus ride, a worship & chapel time with our whole team, then preparation for the afternoon. That day we went to a very poor part of north Quito to assist a church called Carman Bajo in their outreach to the community. This was a first-time event for the church. As the busses arrived, there were over 1000 people lined up, waiting for us. We got everything set up and then had a party with school carnival-type games for about 1200 people. We finished with a food distribution to each family in attendance; staples such as rice, beans, sugar and salt were given along with a Navidad bag for each child containing toys, pencils & crayons, and hygiene items. After all the people had left, we had a joint worship service with the people of Carman Bajo. It concluded with them encircling our team and praying for us and our ministry in Quito. We then paired up with a member of the church and prayed for their continued outreach in their community. It was a powerful way to end the day.

We thank God for each of you and pray that you will be blessed (and warm) this week!

Serving the King,
Kelly, for the Chambers

Happy New Year...three weeks late!

It's already January 23rd!  How can it be?  It has been a long time since our last blog entry.  Sorry about that!  We have been super busy, so here is the short version of what we've been up to...

We had a really good Christmas break.  We enjoyed having Courntey here.  Thank you all so much for your prayers for us during what was an emotionally draining week.  We are so thankful to Michael and Shawnee for volunteering their time to come and help walk us through a really difficult situation.  Even though we didn't end up with the exact results we wanted, we are so pleased with all that transpired throughout the week.  Please pray that God will continue to work in Courtney's life and for wisdom for Darryl and me.



The Tallmans with one of the families we fed

 On December 25th, we spent a wonderful afternoon in a local park with my parents and the Tallmans.  We decided last year to spend Christmas day sharing God's love in a practical way, so we took food to the park and fed several poor families.  It was such a great experience that we did it again this year.  One thing that I have found to be true...it truly is better to give than to receive!

We said good-bye to the Tallmans on the night of the 25th, and went right over to pick up by brother and sister-in-law.  It was great to have them here for the holidays.  We celebrated our family Christmas on the 26th, and left for the beach on the 27th.  I even got to celebrate my 44th birthday at my favorite restaurant on the beach!  It was great to have some time just to relax and enjoy family.



When January arrived, so did the guests!  We have been busy all month, and there is no end in sight.  We have a full guest house, and we are also making some trips to take care of the logistics for our upcoming teams. We just returned on Saturday from Ventanas, where we set up the final arrangements for a team coming in March.  It looks like everything is falling into place (Thank you, Lord!).  Please pray for the students from Asbury University as they prepare to come during their spring break to do some work projects and a couple of children's programs.  We will give more information on this team in the upcoming updates.

Well, I said I would give the short version so I guess I had better end this update for now.  Once again, I have made a goal of doing a weekly blog update, but we'll see how that goes!

Praise Reports:

• We praise him for a wonderful week of healing for our family during our time with the Tallmans.
• Praise the Lord for the gift of family time that we were blessed with over the holidays.
• Praise him for protection over us as we traveled this past month.
• Praise the Lord for the return of the Williamsons, Pazmiños, and Orellanas.  We thank him for providing the necessary funds for them to return to Ecuador.  We missed them!
• Praise the Lord for a great December for our support account, and thank you so much to all of you who gave during December.

Prayer Requests:

• We are going to be really busy in the next several months.  Please pray that the Lord will supply us with the energy and health for each upcoming activity.
• Please pray for Josh and Courtney.  Courtney has started her 4th semester of college and Josh is continuing to pursue his music career.
• Continue to pray for our support account.  We had a great December, and we are trusting God for more good months to come.

As always, we thank God for you.  We are so blessed to have you as part of our ministry team.  We pray that God will pour out his blessings on each of you this week!

Serving the King,
Kelly, for the Chambers