Hi! We got back from a 4 day adventure in Igarrones on Friday, which is what these two pictures are from. The week before that, my team and I spent the week in Calderon, about a 20 min drive from Portoviejo. We worked with a pastor and his family who lived above the church we slept in with our tents. Tuesday and Wednesday consisted of sanding concrete walls of a new house being finished for one of the church members. We´d have lunch, then do door to door ministry until 5 o´clock. On Tuesday, Bekah and I ended up having about an hour and a half conversation with two young women who were friends. My Spanish is improving a little, and Gabriel, the pastor´s son, was helping us….a little. So it was to our surprise that we were able to keep a relatively slow conversation going with these women when neither Bekah nor myself are fluent in Spanish. How mysterious, praise Jesus! On Wednesday, during door to door ministry time, our team ended up playing a game of Ecua-volley with a group of young people we passed earlier in the day. Almost every evening the pastor took us along to his bible studies that he held at different church members´houses. It was great meeting so many people who
were eager to open their homes to complete strangers. On Thursday, we spent the first half of the day cleaning the church and washing all the white patio chairs for the congregation. That afternoon at the church we attended a Dengue fever presentation put on by a few local doctors. That evening´s bible study included walking through forest for about 30 minutes with the Pastor so he could visit an elderly man who cannot walk long distances anymore because of his feet. We spent Friday morning in a prayer meeting with some of the church members, praying for a young people camp called Hakuna Matata that we unfortunately will not be able to attend since it starts on March. This I am sad about because the Holy Spirit lives in the eyes of the Christian yyouth in Portoviejo. There´s a stillness and an absolute love and surrender to the Lord in their lives. We spent the rest of that Friday afternoon playing soccer and swimming in the river with the Pastor and his family. We spent 40 minutes on the way home in torrential rain in the back of a pickup!! Saturday was by far our most intense day of ministry yet this year. We spent half the day at the garbage dump where locals go to find recyclables to sell. We spent the first few hours delivering drinking water to families who lived on the hillside of the garbage dump. They were very heavy barrels and the slope was almost pure mud. It was a physical and spiritual test, but love, which is our God, made it strangely easy. I stepped on glass and cut my feet but I´m fine now! After that we walked through the dump and handed out cups of soft drinks to the locals. Every person I encountered at the dump was polite. This puts my life, and your life, in perspective. Focus not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is unseen is temporary, but what is unseen lasts forever.
My next post will be about the 4 day trip to Igarrones. I need time to put it into words, but it will be here soon. Until then, thank your all for your prayers and your support!!
were eager to open their homes to complete strangers. On Thursday, we spent the first half of the day cleaning the church and washing all the white patio chairs for the congregation. That afternoon at the church we attended a Dengue fever presentation put on by a few local doctors. That evening´s bible study included walking through forest for about 30 minutes with the Pastor so he could visit an elderly man who cannot walk long distances anymore because of his feet. We spent Friday morning in a prayer meeting with some of the church members, praying for a young people camp called Hakuna Matata that we unfortunately will not be able to attend since it starts on March. This I am sad about because the Holy Spirit lives in the eyes of the Christian yyouth in Portoviejo. There´s a stillness and an absolute love and surrender to the Lord in their lives. We spent the rest of that Friday afternoon playing soccer and swimming in the river with the Pastor and his family. We spent 40 minutes on the way home in torrential rain in the back of a pickup!! Saturday was by far our most intense day of ministry yet this year. We spent half the day at the garbage dump where locals go to find recyclables to sell. We spent the first few hours delivering drinking water to families who lived on the hillside of the garbage dump. They were very heavy barrels and the slope was almost pure mud. It was a physical and spiritual test, but love, which is our God, made it strangely easy. I stepped on glass and cut my feet but I´m fine now! After that we walked through the dump and handed out cups of soft drinks to the locals. Every person I encountered at the dump was polite. This puts my life, and your life, in perspective. Focus not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is unseen is temporary, but what is unseen lasts forever.My next post will be about the 4 day trip to Igarrones. I need time to put it into words, but it will be here soon. Until then, thank your all for your prayers and your support!!
I still need to raise $4,000 by the end of May to be fully funded. If you feel lead to partner financially in this ministry, please click on the ¨Support Me¨ tab to the left. Thank you, God Bless, and there is more to come. Thank you for reading, my faithful friends and family. May the Son of Love guard your hearts and open your eyes as you continue with the rest of your day. See ya, or as they say in Ecuador, ¨Ciao!¨
