October 5th 2009
Well our first day out there went reasonably well. It was hard and part of me feels a little discouraged but God did some cool stuff too. We met the nationals we’ll be working with on the ride out there today. There are two guys, Edison and Jose Vicente and a cou
ple, Gustavo and Shirley. Edison and Jose have both spent time in prison where they got saved. Pastor Jose is the prison warden. He used to work over in Portoviejo but he got transferred to Bahia.
Gustavo and Shirley are a great couple who are on fire for God. They go out and share the gospel and they take their two daughters who are 8 and 9. Gustavo is going to be my national and we will work together all week.
Well the first day was interesting but tough too. We don’t have any strong local leadership in place and there isn’t a clear plan and I am supposed to lead our team and I’ve never done this before. It was a tough spot for me because I’m not a jump in there, go get ‘em type leader.
I have a great team though. I’m working with three godly women, Gail, Mary and Noreen. They have mature Christian walks and have been on e3 campaigns before. They are always laughing and having fun. They don’t really need me to do any leading. I feel like they are the ones training me.
Because I’m new I got paired with the best translator on our team. Most of the translators are young students from Quito. They are maybe 15-16 years old. But my translator in Andrew. He’s probably in his twenties and has done e3 campaigns before. He likes to joke around too and he fits right in on the team.
Well the first house we went to I was nervous and didn’t quite know what to say. We talked with a family who was marginally interested. They stood up on their porch while we stood below and tried to share with them. The husband was listening and tracking with me but the wife was rather stand-offish. He prayed to receive Christ but I have no idea if he really has saving faith.
Then we talked with a young guy named Gregorio. He was running a small corner store in front of his family’s house. He listened to my story and I could see that he identified with some of what I was saying. He prayed to receive Christ but I don’t know if he got it either. In Gregorio’s case though I believe he is experiencing some Holy Spirit conviction. He looked scared but he wanted to hear about what we were saying. I think God is working on his heart but I don’t know if he is there yet.
Well Monday afternoon the team went out again after lunch. It is reall
y hot here. The sun is pounding down pretty good. I got in a discussion at lunch with Teresa and her family about what we are doing. They are great people- very nice. She is feeding us lunch and letting us use the restaurant. I wanted to make sure we know where she was at. We had a very good conversation, probably a couple hours long. She is staunchly Catholic but understands that going to church and giving money is not real faith. I asked her if she died and was standing before God and had to give a reason why she should get into heaven, what would she say. She wasn’t real clear about it but she also didn’t say she would go because she is a good person. I don’t know where she is at but it was a great discussion. While we were talking with her her little boy asked about the evangecube. It was great because then I was able to use the cube to share the gospel with the whole family. But because of our discussion it didn’t feel right yet to ask if they wanted to pray to receive Christ.
Well our first day out there went reasonably well. It was hard and part of me feels a little discouraged but God did some cool stuff too. We met the nationals we’ll be working with on the ride out there today. There are two guys, Edison and Jose Vicente and a cou
ple, Gustavo and Shirley. Edison and Jose have both spent time in prison where they got saved. Pastor Jose is the prison warden. He used to work over in Portoviejo but he got transferred to Bahia.Gustavo and Shirley are a great couple who are on fire for God. They go out and share the gospel and they take their two daughters who are 8 and 9. Gustavo is going to be my national and we will work together all week.
Well the first day was interesting but tough too. We don’t have any strong local leadership in place and there isn’t a clear plan and I am supposed to lead our team and I’ve never done this before. It was a tough spot for me because I’m not a jump in there, go get ‘em type leader.
I have a great team though. I’m working with three godly women, Gail, Mary and Noreen. They have mature Christian walks and have been on e3 campaigns before. They are always laughing and having fun. They don’t really need me to do any leading. I feel like they are the ones training me.
Because I’m new I got paired with the best translator on our team. Most of the translators are young students from Quito. They are maybe 15-16 years old. But my translator in Andrew. He’s probably in his twenties and has done e3 campaigns before. He likes to joke around too and he fits right in on the team.Well the first house we went to I was nervous and didn’t quite know what to say. We talked with a family who was marginally interested. They stood up on their porch while we stood below and tried to share with them. The husband was listening and tracking with me but the wife was rather stand-offish. He prayed to receive Christ but I have no idea if he really has saving faith.
Then we talked with a young guy named Gregorio. He was running a small corner store in front of his family’s house. He listened to my story and I could see that he identified with some of what I was saying. He prayed to receive Christ but I don’t know if he got it either. In Gregorio’s case though I believe he is experiencing some Holy Spirit conviction. He looked scared but he wanted to hear about what we were saying. I think God is working on his heart but I don’t know if he is there yet.
Well Monday afternoon the team went out again after lunch. It is reall
y hot here. The sun is pounding down pretty good. I got in a discussion at lunch with Teresa and her family about what we are doing. They are great people- very nice. She is feeding us lunch and letting us use the restaurant. I wanted to make sure we know where she was at. We had a very good conversation, probably a couple hours long. She is staunchly Catholic but understands that going to church and giving money is not real faith. I asked her if she died and was standing before God and had to give a reason why she should get into heaven, what would she say. She wasn’t real clear about it but she also didn’t say she would go because she is a good person. I don’t know where she is at but it was a great discussion. While we were talking with her her little boy asked about the evangecube. It was great because then I was able to use the cube to share the gospel with the whole family. But because of our discussion it didn’t feel right yet to ask if they wanted to pray to receive Christ.Part of me felt guilty talking with them so long while the rest of my team was out sharing. I felt I should be out there too but I also felt like someone needed to invest in Teresa and her family. I briefly got out to share again with one more person, I guy named Sandro. He said he had talked with a missionary before and had prayed so I wasn’t sure what to do. We had shared my testimony with him and the evangecube but then I wasn’t sure how to proceed. My teammate Mary helped me out and asked if he wanted to make sure he was going to heaven. He wanted to and prayed to receive Christ.
My other teammates had similar days with a number of people making professions of faith. It was kind of a tough day and I’m feeling a little discouraged. A number of people prayed to receive Christ but it’s hard to know if they really got it. The leading was hard too and I’m not sure what to do out there. I’m lacking much motivation to get back out there tomorrow. Obviously I’ll go but this has been hard for me. I think my key verse now is Hebrews 12:3. “Consider him(Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” I just need to remember what Jesus went through and not get weary and lose heart.
There was one really cool thing that happened Monday. At lunch our driver Tito started asking Noreen about the evangecube. All our translators were resting so Noreen tried to e
xplain it to him as best she could. Then Noreen realized that Tito wasn’t a Christian. We all thought because he knew pastor Jose and worked with him at the jail and was helping us this week that he was a believer. Noreen shared as best as she could and then Tito indicated he wanted to pray to receive Christ! Shirley, one of our national workers, realized what was going on and she came over and helped lead him in a prayer to receive Christ. It was awesome! Even without knowing Spanish, Noreen was able to share the gospel with Tito using the pictures on the evangecube and he gave his life to Christ. God is awesome! Talk about using us despite our limitations!
Randy finally got in today. He’s in rough shape. He’s really sick and he’s been stuck in airports after his flight got cancelled. First he missed the first couple days of the campaign and then he has to deal with feeling rotten. It must be tough for him because he lives for this stuff.
There was one really cool thing that happened Monday. At lunch our driver Tito started asking Noreen about the evangecube. All our translators were resting so Noreen tried to e
xplain it to him as best she could. Then Noreen realized that Tito wasn’t a Christian. We all thought because he knew pastor Jose and worked with him at the jail and was helping us this week that he was a believer. Noreen shared as best as she could and then Tito indicated he wanted to pray to receive Christ! Shirley, one of our national workers, realized what was going on and she came over and helped lead him in a prayer to receive Christ. It was awesome! Even without knowing Spanish, Noreen was able to share the gospel with Tito using the pictures on the evangecube and he gave his life to Christ. God is awesome! Talk about using us despite our limitations!Randy finally got in today. He’s in rough shape. He’s really sick and he’s been stuck in airports after his flight got cancelled. First he missed the first couple days of the campaign and then he has to deal with feeling rotten. It must be tough for him because he lives for this stuff.
Did I mention where we are staying? The week before we were supposed to arrive the government shut down the hotel we were supposed to stay at in Bahia. So they had to move us and we ended up at this awesome hotel right on the Pacific. Apparently it’s about the same cost. My room overlooks the pool with the Pacific in the background. All day long we hear the waves crashing on the beach right in front of the hotel. They serve us breakfast at a large table set up on the patio. Today we saw dolphins or porpoises swimming around out there while we ate. It’s pretty nice. Penny Peterson said this is the nicest place she’s stayed at in South America. We’ll take it. Thank you God!
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