Saturday, August 20, 2016

Ecuador Mission Team (Update)

August 19, 2016 

Another great day, but aren’t all days great in Ecuador? We started the morning somewhat slowly. After morning devotional and breakfast our team split up (a common theme this week). Half went to take care of some personal items and on their journey met some new people and confirmed some upcoming meetings with others. The group came back very excited about their adventure.
The other group went on a specific mission to speak with an individual who is in need of much prayer. Satan is attacking this family and this group felt compelled to go and get some information. Our team hopes to meet with the family again before we leave and even to put them into contact with our new local pastor friend, if this family is willing.
We then made a run to Cayambe and I am sorry to write we did NOT make it to the very special ice cream shop. I have been in Ecuador three full days and have not made it to the MUST HAVE stop of every trip!!!! I hope all of you back in Florida understand the pain and torment I am presently facing. What makes this heart break worse is we had to leave Cayambe in order to get back to the apartment by a certain time for an appointment. The appointment got rescheduled. WE ACTUALLY HAD THE TIME TO EAT THE ICE CREAM!!!!
Now the reason we went to Cayambe was to meet with a family and encourage them. We also got to talk about ministry possibilities for the future and the role FBCBG may play in that future. It was productive and very enjoyable. The only thing that would have made this trip better would have been the ICE CREAM. I am not bitter at all 
In the evening the team split up again. Half of the team was requested to lead a Bible study at one of the home group Bible studies from the new church about which we have been writing. The report came back that our team could truly feel the Holy Spirit’s presence and they are truly a Christ centered group of believers. They had a very enjoyable time and the home group asked when we could have another Bible study with them. We hope we can make this happen, but we are not certain. We have a lot still on our plate and even more to put on that plate.
The other group went to a dear friends house. This individual is a new believer, but one with whom we think they may be a person of peace. Please pray with us that this person becomes this kind of follower of Jesus. We learned that they were a part of a group that was having Bible studies a couple of times a month. Here is the cool part, none of those in this Bible study are church goers. They are just wanting to learn more about God. We encouraged our new believer friend to join us this Sunday for church and to start attending church regularly. Pray the Holy Spirit will convict this person’s heart to become a faithfully attending member of this local church with which we are starting to do more work.
We got in just a few minutes ago. We have our normal morning wake up time tomorrow and it is going to come quickly. Please pray for our strength and endurance. We did have one team member who got some motion sickness today and has not felt well this entire evening. We have a pretty long bus ride tomorrow, and therefore, ask for you to please pray for this person to do well on this trip and to remain healthy. This individual has been, as all of them are, a valuable member of this team and we need this person’s involvement. 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of our need for the entire body. Thank you for your prayers and support.
God bless and good night.


August 18, 2016

It is 11:00 and we got in about an hour ago. We finished debriefing and now you are getting an update.
This morning we had a meeting with a local pastor. We spent almost two hours taking him through a pastoral ordination grilling that was very enjoyable for me. I think the local pastor enjoyed himself as well. The main point of this update regarding this meeting is that any reservations I may have had were dispelled and I am now very confident in our potential partnership with this local ministry.
During lunch the team split up and one team went to met with some people who our Summer teams had met. In the meeting our team met a new individual and we have a follow-up meeting with this person on Sunday night. The interaction with this person was very positive and there are some indications the individual is a believer. We will learn more on Sunday.
In the afternoon our team again split up. Some were preparing for upcoming Bible studies and the others went and met with another person. This person was a “one on one” type of meeting with someone who needs a lot of encouragement at the moment. In fact, we had an opportunity to capitalize on our new local pastor as we called him and allowed these two individuals to schedule a time in which he might be able to provide better assistance and information than we could.
After that meeting the entire team regrouped and went to another Bible study with a husband and wife. He told us the Bible story of the prodigal son and then we had the chance to ask them the two diagnostic questions. After they gave work based answers or even doubting answers, we had the opportunity to share the gospel. By the end of the evening, we had two more siblings in the family of God.
Tomorrow is scheduled to be just as full of a day as today was. We are tired, but excited. Please pray for our meetings tomorrow and for us to have strength. May God be exalted in our work here in Tabacundo.

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