Parks Howard: May 2001Ecuador Mission Trip reflections. Howard Parks relates about his experiences on his first trip to Ecuador. the Voice of Zion 7/2001.

The tenth mission trip to Ecuador sponsored by the Laestadian Lutheran Church took place in May 2001. Randy Herrala and I were scheduled for this trip- Randy's third trip and my first. My preparations for this trip to South America began about ten months ago with a visit to my local physician for immunizations needed to travel to Ecuador. I also needed to renew my passport. Soon the time came to depart from home. I hoped that I packed the right kinds of clothes and personal needs. I tried to study some Spanish but learned only a few basic expressions: por favor (please), muchas gracias (many thanks), and maybe a couple more.

Left behind was my wife and children and the events of everyday life. I felt unprepared for what lay ahead but trusted that God directs our lives and guides our way. I was supported with many words and prayers, especially from the believers in my home area, the LLC staff, and from others who have previously gone to Ecuador.

Our trip to Ecuador left Minneapolis on Tuesday morning, the 15th of May. We were gone for a total of seven days, returning the following Tuesday morning. Our travels took us to three areas of Ecuador: Guayaquil, Riobamba, and Quito.

Our first stop was Guayaquil, where we arrived a few minutes past midnight on Wednesday morning. We were welcomed by our host Alfredo Hernandez and his daughter Maria. We exchanged greetings of God's Peace and could see and feel their joy upon our arrival. We reached their home, where we were also warmly welcomed by Alfredo's wife, Gladys. We were in Guayaquil three days, during which we held worship services in homes and afterwards would try to answer questions that arose. For example, one question was: "How do we know if this is the right'- faith?" Guests came to these homes for the services.

Before the services started on Thursday David Lastra, who had previously received the grace of repentance, was baptized. He had not previously been baptized but now as a believer, he wished to be. God's mission command teaches: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:19). It was a joy to see how God works in the hearts of people and calls them into His grace kingdom. We met many people and remember them with much love.

The last afternoon in Guayaquil, we toured the city; Alfredo drove his van and we picked up Cesar and Gladys Catalina Hernandez. We then picked up Maria from school to translate for us. Our tour brought us to an area where Alfredo's nephew and his family live. They have a small furniture store where they make and sell furniture. Their home is above the store, and we were invited upstairs to visit. Alfredo and his nephew conversed in Spanish for a while. Randy and I did not understand the language. Then Maria said that her father (Alfredo) was speaking about the forgiveness of sins and what had taken place in their own lives. This change in their lives came as a fruit of living faith and perhaps the others had noticed this change as well. A short time passed and Maria turned to us again and asked a question: "Now we will have services, yes?" They wanted us to hold worship serv- ices. Randy spoke first and explained why we had come to Ecuador and spoke about God's love for all people and of God's kingdom on earth and of the need for the forgiveness of sins. I also spoke about the grace of God and how salvation is offered through His kingdom. We offered forgiveness to those who would believe. The ones who were already believing desired to again receive a blessing. Alfredo's nephew thanked us for coming and told us that we are doing great work in coming to Ecuador. He then invited us (LLC ministers) to visit their home on future trips. We also extended an invitation to them to attend the services when they are scheduled again in Guayaquil. We then returned to our host's home for the evening and to spend our last night in Guayaquil.

Saturday morning, we boarded a bus for our next stop, Riobamba, in the highlands of the Andes Mountains. It was a five hour bus trip from Guayaquil. Our destination was the Hernandez family hacienda (ranch) near Riobamba, where we were met by Patricio and Sonia Martinez and their son Adrian. That evening, we again held services and visited afterwards. It was hard to count the number of service guests. continued to come even after the services started. The was filled with guests and overflowed onto the veranda into the courtyard, where they listened through the open doors and windows. The evening concluded with the Quechua people singing songs in their native tongue. We were told that those songs gave thanks to God for his Son, Jesus Christ and for His protection and care.

We said our farewells and Paz de Dios that eveni because we would not see them again on this

Our final stop was at the home of Pepe and Chela Viteri in Quito. We held our final two days of services for this trip there and visited with the service guests and host family as our time allowed. We also had opportunities to speak about matters of living faith to friends of the believers. During a sight-seeing trip to downtown Quito, we were joined by a friend of one of the believers, who attends the university there. We spent the afternoon together and during that time discussed how God through His kingdom offers salvation through the preaching of the gospel of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. This college friend was invited to come to the next services and promised to do so. Thus the work of God ' s kingdom continues. This indeed was the purpose of our trip to Ecuador-to make known the message of God's kingdom. When Jesus began His teachings, He preached: "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt.4: 17)..,

Words cannot explain the feelings of joy and love that we felt on this trip. God, through His Spirit, truly joins His children into a mutual bond of love, peace, and joy. We found it to be true as God's Word explains: "now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreign- ers but fellow citizens with the saints and of the house- hold of God" (Eph. 2:19). As I reflect on this trip, I feel thankful for the opportunity that I had to meet and visit with the people of Ecuador and especially with those who God has granted the grace to believe. They wish to be remembered ill prayer that God would protect them in their life of faith, and they expressed their thanks for everything that the believers of North America have done for them.

Howard Parks