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