This post is long overdue! Thanks so much for reading our new blog post, it has been way too long since our last update. Where to start? Well, we have not actually moved to Ecuador yet although we are ready to be there. Some of you will say: “Wait, I saw your pictures on Facebook, I thought you were there already!” This is true, we were there. We were greatly blessed to be able to go down at the first part of June and we were there six weeks. The trip was amazing!

Prior to this time, we hadn’t been down there since 2006, which means this was the first trip for Hannah. Well, everything went great! I was able to reconnect with many of my friends, and our brothers and sisters in the churches. I was even invited to preach a couple of times which was a blessing. We stayed at Camp Chacauco and were able to travel and make visits around the Ambato area. Hannah had a really good time, went with the flow, and made new friends. She is a great little traveler. It was also a good time for our family to be near my parents (Steve and Carol) and it will be great when we get to serve with them on a long term basis. Hannah especially enjoyed getting to stay with Pop-Pop and Mamaw a couple of nights while we were there.

Our short time in Ecuador was refreshing for me. To be home, to see the churches and pastors I grew up with, to fellowship with people I hadn’t seen in a very long time was a lot of fun. To take my wife and daughter places and introduce them to old friends was special. To be in worship in churches that are growing and continue reaching their communities with the gospel of Christ is refreshing.

It was really great to be at Camp Chacauco and join the staff in some of their ministry during our time there, we met some great folks who came down as interns or on short term mission teams. It is encouraging to see people working together for the glory of God!

My heart is very full right now, I feel like there is a lot more that I could say about the trip. What I need to share about it though is that it was a reconfirmation of our calling to be there. God is still at work in Ecuador, there is still much to be done, and we feel stronger than ever that He wants our family there.

We returned to the States in the middle of July and we moved from Abilene, TX back to the DFW area. We are now in fulltime fundraising mode. Just before we left for Ecuador, I took a step of faith and resigned from my job at Sprint, which had provided most of our income over the last 3 years since we have been in Abilene. So our job now is getting to Ecuador long term. What a task!

God is faithful! STOP. Read it again. God is faithful! I am reminding myself as I write this, please take time right now as you read this to remember how God has been faithful to you in the past. Our Heavenly Father provides for us, and does it with joy! So I know He will provide, He will bring in the people who will join us financially in this ministry in Ecuador. This is His calling, it is His work, and it is His timing. We are ready to go now. If God is willing, we want to be there by the end of this year but for this to happen we need more people who will join with us by committing to give to our ministry on a monthly basis. You don’t have to give a huge amount. It is much more practical to have a lot of people giving a little bit than to have a few of you giving a lot. So please reflect on God’s faithfulness to you and consider whether you could be a part of our support team.

We are blessed right now during these next weeks and months to be traveling around and seeing some folks and hopefully meeting new people as we fundraise. Over the next couple of weeks we will be going to see some of our friends and family in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. We are greatly looking forward to this trip and to the appointments God has prepared for us. Please pray for us during this time of raising funds and ask the Lord if there is a way you can or should be involved in His work in central Ecuador.

God doesn’t need us to accomplish His goals in Ecuador, but I believe He wants us there. If you would like to join our financial support team check out this link.

 

Packing....Moving...Packing....Moving.....

I've been thinking and praying about what to share all week, still not sure I have all my thoughts together but here's what I know, WE MOVE A LOT! If you've ever moved before and I'm sure most of you have at some point,  it's stressful.

We have been married almost 9 years and we have moved 8 times! The longest we've ever lived in one house was in the Youth parsonage while John was youth pastor at Tye Baptist Church. We were there almost 3 years. W have been in a mission house since January and will need to move out in May. This moving process has been the most difficult to date. I thought moving out of a house with a 2 month old was difficult, and it was, but this has been even more so. I have had so many mixed emotions. I've been excited about all the amazing things I know God has in store for us, but it has also closed several chapters in our journey, some good some not so good. John resigned from the church in October and they allowed us to stay in the house until January. So for 3 months I knew we were moving, and for almost 3 months I had no clue where we were going to end up. We were just trusting the Lord for his provision. Some times maybe not trusting so well and having more anxiety than I should have, but God was faithful. And it seemed He allowed John and I to never be weak at the same time. Anytime I was down he would encourage me and anytime John was down I would encourage him. I love how God works like that!

This move has been an incredible blessing in so many ways. Like I said we didn't know for nearly 3 months where we were going to move, and we had lots of people asking. We honestly did not know. We were constantly praying and trusting the Lord to work it out. Also we were just trying to make it through the holidays. The first week of January John made two phone calls, and one person answered at First Baptist Church. He asked if they had any mission houses and if they were available and the answer was YES. The secretary asked John when we wanted to move in! This was the first day John decided to start asking around for a place for us to move. GOD IS SO GOOD!!! Even when we doubted.

So for 3 months we debated on how we were going to pack up our things and what we would pack. You see moving to a foreign country is not easy. I tried getting quotes on how much in would cost for us to ship a crate of all our belongings we wanted to move but no one would giving me a price because I couldn't tell them how much everything weighted! And I wasn't going to pack everything up and weigh it. It's not like I was ready to move. So we ultimately decided the best way to move our things was in foot lockers/trunks. They are not very big, 31 x 17 x 13, but it meets all the requirements for taking on a plane. But the size really limits what we can take with us. No furniture, not big items, and they can't weigh more than 70 lbs or the airline won't allow it.

It was very difficult going through everything we owned deciding what to move and what to give away or sell. I did shed a tear or two or a thousand!  It's not that I was attached to everything we got rid of, I think the act of trusting the Lord to provide for future and current needs in the midst of chaos was the hardest part. I take pleasure in throwing things away and cleaning out stuff, but this was bigger than any spring cleaning event. It was reminding myself that material things and possessions are not the most important thing in life. My love and obedience to the Lord is more important than anything. And yes that includes my family. Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his own son....and he was obedient and blessed because of his obedience to God (Genesis 22.) It was not easy trying to explain to Hannah (3) that we would not be keeping all of our things as she watched us pack and have a yard sale. We did however do our best to keep her things/room as normal as possible during this transition. At least until we move again. Did I mention the mission house is fully furnished. This is a huge blessing because we were able to sell/give away all of our furniture. And we were able to really purge what we are not going to move to Ecuador.

We are not done moving. We are not done packing. But we have started moving. We were able to send 6 trunks down with John's parents when they went back home after the holidays. You might be thinking, but you're not ready to move yet...and you would be right. But we are humbly trusting this is God's will for our lives. I now ask that you pray for us as we are in this continuous state of packing and moving, and that God will guide and direct our next move in May as we are uncertain where we will go.

Blessings,

Becky

So, Becky started the introductions yesterday telling a little bit about her testimony and now it is my turn. I grew up in Ecuador as an MK (Missionary Kid). Growing up in Ecuador was really great, I enjoyed every bit of it. God was truly gracious by allowing me to grow up in a missionary family. I placed my faith in Christ at the age of six. I knew I was a sinner, a rebel who was in need of reconciliation with God. I believed in Christ's death for my sins and that He rose again to bring us salvation. I can look back on my childhood and youth and see how God guarded me and kept me, sometimes maybe in spite of myself. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love -Psalm 103:8
When it came time for college, I attended ETBU, which is where I met Becky, and yes it took a little while, but we did date and got married in 2005. She has always been such an encouragement to me. God is so good to have given me such a wonderful wife. Becky knew when she married me that returning to Ecuador was always in the back of my mind and the bottom of my heart. And so we have been waiting for the right time. Well, last year the Lord impressed on us that this is the time. His time. And so we are pursuing His call to return to Ecuador and continue the work of spreading the good news of salvation in Christ. We want to encourage the existing churches and leaders and join them in taking the message further out to new communities who haven't heard and start new churches.
"Thompsons in Ecuador" is a great title for our blog, except if it were accurate right now, it should be: "Thompsons in Texas (still)". Yes, we are still in Texas raising support, we aren't on the field just yet. We want to ask you to pray for us as we raise support.
As you pray let me ask you to consider 2 things. 
First, would you pray about helping us financially get on the field (either by a one-time gift of any amount OR by joining our monthly support team in any amount). How much you give does not matter: "...the Lord loves a cheerful giver" 2 Corinthians 9:7
If you want to support us in any way just Click here, this will take you to our global outreach giving site.
Second, would you consider whether we can come visit your church, or Sunday school group, or bible study and share about missions, to be of mutual encouragement to each other both in our sharing and our hearing of what the Lord is doing. Yes, we are in Texas, but we are willing to travel, so if you think you might want us to come share, please just say so, and we will see what we can do. It was really great to get to meet the people at MacArthur Heights Baptist Church in Orange, TX. We hope we can be in many more churches soon!
That is all for now. God bless you,

John

I think it is time for some introductions for those of you who don't know us.

I grew up in Baytown, Texas, and still have lots of family there. I was raised in church, I think we were there every time the doors were open! I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 7 yrs old.  I am thankful for this because I know there have been lots of things in my life that could have caused me to just go completely crazy but I know Christ rescued me from myself and my sin and has protected me from so much.  When I was 15 or 16 I heard a missionary couple speak at church and that night God placed in my heart a call and desire to do missions. I had no idea what that call would look like.  I went to East Texas Baptist University for college and and meet John! It took us a while but we finally started dating thanks to a couple of friends and well here we are today. John grew up on the mission field in Ecuador, but I will let him share with you his testimony. So thankful God knows all the details of our lives before we do. Giving me a desire for missions and sending me the perfect partner to serve with is such an incredible blessing. I know there are lots of details that I've left out but testimonies are always changing and I am looking forward to what is still to come.

We had a great visit with MacArthur Heights Baptist Church in Orange, TX this past weekend. John preached a great message and was able to share our vision of Ecuador with them. If you want us to share with your church or Sunday School class let us know we would love to visit and share with you!

Becky

So this is my first ever blog post! John and I are preparing to go on the mission field to Ecuador, South America, many of you know this, many of you may not and that is why I am writing this blog. We want people to know our story and be apart of it. We are going as missionaries with Global Outreach International, based in Tupelo, MS. Our passion is to reach the lost for Christ, more specifically the lost people of Ecuador.

We recently moved into a mission house in Abilene, and will be able to stay until the middle of May.  We pray our next move will be to Ecuador. Raising support is a big priority right now, if you would like us to speak at your church we would be delighted to.

Will you pray for us as we raise our financial support to be able to make the move to Ecuador and that we would have the monthly support needed to stay on the field.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

If you want to help support us and our ministry  click here