MFM Work Team, November 13-20

An MFM work team came to Manta to help build a "bodega" at the OMS Manta church "Cristo Es La Respuesta" (Christ Is The Answer).  In Ecuador, the word "bodega" means a building or room where things are stored.  The purpose of the bodega at the church is to store tools and building materials for future work projects.  At some point in the future, after the work teams are done coming, the bodega will be used by the church as a Sunday School room or for some other use.

Before the team arrived, Hannah and I met with a local architect and asked him to draw up the plans for a bodega.  The pastor of the Manta church, Julio, put us in contact with the architect.  Julio also helped us by contacting an Ecuadorian contractor to help with the project.

Up until November 1, we didn't know that the team would actually be coming.  MFM was trying to put this team together quickly and couldn't confirm it until then.  The team consisted of 4 members, and one of them was my sister Laura.  We had no idea it was even a possibility that she would be part of this team.  She sent me a message on November 1 saying "Are you up for a visitor in two weeks?"  I knew what she meant.

With the assumption that they would be coming, we asked the architect in mid-October to design the plans for us.  He was delayed in getting the plans to us; we didn't see them until the first full week of November.

On Monday, November 5, we looked over the plans with the local contractor (here a contractor is called a "maestro") and we thought we were ready for his crew to get started.  However, the architect said we needed to have a study of the soil/ground before we could start.  Why didn't he insist on this when we first met with him about the plans? I don't know.  Fortunately, he put in a call to someone and they were able to come out and do the study.  We had the results on Wednesday afternoon and were ready to start on Thursday morning.

Darryl Chambers, the Ecuador Field Leader, was with us in Manta that week prior to the team arriving to help us get prepared.  It was very helpful having him with us to make decisions.

We were a little stressed that week since we had planned to start on Monday and didn't end up starting until Thursday.  Up until Wednesday afternoon, we didn't know if we would even be able to start before the MFM team arrived.  Once we started on Thursday, we didn't know how much would be accomplished before the MFM team arrived, meaning we didn't even know exactly what the team would be working on.

Thankfully, a lot was accomplished on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning.

Early Sunday morning (November 13)The team flew in to the Guayaquil airport, about 3 hours from Manta. On Saturday afternoon, we drove our car and Darryl drove his car to Guayaquil.  We spent the night in a hotel near the airport and picked them up on Sunday morning.

After picking them up, we went to breakfast and then to the famous "Iguana Park".

In Guayaquil: my sister Laura and I standing in front of the OMS property where we lived for several years.

We spent the week working alongside the Ecuadorian workers.  Each morning before we started to work, we had a short time of sharing a testimony or devotion.  We invited the Ecuadorians to join us and one of us translated for them.  The project didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked.  There was a good amount of down time for our team on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday while we waited for them to get the structure upright.  During that time, some of the team helped patch some of the damaged areas inside the church.  Also, we drove them around Manta a bit to show them some of the most affected areas from the earthquake.

Overall, it was a successful week.  The project wasn't completed while the MFM team was there, but the Ecuadorian workers finished it the week after.  While the team was there, the columns, floor, and roof were poured, and a lot of the block for the walls was laid.  After the team left, the rest of the block was laid and the doors were made and installed.

Before

After

For many more pictures, please click here.

Special Update - Another big change for us

God bless you this Christmas season as we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We can’t express how thankful we are to receive your prayer support, financial support, and words of encouragement.

During the last 4 years, since being accepted as OMS Missionaries, we have experienced a lot of wonderful, exciting, new, and rewarding things.  We have also experienced some challenges, difficulties and disappointments.

We realize that in our monthly updates and on our blog, we share the positive things, and haven’t really touched on the struggles we have faced. It’s hard to know how open and transparent we should be, especially from a distance and through electronic devices.  So please forgive us for falling short in that regard.  We want to share some of that now.

Many of you know of our desire to start a family and that we have been trying for over 11 years. Many of us have been praying for this for a long time; however, the Lord has not allowed that to happen.  Hannah has endometriosis, which makes it difficult, though not impossible, to conceive.  But we continue to have faith, knowing that all things are possible with Him.

Because of our longing for a baby, we have been through a lot in the last couple of years. Even though, up until we left for language school in Costa Rica, we hadn’t been able to start a family, we had a strong belief that it would happen there.  And when it did not happen in Costa Rica, we really felt that it would happen in Ecuador.

Not too long after arriving in Ecuador to serve at the Guesthouse, we were referred to a fertility specialist in Quito.  For about 8 months, we had regular appointments at his office and went through four fertility treatments.  Each failed treatment was so difficult to accept and deal with, especially without our family, and especially with the Guesthouse full of visitors that we needed to serve. We were providing support to many people through the ministry, but we realize that we needed additional encouragement and support ourselves through this difficult time in our lives.

Words can’t express the extreme hope we had before each treatment and the extreme despair after each one was unsuccessful.  Words also cannot express the peace of God that we experienced.  Philippians 4:7 says “... the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.  These aren’t just words on a page for us, they are our reality.

We have always had adoption somewhere in our minds as a possibility.  We never said, “No, that’s not something we would ever want to do”, but we also never had the attitude of, “Let’s adopt right now!” Things have changed for us.  It appears that our best possibility of having a family is through adoption, which has made our desire to adopt much stronger.  We also have a sense of joy and purpose to be the ones to give a baby a home and a future.  We’re seeing this as not just about us and what we want, but something great for a baby.

Last month, we went to a government adoption office in Portoviejo, about 45 minutes from Manta.  We were able to sit down with someone from the office and talk for a few minutes.  We found out that in order to even begin the adoption process in Ecuador, we have to live here for 3 consecutive years.  Steve qualifies, but Hannah doesn’t qualify. We would have to wait over a year to even begin the process.  Also, it is not that common to be able to adopt a newborn, which is our desire.  We were told that it is more common to adopt older children and adolescents.  

Going through all of this has been very difficult since we are away from our family, our church body, and our friends.  Just being away from that support is challenging enough, but adding the elements of a different culture and a different language makes it even more so.  The reality of our OMS Ecuador team is that we are spread out over the country - so it has been difficult to have close connection with our OMS family on the Ecuador field.

We had hopes that the move from Quito to Manta and a change in ministry assignment would be a positive change for both of us.  In our recent letter regarding our change of ministry, we spoke of our desire to be involved in a different ministry than the Guesthouse.  We felt so fulfilled when we went on the short-term trip to the jungle and the many trips to help in Manta with earthquake relief.  We were both excited for this move and really felt the door had opened for us to come to Manta.  However, we continue to experience many of the same struggles that we experienced in Quito at the Guesthouse.

So, with the combination of several factors - the reality that the OMS Ecuador team is spread out and field support isn’t “right around the corner”, along with living in a different culture with a different language, the unsuccessful fertility treatments, our desire for a baby, our desire to adopt, and the impact of our age on the adoption approval process - the Lord is leading us back to Fort Wayne, IN to pursue adoption.  We will be traveling back to the States in mid-December, just a few weeks away.  We still have a strong desire to serve in Ecuador, but we will see how the Lord leads.

We will remain as OMS Missionaries. Given the circumstances of needing to be home in the US in order to adopt and the age factor in adopting, OMS has granted us an early furlough, which is also known as “Home Ministry Assignment” (HMA).  All OMS missionaries go on an HMA about every two to four years to refresh, renew and reconnect with their families, friends, home churches and other supporters. We look forward to physically being able to get together and share with you about our experiences in Ecuador and we look forward to beginning the process of adoption and what that looks like for us.  During our HMA, OMS is also helping us explore possible next ministry assignments.  

This was an unexpected path; however, we have no doubt that it is the one in which the Lord is leading. We still have a strong desire to serve in Ecuador, and we must be obedient to the path that the Lord has laid before us. This decision has not come quickly or easily.  In all of our steps and decisions along the way, we have prayed diligently and have sought counsel from many people.  In this decision to come back to the US at this time, we have spoken to Christian counselors, our parents, our Field Leader, our OMS Ecuador Team, and the HR office at headquarters, and we have the full support of everyone.  And we hope we can have your support too.

We know we just moved to Manta a couple months ago. The plan for us was to help with the reconstruction and to organize and lead teams.  We know the plan was to help the Manta church with evangelism and other ministries.  People gave very generously to help us with the move. Believe us, those things made this decision extremely difficult to make.  But for the factors mentioned above, we cannot focus and effectively do the ministry here at this time.  Our Field Leader has assured us that the plan for work in Manta will continue.  Even before we moved here, there were new OMS missionaries preparing to come, and they will be here at some point in the future.

We will leave many of our belongings in Ecuador so that, in the event that we do return, they will be waiting for us.  We will also sell some things, and any money that is made from a sale will go right back into our support account for us to use again in the future.  

Over the past few weeks we’ve asked ourselves many, many times, “How can we leave?”  We just moved to Manta.  People are counting on us.  We don’t want to let anyone down.  We want to help with the new ministry in Manta.  We like it here.  And just as many times we’ve asked, “How can we stay?” The desire for a baby is affecting all other areas of our lives.  We can’t carry out this ministry with our hearts somewhere else.

Hannah has prayed that the Lord relieve her of her strong desire for children, yet the desire has only grown. This has been a primary factor in our decision to return home at this time and to seek adoption. Our priority must be seeking the Lord, our family, and then our work. This is difficult for missionaries, who often confuse their work with putting the Lord first.  We believe that coming home for now, is honoring God.

Please continue to pray for us as we make this quick transition back to the United States for Home Ministry Assignment and as we pursue adoption.  We are also grateful for your ongoing financial support as we work through this transition and seek the Lord’s direction for next steps. We will continue to keep you updated. 

God bless you,

Steve and Hannah

First month in Manta

We arrived in Manta on September 13.  We hired a moving company to load our things from the Guesthouse in Quito and drive them to Manta and unload them.  On moving day, we left at 6:30 AM thinking we would arrive before the moving truck.  However, the truck left around 5:00 AM and beat us by about an hour.  

After a year and a half of living in Quito, at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, there are some adjustments to make to live on the coast.  The climate is different, cooking at sea level is different, the way they speak Spanish is different, and breathing is much easier!!!

At the Guesthouse: Stuff ready to be loaded on the truck

At the Guesthouse: Stuff ready to be loaded on the truck

At the Guesthouse: Stuff ready to be loaded on the truck

 

The truck is packed

In Manta: Time to unpack and organize

Although we really like our apartment, one thing it lacks is storage and closet space.  So we have had to buy a couple closet/pantry shelf units.

We are just a few minutes from the church and even closer to a shopping area that has several stores, including a grocery store and pharmacy.


Manta Church: "Cristo es la Respuesta"

Thursday Evangelism:

This community of people lives under tarps around a cement basketball court.  They have all lost their homes.  We go with some people from church every Thursday and teach the Bible: there is a lesson for the adults and a lesson for their children.  We also bring them sandwiches each week and sometimes other necessities, like toilet paper, tooth paste, and soap.

Hannah helping with the children's lesson

Diana sharing the EvangeCube with these men.

Earthquake Relief Planning...a few pictures of what we've seen as we evaluate the properties:

It's sad to see the condition so many people are living in.  And it's not just Manta.  So many towns and cities along the coast were affected by the earthquake.  We are so fortunate to have so much; so many people here have so little.

Copy of our Ministry Change Letter - Moving to Manta, Ecuador

Below is a copy of the letter we sent to everyone on our mailing list regarding our ministry change.

August 10, 2016

Steve and Hannah Skinner

Ministry Change

Dear (name),

We trust this letter finds you doing well.  You are receiving this letter because you are on our mailing list - which means one of the following: 1) you currently support us financially, 2) you have at some time in the past given to our ministry, 3) or you requested to be on our mailing list.

We are excited to tell you that we will be changing ministries.  We will be moving to Manta, Ecuador (on the coast) and leaving the Guesthouse Ministry.  Manta is an area that was really affected by the Earthquake in April.  Since the earthquake, we have taken 3 trips to Manta to help our OMS church there.  We have helped with the soup kitchen and with passing out food and necessities to the victims of the earthquake.  We have really enjoyed our trips there and have enjoyed getting to know the pastor and his family and serving alongside them.  OMS has long-term plans for helping with the recovery, and since we have a church in Manta, it is a great place to start to help.  But with these plans, it is essential for an OMS missionary to be in Manta as a point-person/coordinator.  No other OMS missionaries are currently in Manta.  We don't know all the details of our role yet, but we do know we will be helping to coordinate the OMS teams that come to Manta to help with the recovery/rebuild.  We will also be working alongside Pastor Julio and Diana in evangelism and discipleship.  Since the earthquake, church attendance has increased and many people from the community are asking for visits from the pastor and elders.  We are just at the beginning of our talks with the OMS Ecuador Field Leader and OMS Headquarters in regards to the plans for Manta, so we don’t have it all figured out yet.  

We were in Manta last week and we picked up 15 folders with a total of 86 requests for help.  Our Field Leader spoke with Pastor Julio (pastor of the OMS Manta church) and asked him to have people from his church, along with pastors and members of other churches in Manta, to complete a questionnaire requesting help due to earthquake damage.  Each of the 15 folders represents a church, and inside the folders were the requests for help, 86 in all.  With this information, we will start the planning process.

Towards the end of last year, we both felt a strong desire to do more work outside of the Guesthouse ministry.  We talked to the other OMS Ecuador missionaries and told them we wanted to be available to help them with their ministries, when possible.  We helped one of the missionary couples in May with a mission team that ministered in the jungle.  We really enjoyed that trip as well.  So, with our trips to Manta and with the trip to the jungle, we both felt very strongly that we didn't want to continue for too much longer in the Guesthouse ministry, although we would do what was best for OMS and for the Guest House.  Because of the earthquake, and the great need in Manta, it worked out for us to leave the Guesthouse sooner than we thought.

We already have an apartment and will be moving sometime in the first half of September.   We will need to furnish the apartment, including buying appliances like refrigerator and stove.  In the Guesthouse, we didn't have those expenses since the appliances were already there.  We did have to purchase bedroom furniture and living room furniture, so we will be taking those with us to Manta.

We are excited and nervous for this change, but really feel this is what the Lord has put on our hearts.

Sincerely,

    

Steve and Hannah Skinner

Ecuador Earthquake Relief

If you are interested in giving to our ministry to help with the additional expenses we will have in Manta, please return the enclosed envelope or give online at www.onemissionsociety.org/give/theskinners2

Every month we send an email update.  A link to the update is also posted on our Facebook pages.  If you are not receiving that, and would like to, please send us an email and we will add you to our list.

If you would like to be removed from our e-mail list and/or mailing list, please let us know.

Steve and Hannah Skinner                                                                 steve.hannah.skinner@gmail.com 942 Erny Dr                                                                                steveandhannahskinner.blogspot.com Greenwood, IN 46142                                               U.S. number to reach us in Ecuador: 260-220-9607

Visit from my brother Marc and family

We had another great visit with family!  My brother Marc and his family (Michele, Henry and Harper) visited us from August 14-23.  It was great to be with them and spend time with them - even before we came to Ecuador we didn't see them very often as they live in Minnesota and we lived in Indiana.

Like me, Marc was born and raised in Ecuador.  And like me, he lived in the Guesthouse when it was a dorm.  He lived here his Sophomore through his Senior years of high school.  This was his first time back in Ecuador in 22 years.  Last time he was in Ecuador, he came with Michele while they were in college dating.

We had a lot of fun playing games and spending time together at the house.  We also did several fun things in and around Quito:

1) We went on the Quito City Bus Tour

2) We went to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World)

3) We went to the Otavalo outdoor artisan market

4) To earn a few hours for community service for National Honor Society, Henry helped us buy, sort, and package 30 bags of food and personal hygiene items for the earthquake victims.  We'll take those with us when we go to Manta.

Not too many people in this country can grab items off the top shelf flat-footed!

5) The boys went up the Teleferico (cable car)

6) Hannah and Michele went to the Quito artisan market - no photo evidence :)

For more pictures of their visit, please click here: Pictures from Marc's visit

The most important thing we learned about our nephew Henry is do not challenge him to an eating contest. That boy can eat!  And what we learned about our niece Harper is that she has the best voice and face for the "bee" filter on Snapchat. 

Well, that completes visits from 2 of my siblings (Laura and Marc)...my sister Andrea is next, hopefully. We're also hoping for a visit sometime from Hannah's brother - so Andy, if you're reading this, our casa es su casa!

Visit from Laura and Kayla: July 9-23, 2016

On Saturday night we said good-bye to my sister and niece.  We're so happy they were able to visit us for 2 weeks - it went by so fast! We were very busy and were able to see and do a lot of fun things.   Two different mission teams were here during their visit so they were able to see first-hand what our ministry looks like.  It was nice to have some extra hands helping in the kitchen!

Part of their time in Ecuador was spent with us in Pallatanga at the annual OMS Field Council (business meetings).




Laura was in charge of the kid's program while the rest of us took part in the business meetings.  We shared about what we've done in our ministries over the past year and our plans for the future.  It's always nice getting together with our OMS Ecuador family.   Laura must have done a great job with the kids because on our last night in Pallatanga there was no kids club, and some kids were complaining and crying.

Kayla had a great time in Pallatanga and made some new friends...

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we headed back to Quito...with a slight detour to Mount Chimborazo.



Fortunately it was a pretty clear day and we were able to see the whole mountain.  It was quite awesome.

You are able to drive up to the First Refuge, which has an elevation of nearly 16,000 feet.

If you want, you can hike to the Second Refuge (30-40 minutes).  To go any further than the Second Refuge, you need a guide. We were feeling the effects of the altitude so we didn't do any hiking.

We also went to Mindo to do some zip-lining, which Kayla loved, and hiked to a waterfall, which was smaller than expected.



We spent the night in Mindo.  Right outside our room were 2 hummingbird feeders and a lot of hummingbirds.

The next day, we drove from Mindo to Otavalo.

Otavalo is known for it's huge outdoor market.  The big market day is on Saturdays but every day of the week there are a lot of vendors set up in the town plaza.

We had a great time with Laura and Kayla - we're so glad they were able to visit us.

Click below to see some more pictures:

Pictures from Laura and Kayla visit.