With no internet at our house, it has been more difficult to get updates out to you.  But, you can rejoice to know that the gospel continues to be spread in Ecuador and we have been busier than ever trying to follow up on all the “God appointments” that we constantly find ourselves a part of.  Here’s a quick peek…

Church Planting News

What does the very real battle to plant churches look like here?  In Shiripuno, it looked like the leaders of the community telling our planters that they weren’t welcome due to another missionary having come into the area giving a computer to the school and then giving one to an individual, which made them jealous and mad…”NO MORE EVANGELICALS!”  Our brother Julio’s wife responded to them, “You’ll have no problem with us in that regard.  We’ve got nothing to give.  Actually, I was going to ask you if you could give me a glass of water.”  The Quichua leader quickly gave a glass of water and within a short time Julio, Maria and Dario were able to pray for one of them who was sick.  They’ve now been given the “green light” to come back…thank you, God for Your unfailing love toward the people of Shiripuno.

In 21 de Enero, the battle to plant churches looks like the lead planter (Giovany, who is military) being given a 24-hour notice that he is going on a 90-day temporary duty to the Galapagos.  This is so frustrating, as Giovany has been working hard to prepare the ground for evangelism, a summer outreach, and involvement of his youth group in raising up a work in this very strategic village.  Please be praying for us to submit to God’s perfect wisdom and His timing in all this.

National Bible Institute News

His name is Pastor Jose Yoquelema and he has been calling us for months trying to coordinate dates for a visit to his area where he has planted a church near the town of Riobamba. Upon our arrival, we were taken high up into the Andes where it is freezing cold, yet the welcome we received was very warm.  Pastor Yoquelema began to share that he has been planting churches among his people (the Chimborazo Quichua) for the past 44 years.  He has works scattered throughout the region.  “But brother, what I’ve never been able to do, is to train leaders who will carry the vision of planting churches and discipling people forward.  I’ve been praying for help.”  Within a short time we discovered that in the association of Chimborazo Quichua there are some 300 churches with only 200 pastors and hardly anyone with good gospel training.  We went to bed that night on the heaps of hay provided for us, our hearts praying for God’s direction for this area of Miraflor.

Please pray with us that God will allow us to raise up a strong arm of our Bible Institute in this area.  The effects of faulty doctrine and gospel are evident, but the desire and love of the people for God and a true desire to understand His word are also evident, which proves to be a good place to open a new location for the Bible Institute.

As always, we depend upon the financial support of those of you who commit to be “senders.”  As all these amazing doors are opening up to us here, unfortunately funds are limited and many times we have to forgo opportunities to spread the gospel for lack of funds to reach certain areas.  Please pray for us and also ask God what you might do to become a giving team member of Compassion Connection.  With humility and love, Steve and Sandi

Click the “Donate” button for online donations, or mail donation to:
Compassion Connection
48755 Southview Place
Indio, CA 92201

Look for upcoming news regarding:

• Property, Fundraising, and Building our Training Center
• Answer to prayer – those who are committing to support Ecuadorian Staff for CC
• M101 Boot Camp – this Summer

Okay, Amos (pictured here) was not a PW student…but he should be one! (Hear that, Amos?)  Join us for a mini reunion of  CA former PW students.  Hear their take on what we missed in the news this past year, and then watch the rolling credits to find out what they are all doing with their lives – pretty impressive!

Palm Springs Area Potter’s Wheel Students from Sandi Youngren on Vimeo.

Get in a short visit with the Olsons!  Heather worked with us and Compassion Connection our first year in Tecate, MX until only a year ago in Ecuador.  Phil joined CC while we were in Oaxaca, MX.  While getting to know each other as a part of our team, they fell in love, married and now have three kids.  They are currently residing in Springfield, OR where Phil is on staff at Eastiside Baptist Church.  Steve spoke in their church while we were there.

Keep praying for us as we travel in California raising funds for “One Block South,” in order to build CC’s Training Center!

On to Oregon from Sandi Youngren on Vimeo.

“Build the Base” Road Trip from Sandi Youngren on Vimeo.

Follow us in the U.S. as we connect with friends and share serious moments, fun, and a lot of laughter!

Watch a wrap up of last year with Compassion Connection HERE! If you are interested in coming for a short term trip, or bringing a team from your church, let us know at info@compassionconnection.net. We’re also accepting applications for Potter’s Wheel, our intensive missions training program. Let us know if you are interested! And with that, merry Christmas! We look forward to seeing what God has planned for this next year and we’re excited to work in the ministry with you!

The end of a challenging and wonderful six months of missions training.  Graduation 2009!

Busy, busy week!  Students are:

• Turning in their homework assignments
• Teaching their Inductive Bible Study project
• Presenting their “Acts 15″ project (resolving of a contemporary mission conflict between bible and culture)
• Completing their reading of the entire bible
• Attending sessions on “Reentry” and completing assigned tasks
• Taking some time to have fun and bring closure to their six months in Ecuador

Please pray for all of the students as they prepare for the next leg of their life journey. 

If you are a close friend or family member, please take the time to read through this  document and help make a healthy transition from Ecuador to home for your PW student!  Preparing For The Reentry of Your Missionaries

Noah and Cate Brennan have joined our Compassion Connection staff and have been going through Potter’s Wheel as their training for foreign missions. 

Potter’s Wheel has been a great time of fellowship around the Word of God. One class that I really appreciated was based on Masculinity and Femininity. Sandi and Steve taught this class and gave challenging insights into a matter that most churches in today’s “modern” world do not want to tackle. We discussed the roles of men and women, both in relationships and in churches. We looked at the creation story (Gen 1-3) to help us determine whether or not these different roles came from God, which they did!  How refreshing it was to learn more about Compassion Connection and their desire to hold up Biblical roles and to train the next generation in these as well.

We also finished a class focusing on a Survey of the Old Testament. Obviously this was a huge task and Steve had to teach it in just 4 weeks! What was wonderful is that he decided (due to lack of time) to focus more on theology. We really dug into Genesis and found out just how connected it is to Christ and the New Testament. God had an amazing plan from the beginning and it all points to Christ. The Word of God is an awesome story about Jesus right from the very start. The Old Testament is not something to be written off because it is “old,” but instead it should be valued for the great display of God’s promise and his plan to fulfill that promise that it truly is.

These past few months have been challenging, exhausting, and inspiring. I have had the opportunity to learn more about Compassion Connection (which is the main reason we are completing this program) and been forced to press into Christ for energy and desire.  I am definitely benefiting from these classes and being challenged to grow in my knowledge of the Word.

All the staff and students are gathering at the CC base house to spend the whole day together and eat, play games, eat, watch Christmas movies, eat, and cook and bake so that we can eat some more!  The guys were up at 5:30 AM preparing breakfast for everyone.  On the menu: homemade (from scratch!) cinnamon rolls, rosemary cheesy eggs, fried potatoes, and fresh aero press coffee.  Mmmmm!

Now the girls are taking over and creating a wonderful dinner.

We all miss our families, but we are thankful that God has given us each other here in Ecuador as “family” this Thanksgiving.

Noah and Cate Brennan are new staff members of Compassion Connection and have been going through Potter’s Wheel as their entrance training. 

      I really appreciate the doctrinal and practical aspects of Potter’s Wheel. It is great to be a part of an organization that sees the importance of having a strong foundation of ministry built upon fundamental teachings of the Word of God. It is also incredible to see that this teaching is applied to practical ministry opportunities here in Ecuador. It seems as though the evangelical faith has erred in one of two camps in this area in general: either very strong doctrinally and very poor in working it out in the world around them; or very good at doing work in the world around them but not having a proper driving force for doing it. Potter’s Wheel is obviously not a perfect program, just like there are no perfect churches, but it is very refreshing to be a part of a program that strives to hold up both facets of Christian living as vital.
     I think that the communal/everyday aspect of this program is one of its strong points, as well as its small class structure, with authentic relationships between students and mentors being stressed. One can easily attend church, or even a Bible school for that matter, and never be authentic in their faith. Of course this is possible here too, but it is much easier to spot and confront in love. The prayer is that this authenticity will carry on to life back in the States or wherever our missional lives may take us.