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Can't see this email? View it in your browser. To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add cvi@cristovive.net to your address book. www.cristovive.net January 21, 2010   Dear Friends, We continue to be blessed by so many people like you who have made it ever so wonderful to spend our days in God’s ebb and flow of fulfilling the destiny He has called us to. We thank you so much for doing your part in making this a living reality. We are delighted to share with you what your energy, prayers and finances are doing to increase God’s kingdom in our world. We have been here just over a month now and in these days we have enjoyed family so much. Jordana’s family has been fully together for Christmas and New Years, the first time in over 20 years. Celebrations were many and commemoration of the many awesome things God has done through this family is great. Though you may not know her family you can be delighted with your part in impacting the work that is ongoing here in Ecuador. Dad, Stalin, holds down a great job in a quite progressive company here and has been recognized on numerous occasions for his contributions to the company as a sales representative. At the ripe young age of 67, he makes great strides at computer and information systems sales, leading most of the younger sales people in the company. Dad also just recently won a mini marathon with a remarkable fast finish time. Mom, fully engaged right now with her grandson, continues to provide quality Christian education at her preschool through 6th grade academy here in Quito. She has developed a superb reputation for quality education and spiritual inclusion that attracts more children to the school each year. She is also very involved in “Iglesia El Batan” her church, through teaching and most emphatically as a resounding member of the choir. Nelson, Jordana’s brother, just a year younger than her, is taking on such a valued role as pastor of a great church in Sanborondon, Ecuador. As pastor he is setting the pace for making a huge impact on this nation for believers to be generous and doing their part to help the needy and destitute in the cities and remote areas. He and Maria Isabel, his wife have three beautiful girls which they are continually seeking God’s grace to keep focus on developing these girls for the Lord. Oso, Jordana’s youngest brother, is quite engaged in teaching at mom’s school. He is on the go most of the time as he engages in transporting family, school children, and now us all around the city. Our little Osito has taken to his big uncle Oso so well, and is always watching out for him. There you have a brief snapshot of Jordana’s family which are blessing us so much to have us in their home and keeping up with our pace. I also would like to introduce you to some very special people who are setting the pace of ongoing ministry with us here in Quito. Maria Gusta, MaGGus, as we call her, was recently installed as the local Cristo Vive leader of the developing and planning team here in Quito. She is a young woman, full of God passion for the less fortunate, and hungry for the inspiration and gift of giving to others. Andrea Paz, another young woman has joined this team and is been serving with us both here in Ecuador and USA in the past few years. Cristina Hidalgo and Maria Jose Salazar also have joined the team here and have served this ministry over the past couple of years here in Quito. Julio Guacometi has been with us all along since 1998 and remains a solid rock of support and passion to see this ministry develop and grow in this area. Two other young men just became part of the group, Daniel and Patricio. These team members are doing so much to plan, prepare, and host the upcoming camp, and we are so pleased with the commitment each of them have come together with. We have a camp coming to Quito in March, the very last weekend of the month. We are seeing a great response to this ministry outreach and are expecting to have more applicants to both attend and serve than the facility has room for. It is truly exciting to see the progress and the anticipation so many have this work. We have also been afforded the joy of giving testimony of God’s deliverance and promise to our lives on several occasions since being here. One of those has been a ministry which brings the Word of God, the Bible alive to believers of all groups. As you may be aware this is predominantly a Catholic nation which in traditions of past have somehow left many of the followers of Jesus without a Bible or expectancy to read the Bible on their own. This ministry is reaching out to them and others of different church groups to take them through a personal development of reading and discussing the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. When we shared there were approximately 250 people present and that was without the children and youth that are also attending. It was exciting to be invited and to share with these groups. Also we have shared with a gathering of about 200 people who were invited to a special service at “Iglesia El Batan” our host church here in Quito. We were able to speak with very personal stories and miracle work that God has taken us through. It was an awesome time for us and those in attendance. We will be hosting a few more of these services in the weeks ahead as we begin to travel to other regions of this country. We are witnessing God’s healing power and divine grace in the administration of His Word as we encounter people in these meetings. God is so gracious to and through us and we want you to know your efforts are producing a power filled victory in the lives of many here. We are looking forward also to the soon arrival of our friend and ministry partner, Kristin Gillingham, of Watertown, Wisconsin. She is arriving here on January 26 and will begin her work with us to develop a more secure relationship amongst ministry efforts here in Ecuador. Her length of stay is not yet determined, but we are believing that it will be for an extended period, maybe several years. From this place she will be able to assist the local teams in their influence, increase in contact, and bolster their supportability through connecting other work with CVI to enhance our efforts throughout the country. We are so blessed by you. Please continue to pray for us as we reach out even farther in the weeks and months ahead. We are seeing a need to travel more therefore there is a greater demand for additional finances, please pray for us in that endeavor. We are fully engaged back home in the ongoing work to fulfill God’s plan for 2010. We need more people to join teams, more sponsors to assist those and us to travel, as well as to see more abundance of God’s light given to believers and future believers. We fully anticipate the schedule we have set to be met this year and that requires a lot of all of us. Please join us to share the word with others to we can all arrive at the finish line ready for the prize. We love you so much, Gene, Jordana and Osito Engebretsen Submit monthly gifts to: Cristo Vive International • P.O. Box 527 • Big Lake, MN 55309 or Click here to make a donation via PayPal.     Think green. Please only print this email when necessary. You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.