A lot has happened!

Howdy all y'all! Things have been moving right along down here. Last time you heard from me I was looking for a job, well none of places that I applied at gave me a call back. Academy seemed to be the most promising, but after going once a week to talk to the manager about it, he told me that all position  are done through computer now and that if I hadn't gotten a call yet it was because my resume didn't look good enough. However, the good news is that I am currently helping out at in the kitchen eight hours a week, it's not much but every little bit helps with the bills. All that to say that the Lord provided in His own way.

Quick recap:

- Helped cook swap engines out  on his daily driver
- We are now at the halfway point of the semester
- Ecuador flight ticket has been bought!
- Wrote a three page paper in Spanish
- Color me Rad came to Corpus

  Overall, things aren't too bad.

The biggest thing that has happened is that a group of students and myself were able to take a trip to Corpus for the weekend. We were able to go to the Texas State Aquarium, have a bonfire on the beach, go to church at Bayshore Bible Church and go to a christian concert that was in town.

Everyone that went had a wonderful time and for most of them, it was the first time that they had every had a chance to do something like this. I would like to thank all the people who were involved in getting us to Corpus, those who cooks, donated food, donated gas money, donated firewood, donated aquarium tickets, everything.

Thank you very much for letting me share a bit of my hometown.

I have not forgotten!

The two week mark has just slipped by since the last update, and what do we have here?! Another update! I'm trying to make sure that I keep all y'all in the loop of what is going on and how things are progressing.

School is still going well, my Vida Familiar class in the evenings has been very enjoyable so far. At times it is a little hard to follow with all the jumping around that can be done, however I can say I understand 98% (-/+) of what is talked about word for word.

I am still going down to Mexico each Sunday at 3pm-8:45pm to help out and be the games leader for the local kids when we go down to the house church.

Two Saturdays ago we went down for a work project of clearing a field of rocks so that we would have a place to be able to play games at, instead of in the middle of the side street. We had a lot of help from the fellow students that went and also some of the families in the neighborhood. All in all we had 22 adults there helping out. It was hot work, but will be well worth it. We all shared a lunch, and have to say that it was THE best green spaghetti that I've ever eaten.

This last weekend I was able to head back to Corpus and participate in the Color Me Rad 5K Run/walk. I had a group of friends doing it, along with my parents and we made a morning of it. As you can see, from the start to finish of the race our shirts had a handful of changes made to them. I was tons of fun and was a good way to get out of the daily routine of school.

 

I am still looking for a job. I have gone and seen the manager at Academy 5 different times to help with my chances of being hired on. When I went and talked with him Monday, he told me that they were no longer taking application and we sifting through them now. He also told me that there were over 120 people who had applied for the 2 jobs slots. However he did say that he was impressed with me going to see him each week to keep him reminded about it and would look out for my name, although there were wanting someone who had worked in retail before. So if I get this job, Lord knows that I didn't have anything to do with it.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post and look for me to post something else in just over 2 weeks!

Prayers:

Job -  That I will be able to get a job, or if not the Lord will open up other possibilities.
Health - Looks like I might have Pink Eye possibly. I have eye drops that I was given today and they seem to be helping. I think I picked it up from one of the missionary families that had it last week.
Direction - There are quite a few large things that I have to decide on during this semester, prayer for guidance and clarity.

Out of Winter Hibernation

As most of you have realized by this time, I might not be the most consecutive blog poster of all time. That being said, each time I do post something my post percentage does get better.

Christmas break for the most part went great! I was able to visit with the family, meet up with long distance friends from out of state, go to my home church, have a beach bonfire, work some at my old job and have the opportunity to go to  Passsion2013 in Atlanta.

Passion was a total God thing. I found of that I was going at 9am December 31st, the ride to get there was leaving at 3pm that same day. I had to pack, change work schedules and everything but God made sure that everything just fell into place and was able to get there and enjoy some wonderful speakers, make great new friends, refresh my soul and be spoken to by the Lord. He knew that the conference was something that I needed and made sure that I got there.

I am back at school in the Valley (Rio Grande Bible Institute), for the semester and will be finishing up with the language program in this May.

While I wasn't the keenest about Christmas break coming to an end, I was a happier about being back than I expected after arriving. It has been great seeing everyone and catching up on what they did for break. Classes started the 8th and I have already completed a full be week of schooling. This semester on top of what the class dictates me to take, I will also be taking Vida Familiar on Monday nights. This is a Bible school class and I will be taking it with the rest of the normal students that are not in the language program. I have been told that it is a very good class and am looking forward to it, although it does mean that I will be reading close to fifty pages a week in Spanish for this class alone. It will be worth it though. This semester is going to be packed!

Prayer requests:

School load - this will be a busy semester with all the classes and school work.
Job - Trying to get hired at the Academy across the street to help pay for school and daily expenses. Pray that if God wants me to have a job that I will be hired and if not that I will not get the job so that I can focus on other things.
Health - I have had a cough since March of 2012. I have been to the doctor twice for it and so far they do not know what I have. For wisdom.
Focus - That I will stay on track to finish all my work in a timely manner and make the best use of my time.


Stay warm and come back soon! Another update at the end of the month to follow!!!

Nope. Still not a zombie...

After living here for a month, things are going pretty well. I haven't been sick, classes still make sense most of the time, the food isn't poison AND I haven't been killed off yet. All in all, it hasn't been too shabby. But in all seriousness, those are things to be thankful for. So far, so good. Also, I went back to Corpus for Labor day! First time that I was able to be with my family close to my dad's family in two years. I had a great time and it really is a huge perk being less than a 3hr drive away as opposed to a 6hr flight. 

P.S. I now own more collared/button up shirts than I do t-shirts. There's a first time to everything!  AND I'm for sure holding the #1 slot for slickest unmarried white male on campus... Although I will be the first to day that the competition is a bit lacking.

At the moment, classes are smooth, understandable and about to get hard. Or at least, I know the end is near. What was once me wading in Spanish has turned into treading water, which will be in the near future become me drowning.  I am still amazed at how much my grammar has improved, even in this short month. Although now when I go to pray, I can't figure out which language I'm supposed to be doing it it. It turns is to a poor excuse for gibberish most times, accompanied by smatterings of Spanglish. Little by little my brain is being hijacked from me.... pretty soon my thoughts will look like this guy.

In my previous post, you would see that God was just smothering me with "Give me your desires and dreams, die to yourself." Now the tune of the song has changed to "Give me your distractions, focus on me." While it may seem obvious to some of y'all, these things go hand in hand with each other, and in most cases overlap. Strangely, this second, seeming simpler part is harder to follow through with than the first. While dreams and desires are things that we desperately want to hold on to, they are all future and aren't quite as tangible as of right now. However, the distractions are happening constantly and right now. Whether they be the rabbit trails your brain follows, the people you keep in contact with, the amount of exercise you do, how much food you eat or even the songs that are stuck in your head. All these things are taking conscious thoughts, and while not anything wrong in their own right, need to be filtered and have their worth tested. Sometimes, it could be you just need to fast from something, in order to keep your perspective from being overtaken. Sometime stressful, frustrating, aggravating, seemingly senseless and in constant need of patrolling, I have faith that it is worth it in the end.  

If you would like more information on what I am doing please feel free to find me on Facebook and/or send me an email to jakeinecuador@gmail.com and I will do my best to get back to you as my school schedule allows.

If you feel led to support me, please send donations in my name to:

Bayshore Bible Church

2145 Rodd Field Rd. 
Corpus Christi, TX 78414

Life on la Isla de RGBI

After living here at RGBI for two weeks, I have to say one thing; God must know I have a thick head. If I don't learn a lick Spanish while I am here, He is making sure I get one thing down pat; die to myself and give my dreams to him. Since I have been here, this topic has come up on average, once every two days or more. All in new and different situations; in church, in my tutor class, talking to fellow students, while playing Ping-Pong, daily devotions, EVERYWHERE. And to make things even more interesting, it is I picked up on it at the beginning! But still The Lord persists to steer conversations in this direction. I guess He knows that I need to be reminded about it every now and again, but this is a whole lot more intense and more often than normal reminders on things that I get. So here I am, waiting for the next rock to step to.

Shifting gears, school has been going well over all. My roommate, Jamil, and I get along well, despite the fact he likes to keep the room hovering just above cryo- freeze temperature.

 I'm getting into the swing of going to classes every day, and have already learned a lot of things that I knew, but didn't know how to use, and my grammar has improved noticeably.  After I am done with all of my classes, in the afternoons I'm helping out at the repair shop on campus. Doing whatever they need me to, from wiring thermostats in dorms and changing oil to fiddling with bike brakes. Along with that, if there is nothing for me to do, I am learning how to weld. Which I am very excited about, and have wanted to learn how to weld for many years. So far, I've just set myself on fire once, from getting my shirt too close to the radiant heat. The burn is healing well and is not bothering me at all.

On Sunday afternoons, I and seven other people are going Reynosa, Mexico to minister to the kids of two different neighborhoods. While yes, it is in Mexico, we are not near the main area of the city and there has been nothing eventful happening there.

Prayer Request:

• Transportation - I do not have any way to get places without bumming a ride. While I am not against doing this, few people have cars, and those who do are married and have kids they need to take care. This makes it more difficult to have the same opening in schedule that they do. Wal-Mart is a good walk of 5 miles round trip and most other places are closer to 7 miles with the temperature just under 100*. It is like living on an island, without a boat. Looking for a cheap car/motorcycle/something.

• Reynosa - While the area we are in is safe, please pray for the continued safety of the trips as well as for the openness of the people that we will be ministering to.

• Continued diligence - In all aspects of life. Spiritual, physically and educationally.

A different type of teaching... being taught.

For the past two years, I have been teaching. However, that has now changed and I am now being taught. Life on the other side of the table if you will. I feel that in order for me to be able to do the best work possible in Ecuador, I need to be able to reach people not only with my actions, but by communicating with them and being able to share experiences, whether it be just chewing the fat, talking things happening in life or passing on encouragement. At the current stage of my Spanish, I am not able to do that efficiently. While I could speak some and understand most, there was great room for improvement. Because of that, I am currently attending Rio Grande Bible Institute (RGBI), in Edinburg, Texas a missionary language school. (http://www.riogrande.edu/English/language_school.html)

I arrived on the 5^th of August and classes started today. I know that I will learn a tremendous amount while I am here. Not only on the language side of things, but also about other cultures, living in community, organization and above all spiritually.   I will graduate in May 2013 and have plans of returning to Ecuador for the long term.

I feel that this is the direction that The Lord is leading me to and this is the next step in getting there. Due to the 19 hour work load of Spanish, plus non credited Spanish activities that I am expected to attend, the school will not let me get a job in town so that I can focus on my studies. Going to school, while very cheap compared to many other places at roughly $4,200 a semester, it is still money that God is providing through donations. For the time that I am here at school, it will cost me roughly $9,000-$10,000 for both semesters, as well as money for traveling to speaking events and paying for one times purchases that I have had to make, such as books and a computer. I am 100% faith funded and I am asking that you would prayerfully consider supporting me, whether monetarily and/or through prayer, as both things are essential.

If you would like more information on what I am doing please feel free to send me an email to jakeinecuador@gmail.com and I will do my best to get back to you as my school schedule allows.

If you feel led to support me, please send donations in my name to:

Bayshore Bible Church

2145 Rodd Field Rd.

Corpus Christi, Texas 78414

Out of hibernaion

Hello long lost internet people, as y'all can see from the last entry (September), it's been a while. That being said, I'll touch on some of main things that have happened in the last 6 months really quickly.

- The auction went great and I was able to raise a good amount of funds from it. Thank you so much to everyone who helped, either bidding, supporting, just looking, praying or spreading the word about it.

- I was able to go back to the States for Christmas this year (2011)! I was able to find some very cheap airfare and spent almost 2 week state side visiting with family and friends. It was a blessing being able to go as I had missed it the year before.

- Willie (one of the fellow interns) when back to the states as planned before he came and now I am teaching History class. 

- Truck! I bought a vehicle. Late in January, there were some missionary friends of mine that leaving to go back to the Colorado, and I bought their Chevy Blazer.  It needs/needed a good dose of love, but once the bridge is finished being put together, it should get me to Pusuno just fine.

- We are in the process of having two more intern cabin being built. One is in the electrical stage, and the other is just piers at the moment.

- The house of Roberto and his family is getting close to being done. They are planning to move in by this Easter, even though things are not quite 100% finished.

- Oh! One of the several teams that we have had come down to help, brought at water filter for the school/house and helped install a cistern. This means that we are now able to fill up our water jugs at the school from the tap water and no long have to worry about running out of water, because the truck didn't show up for a week.

- There is a team from Texas/Arkansas that my family has put together, that will be coming down at the end of May. I am really excited about this, since I have never actually 'known' anyone who is come before as part of a group and I am looking forward to seeing family and close friends.

- Spencer and I have been playing futbol (Soccer) with our neighbors most afternoons after school for the last couple of weeks. This has helped our Spanish and our relationships with the people we live around. While they used to talk to us when we approached them, now they are seem happier to talk to us and have us around. Especially the kids, they wave and call to us every time we pass by them.

 As always, prayers are appreciated:

- Car mercies, there have been several small things happen while I have had it. Nothing major, just frustrating.

-  Two of our 1st grade students do not have sponsors; Eduardo and Pamela.

- We are starting our third trimester in school, for all the students and teachers to finish the school year strong.

- That the next year's teachers will listen to The Lord's call and be prepared to come down.

I think that is all for now, y'all are now all caught up on most of exciting/new/import things that have been happen to us jungle dwellers. 

Cross from Nate Saint house

Some of you have have heard the names of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderin and Peter Fleming.  These are names that just over 50 years ago rocked the Christian and secular worlds alike. In 1956 these five American men were killed by the very people, the Auca Indians,  that they were trying to reach with the gospel of Christ. This group of young men gave thier lives so that the Auca would have the opportunity to know Christ on a personal level.  They have become well-known throughout the world, and a few years back, their story was even told in Hollywood through the film End of the Spear.  Many people have great respect for these men and their families, and rightly so. For this group of people were used by God in a way that would forever change the mission field and Ecuador its self. Even after the death of their husbands and fathers of their children, the families continued serving God, in Quito, Ed's wife, Marilou McCully set up a school for missionary children.  Barbara Youderin went to work with another Missionary, Frank Downs, who worked with the Jivaro Indians of eastern Ecuador.  Elisabeth Elliot continued to work with the Aucas with Rachel Saint (Nate's sister) for several years, had a radio program and wrote several books.

• It has been stated, "The deaths of these men, a personal tragedy for their families, has become a world-wide testimony of faith in Christ and dedication to the work of God, which is much, much bigger than the conversion of a jungle tribe to Christianity." ---http://www.christianheroes.com/people/christian_heroes_jim_elliot.asp

The Waorani (also known as Auishiri, Huao, Huaorani, Sabela, Waodani) people formerly named Auca Indians, have one of the most dramatic and exstreme changes in their lifestyle as a testement to the impact of the way that Christ's love can transform us.  The term Auca is actually the name the Quichua gave to them, which translates roughly into English as "savage!"  They have changed their name since people from all around were afraid of them and were known as the tribe that killed people. They felt that since they have changed (been transformed) that they are no longer the "feared Auca Indians".  For a more detailed account on how they have changed, follow this link and read the article  (http://www.connectionmagazine.org/archives_old/archives/1998/september/amazon.htm.).

 Bellow the photos is the history of the cross and story behind it.



Full view, slightly smaller than this picture (6.25"x4"). 

Itota is the Waoroni word for Jesus

bottom part of front of cross

back of cross, the grandson's signature 

Nate Saint's, the pilot, had a house in Shell, Ecuador.  Over the years, it had become severely damaged by termites, weather and age, the house needed to be rebuilt. Because of the significance the house played in the area and what it meant to missionarys in the country, they decided to renovate it and actually just finished this summer. It was with the discarded original lumber that the grandson of one of the native Waoroni Indians, Mincaye, who killed the five Missionaries, constructed this cross. He has crafted roughly 200 crosses.The grandsons uses the crosses and other products to sell for funds for jungle mission work and to help maintain the restored house. 

A PIECE OF HISTORY THAT KEEPS THE STORY GOING

From the blog, "Musings from Graceland" who had three teenagers go on mission trips this past summer, and I had donated some items to their auction.


In 1956, 5 young missionaries were killed in the jungles of Ecuador as they worked to build a relationship with indigenous people who had long been known for their violent ways and isolated culture. Nate Saint and the other missionaries, including Jim Elliot, "had a burning desire to follow Jesus' command to take the gospel message into all the world. They had prayed for years for this primitive group that had never heard the redemption story of peace with God through the death of Christ."*Because of their deaths, untold numbers of young people were motivated to give their lives to taking the message of Jesus to the unreached across the world. And today, a new generation is growing up and many of them are choosing to turn away from the its-all-about-me Western mentality and live their lives for the sake of the call...the call to take the pace and love of Jesus to dark and hurting places.

The home of Nate Saint still stands. It is still used as a base for mission work in Ecuador. But over the decades, the house began to need work done on it and termite infestation meant that if major restoration was not undertaken, it would fall to bits. The restoration process took place last year and now pieces of the wood and nails are being used to make handcrafts that provide a financial living for area Ecuadorians. The cross we now have is fashioned from wood that was part of the house that Nate Saint and his family called home and that many of the other area missionaries would often gather in for meetings and fellowship.

To read more about the life of Nate Saint, go to this website: http://www.atanycost.org/
To read about the house restoration, go to: http://www.outreachmagazine.com/news-and-stories/organizations/3895-Rebuilt-Nate-Saint-House-Dedicated-Ecuador.html
*Quoted from: http://www.atanycost.org/images/DidTheyHaveToDie.pdf

http://www.christianheroes.com/people/christian_heroes_jim_elliot.asp
http://www.bobjordan.net/ministry/catalyst/natesaint.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHPcioYjhmg

Now this simple, wooden cross, is a reminder of the lives that were freely given for the cause of Christ and the life that Christ gave for all of us.

The bidding on this simple yet powerful cross will start at $20.

Auction Information

As most of y'all have noticed, there has been a whole lot of postings and not a lot of information being updated. And I'm sure more than one person has asked what this whole auction thing is about, and I'm more than positive that a couple are wondering about what I am doing down here.

To start off, this is my second year down here in Ecuador (which last year can be read about on the first several posts on here), I work for Jungle Kids for Christ in Pununo, about 30 minutes from Tena. I am currently teaching English 3 days a week and as soon as we get transportation for me, I will be traveling to the isolated community of Pusuno which is deader in the jungle. There I will be teaching English again for another three days a week, traveling back and forth from to teach at both schools.  I encourage you to email or facebook me about what I'm doing here in Ecuador and how I got here. 

Now to get onto the auction part of it. Before the first year down here in Ecuador, I worked several jobs prior to leaving to pay for about 65-70% of my yearly expenses.  I also had family and several very good friends donate money to help make sure that all my bills got paid and expenses were met. The Lord called me back for another year service down here and since the Ecuadorian government wont allow me to get paid down here due to a low amount of jobs, I am having to raise money by other means. While I was in states over the summer, I was able to raise a little bit of money. I have  about $500-550/month in expenses (food, cell phone, internet, bus/taxi, school supplies, etc) plus my travel (airfare, visas, etc) to come back to the USA at once/year. I will also have a new expense this year; gas and maintenance on a used ATV that the organization will purchase to get me back and forth to the small village downriver of Pusuno. 

Last year, we had some good friends, who are very missions minded, have an auction to help support their trips. I liked the idea, so we stole it and it is one of the ways we are helping to raise funds for me to be here. Also, you get some really neat-o stuff in return for your support. So you can't really go wrong there either.

Since I am in Ecuador, a good 3,000+ miles from all of y'all, my family is helping me out. A TON. All the items are at my house and at the end of the auction they will deliver your items as soon as they can.  If you live close by, it will be taken to your house or business. They will mail all items to people that are farther than 30 miles away. There is no additional cost for either delivery fee.  We will just ask for confirmation on mailed items.

I (Jake) will receive 100% of the funds that are raised from this auction and they will help support me for the rest of the year.

If you are wanting to bid on this item, please post the amount you would like to bid in the comments. It will be delivered to you after the auction ends (and payment is received). I will have several items from Ecuador to sell and even items from other parts of the world that will be posted later on.

I really encourage to keep coming back since it will take several days to get all the items up. Also, if you wouldn't mind spreading the word about this with other people that would be stupendous.

You can be outbid, you will put the amount you want to bid in the comment section.  The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction will be awarded the item.  If there is something that you are wanting, make sure that you check back often.

We (myself and my family) will try to describe to the best of our abilities from what we know personally or what we have found off the internet.  If the item did not meet your expectations, please let us know and we will refund your money, minus the return shipping.  We want you to be pleased with your purchase.

I greatly appreciate you looking at these items and supporting the Lord's ministry has let me be apart of.

Six headbands from Ecuador - bid for your favorite one

Green, blue, black, white stripe                                  Torquoise solid

  Blue, black, white stripe                                           Lime solid                                      

Torquoise, blue, green, white stripe                          Pink solid

 one of the ways you could wear it

Look at the previous post to see different poses.

The striped headbands he bought in the town of Banos, where he says are hot springs

and a tourist spot and many natives go there - it means "bath" there ~~~smile~~~.

The solid headbands were bought in Quito.

You are bidding for one headband at a time.  You can bid on more than one if you would like.  I personally own one and I use it quite frequently.  It is breathable and it is does not make you sweat.

ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO JAKE BICKHAM TO HELP FUND HIS SUPPORT AS HE IS LIVING IN ECUADOR AS A MISSIONARY IN THE AMAZON JUNGLE. If you are wanting to bid on this item, please post the amount you would like to bid in the comments. It will be delivered to you after the auction ends (and payment is received). This auction ends at 8am on Wednesday, September 28th.  Shipping in included in the auction price.

Jake will have several items (blankets, jewelry, purses, paintings, scarves, hammocks and even items from other parts of the world) going up for auction over several days, please feel free to keep coming back.

THIS IS AN ONLINE AUCTION - WHERE YOU PUT THE AMOUNT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BID AND PEOPLE CAN OUTBID YOU IF THEY CHOOSE. THE HIGHEST BIDDER AT THE CLOSING DATE OF THE AUCTION WILL BE AWARDED THE ITEM.

Starting bid is $3 for the solid, $3.50 for the striped.  Make sure you put description by your bid amount