Wanted to put out a brief note and let you know where we’re at with regard to our finances. I won’t belabor the point, but the reality is that we may be coming home early if our support doesn’t improve.

Let me explain briefly how our support works. We’re here with an agency called RCE (Resourcing Christian Education) International. It’s not really a “mission”. It primarily exists to provide a legal avenue for getting financial  resources to people on a missionary/volunteer visa (for whom it is illegal to receive funds from in-country sources).

We get support from two sources: 1.) the Alliance Academy International pays us a stipend, which amounts to about $700/month; and 2.) our supporters (you). Our support (aside from the stipend) last year averaged about $960/month.

The way it works is that funds from AAI and supporters get sent to RCE, which is U.S.-based. RCE keeps all those funds in an account in our name. Once a month, RCE transfers an amount that we’ve specified to our stateside bank account for living expenses. We withdraw cash from ATMs here in Ecuador for most things that we need monthly.

In order to break even, we need to pull in a little over $2,000/month in donations. Since I stopped working at the school in August, we’ve been drawing on our meagre reserves to make up for the shortfall. In November we overdrew our RCE account by about $850. In December, we received roughly $700 in donations, which left us at a -$150 balance. When we got our monthly “paycheck” from RCE at the end of December, an additional $2,300 came out of the account. Obviously we can’t continue to operate at a deficit. That money will have to be paid back to RCE eventually.

We’re asking that you prayerfully consider either increasing your support or beginning to support us financially. We would like to finish well here. Our hope is to stay through the end of August, so that the youth ministry needs at the church won’t be neglected. At $2,000/month, that’s $16,000. If you add the $2,500 we’re already in the hole, that makes it $18,500. Can you help us raise that amount?

We’re not asking for an open-ended commitment. This is a project with an expiry date. We’re coming home in September, Lord willing. But we need your help to wrap up the ministry that we believe God has given us here.

I plan on talking to the finance guy at the school tomorrow to talk about our options. Can you help? Please pray for us.

Information on supporting us can be found here. Please contact us with any additional questions or concerns.

Hoping and praying,

Rick

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, Christmas and New Years have come and gone.  We were thrilled to be able to celebrate with many friends here, and to be able to participate in many of the Ecuadorian customs that come with these holidays.  For those of you on Facebook, you can see some of the pictures that Rick took (mostly from our New Years Eve party) on his Facebook site.  

Christmas break was a time of prayer, communion, and refreshment for us.  We pooled our Christmas money and spent four days at the beach (along with the head chaplain from Alliance Academy, Jake Tassy, and his family…  and several other families, too).  We are so grateful that the roads to the coast have been improved over the last few years, so the trip is only about 6 hours by car (and since gasoline is still government subsidized here, it is a very affordable trip).  The place where we stayed is owned and run by a former student of AAI and his mother.  It is not fancy, but the rooms/cabins open right onto the beach and the rates are very low.  It was wonderful to sit, listen to the waves, and recognize God’s fingerprint on it all.  

Some former graduates, and students of Rick’s, were back in Quito visiting their families for the holidays.  They, also, were at the beach and Rick was able to spend some time catching up with them, ministering to them, and finding out about their first year or two of college.  It is wonderful to see how the Word that has been sown into their lives throughout high school is beginning to grow and flourish in young adulthood.  It is encouraging to see how God is using our ministry here, even once these students are no longer with us.

New Years in Quito is always fun.  We sent out a Facebook invite to some of our friends (Sams’ rooftop party, New Years…  bring food…  invite friends).  We expected about 15-20 people.  We ended with about 40 people, lots of yummy food, and a lot of fun!  We purchased an Año Viejo (stuffed effigy of a man, symbolizing the ‘old year’) and (along with many of our neighbors) threw him in the middle of the street and set him on fire at midnight.  As we looked at our neighborhood, every block had another mini-bonfire going, with fireworks and families gathered. The fireworks rival professional 4th of July fireworks in the U.S. (X10), so all we have to do is stand on our rooftop and watch.  

Probably our biggest news to share is that after much soul searching and prayer, Rick and I feel that God is leading us to return to the States at the end of this school year (July or August).  We are in much need of spiritual and emotional renewal, and will be seeking the comfort of family and friends in the Kansas City area once again.  Please pray for us as we figure out what this process will look like.  We will have to start all over again in KC, including finding jobs, cars, a place to live, etc (as well as the expenses that come with intercontinental moves).  If you are in the KC area and can offer us any support/resources/leads please let us know. 

As always, we need and appreciate your support.  God continues to teach us, month to month, how to rely on Him.  Some months our donations are low and things are tight.  Other months donations are up, and we are grateful.  Please know that we will continue to need your support for as long as we are here in Quito, and that we strive to use our resources wisely and frugally.    Rick will probably send out a separate email shortly with more specific finance information. 

We love you and thank God daily for you.  

Bendiciones/Blessings,

Rachel Sams

Hello to all!

Well, school has started and Rick and I have been at ‘full speed’ every since.  God definitely has been showing us different areas of need within our community, and He has also been showing us ways in which He will use us to minister to those needs.

First of all, please let me say, “Thank you” to all of you who have given us donations and those who have committed to supporting us on a monthly basis.  There have been quite a few who have done this over the last month.  Thanks to your generosity, we will soon be able to replace Rick’s computer which was stolen, as well as being able to pay our bills and continue here in Quito.

Our most pressing prayer request is this:

Tomorrow will be the anniversary of last year’s political coup.  There are still many who protest either the military’s actions or the actions of the police department on that day.  Tomorrow many people will enter into the city to remember and/or protest the events of last year.  Alliance Academy has, wisely, canceled classes for tomorrow.  This will allow our staff and our students to stay home and avoid the protests.

Please pray with us that our friends, family, and community will remain safe during this time.  Please pray that our country will continue to seek wisdom and the Lord’s guidance.

As always, thank you for your support and your prayers,

Rachel Sams 

I’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry.  Something about yer state of mind affecting your choices and all that.  Seems like good advice to me.If I’m going to extract lessons and apply them elsewhere, it could probably be said that writing an email asking for financial assistance on the same day you got your laptop stolen is probably a bad idea also.  Yet here I am.

I’m gonna keep this short, because I don’t have a ton to say.  It basically boils down to the fact that we’re very quickly approaching a point where we’ll have to decide whether or not our time here is done.  Our support has been in a slow decline over the last 6 months or so.

For the past 3.5 years, Rachel and I have been working for the school.  We have been receiving a stipend from them that amounts to about $1,400/month.  Even in Ecuador, that’s nowhere near enough for us to live and do ministry on.  The generosity of our supporters is the only thing that’s kept us here.  Many of you know that, as of the end of August, I will no longer be working for the school.  We’ve felt led to take a step of faith and help launch a ministry to third-culture kids and expat youth in the Quito area.  Rachel will continue on at the school, while I will take an unpaid position with our local place of worship, English Fellowship Church.  What that functionally means is that effective now, our monthly income from all sources here equals right at $700/month.  When you take insurance and other peripherals into account, that’s gonna leave us with about a $1,000/month shortfall.

So, you see our situation.  Our support has been steadily decreasing, when what we need is a significant increase.  These are the the facts.  Right now, if the significant increase doesn’t happen, we have almost enough in savings to make it through December.  I know that one of the ways that God says it’s time to move on is when the resources dry up,  but it’s hard to accept that in the face of what we’ve both felt is God calling us to something deeper, something more.

We’re asking for your help.  If 10 of you could donate $100/month, or 20 of you could do $50/month, or 50 of you do $20/month … that would be enough to keep us afloat.  Most of the information you would need can be found here: http://bit.ly/qd1A6x  Please help us pray about our future here.  Things are kind of desperate.

What follows is the story of the laptop.  Feel free to leave off here, if you want.

This afternoon, I was at a small Chinese restaurant with a new friend of mine.  We’ve known each other less than a week, and were deeply engrossed in “get-to-know-you” conversation.  The restaurant was very busy.  My backpack was sitting on the floor beside my chair.  The nearest table was probably 6-7feet away.  I remember two men coming into the restaurant, and sitting down at the table nearest us.  I wouldn’t realize it until about 10 minutes later, but apparently they simply waited until my attention was elsewhere, leaned over and picked up my backpack, and walked out the door with it.  I feel like I’m normally very careful about things like that, but I guess it only takes one time.  Right now I feel pretty stupid, angry, violated, and vulnerable.  All in all, about $3,000 worth of equipment walked out the door.  Logo work for two new local ministries here, more than half the photos from a friend’s wedding last week, all of the original music I’ve created, and the IDs I was helping my replacement at the school with … all of it’s gone.  I’ve spent most of the rest of the afternoon realizing just how much I use that computer to do the ministry that I do here.  I feel crippled without it.  Right now, we obviously can’t even begin to think about replacing it.  Please help us pray about that as well.

Thanks for your time, your love, and your prayers.

Rick Sams

Hello and greetings from temperate Quito, Ecuador.

It was a thrill and a pleasure to be able to spend time with many of you over the last few weeks.

Starting on June 18th, we spent 10 days in LA with my brother and his family.  My parents joined us from Florida, so we were all in the same house for the first time in many years.  I loved the opportunity to spend time with my brother,my sister-in-law, and with my nieces and nephews.  The kids are growing so quickly and it is hard knowing that I am missing a large part of it.

While in LA we were also able to meet up with one of our former graduates, Li Na, who is now going to college there.  She is originally from China, but lived several years in the dorms at AAI.  Her parents have recently moved to California, so going to college there made sense.  She had hoped to take us to Chinatown to eat, but due to traffic caused by a big soccer game, we had to settle for a small Chinese restaurant close by.  It was fun to see how she is maturing and growing into a beautiful young woman.

From LA we headed to Olathe, KS for just a few days and then traveled to Springfield, MO (where Rick’s parents live) for about a week and a half.  Ricks sister and her family (who live in Colorado) joined us there.  Rick’s nephews will both be in high school next year!  Since Rick’s family has had connections in Springfield for many years, we were able to spend time with a lot of old family friends, too.

Even in Springfield, MO we were blessed with the chance to spend time with friends who formerly lived in Ecuador, Luke and Wendy Owsley and Kyle Holloway.  Since Luke has some family that lives near Springfield, they took advantage of the opportunity to see us, too.  Rick and Wendy had a cook-off with Chinese food (the rest of us were blessed with the role of ‘food tasters’).  It is always a little strange (and awesome) to see our Quito-friends while in the States!

After Springfield we returned to Olathe, KS for another week. We stayed with Kurt and Laura Fischer, who have been friends (and family) to us for many, many years.  We loved the opportunity to see how their kids are growing up and had tons of fun catching up with them.  We also got to know their youngest son, Will, who was born shortly after we moved to Quito about four years ago.

The time with our church family at Oak Hills was priceless.  Between worship on Sunday morning, the church picnic (at 100+ degrees), and the time given to us on Sunday night to tell about our ministry…  I really don’t have the words to describe how encouraging it was to us.

Rick and I flew back into Quito last Wednesday night.  Due to bad weather in Miami and a few flight delays, our luggage did not arrive until Thursday.  On Thursday night, as I was checking the airline website to see if the luggage was here or not, I received a phone call  from a man who said that he had picked up one of our bags by mistake!  He met us at the airport, we recovered our other two bags, and exchanged our bag for his.  We were surprised to find that, not only was our bag was identical to his, they were both purchased at Target!  We are grateful that all of our stuff made it here without major complications or hitches.
Sunday found us back at our Quito place of worship, English Fellowship Church, and reconnecting with any friends who are here for the summer months.  I was also able to pass on the money that was raised for Alma Libre, the women’s prison ministry, from the hand made cards that many of you purchased while we were visiting.  Many of our friends here are still traveling, raising support in their home countries, and visiting family.  Their seats at church were filled by several short-term missions teams who are here in Quito during their vacation times.

Monday took us back to Alliance Academy campus.  Rick will be finishing up the yearbook and I will be setting up my office/classroom for next year.  The rest of our summer months will be spent planning for next year and our ministries to youth here in Quito.  We will be putting together a small flyer/email for those of you who are interested in supporting us financially, with information on what that process looks like.  In the meantime, if you are interested, please check out the information on the Supporting Rick & Rachel page.

As always, thank you all for your friendships, prayer, and support of our ministry here.  Please continue to contact via email, Facebook, Vonage, etc.  We love hearing from you and love to have people come and visit us here.

May God bless and keep you always,

Rachel Sams

There’s a part of me that’s proud that this is only really the second time we’ve made a big push for fund-raising.

There’s another part of me that’s ashamed of the part of me that’s proud of that.

The reality of our situation is one where we have to rely on the generosity of friends and family every day, and there’s a deep level on which I don’t enjoy doing that.  It’s the same part of me that rebels at the idea that I need the emotional support of friends, the unconditional love of my wife, or even the merciful work of Christ on my behalf at Calvary.  At the core of it, I don’t want to owe anyone anything.  I want to be self-sufficient.  I want to stand upon the metaphorical mountaintops of my life and shout to the world “I did this!”

It’s tempting to approach our efforts in this from the “If you think Rick needs humbling, please send us money cuz that’ll do the trick” angle.  And while there are worse causes to get behind, there may be other compelling reasons on the table.  Let me talk to you for a minute or two about a few of them.

We’re getting ready to launch ourselves into a terrifying and really exciting new phase of our ministry in Quito.

Up until now, we’ve both worked for the Alliance Academy International, and earned a stipend from them that amounts to about $700/month/each (before significant taxes).  We would not have survived here without the faithful financial giving of so many of you.  Nearly four years into this adventure, it gives me pleasure to be able to say that God has provided for us in such a way that we’ve never been in serious need.  We certainly don’t live in luxury (unless living at 9,300 ft. in the Andes, a five-hour drive from both the beach and the jungle counts!), but we live comfortably.

For the last couple of years, since we both fulfilled the terms of our initial contract with AAI, we’ve asked ourselves as the school year began to wind down, “Is it time to go?”  While there have always been things that make us want to be in the U.S. (family, friends, Chipotle, etc.), there has remained a strong connection to the work we do here.  We don’t want to leave the kids.  I think some people call that “not feeling released.”  I’ve never known exactly what that means, but I can resonate with it.  I still don’t know whether or not I’m cut out to be a “career missionary,” but I’m confident that up ’til now, God’s been saying “just hang out here for a bit, I’m doing something.”

Now, I’ll be completely honest.  I believe God is always doing something, but for the past four years, I’ve not at all been confident what exactly it was.  There were times where it seemed like it was about killing stuff off in me (a worthy endeavor), or teaching us patience (not so bad either), or perhaps even putting us in a place where we learned that God’s successes can still look like abject failure in the eyes of a very North-American/Western/idealistic/opinionated/bald/41-year-old guy.  There’s a lot I don’t know.  I do know that part of it has had to do with ministry to students.

(Give me a second for an aside here … I’m going to talk to you primarily about me and my dreams and my heart for the rest of this message.  While Rachel’s ministry here has likely been more far-reaching and long-run impactful, it’s my efforts that are going to see the greatest change in the next few months.  Perhaps soon I can talk her into sharing some of her heart as to what this new season will look like for her.)

Getting to the ministry to students part, here’s what a week looks like for me in terms of student ministry stuff:

I have two lunches and one breakfast every week set aside specifically for student contact.  One other lunch a week is always used for that purpose provided no other responsibilities intrude.  Between 2-4 class periods per week are typically taken up with individual student contact as well, some of it regular and scheduled, some of it spontaneous.

I try to plan at least one weekend/evening event for groups of students every month.  Last month, I put together a co-ed, overnight camping trip, and a couple weeks before that, hosted an overnight guys’ movie night at our apartment.  Events like that have been regular throughout the last couple of years.

I have a small group that I meet with weekly.  I attempt to make weekly individual contact with each of them as well.  The conversations I have with the guys every week about what it means to be a Christian man in the 21st century are some of the highlights of my life.

I try also to make time every week in more overt outreach (as opposed to “inreach”).  Every year I try to identify students that are more “fringe” that I feel may respond well to input from me.  Much of my contact with this group necessarily looks different than my contact with more “Christian” kids.  It’s always messier  It often has different themes, language, and ways of connecting.  I find my time with these guys to be my most challenging.  They tend to be more “real” and comfortable with their flaws.  I learn lots of lessons while working with my non-Christian kids that I and my Christian kids really need.

Working at the school for the past four years has been a blessing and a curse to me.  It’s been a blessing because being in near-constant contact with kids provides me with so many opportunities for engaging in real relationship and deep conversation.  (On a good week in the US, I could hope for maybe a couple of hours with youth group kids.)  It’s been a curse in that the details of my job (teaching, prepping, design, tech support, etc.) don’t give me the time to do what I feel called and gifted to do.  (I’m closing in on 9 weeks worth of weekend and evening hours since September  that I’ve put into my job description in addition to the expected 40 hour work weeks, AND they’re splitting my job between two people for next year.)

I realized something about halfway through this school year.  I realized that I’m already doing what it is that I really want to be doing, I’m just too limited in my time and resources to do it effectively or on the scale I desire.  I don’t really know that I understand the concept of “calling,” but I do understand the concept of compulsion.  I minister to kids because I don’t know how not to.  It’s my default setting.  It’s what I know that I’ll be doing, in some form, for the rest of my life.

I also realized that teaching three classes, being the official school photographer, serving on the school’s public affairs team and handling all their promotional materials and the website, as well as all the teacher/club/class/event posters, brochures, flyers, and such was keeping me from doing the things I felt compelled to do.

I waited a couple of days, and went to my boss and told him “Listen, you guys have hired me to do this set of things, and I’m not doing them well.  Part of the reason I’m not doing them well is because I feel called to do this other set of things.  The only way I’m going to do the things you’ve hired me to do well, is if I quit doing the set of things that I feel called to do.  Since I know I’m not ever going to be able to quit the things I feel called to, the logical conclusion for me is that I should tender my resignation so that I can better minister to the kids at your school.”

That began about a six month process of looking into what next year was going to look like.  I’ll spare you all the details, but the process came down to Friday of last week when I was offered a position with our church working as a youth ministry associate.

This is already getting long enough that I’m getting tired of hearing MYSELF, so I’ll try to wrap up.I have a three-pronged goal for my ministry next year:

• I want to continue doing what I’m doing now, and do it better.  I want nearly every lunch and every breakfast to be freed up for meeting with kids, whether one-on-one or in formal or informal groups.  Time after school, either for activities/sports stuff or for one-on-one time, would be freed up significantly as well.  A more flexible day would enable meetings with seniors with study halls and off-campus passes, coffee with ministry partners, etc.  I look forward to the opportunity to plan more outings for the kids next year.  I hope to build the budget to take them out to dinner, paint-balling, or just over to my place for movies and popcorn.  I want to plan community-wide scavenger hunts, music nights at local restaurants, weekend trips for ministry opportunities, and camping outings.  I’m excited about the chance to identify other like-minded adults and give them the chance to connect with kids and get to know them.  I look forward to seeing relationships grow.

• Ultimately, I want this to become bigger than the Alliance Academy/English Fellowship Church/missionary community bubble.  I want to be part of a team that branches out into other schools in the ex-pat community, which continues to grow at incredible rates in Quito.  Immediately, I want to bring those kids into what we’re doing.  In the long run, I want to take what we’re doing to where they are.  I want to be a presence at other similar schools in the area.  I want those kids to know me and the people I work with as well as the AAI kids do now.  I want this youth ministry to ultimately be much bigger than our church can handle on it’s own.

• Next level, I want to build a youth center.  I want a place for these kids to call their own.  I want to build a place where they can feel ownership, where they can feel at home, and where the team can more easily find those connection points.  I’d love to run a camping club out of it.  Maybe jujitsu classes.  I’d love for it to be a concert venue, or maybe have a climbing wall.  I’d love pool and ping-pong tables, and a coffee shop.  Maybe we’d offer counseling or tutoring services.  Maybe seminars/classes … cool stuff for the kids, more ministry-driven stuff for the team and others we might invite.

The position that English Fellowship Church has asked me to fill, while it doesn’t yet have an official job description, would focus on “relational youth ministry,” and I’m incredibly excited about all the things that might develop from this.

Here’s the hard part.  We need money.  We’ll be getting half of our annual stipend from the school next year.  That’s about $700/month, plus another $160 of insurance that we’ll have to cover.  In a future message, I’ll try to lay out a better idea of our budget, but here’s a few directions in which I want to see our finances go this next year:

• I need greater Spanish skill.  I’m getting pretty good, but long conversations about deep things still pose a challenge for me.  If I’m going to be working with Ecuadorian students in schools where English isn’t as much of a presence, I need to get better.  I’d like to hire a tutor a couple of times a week to push me.  That’ll probably be another $100/month.

• We need a car.  We both have our licenses here, but are still largely dependent on public transportation to get where we’re going.  In the city and on our own, that’s fine.  If however, we want to be a functional part of moving kids around town or out of town, we need a vehicle that can seat a few.  We’d love to get a 4×4 SUV (the better for off-road, backcountry, camping trips).  Unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to get even a very used vehicle here for less than $10,000.

• We would both love to have more funds to pour into relationship and community building.  Our apartment is already known in the community as a place that’s open to kids and adults for pretty much whatever.  The last year or so, though, as living expenses have continued to grow, it’s been increasingly hard to be a mini-community center in a community that really needs connection points.  An additional $200-300/month would give us so much more leeway to open our home, take kids to lunch/dinner, etc.

We’re looking forward to seeing many of you this summer.   Please bear with us if we want to spend some time talking about how God’s going to provide for our needs next year.

Thanks so much for all you mean to us.  Please keep us in your prayers, and please spend yourself every day in kingdom-building.

Sincerely,
Rick Sams

“Saludos” and Greetings from Quito.

Whenever I am tempted to start thinking that Quito is really not that different than Kansas (or maybe Colorado), something happens to remind me that I am living in a different world.  While sitting at my desk today, I looked out the window to see one of the school maintenance workers standing on the window ledge (above a three story drop-off) and vacuuming the dust from the ledge and the window sill.  No rope, no safety harness, no OSHA…  Another worker stands inside the window, helping to move the base of the vacuum from window to window for him.

It was only a few months ago that I looked out the same window just in time to see one of our chaplains rappelling over the same ledge.  He told me he was checking out the rappelling gear, since he was taking the mountain climbing club out the following weekend.

Yes, Quito is never boring!Well, another few weeks has passed, and I am given the task of sorting through all the events, to see which ones might be deemed ‘noteworthy’.  Funny how life is difficult to condense.  :)

Since my last email I returned to the doctor’s office for more thyroid tests.  Thankfully my thyroid, although enlarged, is functioning properly and putting out the correct levels of hormones (so no medicine, just a yearly checkup).  The bad news is that the sonogram showed a nodule.  I will need to have the nodule biopsied, to make sure that there is no need for concern.  That should happen this week,so I should know more within the next week or two.

Rick met with our pastor about his (Rick’s) desires to work with youth next year.  Our pastor reviewed Rick’s outline of what he would like for that ministry to look like and stated that he thinks it is very likely that Rick will be able to do this through English Fellowship Church.  The next step is for Rick to meet with the Board of Elders, to see if they will approve.  This should happen over the next week, so we will be able to update you more soon.

Another ministry opportunity that is possible for me is one called Alma Libre (Free Soul), and works with women in prison here in Quito.  Many of the women are not from Quito (some from other countries) and many are in prison for drug trafficking.  Some have children, who are allowed to stay with them in the prison up until the age of two.  I am starting to talk with the woman who heads up this ministry, to see in what way I may be of help.  Please keep me in your prayers, that God will guide me if this is an area that I should pursue.

Rick and I have both continue to find opportunities to minister in the lives of students/staff/adults over the last few weeks.  This time of the school year is very difficult for students, as they are (once again) faced with the issue of saying goodbye.  Our world here is a world full of ‘comings’ and ‘goings’ and we are far too familiar with ‘good-byes’.  Many of our teachers will finish out their contracts and move on at the end of this year.  Many of our students and their families will move to new locations, as well.  Of our graduating seniors, some will stay in Quito and attend college here, but most will travel to other countries to continue their studies (Korea, United States, Canada, Germany, and China…  these are the ones that I know of).  Love and friendship are bittersweet in this season.

As I mentioned in my last email, Rick and I are are needing to increase our financial support, starting this summer, in the amount of about $1000 per month.  We are praying that God will direct those who can help us with this.  If you feel that He is directing you to do this, please feel free to contact Rick or I for more information.

We are so grateful for your friendship, love, and prayers for us.  I know that God has led us to our ministry here, and I can see on a daily basis the ways that he is using us (and ministering to us) here in Quito.  We are looking forward to our time in the States this summer and hoping to see you many of you during that time.

May God bless and keep you always,Rachel Sams

Hello from Quito!

It has been quite a while since my last email.  It seems like life continues to fly by, and the school year is now close to being over.

It is always surprising for me to stop and notice how some of our ‘new’ students really aren’t new anymore, and some of our ‘old’ students are getting closer and closer to graduation.  It is truly a blessing for me to see how some of ‘my’ students have grown and matured over the last year, making wiser decisions and deepening their understanding of what it means to follow God.  Our high schoolers, especially, are still in that process of learning what they believe and why, and it is wonderful to be able to be a part of that process.

I realize that, since it has been such a long time since my last email, this one might be a bit long.  I will try to keep it as short as possible.

About a week ago, during an exceptionally strong rainstorm here in Quito, many part of the school flooded.  It took most of the weekend and part of Monday (classes were canceled that day) to clean up the mud and sewage that had entered the classrooms.  My office and Rick’s classroom were not affected, but many of those on the bottom floor were.  Here is a link to pictures taken by one of our teachers.  https://sites.google.com/a/alliance.k12.ec/flood/home  During the course of the storm, some people had to be rescued from the bus/trolley stops by policemen in boats.  Thankfully the water subsided quickly, but the mud that it left behind took a little longer to clean up.  On the main street, near our home, the mud was several inches deep, and I was told by a local shop owner that the force of the water actually caused a few house to crumble.

The Tuesday after the flooding (April 19th) was the Counseling Summit.  Basically, the summit is a half day during which high school and middle school have no classes, but instead attend a series of seminars related to life skills, mental health, etc.  It was a lot of work, but we were able to allow the students to pick two seminars (out of twelve offered) that they wanted to attend.  Each of the seminars (topics like: healthy dating, domestic violence, homosexuality, pornography, Islam, etc.) was presented in such a way as to encourage students to think about what they believe, what they know, and what they need to learn more about.  As is always the case with teenagers, some of them really enjoyed the seminars and some of them merely stated that they were ‘boring’.  I am still glad that we are able to create opportunities for them to be challenged with new ideas, as well as creating opportunities for adults in the community to get to know our students better.  Rick was able to present a seminar on Islam with a friend of his who has lived in Egypt.  Their focus was on providing a balanced view of modern Muslims as well as a deeper understanding of western civilization’s historical debt to Muslim culture.  Rick always enjoys the opportunity to make kids think outside of their bubbles.

I am seeing a gradual increase in my relationships with some of the high school girls.  It is a challenge here.  Ecuadorian culture does not seem to enter in to new relationships quickly, although it places strong importance on family relationships.  Add this to the challenges due to age (me, as an adult, reaching out to teens) and the potential stigma of being seen with a ‘counselor’…  Even so, I feel that each year that we are here, those challenges decrease and I get to know some of our students a little better.  Not to mention the fact that they get to know me a little better, too.

I have mentioned before a small group, within the Alliance Academy, called CAF (Centro de Apoyo Familiar).  CAF came into being a little less than two years ago, and has been growing steadily since that time.  It is comprised of a wonderful group of people, mostly parents of students, who have a background in counseling and ministry.  They have volunteered their time to reach out and minister to parents of students at AAI.  They offer marriage counseling, individual counseling, parenting support, and parenting education at no cost to our staff, teachers, and parents of students.  I have been very blessed to participate in some of these ministries with them, and I am so excited to see the ways that God will use them in the future.  It is my hope to be able to offer more time, through CAF, for counseling/therapy in the future (in addition to my duties as a school counselor).  I am still waiting to see what direction God will give me in this area.

Rick’s ministry for next year is still being solidified.  He has tendered his resignation at Alliance Academy, so he will no longer be teaching.  He, along with several others, are hoping to begin a ministry that will reach out to Third Culture Kids throughout Quito (not just at AAI).  There are so many teens here who come from other countries.  Many of them struggle for a sense of identity, roots, and belonging.  Many of them do not come from Christian homes and have very little understanding of the Gospel.  This ministry will seek to go into the different International Schools here.  It will focus on building relationships with teens and, through these relationships, seek to encourage a deeper understanding and a deeper desire for the Truth of the Gospel.  A potential, long-term, goal would be to create an actual location (coffee shop?  rec-center?) where teens could hang out, listen to music, participate in different learning events (photography, mountain climbing, etc.) while still building relationships with Christian adults.

Rick and the others are still hammering out the details about the ministry, but hope to have more information soon.  They are praying and seeking to find what ‘umbrella’ the ministry will fall under (whether through a certain mission, our local church, etc.) and what structure will be needed to start up.  While there are other ministries here in Quito that seek to minister to youth, there are none that are doing this type of thing.    Rick wants to share more about his dreams in a separate email, so I’ll let him fill you in later.

These changes in ministry will also mean significant changes in our financial needs.  I will continue to receive a monthly stipend from Alliance Academy, but Rick will not (as he will not be teaching there next year).  This means that now, more than ever, we need to increase our financial support from friends and family in the States.  To replace the Rick’s stipend from the school, we’ll need an additional $1000 per month.  This is a new challenge for us, as we have not had to do much fund raising in the past.  It is our hope that you will consider supporting us in a financial way (even if it is only $10 or $25 a month) over the next year so that we can continue to minister here in Quito.

Rick and I plan to be in the States this summer for about four weeks.  We will be in the Los Angeles area from June 18th - 28th.  We will then fly to the Kansas City/Springfield area from June 29th - July 20th.  We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends again, since it has been two years since we have been able to do so.  Please let us know if we can spend time with you while we are there!

Thank you, always, for your prayer and your support of this ministry that God has given us.  We are always thankful for you!

Rachel Sams

Hello, dear friends and family!

I hope you will indulge me, as a sort through my thoughts about ministry to the wealthy…

What does it mean to minister to the wealthy?  This is something that I have pondered many times over the last few years.  Do not the wealthy also need Christ? What does that ministry look like?

How do you minister to someone who believes that they can obtain all that they need through money? How do you teach grace to someone who relies on their lawyer to settle their disputes (in a government where bribes and ‘knowing the right person’ constitutes power)? How do you profess the truth of “there is now no condemnation in Christ” to a group of people who live in fear of judgment from others?

Their basic, human needs are met.  They have plenty of food.  Their ’shelter’ often consists of beautiful homes (with maids, butlers, drivers, etc.).  Many are kept ’safe’ by armed guards at the gates of their homes, body guards when they leave the house, bars on their windows, and guard dogs to protect the property.  Clothing often comes from shopping sprees to Miami, New York, or Buenos Aires.  These people do not appear to be ‘in need’.

And yet…

Parents operate under high levels of stress, trying to meet the social norms.  There is much negative stigma if one is seen outside one’s house in anything less than the best clothing.  Women do not go to the store in their sweats (usually they are dressed in business suits and 5 inch heels) and their hair/nails are always salon-perfect.  “What might people think?” is almost the national catch-phrase and many people live in fear of gossip and back biting.  Many live with feelings of guilt and anxiety that they are not living up to social expectations, no matter how hard they try.

Many of their children are raised primarily by nannies and maids.  Parents are often away due to work, golf, tennis, or climbing the social ladder.  Nannies and maids are not given permission to correct or discipline the children, so they often grow up with little understanding of limits, rules, or expectations.  Many of them really struggle with frustration management skills, as well as impulse control.  Many of them desperately crave any attention that they can get from their parents.

Families often will profess to be Christians (either Evangelical or Catholic), but many have no real understanding of what that means.  Many have never opened a Bible, have no idea of what prayer truly is, and have never experienced a true relationship with Christ.

Time after time, our elementary teachers tell of meetings with parents that go something like this:
Parent: Does my child really need a Bible for their school work?
Teacher:  We do use them in class…  Why?
Parent:  Well, my son/daughter came home from chapel today.  They told me that they accepted Jesus as their Savior, and that now they need to read the Bible daily.  They even want me to read it to them at bedtime.  I don’t always understand what I am reading, but I do it.

Many of these same parents will later joined a Bible Study (or two), so that they can learn more about God.  Many have made professions of faith within the first semester of the school year.  Parents are invited, and frequently attend, the weekly chapel services for their child’s grade level at school.

I have found, over and over again, a great hunger and loneliness in many of the parents of our students. They long for relationships and respond quickly when treated with respect, love, and acceptance. They are surprised when teachers and staff reach out to them (in love, not with reproach or criticism), and very quickly open their hearts. They talk about feelings of guilt, depression, and isolation. Many speak of broken marriages and broken homes. Their ‘success’ has separated them from many of the people who might otherwise have helped them.

They are lonely. They are broken. They need Christ.

So, when people ask me what I am doing in Ecuador, this is one of the mission fields that I speak of. Through my job as a school counselor, I am not meeting needs of physical hunger or poverty. I am not actively involved in clothing the naked or providing shelter for the homeless. I am, however, meeting the needs of spiritual hunger and emotional poverty. I model and teach the full armor of God. I am providing a community of love and shelter for those without spiritual and emotional resources. I get to reflect the love of Christ for the hurting, accept others in their brokenness, and show kindness to those who only know distrust.

I know that The Gospel is needed by all. We are all broken. We are hungry. We are all yearning for a home that we do not yet know. We are all in need of Him.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be His hands and feet, regardless of where I am. This is true in the lines at the supermarket (even when others cut in front of me). This is true of how I treat the beggars on the street, or the shoe shine boys who won’t take ‘no’ as an answer (they are remarkably persistent!). This is true of how I respond to a parent who is reacting to how a counselor/teacher/staff corrected their child (especially if they bring their lawyer to help ‘settle’ the dispute).

I know my own brokenness. I am so aware of my own areas of sin. Because of this, I also know the wonder and beauty of grace! I only hope that God will continue to use me, to help reveal this Truth and this Wonder to others around me!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support for this ministry in Ecuador.  We know that God is using you, and that you are an integral part of our being here!

Rachel Sams

Dear friends and family,

Last week included several Ecuadorian holidays (so we had a five day weekend), which found us traveling and unable to write emails for a few days.  All Saints Day / Day of the Dead is celebrated in Quito, with families spending time together, remembering those who have passed on, and visiting the grave sites of deceased family members.  While they do not have the parades that one tends to think of with Day of the Dead celebrations, it is definitely a time to remember family members and also a time to reflect on the realities of life and death in our world.

Here at Alliance Academy we have come to the end of our first quarter.  Grade cards go home this week and this Friday will be Parent/Teacher Conferences.  This is a source of stress for students and staff alike, as all are wrapping up loose ends from this last quarter, while still preparing for the second quarter to begin.

One new adventure is the beginning of a small group called Finding Balance With Food that I will be co-hosting for our high school girls.  The curriculum is a Christian program with a focus on who we are in Christ and how that overflows into all areas of our life, including our self concept.  So far we have only two girls signed up.  I do not know if more will join, or if we will remain with two students and two leaders.  Either way, it is an exciting new endeavor.  I am hopeful that we will be able to offer this small group several times over the next year or two.

Tonight will be the fourth meeting Peer Helpers (our high school group with a focus on learning how to minister to others).  So far we have focused on Listening Skills and Communication Skills.  Tonight we will talk about Conflict Resolution Skills (incorporating what we have covered in past weeks).  As always, the reality of the Gospel and God’s grace is a crucial part of why we treat others (and ourselves) the way that we do, and a huge part of why we seek to treat others with respect.  As C.S. Lewis said, “You have never met a mere mortal.”.  Many of our Peer Helpers are also seniors, which means we are preparing them to continue reaching out to others in the years to come, no matter where they will land.  We are preparing missionaries for the His Gospel!

We have remained in contact with many of our seniors from last year, too.  It is encouraging to see them continue to grow and mature.  Many of them face challenges of acculturation, separation from family, working for the first time, and finding a church home without parental assistance (as many of their parents are still in Ecuador).  For many this is a time to re-evaluate their faith, and can be very challenging for them.  Please pray that God will continue to guide their hearts and will provide them with His Truth during these times of growing pains.  They are dear to our hearts and we hope to be able to see some of them at Christmas time (as they will come back to Quito to visit their families then).

Our church here in Quito has had several exciting events this last month.  Two Sundays ago we had a baptism of a young woman.  She returned to Quito about a year ago when her marriage ended, and she has been raising her two children with the help of her family members.  She has been studying the Word with several of our women at English Fellowship Church and we were thrilled to see her decision to be baptized and to dedicate her children to the Lord.

Another exciting event was the declaration of faith by a young woman coming out of the gang lifestyle.  She is still in the process of separating from the gang, and it is still unclear what that process will look like (that is pretty much up to the gang).  She is unsure if her life will be in danger and we are in prayer for her.  The pastor has asked if I will meet with her as she negotiates this process, and I have said yes.  We are still figuring out the details…  I foresee other similar situations in the future, as EFC also has a strong ministry within the women’s prisons (both during their incarceration, as well as after their release).

As I mentioned in my last email, Rick has notified the school that he will not be returning to teach at Alliance Academy next year.  He hopes to be able to maintain his relationships with the students here, serving in a relational, mentoring type role but does not plan to be on staff.  He has had several meetings with other ministries in Quito, and is actively seeking what doors God would open for him.  His heart for youth ministry is so strong and he would love to be able to work in a field that allowed him to focus on this area.  We will keep you updated as we know more.  Please keep us in your prayers as we seek His will for next year.

I have attached a list of the positions that will be open for next year at AAI.  Many of our staff came on three year contracts, which end at the end of this school year.  If you know of anyone who might be interested in serving at Alliance Academy International, please feel free to pass this information on to them.

As always, thank you for your prayers and support.  May God bless and keep you always,

Rachel Sams