News and Prayer Requests from Ecuador

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to begin the letter with the “Good News” though I have prayer requests to share with you. What I would like to highlight in this letter is the project of amending of the Statutes of ADSE, which were sent to the Ministries of Government, Police and Church and were returned early last week to Dr. Miguel Angel Puente, the lawyer in charge of the process, with the letters of correspondence indicating that they have been approved. We give glory to God for this.

About the propeller that we have been pray for awhile; after it having been inspected in the U.S., we have been told that it needs to be replaced with a new one. I hope that you don’t feel that your prayers have been in vain, on the contrary, they have served much to be able to ship it and now we know that this propeller is no longer safe to fly and must be exchanged for the safety of our clients, pilots and aircraft. In addition, we now have another propeller that needs to be sent to the U.S. and we don’t have one to replace on that aircraft and it is grounded.

On the airplane dubbed Alas 10, we have found that the firewall (panel separating the engine from the cockpit) has a crack. This airplane will be grounded until it is repaired. This is a complicated repair and we need the advice of other mechanics. I ask that you pray we will soon be able to repair it. For the moment, we will exchange propellers with the other airplane that is grounded so that we will have one flying and only one on the ground.

I ask that you continue praying for the airplane called “Alas 15”. It still has not been released from Customs and every week we hear the same thing: “This afternoon or tomorrow the papers will be ready”. After being released from Customs, we will need special permission for a pilot to bring it to Shell; we are hoping that it will be a speedy process and we are pleading to God for this.

Today there are many people, especially teachers, outside the hangar waiting to go to the jungle. They are seated or standing wherever they can because the waiting room is full. The bad weather, combined with having only two airplanes flying, are backing up the flights. I ask that you pray that God will give us better days to fly now that the teachers need to return to their schools.

A serious problem that you already know about is that the government has fallen behind in their payments and we are taking measures to be able to collect the invoices, but we need prayers because all human effort is nothing without the help of God and his permission. That is why I also leave this as a request for you.

Brothers and sisters, our ministry depends also on your prayers. You can be part of the ministry of ADSE even though you are not a pilot, mechanic, though you don’t work in the hangar. I leave this verse with you that reminds us that we are co-workers with God, who is the one who makes everything happen. You, together with us, work together in the same way, no one more than the other, but only God.

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

1 Corinthians 3:7-9

Sincerely,

David Montero

DIRECTOR

ALAS DE SOCORRO DEL ECUADOR.

January Newsletter

January 5, 2010

Happy New Year!

We trust that you have enjoyed closing out the old year as well as spending time with family and loved ones and are looking forward to new beginnings. We have enjoyed our holiday season very much as most of David’s family was in town visiting. The kids enjoyed some time off from school and we were able to spend much time together as a family for which we are very grateful.

As was mentioned in last month’s letter, David was able to get up to Dunellon, Florida to visit ITEC. It was an unexpected surprise to arrive just as Steve Saint was beginning a tour of the operation. It was an even more unexpected surprise to find out that the people he was giving the tour to was a missionary who worked for awhile in Venezuela and knew David and his family! The tour was fantastic and very eye opening to different forms of overseas work. Steve Saint and crew really have a huge heart for expanding God’s kingdom in a very effective way and are committed to enabling indigenous people to provide for themselves in low and high tech ways. I strongly encourage you to visit his website at www.itecusa.org to find out more about this vision and strategy. It is something that our family is taking closely to heart and plan on relying on in fulfilling the ministry that God has entrusted us.

We started watching the series “Missions Dilemma”, a video series by ITEC and have been very touched. This is something that anyone who is interested in missions on any level would benefit from. Mention it to your missions leader, your Sunday School teacher or whomever might be looking for material to use for group studies. It is an easy 7 part series that are about 30 minute segments designed for small group participation. You can see a trailer on YouTube. Just type in “Missions Dilemma” and it will come up. If you are in the Central Florida area, you would benefit greatly by taking a tour of the ITEC facility for yourself.

One of the bigger considerations we have in our move to Ecuador is the option of a vehicle there. There are some rules governing the importation of vehicles. The vehicle must be a model year of no more than 3 years old at the time of import. For us that means any vehicle we might take with us would have to be a 2007 model year or later. Furthermore, it can not have an engine any bigger than 3.0 liters. Upon doing some research, that limits us to essentially 5 seat vehicles in the $22,000 and up range.

A 5 seat vehicle is pretty impracticle for a family of 6, even though the child seat laws are much different in Ecuador! Additionally, even when we sell our car here, we would have nowhere near enough to purchase a vehicle in that price range, much less pay to ship it down. Shell is a very small town where everything is within about a 15 minute walking distance. Taxis are plentiful and are pretty cheap. A dollar would get us anywhere around town, if needed, and the busses going to Puyo, the large town about 20 min away are frequent and only cost a quarter each way.

Maggy grew up in a small town and no one in her family owned a car and David also is very accustomed to walking and using public transportation in South America. We feel that we can manage very well without the headache of trying to purchase and ship a vehicle for ourselves for the time being. Vehicles in Ecuador are available, although they are much higher in price than the US. We will see what the future holds for us, but for the time being, we will be very content to not have to worry about taking a vehicle with us.

What we are praying about and asking God’s direction in, is the purchase of a small airplane to take with us to do training and ministry in. Let me be sure to make clear that ADSE already has airplanes there to do their flying with. It is not my responsibility to take my own airplane to do the flying that I will be doing. What we are considering is a small, fuel efficient airplane that would be effective in primary flight training for the locals and indigeneous. Remember, ADSE needs qualified Ecuadorian pilots who love and serve God! Those have been difficult to find.

We feel strongly that part of our ministry in Ecuador will be to train and equip the next generation of pilots and mechanics who will continue the work that is being done. A small airplane that is ideal for this type of training can be had for about the same price as a used car and we feel would be a much more effective tool for us than owning a vehicle. There is a lot to think about and do in that department and there simply is not enough room to write about it all here in this letter. David has much more information about this effort and if you would like to know more, please feel free to ask.

Please pray with us that God will supply as he sees fit as we continue to commiting all of our plans to him!

Please visit our blog at http://davidmeadfamily.blogspot.com for more updates.

We commit everything we do to God,

David, Maggy, Joni Karina, Joshua, Jonathan, Jennifer