“I want to be changed by this love, I want to be changed by his blood. Because this is more than a feeling, this is a way of living….”
Yesterday was a long but beautiful day, team Reckless Pursuit and team Luminous were blessed with the opportunity to hike into the mountain area near Huatichoca to visit two waterfalls and a cave, called Cascadas de “El Tugsi”. The hike was about 3k in and 3k out, up and down some precarious trails, where our guide would hack away at vines and plants along the trail with no warning when I was only a few feet away from him. Continually telling us that the trail was dangerous, and to be careful.
I spent the majority of the day in the front of the line talking or attempting to talk with our guide, who is also the owner of “farm” where the falls were located. I loved being able to communicate with the guide, even though he is by far one of the hardest Spanish speaking person to understand that I have encountered here in Ecuador. I will admit that many of our conversations consisted of laughing over how much I didn’t understand when the guide would repeat his questions over and over again. He told me numerous times that I could only speak in Spanish so I could practice. There is so much truth to that, and I really have been stepping out and using my Spanish more with the people I encounter.
I made a connection with our guide, but I am struggling with how much more I feel like I should have done. In hindsight I realize how much I thought the guide knew about what we were doing in Ecuador, after all he knew our contacts, his property neighbors the mission school. But now I know different.
This morning Luis came by Ivan’s store to give me one of the books he had written. It was really sweet of him to do that for me. We talked for a while, then he had to leave. It was after that conversation when I really looked at the book he had given me, “La existencica y esencia de Dios” or The Existence and Essence of God. He did give me a choice in books I knew a little about what they were about, one was philosophical, one was political, one was larger, one was smaller. My reasons for picking this book were slightly selfish, I picked the shorter of the two, afterall it was smaller and I already have too much stuff, I didn’t really want to carry around the bigger book. In the back of my mind, I wondered if he knew why were here, I tried to share a little with him about our Race yesterday, maybe it got lost in translation, or maybe I didn’t say enough about what we were doing.
Ivan came downstairs to talk to me shortly after, Luis left. He confirmed that he wasn’t a Christian. He told me when Luis came into the store this morning to find me, he was asking Ivan what “religious” group we were from. Ivan then shared that, Luis read the Bible to write the book he gave me, he read it, but it wasn’t because it was God’s Word, or because he wanted to draw close to Him, it was because he wanted the information the “facts” in the Bible.
I am really struggling with just how much I didn’t do, how much I assumed he already knew. I don’t want to miss more opportunities to share my Jesus.
Now I just have to remember that God is in control, he loves Luis and wants to spend eternity with him. I have to give this up to God, and let him be the one to continue to work in his life.
So as you read this, please say a prayer for Luis, because he needs Jesus, just like we do.
