“Although we were excited to hike up to Palmira for our first Sunday ‘church’ service there,” write Kevin and Kathy Bruce, “it still wasn’t fun to step out into the pouring rain in the early dawn hours!” The Bruces heard the rain in the early morning hours, and realized that the Lord might be testing their resolve to follow through on the three-hour hike through the mountains of Ecuador. The rain gave them the added challenge of crossing several swollen creeks along the way. Kevin and Kathy laughed as they thought about how wet they were – and that they were going to teach about Jonah!

But it was a joy to arrive in the remote community, and gather together with over 40 people for the first church service there. All of the believers were there, and they had invited many others as well. The Bruces were especially amazed at the number of children who kept coming in!

One of the people at the service was Andrew, an Awa teacher in this community. He has been interested in hearing Bible teaching for several years now. Andrew was disappointed when the lesson ended with Jonah still in the belly of the whale! He asked Kevin if he could keep the Awa translation of the book of Jonah, so he could read the rest of the story. “Andrew is highly educated for an Awa,” said Kevin. “We’d appreciate your prayers that he would continue to listen and understand God’s message. We especially need God’s wisdom in laying a firm foundation for folks like Andrew while continuing to advance the teaching for the believers in Palmira.”