Anniversary Celebration

It is good to see the churches take pride in their celebrations of anniversaries.  Last week-end Pastor Luis Matango led his church celebrating their 24 years of building God's Kingdom by inviting choirs from neighboring churches and special speakers.  Pastor Luis and his family have been the pastor of the Gualsaqui Otavalo church from it's beginning. Many people know Luis as the vendor that makes and sells woven goods and the famous bracelets that are handed out at General Assembly. He is a bi-vocational pastor earning a living for his family of five children. He also has started many other churches in his area and loves to work for the Lord.

Special speaker Dwight Rich NAF Director is praying as Pastor Luis is praying for those that came forward. 

Pastor Luis's daughter is in the praise team.

When there is a special service, many choir numbers are presented. 

This is one of the many instruments that is used during choir numbers.  Guitars, hand-instruments, flutes, tambourines are often played in choir specials.  

Update on Bruno

Thank you for your prayers for 6 year old Bruno Huamán and to the many people that have written comforting words of encouragement for the family.  We recently talked with Lenilde, the father and he said that it was a miracle the way God protected Bruno today. Bruno fell on top of his backpack to help break some of the impact when he was hit by a car.  The impact with the car was so strong that the people nearby that came out of their houses thought it was two vehicles that had crashed. The neighbors helped by calling 911 for the ambulance to take Bruno to the hospital.  After a thorough check up the hospital released him even though he has some bumps and bruises but he is home with his family tonight.  
Even though the neighbors that witnessed the accident are not Christians they are saying that it truly was a miracle.  We know that God will use this to help further His work for the kingdom. Bruno's parents are Lenilde and Consuelo Huamán the pastors of the Church of the Nazarene in Ambato, Ecuador. 
Thank you for your prayers!  God is faithful!

Kurtis Strunk

Please remember to pray for Kurtis Strunk, Cluster parent of the Ibarra Nazarene Extreme team. This is what Kurtis said about his illness.

"Thank you to all who have been praying for me. I've been in the hospital in Quito for 4 days. They've eliminated many things but say I have a bacterial infection in my stomach, a sinus infection, parasites, some mystery virus and allergic reactions to earlier medications that complicated matters. They want to keep me one more day to make sure the latest meds agree with me and they'd like to run some more blood tests to rule out more serious stuff.
Our son got to visit me for the first time today. He was able to stay for about 15 minutes by hospital policy, but it was good to get a hug, a balloon and a quick conversation."

Praise - Taxes

God is always faithful and answers prayer!   You have been praying with us for quite some time now about the taxes for all Quito church properties. With the help of our lawyer and your faithful prayers we finally have resolved the issue and the amount of taxes we need to pay was decreased by 80%!  The amount due was $80,000 but it was reduced to $16,000 including the lawyers fees. The taxes for the year 2016 have been exonerated to only $7,000! Praise the Lord He is faithful and hears our cries.

Birthdays

Birthdays are important in Ecuador and also in our mission family and not to be overlooked, no matter what age.  This past week was Dwight Rich's birthday and we celebrated with some finger food, brownies and ice cream and invited those of the mission family that had returned from the holidays. 

Seminary Scholarships

We would like to ask you to consider prayerfully the possibility of partnering with our Venezuela church in helping students attend our Seminary in Quito. If the Lord leads you, you may contribute through the North Andean Field Partnership. Details are mentioned below. For the project name please mention Venezuela Seminary Scholarship.  

If you feel that you would not be able to fully support one student, we are asking for gifts of any amount that can be joined with other gifts  to support a student.  One person responded with a donation this week and we are almost halfway on one scholarship! The next semester begins in January 2016.  The yearly cost for a Venezuelan student to come to study in our Seminary in Quito is $1350. This includes round trip airfare between the two countries, tuition, food, and housing.

For Donations to the NAF make checks
payable to:
General Treasurer
Memo:  APT-1104-SAM-NAFP, Project name  
Local Church Name for 10% credit         
Mail to:

Beth Borger
Global Ministry Center
17001 Prairie Star Pkwy

Lenexa, KS  66220-7900

Happy New Year

We praise the Lord for each one of you, our partners in ministry, that have supported us all year long. We have seen God answer so many prayers because you were faithful. We have shared numerous needs this year and you have generously responded.  We want to thank you for all you do for us. Thank you for being a part of our ministry! We continue to covet your help with the North Andean Field this new year. May God bless all of you and your families.  

Merry Christmas

Enjoy a video:  Peter Hollens and David Archuleta sing with the Piano Guys. Over 1000 people, including the Mormon Tabernacle Choir joined with them to create this beautiful and moving video.

Merry Christmas from the Fischers

Dear Family and Friends, 
   One of the promises that is repeating itself to us this Christmas and every Christmas is, Emmanuel - God with us, This is the time of the year we celebrate this promised Messiah as the shepherds did many years ago and as one day every knee will bow to this same great Messiah.  He is the Savior born to set the captive free, mighty counselor, shining light to all, name above all names and HOPE to all the world.  Unto us a child is born and He shall reign forever! 

We have a graduate and we are proud of her! Krista graduated from MNU- Mid America Nazarene University in Olathe, KS with a degree in Sociology. She works at GMC the Nazarene Global Ministry Center and loves her job. She shares an apartment with a MNU graduate girl and works with the youth at our home church when she can. She loves living close to family.

Josiah and Michelle and their dog Remmi, live in Olathe, KS.  Michelle works at NPH- Nazarene Publishing House and Josiah works as a Policemen for the JO CO Parks.  They are the Collage Sunday School teachers at our home church and keep busy with friends, traveling and taking good care of Krista.   Michelle also keeps busy with her photography business. Michelle Gould Photography.   Check it out.

This summer we were able to spend time with family on both sides.  This is a picture of Shirley and her brothers and sister.  Family time is important since both of their parents have passed on. Jon's parents were home, in Olathe, KS this summer due to medical complications and  we were able to help out in taking them to doctors appointments and helping around the house.  Praise the Lord both sides of the family are doing well

This was our HA- Home Assignment year where we share about our ministry in churches.  We spoke in about 30 churches, 6 university classes, and many children's services.  How exciting to connect with former Missions Corps from Venezuela who now have their families and are serving God in their business and churches.  The picture shows PLNU- Point Loma Nazarene Love Works students from three different years that came at a reunion that was held while we were there.  Brian the director pulled out the red carpet for us   What a beautiful campus and students! If you would like to see more of our HA experiences check out our website Fischer Ministry

Work and Witness- We hosted teams from Montrose CO, PLNU Love Works, and Valley Shepherd, ID.  We had a special honor of hosting a team where the leaders were our mentors in Venezuela, Craig and Gail Zickefoose brought a team from ID and brought Kim Haddon who was a Mission Corps who served in Venezuela and Ecuador.  God is great in the little gifts/surprises that we get to connect with friends. 

Thank you for being a part of our ministry in prayer.  May God bless you and your families and may God keep you in his protecting care during the year 2016.
Merry Christmas!
Jon and Shirley

Merry Christmas from the Rich Family

December 2015 Dear Family and Friends, It is a joy to greet you during this special Christmas Season. We are grateful for God's faithfulness to us during this past year. At times it has not been easy but we are reminded of Emmanuel, God with us! Due to a change in our visa status, we have been limited in the number of days that we are allowed to be outside the country of Ecuador. This has complicated Dwight's ministry travel and we have had to eliminate and shorten trips. This will last into September 2016 where we will become free to travel however fits our needs. On September 3, our daughter Stefanie gave birth to our first grandson, Charles Atlas Phelps! He weighed in at 7 lbs. and 6 oz. and was 21 1/2 " long. Technology is such a joy as we receive almost daily photos and videos from our son-in-law, Aaron. 16 days later, on September 19, our daughter-in-law Jennifer gave birth to our second grandson, Brooks Hayden Rich. Brooks weighed 7 lbs. and 1 oz. and was 20 1/2 " long. Since Bryan has his own media business and his office at home, Brooks has become his daily Helper! Dwight has been busy heading up one of 4 new strategical focuses for the church in South America. It has required many trips and meetings. Carolyn continues to be the "hostess with the mostest." On Thanksgiving she hosted 25 people in our home and in the first days of December hosted over 55 in our annual Christmas leaders luncheon. On September 29, Dwight's mother Marion Rich was in a serious automobile accident. After struggling through a roller coaster ride of positive and negative swings in her health, she turned 88 on December 5. On December 6 she was at an all time low and Pastor John Poling and his wife were visiting. Those present began to sing some of Mom's favorite hymns. She opened her eyes wide and looked at them, then she nodded, and went to be with Her Lord. We celebrate a life well lived in the service of her Lord and others. She touched many lives in a positive way and she will be greatly missed. Our whole family was able to accompany dad during the time of the funeral, children, grandchildren, and great-grand sons. We appreciate the prayers for our whole family. We want to wish you all the joy that Jesus brings during this Christmas Season and throughout the New Year! With love, Dwight & Carolyn Contact information nafrich@gmail.com