Sept. 30 2025, Ross & Mary's Prayer Update - Time Sensitive

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you for your continued prayer for our ministry in August and Sept. We are getting ready to start our Home Ministry Assignment and will be in contact with you soon regarding visits for early next year!

But first we have to get back into the US, which relates to our first immediate request for prayer!

Ecuador is in the middle of a nation wide protest that was sparked with the removal of subsidies on diesel fuel. The response was an immediate call to strike by the major indigenous civil rights group CONAIE. The protest involves marches and road closures across the country and a police and military response to keep the roads open.

(Photos from social media taken from different parts of Ecuador over the last couple days)

Today, Sept 30th, the roads from Riobamba to the airport were open, please pray they will be open tomorrow so I can get Mary into the airport and return to Riobamba on Thursday. Next week on Wed Oct 8, I return to Quito for my flight. Pray the protest will be resolved soon and for safe travel in the next two days!

Thank you for praying for our trip to Peru, July 26-Aug 5th for Pioneers regional conference and leadership meetings. Pioneers has grown to the point of needing to split South America into 3 areas! Our new area is now called the South America Collective and includes Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Paraguay!

(Mary teaching on Somatic Experiencing at the "Church Project - Lima" church plant in Peru)

Praise God for the several opportunities Mary has had to apply her recent studies in Somatic Experiencing (SE) trauma healing care. Before our field conference, Mary was able to teach some basic principles at a small church plant in Lima. Upon our return to Ecuador Mary presented SE principles to the ProMETA Seminary faculty and administration (based out of Costa Rica) via zoom. In Ecuador, she had several personal counseling sessions with various Quichua leaders, who were able to personally benefit from this unique type of counseling that helps free trauma from the body. Mary also taught a couple lessons on my course on orality-based-education for teachers (detailed below) on principles related to Dan Allender's study on the Wounded Heart that can affect transformational learning.

In August and September, Ross taught a course on the Art of Teaching Theology to Oral Contexts as an investigative course that looked at different dynamics, barriers and methods of teaching the Bible to oral contexts. The first week of this intensive, we had students from Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela connecting through zoom!

In the second week of the course, our CETI indigenous research center hosted Dr. Charles Madinger who spoke on orality principles in the context of "Preaching and Teaching Like Jesus." Dr. Madinger is the founder of Orality Collaborators, a unique ministry based in the Philippines that is having a global impact on orality training.

Thank you for praying for the mission efforts of our partner Quichua Church in Caracas Venezuela. Below is a preview of our national co-worker, pastor Javier Zurita's report of their mission adventure into the heart of the Venezuelan Amazon rain forest along the mighty Rio Orinoco.

We mobilized a mission team of 26 members from our church consisting of pastors, missionaries, children workers, a medical team, and a team to prepare meals. The trip was very difficult given bad weather conditions extending our travel time on the river to 19 hours (normally this journey should take 10)! Javier's update to be continued in our next update!

Please pray for:

1. Our trip to the airport tomorrow Oct 1 Mary's late night flight and Ross return to Riobamba on Oct 2. Pray for safety on the roads on our route to the airport and that our trip will not be affected by the nationwide protests.

   
   

2. Continued prayers for Mary's health, she is a little stronger but still weak in her arms.

3. Pray for Ross as he closes down our home in Ecuador for our long home assignment, and that we can find care for the house while we are gone.

4. Pray for our upcoming home assignment and the many plans to be made in regards to visits early next year, and for immediate repairs Ross needs to work on before the winter for our home in Ohio.

5. Continued prayers for Ross' PhD research in the midst of traveling.

Please check back for added or edited prayer requests on this blog as it is time sensitive.

Our warm and sincere, "THANKS!" to you for your prayer and/or financial support of our ministry. We can't do this alone! Thanks to you who have dropped us notes of encouragement. 

Together we are part of the body of Christ, ministering to other parts of His body, in Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the expanding Latin American region!

Warm Blessings, "Dios Bendiciachun"

Ross &/for Mary

EVMinistry@outlook.com

www.evministry.org

Pioneers, Ecuador