July 2026

News:

• Winter: Winter is trying to arrive with a few days here and there of overcast sky, but it is still unseasonably warm for this time of year.

• Agriculture Program: Sr. Polivio is now helping many of our inland super rural (no electricity or running water) produce coffee and honey. They are building the bee hives under the ground. Each month he visits the villages and holds a devotion with the people and gives agriculture instruction.

• Short Itineration: Itineration came at a great time as Gary and I served 8 weeks of teams back to back with no rest (no time to ourselves in the morning, during the day, at night or weekends), needless to say we were exhausted both physically and emotionally. Even being the States is a lot of work, but we had more time to relax this time while still being busy in ministry. We shared in several churches, in two services each (Gary-adult and Dena-children) while in the States for 2 1/2 weeks, plus we were able to see our 3 Florida grandchildren and I was able to help out when tragedy struck in our son-in-law's family. I was able to watch the kids and get them started in school. It was the Lord's grace to allow us to be in the States when Heather and Tom needed us.

• Visit to a possible new supporting church: Gary and I also enjoyed a great visit to Arizona to share what God is doing with Pate Ministries in Ecuador with the Blue Ridge Church in Happy Jack, AZ. Prior to the service, we were able to visit Phenix, Page, and Sedona. What an amazing time of refreshing for Gary and I, almost felt like a 2nd honeymoon. God is so creative with His creation and what beauty! Unfortunately, due to the tragedy in our son-in-law's family, I had to cut my part of the visit short to help out with the grand-kids.

• Bible Clubs:
• Coastal Bible Clubs: Our Bible clubs are going strong. The children and the adults in attendance are learning about how to live like Jesus by studying His character.
• Youth Bible Club: The youth are studying the book of John this season.
• Sierra Bible Clubs: Andrés and Rebecca Carrion visited the mountain Bible clubs. The gave out school back packs and encouraged the leaders. Rebecca has a great session with the ladies from the ladies Bible club in Cuenca.
• Tuesday Community Evangelistic Outreach: In July, Gary showered Andrés and I with an E-team dinner celebration with lots of face/cake smashing and also gave cake to all the attendees at the Tuesday night outreach. It was a lot of fun.
• Sunday Bible Study/Worship Service: We have been enjoying 1 & 2 Corinthians, but we have polled the attendees to see what topics or they would like further instruction from the Bible. This will be amazing time in God's word.
• Young Mother's Project: The mother's were given instruction on budgeting. They were so engaged, but it was eye-opening on how little they survive on and how many people live in the same house. In July, they will be learning about personal security and safety.

Big News:

• New Ministry Center Property: Each week we see new additions to the project. To say the building is a head of schedule is crazy - it is way a head of schedule, which is super exciting. The 2nd floor and steps to the 2nd floor have been poured, the walls of the kitchen, bodega (storage room), and the bathroom in the clinic, plus the clinic on the ground floor are up, the sidewalks have been poured all around, and the live-in guard/maintenance person apartment is almost complete. People in near-by communities have taken notice as they have heard that we are going to have a skateboard park, so it is great that they want to come because to use the skateboard park they have to attend a short devotion from the Bible every couple of hours.

• Pate Ministries on TickTock: I don't know much about this app, but we have had several foreigners visit our outreach or Sunday night Worship service and then post videos on the TickTock about what God is doing in the area. We are not TickTocker's, but praise the Lord!
• Team Calendar: Our 2027 calendar is almost booked up. I think we only have dates for teams in January, March, and October through November, so if you do not have a date on the calendar for next year you might want to reach out to Gary soon. We will be opening our 2028 calendar soon.
• Speaking Engagements: If you would like to have one or both of us come share with your church or small group in 2027, please contact Gary as we are working on our 2027 calendar for speaking engagements in mission conferences, churches, and small groups. We try to visit all of our supporting churches every two years to stay in front of them so we are not forgotten or replaced.

Bigger News:

• Baptisms: We baptized three people in the Sunday night worship service, 2 came prepared, but after the 2 were baptized, one of the ladies jumped up trembling and ran up front to be Baptized. She said that as she sat there, she felt that her heart was trying to jump out of her chest. She said she moved her feet and they ran her to the front. After being baptized many of her friends and family came up to the front to hug and cheer her on. Many stated that they wanted to be baptized at the next Baptism service.
• Ministry Updates: Don't forget that you can find daily updates on our Facebook page at Pate Ministries. We are always posting the latest updates with photos and videos.

Special Prayer Request:

• Pray for Mike and Jeannie McGalliard. They are facing some health issues and it is taking longer than expected to get all testing and procedures done so that they can return to Ecuador.
• Pray for additional missionaries to come and join us in the work. The ministry has grown bigger than what we can do ourselves.
• Pray for the continued work on the construction of our new ministry building.
• Pray that God will build unity in our E-team.
• Pray that God will send us additional bi-lingual, called, national E-team members, we are terribly understaffed.
• Pray for Andrés and Gary as they work on the property and make huge building decisions.
• Pray for God to soften the hearts of the Montañita people to receive His Gospel.
• Pray for the national house church leaders who continue the Sierra Bible clubs.
• Financial Support: Please pray that Christ will continue to provide for the ministry's financial needs for the mountains and the Coast.

Updates:

• Check out YouTube for more videos.