Big News and Updates

May 2026

News:

La Niña: Winter is to start this month, but we have a La Niña phenomenon which means the Pacific Ocean will remain warmer so the air will be warmer and less rain. We really could use the rain in our area. This is especially difficult for the whale tourism as they humpback whales will go to cooler waters to have their babies and many of our communities depend on the tourism.
Spring Itineration: Gary and I will be in the States in the Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina area sharing about what God is doing in Ecuador through Pate Ministries to raise support for the ministry and the new building project. We will be gone for almost 3 1/2 weeks, believe me, we would rather be in Ecuador, but independent missionaries have to raise the funds for the whole entire work that goes on in Ecuador.

Bible Clubs:
Coastal Bible Clubs: The kids are starting school. We realized that we are losing a lot of children that are moving up to upper middle and high school, which means that they will not be able to attend the Bible clubs because they do not get out of school until 5 pm. However, we can let them go with fear as we know that we have followed God's plan and they have been taught the Bible and how to accept Christ.
Youth Bible Club: The youth are studying the books of the Bible in depth over this next year. They want to learn about the Bible and what it says.
Sierra Bible Clubs: They are going strong and the children are being discipled in the word of God.
Tuesday Community Evangelistic Outreach: With school starting soon, we will see how attendance continues, in the beginning the adults want the kids in bed early, but as the months progress, they are more lax.
Sunday Bible Study/Worship Service: We are starting 2 Cornthians. We will now have the services translated by a program that we have began a monthly subscription for when Andrés preaches.

Big News:

New Ministry Center Property: The storage room with security apartment upstairs, along with one set of bathrooms are almost complete. The fence, transformer, and water and sewer should be complete in the next few weeks.
Missionary Rebecca Carrion: Rebecca has booked her ticket to Ecuador for June 26th! She is still raising one time gifts to cover her set up costs, but I know God is faithful. She has committed to an initial two year commitment to work with Pate Ministries in setting up one on one and small group discipleship programs. She is fully bi-lingual. We cannot wait!
English as a Foreign language: Mike and Jeannie have finished up two classes of English. They are starting a higher level adult class for the next six weeks. In each class, they hold a Bible devotion.

Bigger News:

Dental and Medical Clinic: The First Baptist Fernandina Beach dental and medical team did an amazing job showing the love of Christ in a tangible way by meeting physical needs. We also gave out reading glasses and Polivio shared the gospel with each person while they waited for services.
Stats: 659 people were treated and received the gospel!
Gospel: 23 people gave their heart to Christ with a personal decision to follow Christ.
Dental: 202 patients, 215 extractions, 66 restorations, and 191 sealants
Medical: 305 patients, 130 adults and 97 children
Reading Glasses: 152 pair of reading glasses were given out

Special Prayer Request:

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 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 terribily 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: