And we are going to Ecuador

      For the past 10 months two young men have been working in a small village in Ecuador called Ahuano. Ahuano is downstream from Misahualli on the north bank of the Napo river. From what I have read we will be right on the edge of the jungle. For those of you who have read Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, Ecuador will bring to mind the five men who gave their lives to convert a tribe in the jungle of Ecuador. For those who have not read the book, I highly recommend it.

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We have committed to this mission post for two years and the whole family is very excited! We are excited to learn Spanish and Quechua. Some of you may recall of our Visa difficulties in the Philippines and their high cost. It seems that Bishop there in the Diocese of Tena has a much easier time getting Missionary visas (the other Missionaries have two year visas already) and the cost is significantly cheaper, so this does not seem like it will be a problem. The Bishop has picked a house for us to live that is right next to a church. There are two priests in Ahuano with more than 50 little villages, where we hope to help them (and possibly a couple teams of other missionaries)  reach out with the Good News of Jesus Christ!

The church is to the left and our house to the right! The Missionaries there, Matt Holland and Ryan Lawless sent us other pictures of the inside of the house. 5 bedrooms and 3 baths, wow!
Hope you enjoy our first look! It looks great to us! The Bishop was excited that “the father knows carpentry” because he thinks the house needs some repairs, well Praise the Lord that I do! I plan to take a good amount of tools as these skill have been useful in every mission post we have been to.

Please Pray for the Eckstine Family Mission to Ecuador!

Group from the "Come and See"

A week ago Sunday we began a "Come and See" for those discerning Missionary life. It is also required for those who have discerned and plan to join the year long formation. What a great group. It is always exciting to be around those considering serving God in such a radical way as Missionary life, because they are serious about finding out God's will for their lives and not wasting it trivialities that don't lead us to heaven. They kids really enjoyed the group. The little girls had this group of guys out picking flowers. There was Sid, who is from Louisiana and will be training with us in September. There is Ray who really seemed to want to know more about the Big Woods Mission that he faithfully helps at and donates practical things like meat and rice to. Nick is from Arizona and is involved with Life teen and it seems that will remain the focus of his life for now. There was Tommy who is finishing his Masters in Theology from Franciscan University and is still discerning. There is Susana, from India, and she too will be training with us in September. And lastly there is Rebekah who just graduated from Franciscan and is taking a year to pay of bills and hopes to be here the following September. It was a pleasure to spend so much time with such a great group of young people.

Trip to Family Missions Company down South

We had an amazing time in Abbeville, Louisiana. The Family Missions Company (FMC) truly is a people of Praise and Prayer. I will write more about our time there soon, all went well and we feel confirmed in our calling, not because they said "yep, you are called to Missions" when in fact they did not say this at all. In fact they said they would welcome us but only we can decide if God is truly calling us.