ecuador service updates

some stats on ecuador were featured in our kingdom ministry this past month, so i thought i would share some of the info with you:

2012 (calendar year) ended with a 4% growth over 2011.

september was the 2nd consecutive month to have a peak of regular pioneers, at 12,523.

in total there were 67 district conventions in ecuador in 2012, in spanish, english, sign language, and kichwa.  there were also some sessions held in chinese and shuar (an indigenous language in the orient).  in total there were 1705 baptized and 151,037 in attendance.

in october the first school for christian couples took place at the branch in guyaquil, most of the couples were already in some facet of special full time service.

also:  a fun little update about what's going on in our local congregation...

we have a new couple in our congregation who have been married for just about 9 months.  they are from guyaquil.  she is a regular pioneer and he is working at the kichwa translation house here in otavalo.  before getting married last year she was pioneering and he was serving at bethel.  they are really nice and we look forward to getting to know them better.   full disclosure:  i went out in service with her yesterday and had a really hard time understanding here!  the accent on the coast is very different from the mountains and i pretty much had no idea what was going on for 50% of the time.  but still, they're VERY NICE and we look forward to getting to know them better :)

we also have a new family that just moved into our hall from the states!  they are a family of 4 with a daughter and a son who i think are in their late-teens.  pretty sure they are all pioneering. the family was here in early 2010 checking ecuador out for a few months, so right when we arrived here, they were finishing up their time in ecuador.  they loved it and made the necessary arrangements to be able to move back here  now, permanently.  we're excited to have them, too!

both of the new brothers are elders, which is great, they bring the total # of elders in our cong to 6.  of the 4 that we already had, one is full time in intag leaving only 3 here in otavalo, so this will be a great help to the brothers.