Next Mission Trip: Sturgis August 6-13

Pray for the mission team as we make final preparations this week to leave early on Saturday morning. We will be brushing up on our 3 minute testimonies that we will be sharing with the folks in Sturgis. Pray that God will give us plenty of divine appointments along the way, during the week and on our way back home. Pray for a safe journey on the road. Pray that God will give us some relief from the stifling heat as we journey across Kansas and Nebraska. Riding a bike in 110 degrees is not fun!

Pray for the contacts we will be making at the homeless shelter and at the indian reservation during the week. These are two new ministries we will be adding this year. Pray for me as I will be preaching at the homeless shelter on Wednesday night.
Brother Mark

Quito Day Seven

Our seventh day in Maranatha was incredible.  When we pulled up to the church we were met by over 75 people waiting inside and outside the church.  The crowd was steady all day long and I had numerous opportunities to share the evangecube.  All the doctors, nurses and support personnel were both tired and blessed by the end of the day.

Another unexpected chance for us to share the gospel to thousands of people came when a television crew showed up to interview Dr. Stewart and me.  They asked several questions regarding why we had come to Quito and what we thought of the people here.  Then the interviewer asked me if there was anything else I would like to say as a special message to the people of Quito.  Talk about throwing me a "softball".  I was able to share God's love to everyone during the local evening news.
The total count of patients for the day was 357.  For the week we were able to touch 1519 lives with the truth of the Gospel.

Praise the Lord, that's the most we have ever been able to reach in one week.  I give all the glory to God for a wonderful mission trip.  Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us before and during the week.  Thanks also to those of you who have given, money, hats, toys, glasses, and all the other supplies we took with us.  Thanks to all those who helped make the neck warmers.  The people of Quito loved them.

Tomorrow we will spend the day relaxing in Otavalo, a small town famous for the outdoor market.  Then part of the group will fly home on Sunday and part of the group will stay and visit the Galapagos Islands.  They will return on Sunday July 31.

Quito Day Six

Another fruitful day as we journeyed to Maranatha Baptist Church in South Quito.
The people were already lined up ready for our arrival.  The church members were ready too and had set up tables, chairs, and rooms ready for our clinic to begin.
Pastor Ramiro and his family were so gracious to us all day long.  We saw almost 300 people by 3 pm.  One of those patients was a little lady who was 94 years old.

She could barely walk and was so grateful for our coming.

I got the opportunity to share the Gospel multiple times today using the Big Cube.
It's basically a large version of the evangecube.  People were very responsive and many gave their hearts to Christ.
The church prepared us a snack of empenadas as we got ready to go home.
We anticipate even a larger crowd tomorrow as the "word" gets around town.

We look forward to our final day of clinics but we'll miss the sweet fellowship of this dear church as we make preparations to come home on Sunday.

Quito Day Five

Day five started out with a long long drive down to South Quito.  We had to detour around a mudslide which made us late getting to the Shekinah Baptist Church this morning.  Mudslides are very common here in Quito.  

When we arrived at the church we had to set up black plastic to separate the large worship area and make 4 smaller "doctors offices".  Modification and adaptation is the name of the game here.   The crowds came rather steady at first and then slacked off in the afternoon.  We shut down around 4:15 pm but still were able to see 230 people.

What of the benefits of being in S. Quito is being able to have a beautiful close up view of Cotapaxi, one of several large active volcanos in Ecuador.

Tomorrow we will head down to South Quito again to Maranatha Baptist Church. We will be there for our last two days of the medical clinic.

Quito Day Four

Just to finish up day three, Scott Stewart and I had an unbelievable experience as we got to speak live last night on the international talk radio program called "Refugio Secreto" on radio station HJCB.  We spoke of how our church first become involved in missions in Ecuador and how we have had the opportunity to share the Gospel with so many in this part of the world.  The radio host who also serves as pastor at the church were we held the medical clinic told me today that the listening audience for Quito was 400,000. and throughout Ecuador it is 4 million, and then it literally is broadcast all over the world!  We saw several people there today who listened in last night and came over today.

Today we had the chance to minister to 357 people. Toward the end of the day we began to run out of all the medicines we had allotted for this day.  We were at least able to give every person something.  The main thing we gave away today was the Gospel message as again many of the patients prayed to receive Christ.

I had the personal pleasure of speaking with a 55 year old lady who was blind in one eye. We gave her some reading glasses that helped her some but of course it didn't alleviate her physical problem.  However I then sat down and explained to her the truth of the Gospel and with tears in her eyes she prayed to receive Christ.
Her physical blindness was still there but the spiritual blindness was gone!

Bill Brasher had a chance to minister to a lady who just 2 weeks ago saw her 2 year baby get run over by a car.
Everyone on our team had an opportunity to touch someone who was hurting both spiritually and physically. God continues to use this incredible team and for that I am truly grateful.
We cherish your prayers as we go to Shekinah Baptist Church on Wednesday.  It will be another long day as Shekinah is located in far south Quito.
Thanks for the prayers.

Quito Day Three

Day three was a busy day in Carapungo.  The medical team is very tired after a long day. We saw almost 300 patients at Luz de Norte Baptist Church.  It started out rather slowly and then the crowd picked up as the day went on.  We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with each person who came through the clinic.  A large number of those prayed to receive Christ today.  Praise the Lord for allowing us to be part in seeing the Kingdom advanced.
One of the highlights of the day was accompanying Dr. Butcher as he and I made a home visit to a man who was bedridden.  Dr. Butcher had an opportunity to treat his injury and then I prayed for him.  He and his mother (Gladys) who also helped with the clinic last year were very appreciative of our coming.
One of the pastors at the church Ivan who also works for the well known international radio station in Quito HCJB radio has invited Dr. Stewart and I to come to the station tonight and join him for a live call in radio show.  He asked that we come and talk about why we have come to Ecuador. We will then field questions from the listening audience.  I never cease to be amazed of how God just keeps opening doors for us each day.  God only knows how many people we will be able to reach tonight.  Pray that He will give us clarity in sharing the message on live radio.  For those of you who would like to hear us tonight, click on   www.radiohcjb.org  There you will find a "listen live" link.  I am not sure if the  program is live on the internet or if there might be some delay.  The program begins at 9 pm tonight. Whichever I hope everyone will listen in.
Continue to lift up the team in prayer.  Tomorrow we will go back to the same church for the clinic.

Day Two Quito

We had a wonderful day of worship. We divided into two groups. One group went to Maranatha Baptist Church and the other group worshipped with Shekinah Baptist Church.  The highlight of worship at Shekinah Baptist was watching 13 new believers get baptized.  Pastor Thierry sent his greetings to our church. This was the 5th time to be with these precious believers.
The 2nd group at Maranatha Baptist enjoyed hearing a message from Pastor Ramiro.  In his message he mentioned how important IBC was to their church in Quito.  He spoke of how they have used our "left over" medicines from years past and have taken their own mission trips.  Several churches have been started as a result of this ministry.  It's so wonderful to know of Immanuel's influence of seeds planted in past mission trips continue on today.  Maranatha Church gave us several gifts including a decorative display of wooden pots signifying faith, hope, and love.  Each team member also received a wooden box containing handmade chocolates.
We will be in these two churches thorough out the week, Wednesday at Shekinah and Thursday and Friday at Maranatha.
After lunch at a local restaurant we visited some sites at the historical district.
Tonight we are making last minute preparations that begin in the morning.
Pray for the team as we will be in Carapungo tomorrow.  Last year at this site we saw over 400 patients in a day and a half.

Day One in Quito

Praise the Lord we made it through customs without any problems this year.  Thanks so much for praying for us. We spent our first day here visiting Mitad del Mundo (the equator) and then drove to a retreat center to visit the missionaries who built the facility.  The retreat center is called the meeting house.  The missionaries are Tom and Joan Beak.
If you think you are too old to serve the Lord, note this: Joan will be 90 on Monday and Tom is 96.  We had the awesome privilege of hearing them share their personal testimony with us.  They spent several years on the mission field in Togoland building water wells.  They built 100 wells and planted a church in each place.  Afterwards they moved back to the states and then to Ecuador where they build the retreat center about 10 years ago.
While visiting with the Beaks today we sang Happy Birthday to Joan and then presented Tom with a portable oxygen tank that we brought from Shawnee.  They were so appreciative of the gift and we were so blessed by hearing them share with us.

We returned to the guest house and began to organize all the medicine and supplies for the busy week to come.

Pray that God will give our church of vision of how we might utilize this retreat for future mission trips to Ecuador.  Pray for the Beaks to continue the work of sharing Christ this wonderful facility.  Pray for our team as we visit two churches tomorrow and worship with them.

Quito Medical Mission Trip July 15-24

Preparations have been made and the team leaves tomorrow (Friday July 15) for Quito, Ecuador.  We will be working in 3 different locations providing free medical care and sharing the Gospel with the people of North and South Quito.
Please be praying for our team of 21 volunteers (3 Doctors, 3 nurses, 2 pharmacists, and a great support team) as we touch the lives of so many people.

Be praying for a safe journey with good flight connections.  Pray that all our medicines, supplies, gifts, etc. make it through customs in Quito.  Regulations in Ecuador have become very stringent and it is becoming more difficult to bring medicines in to the country.  Pray that God will give us divine appointments as we travel and as we move throughout the area.  I am excited about what God will do next week.  Our 2011 Medical Mission Team is: Dr. Scott Stewart, Robyn Stewart, Parker Stewart, Reid Stewart, Will Stewart, Lisa Loftin, Bobby Antosh, Bill Brasher, Dr. Eldon Gibson, Pat Gibson, Marcia Thomason, Candyce Green, Don Warden, Sharon Roberts, Atheda Fletcher, Dr. Michael Butcher, Rhonda Butcher, Larry Troyer, Sandy Troyer, Nancy Antosh, and Mark Wright

Welcome!

I’m excited for Immanuel Baptist Church to begin this blog to help you connect with mission work around the world.  Our church has a passion for missions in our own backyard and around the globe.  In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told His followers, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  We want to be intentional in fulfilling this command and hope that this blog will encourage you to do the same.  We believe that sharing the gospel of Jesus should be the center of any missional effort we make. 

Only faith in Christ can transform lives and give the hope all people search to find.   

Even as I write these words we have a group of teenagers ministering in Belize. They have given a week of their summer to work together to teach Bible School and do construction work.  Their work is no more important than those at home who support the mission work of IBC with their generosity and their prayers.   Our goal is that this blog will connect both. 

IBC sends out as many as eight mission teams throughout the year, each numbering from four to twenty-five members. Our hope is to share needs and updates both before and during trips.  This blog also will serve as a way for friends and family to stay connected to those ministering away from home.  In addition, we hope to continually add content to this blog that will equip and encourage you to be engaged in missions.

As the pastor, my vision for IBC is that we look beyond our own walls.  There’s a world of people lost in darkness.  Our focused passion must be to love all people and Reach the World with the light of the Savior we serve.

Bro. Todd