Please click on name and see a greeting from each one.
We can still remember our flight from NYC to Guayaquil, Ecuador like it was yesterday. There were five of us assigned to Ecuador: Robert & Laura Harriman, Cindy Burr and us. Cindy Burr was assigned to Quito and the Harrimans and we were assigned to Machala, Ecuador. However, not so fast! There was a war going on between Ecuador and Peru at the time and Machala was in the south of the country not far from the border with Peru. So the Branch did not send us to Machala immediately. The Harrimans were assigned as missionaries living at the Branch. We were assigned to the Guayaquil missionary home, where another 8 missionaries already lived. The Harrimans and we had our language training together. Finally, about 2-1/2 months later the four of us arrived in Machala. There were 3 congregations in Machala at the time. We were assigned to the Machala-Sur Congregation.
It was a challenge. The congregation was about 75% inactive and there was definitely a lot of work to be done. Our joy was in the ministry. Before long we had more than 30 Bible Studies between us. Some of these progressed to baptism. It was a thrill to see them make such good progress.
Later we were reassigned to Santo Domingo de los Colorados in Ecuador. We were there a short while.
In 1983 we settled in Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca is at an altitude of about 9,000 ft. The climate was definitely more desirable than the three previous locations. Cuenca was/is the “Bible belt” of Ecuador, with the exception that no one there knew much about the Bible!
Alice continued in the full-time service in Cuenca and both of us had fruitful Bible Studies there. We still communicate with loved ones. The Harrimans were also able to return for a while to Ecuador with their children and we enjoyed having them close to us again.
In 1994 we returned to USA to care for Alice’s Mom who had begun to show deteriorating health. Her needs grew with time and later she lived next door to us and finally lived with us for a short time before she died as a faithful sister in November, 2007.
Alice is still in the full-time service and we are serving in an English congregation in Waynesville, NC. As of this writing, there is an Hispanic “group” meeting in the same Kingdom Hall. The group is hosted by the Asheville West Spanish Congregation. If the ‘group’ becomes a congregation, it is possible that we will switch to Spanish.
We thank Jehovah for His undeserved kindness in allowing us the privilege of serving as we have. It was likewise a privilege to share part of our life with all those that attended the 69th class of Gilead.
Here are some pictures from our assignment in Guayaquil, then in Machala, Ecuador. Gene in the Kingdom Hall, the Machala Missionary Home and Alyce with our Spanish Instructor, Nilsa, and some friends in Machala.
Alyce learned Spanish sign language and worked quite a bit with the deaf. Here are some pictures of some of the deaf students as well as a deaf group at an assembly in Quito. In the one of the 4 girls, the girl on the right is deaf and progressed to baptism. In the one of Alyce with the brother to the right of her, he is also deaf and progressed to baptism.
