Quito Bible Class and the Arrival of Antti and Aino Paananen

We held the second Wednesday evening Bible Class in Quito. There were about 19 persons present. The topic continued to be an overview of the Old Testament. In two lessons, we only made it through about 25 books. That in itself is a lot of ground to cover. We will next turn our attention to an oversight of the New Testament for two weeks and then onto topics more easily covered in one hour.

Anais, a young Bible Class student.

 

Again the Ecuadorians shined in their eagerness for more knowledge of the Bible. Many took pages of notes. They seemed surprised by some of the Old Testament events. Teodoro Herandez showed up with a slide screen the week before and Miguel Panizo had constructed a framework from which to hang the screen. It was ready to go. Walt, however, made a fatal error by forgetting to take the projector in his backpack. They were forgiving and one said "we have three months."

Note the overhead projection screen purchased for Quito Bible Class presentations.

Antti and Aino Paananen arrived in Quito on time at 4:30 pm Wednesday after a long day. Aino, a dentist, speaks English very well. Both are retired. Antti worked as a priest and teacher and is still active on an opisto board. We had a brief discussion on the possibilities of broadcasting translated services in Spanish once per month from Finland. It takes place during the suviseurat, but not otherwise. He is in a position to have it considered. They took a quick and light supper and went to sleep. It was close to 24 hours since they had awoke in Finland to start the trip.

Antti and Aino Paananen of Finland. Antti came to serve the believers of Ecuador with God's Word.

 

Many things are a challenge in Ecuador. We had to plan out just how we would be able to pick up the Paananen's and get five adults to the airport on Friday for our trip to Guayaquil. The taxis are very small, usually only sized for three people and little luggage. So to get to the airport would not be a problem. Avis, Veronica and I would fit in one taxi. To get five people back with a lot of luggage is a problem. We reviewed the options: 1) Take two taxis. 2) Take a bus which would be slower plus it wouldn't deliver us to our apartment. We would need to haul the suitcases down the streets. 3) Ask Teodoro who has a cargo van if he could help. 4) Ask a couple who once were believers and had a large car if they could help.

While driving down the street for other business one day our taxi came along side a nice looking van that was for rent. Waiting for the light, a discussion took place and the driver of the van jumper out and give us his card. So that became a fifth possibility and probably the one we will use when the five of us need to go from our apartment to the airport on Friday.

So some things in everyday life that are easily solvable in States require much thinking here.

Walt and Avis