As we started the trip I was both nervous and excited. I was nervous because I am inadequate and don’t know what I’m doing and excited because I believed God was going to do a work through us. Turns out I was right on both counts.
The first few days I was a bit anxious as we
arrived in Ecuador and met our team. We flew into Guayaquil and spent the night. Then we had a half-day bus ride to Bahia de Caraquez up on the Pacific Ocean. It’s a lot different than the U.S. But at the same time, people are people wherever you go. We all struggle with the same fears and insecurities. We all have the same desires and dreams and we’re all desperately lost without Jesus.
We had a great team of people from the U.S., half from California and half from Wisconsin. Many of them have been on short-term mission trips before and they all have a heart to be used by God and make a difference in the world. Our large team of about 18 split up into four teams when we reached Bahia. Each team worked with a different local pastor and church to help reach a new area by launching a new church plant.
They put me on a great team with three godly women, Mary, Gail and Noreen, from California and they sent us to a city called Calceta, about an hour and a half inland from Bahia. I figure there are around 25,000 people there with one old church downtown. Clearly there was a lot of work to do.
I was a bit nervous to get out there and share with people. You never know if you’re going to say the right thing. But part of sharing the gospel and your testimony is just getting out there and doing it. And by the end of the week I was a lot more comfortable.
At first we didn’t have a clear plan for what we should do in Calceta since our pastor had to work during the day and couldn’t be with us to direct us. So our first big ministry day was tough and a bit discouraging for me. I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing trying to lead out there and I had people responding to the gospel but it was hard to tell if they really got it.
But by Tuesday things had turned a corner. I settled down and left the results up to God. And it was clear that God was doing a real work in people’s hearts. We had a great response and people were interested in growing in their faith. By Wednesday night we had a service to gather the
people who had responded and introduce them to the pastor, Jose Cevallos. It was awesome.
Over the course of a few days we saw people genuinely respond to the gospel and turn to God. We saw them learning to get into the Bible and grow in their faith and we saw them come together as the first step towards becoming a church- a community of believers.
By the time we had to leave God had laid the foundation for a new work in Calceta. It was sad to go, knowing I will probably never see those people again, but we got to be a part of the work God is doing. He wants all nations to know him and we got to be a small part of it.
It will probably be a while before I start to understand how God has changed me through this trip but there are a few things I know I’ve come away with:
An increased faith in the power of the gospel to change people’s lives,
A clearer picture of our universal need for a relationship with Jesus,
and a deeper conviction of the need to come alongside brand new believers and disciple them.
Thank you for all your prayers, they were desperately needed. It was an amazing week and I hope God sends me again. Let me encourage you to pray and ask God how he might want to use you as well!
The first few days I was a bit anxious as we
arrived in Ecuador and met our team. We flew into Guayaquil and spent the night. Then we had a half-day bus ride to Bahia de Caraquez up on the Pacific Ocean. It’s a lot different than the U.S. But at the same time, people are people wherever you go. We all struggle with the same fears and insecurities. We all have the same desires and dreams and we’re all desperately lost without Jesus.We had a great team of people from the U.S., half from California and half from Wisconsin. Many of them have been on short-term mission trips before and they all have a heart to be used by God and make a difference in the world. Our large team of about 18 split up into four teams when we reached Bahia. Each team worked with a different local pastor and church to help reach a new area by launching a new church plant.
They put me on a great team with three godly women, Mary, Gail and Noreen, from California and they sent us to a city called Calceta, about an hour and a half inland from Bahia. I figure there are around 25,000 people there with one old church downtown. Clearly there was a lot of work to do.
I was a bit nervous to get out there and share with people. You never know if you’re going to say the right thing. But part of sharing the gospel and your testimony is just getting out there and doing it. And by the end of the week I was a lot more comfortable.
At first we didn’t have a clear plan for what we should do in Calceta since our pastor had to work during the day and couldn’t be with us to direct us. So our first big ministry day was tough and a bit discouraging for me. I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing trying to lead out there and I had people responding to the gospel but it was hard to tell if they really got it.
But by Tuesday things had turned a corner. I settled down and left the results up to God. And it was clear that God was doing a real work in people’s hearts. We had a great response and people were interested in growing in their faith. By Wednesday night we had a service to gather the
people who had responded and introduce them to the pastor, Jose Cevallos. It was awesome.Over the course of a few days we saw people genuinely respond to the gospel and turn to God. We saw them learning to get into the Bible and grow in their faith and we saw them come together as the first step towards becoming a church- a community of believers.
By the time we had to leave God had laid the foundation for a new work in Calceta. It was sad to go, knowing I will probably never see those people again, but we got to be a part of the work God is doing. He wants all nations to know him and we got to be a small part of it.
It will probably be a while before I start to understand how God has changed me through this trip but there are a few things I know I’ve come away with:
An increased faith in the power of the gospel to change people’s lives,
A clearer picture of our universal need for a relationship with Jesus,
and a deeper conviction of the need to come alongside brand new believers and disciple them.
Thank you for all your prayers, they were desperately needed. It was an amazing week and I hope God sends me again. Let me encourage you to pray and ask God how he might want to use you as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment