After twenty-nine years of marriage and being in their fifties, Gary and Kathy Meier touched down on Ecuadorian soil January 1, 1993, as missionaries with HCJB World Radio (now Reach Beyond). Immediately, their lives were turned upside down as they experienced a new culture, language, geography, and climate.

These short stories reveal the ups and downs missionaries throughout the world encounter as they seek to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost of the world. The emotions stirred up on the mission field run the gamut--disappointment, frustration, fear, anger, and sadness. But above all, the emotion of joy overwhelms the missionary with inexpressible zeal to do God's work...joy in experiencing miracles, joy in seeing new Christians entering the kingdom, joy in making new friends among the natives, and joy in knowing they are being obedient to God's command to go into all the world to make disciples.

Read in this book how a prostitute accepted the Lord in a missionary hospital, about a blind family rescued from a pigsty by a short-term mission team, how a water system brought life-giving water to souls, and about a miracle during the distribution of Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes. Within these pages, lives are changed, tragedies occur, children are saved from death, termites terminate toilets and knees are worn out from praying.

Gary and Kathy are retired and enjoying life in the mountains of north Georgia. Their hearts remain with the people of Ecuador and they pray these stories bring glory to God.

They can be reached via email at [email protected].