Healing Hands

Final blog from Guayaquil, Ecuador…. Our last full day here and I promised Lynn, Lucie and Sharron that I would make them my famous ‘apple jack’ pancakes which went fairly well considering I didn’t have a real spatula, but they were gracious and said they enjoyed them...We then used a cable truck to get to the church because they thought we wanted to sleep in and just come to the second one...no, no senor...

We were ready to go for the first service and we arrived shortly after 9am and worshiped together with the Centenario Church. There was a guest speaker, Sonia Celestre Idrovo from the CMA in Columbia and she spoke passionately on families from Psalm 127. She called fathers and mothers to set the pace and encourage their children to follow the Lord with all their heart. She called families forward for prayer and in the second service the floodgates opened and the altar was packed and the emotions flowed as families were prayed over. At the close of each service we were called up to receive gifts...t-shirts that say, ‘Guyaquil...in our hearts forever’. I spoke to the church about their incredible love for us and to keep serving the least, the lost and the poor because that is where Jesus called us to minister.

As our team didn’t stay in a hotel and only ate out a few times, we were able to set aside $1700- for various ministry projects through the Centenario church which was a real blessing for us because of the generosity of so many who gave towards our missions trip. We were able to use the extra funds to bless Pastor Luis for his continued education in the ministry, for the boys and girls outreach supplies, the ministry under Dr. Greta at the hospital with the sick kids and a very special family to us in Frigata, Ratulio’s family, to especially help his granddaughter, Arley, to receive medical attention. It was an emotional time as we sat down with Pastor Walter in his office to share this.

On the way out for lunch, Pastor Walter and I were able to share in a very close heart to heart conversation about his calling into ministry and his philosophy of ministry that he has chosen to invest in people over things as he related from my message last night. It is because of that decision that it has never been about the money or the title or the benefits. When he started as a pastor with just a handful of people, he made less than a person who cleans homes. So many people pressured him to get out of ministry or get another job but he just trusted God that He would provide and He did. It is that same reason that he has also chosen not to marry as well.

After a lot of driving around, we were treated to a meat lover’s delight, a steakhouse of sorts with all kinds of BBQ meat...the only problem is that we were done by 5pm only to be expected at our final farewell party put on by Anita at 8pm after the evening service

It was at the evening service that I was finally able to hear Pastor Walter preach on the life of Joseph and it focused on his attitude and how he chose to not live life controlled by his emotions and just in reaction to life’s events.

We had one more visit after church to Frigata to bless Ratulio’s family with the last of the clothes, pencils, notebooks etc...especially for the boys this time. Carlos led us in prayer to pray healing over both Arley and Ratulio. Thanks to Dora, Sharron was able to get a medical report that shared the condition of Arley in our hope to do something very special for her.

After our visit there we were whisked back off to Anita’s were there was a mucho grande party awaiting us. The children and youth had wigs and imitated us and it was hilarious how they pegged each one of us. They played music, we danced on the patio, had a congo line of course and ate another BBQ which we really didn’t need, but what a meal. They sure know how to take care of us down here.

Was the trip a success? Absolutely! The church reported that 45 professions of faith were made for Christ and the name of Jesus was lifted high and glorified. While we recognize that, the people that are the most changed on this trip is us because of how God has reignited a passion for His name, to share in His Name and given us an extended family that are nothing short of amazing. We truly have felt the partnership of serving together for the glory of God.