These past few days have been so amazing!
 |
Nate Knyfd helps install a stone patio at the Chacoan church
Photo Credit: Tim Tresize |
Our LIFT team worked very hard in El Chaco (meaning “the
flats” in a beautiful mountain valley) this week! Arriving Thursday afternoon,
everyone was ecstatic about this new adventure that God had prepared in advance
for us to partake in. We stayed in a small hostel run by a woman named Hermana
Theresa who was extremely kind and hospitable. She certainly made us feel at
home whenever she got the chance. Most of us went for a tour of the town later
and just took in the general feel and culture of El Chaco, which by Ecuadorian
standards would be a lower middle class area with stores, a market, a few
churches, and a town center with basketball courts and a small turf soccer
field.
 |
Several LIFTers paint a new outdoor bathroom at the church in el Chaco
Photo Credit: Tim Tresize |
On Saturday, our ministry teams worked with the
local church to reach out to a small lower class community, San Luis. This was
the church’s first outreach to this town, and we got to be a part of it! We
went into the run-down town and asked the people to come to our group
presentation at a small soccer field made of cement and rock. All we had to do
was start kicking a soccer ball back and forth with a few of the curious little
boys and we soon had a crowd. From there, our ministry teams went to work. We
started playing tag, and then sang some children’s worship songs in Spanish. Andrew
Burger shared part of his testimony to the crowd, which grew every couple
minutes as children and adults decided to see what was going on. The skit team
performed the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as soon as the puppet
team completed their stories that easily captured the attention of the youth.
We sang a few more songs with everyone then had to say our goodbyes; leaving a
few soccer balls as a gift to the older men in the community and handing out
tracts to some of the adults.
 |
Rick Borman delivers a lesson to the youth of San Luis
Photo Credit: Tim Tresize |
Even though we did not personally get to pursue
lasting relationships with anyone in San Luis, we know the Holy Spirit moved
and seeds were planted to start a church. Please pray for this community! There
is no church there at the moment, and many of the people are starving
spiritually. God is using the Church in El Chaco as tools to minister to and save
these people from darkness. Pray for God to soften hearts and minds to His Word
and Truth. God will be faithful, as He always has been, is, and will be.
Be sure to check out Rick Borman’s blog on his
website for more information and photos of our time serving with El Refugio in
Ecuador.
Jameson Young
No comments:
Post a Comment