Almost done
Saturday,May 25,2013
We're about to return home, so for the moment you're just going to get a quick summary.
We left at 4am for Lima, Dad, David, Anabel, and myself.
In Lima we had a few hours layover so we grabbed some lunch
and saw the President of Peru.
We also took a quick tour of the catacombs for David.
We arrived in Iquitos in the evening and Joy was no where to be found
(she had supposedly arrived early in the morning).
We checked into the hotel and went straight to the church and found her
hanging out with the leaders and their wives.
We had a quick meeting with the pastor and leaders and worked out a
schedule for the week.
So we have spent the week doing meetings, mainly in high schools,
first the class on dinosaurs and the flood, followed by Redeemer,
and then sketchboard. We also did a couple of plaza meetings.
It's been really hot, and humid, and wet, and we take 3 showers
every day, except for Joy and Bob, who don't believe in showers.
They have converted to Rastafarianism. Please pray for them. Just
kidding, except that it is really hot and humid and wet.
On Wednesday and Friday nights we gave the main seminar at the church.
The pastor and everyone enjoyed it and are wanting to know when we
will return to give more conferences. Today David taught some of the
church leaders the sketchboard.
Tomorrow we leave, and we should be returning to Atlanta on Monday morning!
Posted by: Charles O'Donnell
Ecuador: Quinindé and Quito
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Well, we arrived safely on Friday evening, at about 11pm, and spent a short night with the Proaño in Quito. At 4am we left and drove with David to the city of Quinindé, towards the coast. There we gave an all-day seminar to the students of the satellite of MINTS, the same seminary we worked with last year, and then in the evening dad preached at a local church.
The next day, Sunday, David preached in the same church, and we spent the rest of the day working on our presentation. On Monday morning, we presented for about 90 minutes to a group of 200 high school students on the topic of dinosaurs and the flood, ending with a gospel presentation. The talk produced many questions and seemingly a lot of interest. That afternoon we returned to Quito.
Today, Tuesday, we gave the dinosaur-flood presentation at a local high school, and then went to another high school where we spoke to a group of teachers about problems with the Big Bang in the areas of cosmology and geology.
We are doing well, a bit tired, and I picked up a bunch of nasty mosquito bites in Quinindé, but God is good and we are happy to be doing his work. Tomorrow night we will be presenting at the Proaños' church here in Quito.
Saturday seminar students - Quinindé
High school students - Quinindé
High school students - Quito
High school teachers - Quito
Posted by: Charles O'Donnell
Leaving tomorrow
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tomorrow we leave for our two-week trip to Ecuador and Peru. In Ecuador we will be teaching my dad's class in three major cities, and in Peru we will be traveling with David Proaño and a small team to the city of Iquitos, where we will teach the class in at least one church and we will preach in plazas and possibly some schools and police departments around the area.
Please pray for safety, energy, and effectiveness as we will have a busy schedule speaking in front of many people.
We will try our best to update regularly during the trip, but it will depend on internet availability.
Posted by: Charles O'Donnell
November 2012 Trip Summary
Friday, Feburary 15, 2013
Quito, Ecuador: 11/02/2012 to 11/12/2012
Teaching: Robert E. O'Donnell
Interpreting: Charles O'Donnell
The Goal, to teach my class: Genesis vs. Evolution
The goal of the class is to greatly encourage Christian believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Creator of all things and that every word of scripture, starting with the first verse in Genesis and through to the last verse of Revelation is the truth of the Gospel and can be trusted in its historical parts as well as its spiritual parts. In particular the class covers the historical parts from chapters 1-11 of Genesis, creation in 6 literal 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago, the global flood of Noah about 1650 years after creation, and the dispersion of the nations from the Tower of Babel. Class time: 8-10 hours
The Proaño family
Our hosts while we stayed in Quito, were David and Mónica Proaño. David and Mónica are Open Air Campaigners (OAC) staff members in Quito, Ecuador. David was responsible for arranging my entire schedule while in Ecuador. David and Mónica both are dedicated servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday 11/05: Quito, High School, (1) class, ~80 students:
Topic: Creation, Dinosaurs and the Flood
Charles (L) interpreting, me (R) teaching
This was a private, Christian high school. This class covered: the creation of man and dinosaurs on day 6, the flood of Noah, and how Noah was able to fit all the different animals on the Ark, as well as the question of, if man and dinosaurs live together, where are the dinosaurs now? After the class all were very excited and the students and teachers had many great questions.
Tuesday afternoon 11/06: 12 minute radio Interview, HCJB World Radio, FM 89.3 / AM 690, Quito, Ecuador
This broadcast was to let the listening audience in Quito know that I would be speaking at the CRETE-MINTS Seminary later in the week. I was going to be teaching a short, credited course on the subject of Genesis vs. Evolution. We were scheduled to speak only 8 minutes, but were allowed 12 when the host of the program found out that one of the topics would be dinosaurs. After the broadcast, a woman who works at the radio station and who had been listening came up to me and was so excited and wanted to know some answers for her young son who is always asking about dinosaurs.
Tuesday evening 11/06: College student question and answer forum, ~150 attendees:
Topic: Dinosaurs and Man
Robert answering (L), Charles (R) interpreting
This session started with me teaching for about 50 minutes, followed by a question and answer session for another hour or so. This was a great session with lots of really great questions. I wish we could have recorded it. There was a mixture of families, adults and college students.
Wednesday 11/07: Quito, High School, 2 sessions, ~80 students each:
Topic: Creation, Dinosaurs and the Flood
Charles interpreting (L), Robert teaching (R)
At this private high school we spoke to 2 separate classes. Each teaching session was about 50 minutes. After the 2nd session, there was time for the students to ask questions. Some lively discussions followed, with one young lady being very much on the side of the evolutionists and very passionately trying to defend evolution. At the end, the class applauded my defense of the scriptures. That was very encouraging. I later prayed for the young lady (about 17 or 18) that God would open her eyes to His truth. After the 2nd session we ate lunch in the school cafeteria. While eating our lunch, one of the young men (about 16) who said that had attended one of our teaching sessions, sat down with us seeking answers and advice on how to defend Genesis against evolution.
Wednesday 11/07 evening: Quito, Public street corner, sketch board and redeemer skit
Redeemer team performs
On a corner somewhere in Quito, a crowed began to form as the Redeemer team begins a mime that presents the gospel from creation to the the cross and resurrection.
Wednesday 11/07 evening: Quito, Public street corner, sketch board and redeemer skit
David preaching with the sketch board
After the redeemer, pastor David Proaño presents the gospel using the sketch board. This is a great tool for attracting people to listen to the gospel message of Jesus Christ. At the end David gave a brief invitation and handed out a study booklet of the Gospel of John and went through the first lesson with the audience. About a dozen local people stayed to hear the entire gospel presentation.
Thursday (11/7), Friday (11/8): CRETE-MINTS Seminary Quito, Ecuador, ~40 students,
Topic: Genesis vs. Evolution
SORRY - NO PICTURE OF QUITO-CRETE-MINTS
Taught "Genesis vs. Evolution" to about 40 seminary students. The students loved every minute even though we didn't have time to get into much of the scientific evidence. The class was split into two 4 hour sessions given Thursday and Friday evening. We were slowed because the teaching required interpreting from English to Spanish, and so we were unable to cover the last two sections on Cosmology and Geology. Sunday evening we invited the entire seminary class to the church where we completed the last two hours (picture below). The seminary did video the class, but we forgot to ask someone to take pictures for us so we have no photographs.
Saturday (11/9): CRETE-MINTS Seminary Ibarra, Ecuador, ~90 students,
Topic: Genesis vs. Evolution
Charles interpreting (L), Robert teaching (R)
Ibarra is a city about 2 hours drive northeast of Quito. We taught the entire class start at 8:00am finishing up about 4:30pm. During a break in the morning, a young man of about 20 or 21 years of age came up to me and hugged me affectionately and nearly in tears. He said "Thank you so much for coming and speaking. I have never heard anyone talk about God the way you have today". It moved me to tears also. The Lord was really blessing our work in Ecuador and Holy Spirit was working in both myself and Charles. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sunday (11/10): Preaching Sunday Service in Quito, Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:5,
Topic: Evolution, the Lie
Charles interpreting (L), Robert preaching (R)
About 5 years earlier the Lord told me that I would one day preach. This was that day.
Me, preparing to teach the remaining science sections on Sunday evening
The CRETE / MINTS Seminary has asked me to come back in 2013 around May to speak again on the subject of "Genesis vs Evolution" to a group of high school teachers.
I thank God, our heavenly Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ for using both Charles and myself as teaching instruments in Ecuador. It is to their glory and honor, Amen!
Posted by: Charles O'Donnell
