Mission Team: March 2005

Tishomingo Chapel BC Visits Sister Church

Project: Great Commission - Bond eDiary - Bond Home Page

A small team from Tishomingo Chapel Baptist Church came to Ecuador for one purpose; to build relationships. They recently adopted San Jose Alto Baptist church, here in Calderon, as a sister church. Having exchanged photos, letters, and the promise to pray for each other, we were thrilled to hear from the pastor of their intention to visit. It turned into a major blessing, and should be taken seriously as a short term team model. No buildings were built; no VBS's held; no projects completed; just building relationships was the goal. Along with Church services and get-togethers in the evenings, we spent the afternoons visiting 9 different families. We got to know them at home; saw how they worked (helped them in one case), learned about their families, exchanged pictures, heard their dreams, shared their food, saw their faith in the midst of poverty and suffering. We were all humbled.
God really blessed this trip, and these people from both continents with this mutual desire. I was blessed as well to witness the birth of a God-given dream...

Photos

The Team arrived late on Friday night, as most teams do, and we hit the ground running on Saturday. After orientation, and a trip to El Ejido park to purchase gifts for the folks at home, we visited our first church family, Jesus and Rosita. They showed us around their little garden, and we ate some soup and corn while visiting with them.

We then had our "get acquainted" service that evening, where I introduced everyone, and we got to hear some of their music specials.

Sunday, of course, was Sunday School and church service. Pastor Lynn Praither shared the message through our interpreter "Efrain", a good friend and Christian brother. The Church shared some great music with us, from the kids, the ladies, and others. We then shared an afternoon meal at the church, and visited two more families.

The first family brought us sharply into the reality of this poor country. We entered an empty house, which had just been vacated by the previous tenants because they hadn't been able to pay the rent. The owners, our host family, was facing the fact of losing everything due to this and some other financial problems. But they were so kind to us and visited with us; showing us the area from their roof. Like all the others, their house was very poor. One of the best shots of Pastor Lynn and Pastor Pablo came from this visit.

Our second family was the extended family of Jose, living together with daughter Mercedes and husband Xavier, and his other daughter "America" in a small 4 room shack with a small yard.

We were treated to wonderful music, which is their God given talent, and got to try out some of the different musical instruments for fun. Xavier and Mercedes shared their Aunt's beautiful garden with us, and their small block house that they have slowly been working on for 8 years. Most people here build as they have money, and do it themselves or with family help. Xavier shared that he was seeking God's will for his life, and hoped to be a missionary someday. This couple really touched our hearts.

Monday started out at Casa Gabriel, the "street boys" ministry, where Deb teaches art as part of her ministry. Here is a shot of the whole "gang". Afterwards, we walked through the "Alliance Academy" the Christian school where Deb teaches elementary art, and where our girls attend. Then we went on a fascinating tour of HCJB radio; a worldwide Christian radio ministry.

Later we had a special treat. Luis Lopez, the "honey man" who I had the privilege of leading to the Lord last year, came and had lunch with us. We also bought some honey to give as gifts to our hosts.

Our first family visit Monday afternoon was the patriarchs of the church; Miguel and Carmen Lincango. They donated the land for the church 10 years earlier, and their son is the pastor.

The next family was the most unique of all. This was a pure Quichua couple, Manuel and his wife. They had a hard time with Spanish and prefered speaking Quichua, so we learned about their customs through a translator from Quichua to Spanish, and then Efrain and I translated from Spanish to English.

Church Monday night was "Gringo night". The group sang traditional hymns, Steve and Kristi shared their testimonies, and Pastor Lynn preached on the four soils from the parable of the sower. Their were two professions of faith that night.

At the end, Kristi passed out candy to all the kids, and each family got a little ceramic ornament in the shape of the state of Mississippi. Brother Lynn also presented the church with a gift of 50 much needed hymnals.

Tuesday morning was a special treat. We visited some friends, the Bormans, who have a ministry to the Cofan people in the Northeast jungle of Ecuador... way out in the jungle! He explained their ministry and the culture there, and showed us a lot of things like jewelry, blowguns, spears, and poison darts among many things!

Later, we went to "the Middle of the World" visitor's center and learned a lot about the culture through the museum and cultural center.

In the afternoon, we visited two more families. The first was Roberto Yuanuna, a young house-builder and his wife where some of us tried our hand at Ecuadorian construction techniques. The second was Julio Nieto, an older man and his wife who walk 50 minutes one way to get to church.

Tuesday night, was "Movie " night at San Jose Alto, and we had a full house including many visitors. We showed a modern Christian movie, the pastor shared a short message, Lonnie shared his testimony, and we passed out tracts afterwards to all the visitors. The team also passed out Tshirts from home for everyone in the church and they loved them!

Wednesday we went to "Old Town" Quito, and visited San Franscisco Church, a 500 year old Catholic church. You can see more of the inside of the church on the January team's webpage. Feelings varied from sadness, to wonder, to sensing the presence of evil.

We also got to stop and see the Mural that Deb worked on; coordinating the school outreach group "spokesmen" and the boys from Casa Gabriel.

Wednesday afternoon, we visited our last two families. The first was a elderly couple originally from the coast of Ecuador: Juan and Lastenia Rosado. They were of poor health, and desperately poor... but as all the other loving and joyful in the face of their misery. We visited for a while, and shared some food as prepared on the coast. Here are the ladies in the kitchen. They were keeping two of their grandchildren for an extended period of time, and it is worth noting that they themselves had 20 children, of which 11 are still alive.

The last family we visited was the pastor's family; Pablo Lincango.

Wednesday night, we had their normal service, where we heard their testimonies, music and a message. Here pastor Lynn presented pastor Pablo with a gift. We also presented the congregation with some really cool "light up" pens, which were a big hit!

Thursday was the most special day of all in many ways. I had been telling the team that we had a big suprise for the morning; that we would be going to the coastal rainforest, way out in the middle of nowhere... but nothing else. We were going to visit a fellow Mississippian, a newer Christian, who lived without electricity or running water in what can only be described as the Garden of Eden. On the way, we stopped for some photos in the jungle. Tony and his wife Barbara (center) live up in the Andes Mountains, on a winding (dangerous) dirt road, down a hidden path. Their passion is birds, and they have one of the premier hummingbird sites in the world... at their house! I met him a few months earlier, and he expressed a real desire to have a team come out and hold service since they really weren't able to go to church (it's 1 1/2 hours to civilization). So we held an informal service in the midst of one of God's most beautiful creations, and later presented Tony a King James Bible, which he did not have yet. The team (and I) truly enjoyed this amazing tranquil place of incredible beauty!

Thursday evening was a very special service, or "Compaņa". Five different church's groups came and shared their special music; many in traditional Quichua costume, playing traditional instruments, and singing in Quichua. The little church was packed! Joselito, my ministry partner, brought the message to us. Here is a picture of all the pastors (and a few of the wives) together.

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Favorite Photos: Here are a few shots of interesting things, and the people we fell in love with.

Here is how almost all Ecuadorians wash their clothes.

Efrain, our friend and translator, gives Carmen one of the gifts we gave each of our host families; a litre of local honey (the honey Luis Lopez "the honey man" sells!).

Here is one of the ladies preparing our meal in a huge cooking pot.

A cooked and quartered Guinea Pig, which the Pastor, Lonnie, Steve, Kristi, and I all ate.

Here are a couple of shots of shoes that tell a tale.

A grandma with her grandchild.

Here is Edwardo Lincango, the church head deacon and good friend.

My personal favorite photo of the trip, of Carmen.


God Bless you all and keep you - please know that you are in our prayers!



Hasta Luego... Until next time!