This month, I am living in many surrounding areas of Portoviejo, Ecuador! To explain what all I have been doing would result in a 5 or 6 page blog. So to keep you reading, I will only tell you one story from our work the past few weeks. It is long. However, it is worth the read (at least in my opinion)!
Our team, along with team Dunamis, was chosen to go to the small town of Higueronis and help with a few different construction jobs. Because this town is far away in the jungles of Ecuador, it took a good bit of travel simply to get there. After 8 hours in a car, we arrived to the place where cars could no longer fit. And because we had experienced some car trouble, we began our hike around 8 pm. I volunteered to ride the pack mule (I am always looking for an adventure) not knowing what I was getting into. Three and a half hours of mud filled mountains, rocks, and dangerous slopes, I arrived at the home of the Pastor. But because of difficulties with other riders, my 12 year old riding partner and I were first. He spoke absolutely no English (that’s right. Two hours of silent riding through the pitch black jungle) and so he left immediately after we arrived. I then began to experience the fishbowl effect, eating my dinner with about 10 faces staring me down. Luckily, it was very tasty! So long story short, the rest of the gang arrived around 1 am, after 5 hours of walking and wading through the muddy slopes.
The next day during our morning devotion, I was selected to go on a special trip with 4 other teammates. This would require another 4 hours of trudging through the mud, only the turn around the next day and complete the same hike again. The purpose of the trip was not really revealed to us until after we arrived. All we were told is that there was a funeral being held for our Pastor’s cousin, and they wanted us in attendance. I am not the athletic, filled with endurance type of person that you think of when you imagine these intense walks. In fact, I run the opposite direction when that option is given. But for whatever reason, God wanted me to take part in this particular adventure.
So we left around 2pm, and it was definitely NOT an easy hike. I spent a lot of time with God that afternoon, with frustrations and pain and all that goes along with them. And God never ceases to amaze me. I enjoyed that hike with the other people, singing praises to God, being filled with joy that can only come from Him in a time like that. We arrived at the neighboring town of San Pablo around 6 pm, and experienced what I can only think of as what the disciples faced. We walked into the town, came to a house, and asked for food and shelter during the night. They graciously accepted us in, and during preparation for dinner we received a bit more information.
Apparently, this small town of San Pablo is quite unreached with only one family of believers. The man that had died knew the Lord, but didn’t live his life very confidently in God. His one wish was that at his funeral, someone would talk about God. But no one in the town wanted to be that person. God’s timing never ceases to amaze me either, because this was the ONLY time in our trip to Higaronis that we would have been able to attend. This means that his death, our trip, and all the little details in between, ALL God’s timing. Whoa. Right?
Another thing about this town: the only other missionaries to ever visit this place had been about a month ago, for 2 hours. So this was completely new to everyone there. We prepared for the funeral (mainly by going down to the river and scrubbing mud off of our pants) and headed out. Because of who we were, we had to wait for permission to enter under the covering, and even longer for permission to actually come in and sit down. Intense? Yes. But God revealed the most amazing things to us and to these people. During our time at the funeral, the one Christian family of the town was standing together singing their hearts out to the Lord. All I could think of was a light being trapped in a small room, but the streams of light bursting through all the cracks in the walls. After a little while, we were asked to join in with the singing, so Percy (our local contact for this month) led a few songs and talked a little bit. He then invited my teammate Joel to give his testimony. One verse the Lord had given us before we left was Romans 10:13; anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So Joel told his story a little bit, and shared that verse. Percy followed up with more about having a relationship with God and how much God desires each and every one of us. And then he asked if there was anyone in the room that wanted a relationship with God.
I looked around the room and instead of eyes, I just saw empty cavities. Dark spaces where their eyes should be, but nothing there to fill the void in their life. And as a response to that question, about 8 hands shot up in the air. I have never seen a people group so hungry for the Lord. A renewed hope was brought in that place, at a FUNERAL nonetheless! The guys in our group walked over to talk with Percy about things, and immediately the group was surrounded by men with questions about God. So they took time to walk around, talk and pray with everyone who had accepted Christ or wanted to know more about Him.
I am so humbled that God allowed me to be a part of such an amazing and eye-opening experience. In the midst of sadness, mourning, drunkenness, and disparity; God shined a light of hope that I believe will continue to grow into a burning fire for the Lord. Please join me in prayer for the people of San Pablo — that God would bring discipleship to these new believers, and that this town would experience a radical change.
(Sorry for no pictures! They will be posted shortly!!)
