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Stewart, Tomm: February
Mission Services under the Equatorial Sun. The Voice of Zion 4/2001.
The saving gospel of the redemption in Christ shone brighter than the
equatorial sunshine at Laestadian Lutheran Church-sponsored mission services in
the Ecuadorean cities of Guayaquil, Quito, and Riobamba in February. Tomm
Stewart of Seattle, travelling for the first time to this South American
nation, shares news and his impressions of the journey on which God blessed His
Word and many service guests received the grace of repentance.
The heat of the tropical night greeted us
ai we stepped off the plane in Guayaquil, Ecuador. As
we entered the airport's reception area, we
were just as warmly greeted by Ecuadorean believers Alfredo Hernandez and Ivan
Viteri and by Jon Bloomquist, who had flown in earlier from Minnesota. Accompanying
me from Seattle were Scott and Sherry Haeger and their daughters Alice and
Valerie.
Soon at the Hernandez home, we met and greeted other family members and relaxed and visited in the warmth and comfort of a believing home. Thus began our mission trip which would move from this South American country's coastal lowlands and rain forests, to the green Andean sierra etched with small farms and ranches, to Riobamba in the shadow of the majestic Mt. Chimborazo, to the two mile high capital city of Quito.
In Guayaquil, God has blessed His children with
a growing congregation,
services, repentances, and joy in faith. Our two days there were filled with
visiting, sightseeing in the city, an afternoon at the Provincial Historic and
Nature Park, and the much-anticipated evening services.
Services were held in homes, a living room one
night and an outdoor court- yard the next. Homes are close together and streets
narrow, so the normal sounds of busy and crowded neighborhoods continuously
drifted in and out. Service guests, some in faith, others attending for the
first time, eagerly listened to the Word of God.
After the sermon, service guests asked
questions and shared their thoughts. Their questions focused on important
issues, for example, how our faith is strengthened and increased and, how can
parents nurture and raise their children in faith. Comments often , included
confessions of the new-found meaning and purpose that living faith had brought
to life. These converts also encouraged their family and friends to to read
God's Word.
Services on High
The way from Guayaquil to Riobamba snaked up
through the rain forest, across deep gorges, and into the i verdant highlands
or sierra. Ecuadorean Indians, some of them descendants of the Incas, were a
common sight along t the hillsides in their colourful ponchos t and distinctive
fedoras. Donkeys and t carts, shepherds and their animals, and armers toiling
in their fields punctuated the passing scenery. We passed through busy little
towns and sleepy, adobe-hut villages on our slow ascent into the Andes.
At our destination, a hacienda owned by a
believing family near Riobamba, the message of God's grace was received and
comprehended by many, including several Quechua Indians. We moved on the
morning after that second night of services, holding in our hearts memories of
more new friends in faith and also fresh and unique experiences. Leaving the
warm hospitality of the hacienda, we bade farewell to dear brothers and sisters
there and boarded the regular transit bus for Quito. The bustling metropolis
and capital city is
only a short distance from the equator. There is now a growing congregation of believers in Quito. Two evenings of services were held there in homes filled with listeners. Some service guests were local, but one young man, Miguel, had travelled several hundred kilometers from Cayambe to attend. Here as well God's Word opened hearts and many received the grace of repentance, including Miguel. The believers in Quito discussed their desire to begin organizing their congregation and wondered about the possibility of someday having their own facility. Too soon, this mission trip which God had so richly blessed, came to a close. We ex- changed warm farewells, blessings, and the greeting, Paz de Dios, amid hopes to meet again and promises to remember one another ID prayer.
A time of awakening and a time of grace seem to
be upon the Ecuadorean people. It appears that they have been granted a time of
visitation. The Word and grace of God are now in their midst. But as Luther
says they are like a
fleeting rain cloud which passes on and does
not return. We pray that our Heavenly Father will continue to prepare the soil
of men's hearts to receive the seed of His Word, and that it will sprout and
bear abundant fruit, and that He will call and send labourers to toil in His
fields.
Tomm Stewart