Dear Saints,
We are calling this the Year of Paperwork! It appears that all of our “official” documents for Ecuador (mission, cars, visa, country ID, school, etc.) are due this year. Like chiggers, all of these can produce from slight to major heart palpitations. Praise God, He is bringing His victory to each area. We are asking for prayer for the petition (and 175 page document) we have presented to the Ministry of Education to enlarge the reach of the school to include far-flung children. This should be decided on in the next month.
2026 is also the year that God has designed to bring His Kingdom school into the limelight of the world. We are no longer unknown. In April, Dave and I were invited to attend a large, global-reach conference in Las Vegas where I was awarded an “Excellence in Education” plaque for my work with the home schooling movement in the 1980’s and 1990’s as well as for what we are doing here in Ecuador. How this group from India found out about me is a mystery to both myself and to them. Our web page has not been touched in 10 years and I have no social media presence, not even WhatsApp. Only a divine note of some sort gave them our email address. I was invited to do a short presentation and participate in a panel discussion on the power of words. In a room full of Educators, Supervisors, and Directors from all over the world, we were really blest at how God touched hearts in deep ways.
With the exposure of the conference, I was asked for interviews with a couple of magazines. I am sending the article the editors wrote for one that has not gone to press. It does a concise overview of how God has directed me and our family over the last several years. Because of how God touched lives in April in an obvious non-Christian event, we have been asked to return next April to do a similar presentation, but to CEOs. God has used the coaching training I received last year to grant me the confidence and professional leverage to share with leaders totally outside of Christian circles. Dave is an amazing supporter and enjoys sharing his faith with those we meet in this new slice of society.
The school year ended with a happy note in Tambo. Parents thrilled with their children’s progress. In the Cofan village of Dureno, we had three students “graduate” from sixth grade. The kids were 12, 14 and 16 years old and now they can read, write, and do math on at least a fifth grade level. This is huge considering that at least a third of the children in the village do not attend school and others that do are not taught even the basics. Happy parents and relieved students.
It was the parents in the Cofan village of Zábalo that needed our presence this year. The Lord put it in my heart to do a time leading them in giving to God the debilitating lies they have believed about themselves and asking God for His truth about them. The photo is a testimony of the expectation/longing in their faces to know what Father God wants to say to them. This village is remote. While there are many adults that speak broken Spanish, most of the village only has a partial understanding of it. I asked to have an interpreter to go from Spanish to Cofan to help in this sensitive time. It was rough, with a couple of parents helping the interpreter out as we went along. I knew God wanted this done and in spite of bumps in the translation, He took the message to their hearts as three or four wiped tears away. When they finished listening to God, I asked for testimonies. Immediately, three of them began excitedly sharing in Cofan the truth they heard. Later, I asked one of our teachers what he heard. He beamed as he told me God said He loves to talk with him.
There is at least one more bit of exciting news. We have been blest with a redone web page for the Mission! A professional web master gave of her time and expertise to do a radical make-over. Take a minute to enjoy and to praise God with us: www.sealaluz.org
Thank you for your support and interest in what God is doing here – we stand amazed at His favor and mercy. We pray His hand over you and His protection around you. All that you do for God brings in a harvest – both for you and for the Kingdom.
Together for the Kingdom,
Dave, Sharman and Kjersti Injerd
Misión SEA LA LUZ