Ecuador Missions

Ecuadorian Kids Washing Our Chevy Dmaxx Truck

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:17:00 +0000

Most of the roads we travel on here in Ecuador are either very dusty or just pure mud. Needless to say we have to wash our truck a lot! So, a few of the kids from our Puyo church offered to wash it for us. Wasn't that nice!

Karina

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Karina is one of our teachers of “Los Pequeños” (The Little Ones) in our church in Puyupungo. She loves to sing songs with them, teach them to make art projects, and hear them shout “Gloria a Dios” (Glory to God).

It’s the only time Karina can be herself, can laugh, can enjoy the children, instead of feeling like she must care for them. Why? Because Karina is 16 and the oldest of 6 children. Karina’s responsibilities include cooking meals, washing the laundry (this means, taking a mountain of clothes, walking 15 minutes to the river, washing them in the river, carrying that wet heavy, mountain of laundry back to her house and hanging them out to dry on anything and anywhere she can) and she is always in charge of her younger siblings, especially her baby brother. She even must bring him to church with her for services (She assists in both children and adults). And all of this is not acknowledged with the smallest “Thank you”, but instead is expected of her.

Sometimes she thinks she’s hiding behind her smile, but we can clearly see the sadness in Karina’s eyes for the hard life she lives. But she knows that her tears roar like thunder in the ears of an Almighty God and she knows that He hears every time she calls out His name. She rejoices in the church, her place of solace, of comfort, of joy and she never misses a Monday or a Thursday. Jesus said, “Suffer the children to come unto me…..”

Santiago

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:13:00 +0000

I think many of you know this young man’s name. He has been in our Puyupungo church since we started. He’s the young boy who came when no one else did from his community. And we’d hear him sing, “Though none go with me, still I will follow, No turning back, no turning back.” But through his following Jesus and his desire to always be in church, he invited his cousins, his neighbors, his friends. And soon, a few started coming with him, then a few more, then more. Now, the community of Encañada knows about Jesus because of a 10 year old boy. Although his parents still do not faithfully come, Santiago is determined to serve God.

Santiago is the oldest of 5 siblings. In his family, he must help his dad to work in the gardens, which provide all their food. He also must help care for his younger siblings when asked to. There’s no time for hugs, not much time for play, and if there were, there aren’t many toys anyway; only the few we have blessed them with.

At 10, he is more of a man than a boy. So, each chance Charles gets on Monday service, he gives Santiago some special time. And you should see the face of that little man smile and laugh like a little boy should!

Elisabet

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:05:00 +0000

In our Puyupungo church, every Monday is Children's Church. When we arrive to the community of Encañada, the children are always ready and waiting. They literally burst into screams of excitement as the truck pulls up so they can get in and go to the church!

One of the older children, Elisabet, 13, also gets in the truck there and since she does, we assumed she lived in the community, too. But after getting to know her more, she told us she does not live there. She walks there to meet the truck, so she can have the opportunity to go to church. I still had no idea the sacrifice she was making until just a few weeks ago.

She told me she was going to have to quit coming to church because her dad was complaining that she shouldn’t be walking home in the dark (it’s about 7:15 or so when she arrives home). We usually finish church between 5:30 and 6, so we asked what the delay was. She said, “Hermana (Sister), I have to walk one hour to get to my house”. My heart sank!!!! A child, who so much wants to know love, that she walks one hour to meet our truck to go to church, then walks one hour to get back to her house after service. Where she lives, there is no road, only a small path, so our truck cannot drive to pick her up. And no one in her family comes to church with her. She does this on her own. How many adults reading this would make the kind of sacrifice Elisabet does every week and sometimes on our Thursday service too??? “….for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.”

(And FYI, we prayed for her and Jesus took care of the situation and her dad permits her to still come to church).

Puyo Kids Party

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:45:00 +0000

Having some fun with the kids here in Puyo. Playing jump rope, bike riding (none of them have a bike),
apple bobbing (they had never done that) and Bible questions. Then finish it all off with cake! It was a
great day. They all had a blast!

New Pants For The Boys - Jean Distribution

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 18 May 2010 06:35:00 +0000

On this day we were distributing jeans to all the little boys in Puyupungo. What a huge blessing
this is to those children!

Afraid Of A Tarantula?

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Sun, 16 May 2010 20:08:00 +0000

The community of Talin is known for having the most tarantulas. Big, hairy brown ones and big, hairy black ones! Two weeks ago, we went to service on Saturday at Talin. We sang, danced to God, preached the Word, had a beautiful altar service, and the moment we said “Dismissed”, 4 year old Mirian ran up to the platform and pointing with her tiny finger, said, “Pastora, hay una tarantula por alla en la pared’. (There’s a tarantula on the wall there!!!) Well, we had seen him earlier in service, so we thought it adorable that she warned us! We let him alone, since he had not moved while we worshiped.

When we returned on Tuesday for Bible study, we quickly went in to see if ‘he’ might be there. Sure enough, there was one big brown hairy tarantula! In the same location, same wall, same corner. One of the ladies said, “I’ll get the broom and kill it’!!! We told her not to, as he wasn’t bothering anyone. And during Bible study, ‘he’, again, did not budge.

By now, it’s become an event for the church to see if ‘he’ is still abiding there. So, this past Saturday, we all walked in looking for him. Yep, still there. On Tuesday again, yes still there. We decided yesterday that he has officially taken up house in our church. That’s ok, as long as he listens to the Word of God and disturbs no one. We do believe that ‘he’, too, is powerless to move in the presence of God!

Maritza, the Witch’s Granddaughter

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:12:00 +0000

Maritza is 15 years old. She lives in the jungle community of Jatari, which is right next to our Puyupungo church. Maritza started coming to our church about a year and a half ago. And she fell in love with the message of God, one she had never heard before. She never missed a service and it was only recently that we discovered that the community witch which we’d heard many tales of, was her grandmother, with whom she lives. We’ve heard countless stories of the bitterness and anger that her grandmother carries and how she often will ‘cast spell’s’ on others just because she is upset or doesn’t like them.

You’d never know it by meeting Maritza, though. She is never without a smile. She is always faithful to church, she teaches our 6-9 year old children's class, and she is the loudest to say “Amen” when the Word is being preached. Although her grandmother restrains her from participating in many activities with her community or friends, when something is ordained of God, even the devil himself has to obey. He is powerless to stop her from attending church and serving God.

Driving To Puyupungo - Video

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Sat, 01 May 2010 03:30:00 +0000

Making our way from our home in Puyo to our church in Puyupungo. It's an hour drive with most of the road being gravel and mud. And did I mention very bumpy?

Torrential Rains and Mudslides

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:10:00 +0000

Once every few months, we have to make a road trip 3 hours away to Ambato to have our oil changed in our truck at the dealership there. Lately, however, the rains have been so hard and for so many days that it has caused many mudslides, with the mud piling into the road and the road becoming impassable. (The gas stations in our town ran out of fuel because the delivery trucks could not pass).

From Puyo to Ambato, there is only one road. One way in, one way out. We had been so involved in the work, preaching the message daily, praying for the sick, feeding the hungry, that even though we knew the rains had been torrential, we did not know the depth of its destruction. We knew we had to go to Ambato for our oil change, and so ‘carefreely’, we called and made the appointment.

As we drove on the only road out, we began to see the mudslides. The beautiful mountains fallen, destroyed. But as we approached each one, they were like the last, passable. We made it safely to Ambato with no problems. And the dealership was surprised to see us! They immediately asked how our trip was and if it had not been affected by any mudslides. We said, “No”, thanking God for a safe journey.

What we did not realize is that only the day before had that road been impassable. As we made the trip home that evening, the winds were so strong and pulling us all over the road. We made it home safely, but only a few hours after arrival did the rains begin again.

The next day we went into town, and someone asked if we’d heard about the mudslides. Our thoughts were, “Which ones?” They said, “The ones that just happened again last night. The road to Ambato is closed”.

We praised God again, because He opened up the roads for just one day so we could pass through to make it safely to maintain our truck, so the work would not be affected and could continue!

Spiritual Wickedness

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:03:00 +0000

"Never pity missionaries; envy them. For they are where the real action is -- where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge."

In my lifetime, I have heard numerous stories of missionaries who travel to foreign lands, build churches and the natives ‘flock’ to the services; packed out crowds come to hear the Word of God. Here in Ecuador, that is not the case. The area that God led us to, instead, is packed with demon possession, witchcraft, sorcery. The enemy himself is on a rampage here, and the people are powerless to stop him. The Word of God tells us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Those powers, those principalities, are very real here.

A few mornings ago, I was sleeping soundly in my bed, then heard a loud scream. It was piercing, as if someone was in real danger. I instantly jumped out of my bed, looked out the window, to see right across the street, a young man seated on the sidewalk amidst the trash. This young man is just like Legion in the Word of God. He lives on the streets here. He cannot hold a conversation with anyone. His life is in complete submission to Satan. No, not by this young man’s will. The Bible says they are in the snares of the devil, ‘who are taken captive by him at HIS will” (II Timothy 2:26). I saw him rifling through the trash, and then let out another horrible scream. He continued this for about 15 minutes, every few minutes letting out a sound from the pits of Hell, and each time thereafter, calm as if nothing had happened. He is tormented daily by the enemy. Here in Puyo where we live, this is a very common sight. I prayed for this young man right then, for him to be freed in Jesus name from the wicked one.

This life is not a game we play. Spiritual wickedness is very real. Because it is so strong here, the people do not flock to our churches. They have been taught to turn to the Shamans, or drink a poisonous plant in hopes it will help them. Babies are born full of demon possession. When you enter some homes, the spirit of Satan is so thick that it literally gives you cold chills and cuts through you like a knife. Therefore, we have to spend numerous hours in prayer, many days a week fasting to liberate them from this bondage of the enemy. Liberation that they cannot attain on their own. They are truly depending on us, depending on you. Depending on your prayers.

We really are where the real action is. We are where Heaven and Hell converge. And we love it. We live to gain victory over the enemy and see the Kichwa and Shuar set free! And that is what God is doing here.

Yantana Church Finally Finished!

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:01:00 +0000

After working hard for several months now, building doors, windows, steps, benches, altar, podium, a beautiful rock walkway, our Yantana church is finally finished!! We have laboured many hours, sweated many days, to finish this church.
Our work there started a year ago in a Shuar Indian family's home. They welcomed us to teach the Word of God, and they received it. So God instructed us to build a church there. While doing so, we have had numerous other Shuar's stopping by to visit, asking us when the doors will be open, when services will begin. So, we are excited that the day has come! We'll be having our first service there next week.

We can't wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of the Shuar Indians, too!

Puyupungo Work-If you build it, they will come!

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:54:00 +0000

Our Puyupungo Kichwa Indian church is just exploding!!! We built our first one, small and made of bamboo and palmetto leaves in 2008, designed to seat 40. When God started sending folks, we numbered 65 in it. We outgrew it. So we built another one, bigger to seat more people, in Sept 2009. And God has sent more people. We have about 90 people in the church now.
We use the new church and the old bamboo one for 2 children's classes. But it don't stop there. We just bought more land so we can build another building to put another children's class!
We are so excited that God is changing the Indians, showing them a new way to live, a more blessed way, while remaining beautiful Kichwa's. And this is only just the beginning! To God be the glory!

No Sacrifices

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:06:00 +0000

The missionary makes no sacrifices. What we do, we do because of an overwhelming love in our hearts for a people only God could have called us to. And everything about our life doesn't really seem relevant anymore, because from the moment we step on foreign soil, it's no longer about US, it all becomes about THEM!!!!

Pati

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:38:00 +0000

In the Puyupungo Dedication service last week, Patricia, whom I affectionately call "Pati", came to the altar to pray at invitation. She's 14 years old, and loves helping out at the church, whatever she can do. But when I began to pray with her, God put on my heart how things looked to her. And I began to say, "God, I'm sure in Patricia's young mind, she never could have imagined that there would be a church here in her Indian community, so far back. She never could have dreamed that one day, You'd send a white man and woman from thousands of miles away to find her here way back in the jungle, and they'd tell her about a man called Jesus who loved her so much that He gave His life on a cross to save her. Lord, Patricia never knew this story, never knew this love. But now, because all of this has happened, her life is completely different that she ever knew it could be. Thank you Lord for sending us to find Pati. Thank you for changing her life."

As I spoke these words in her ears in prayer, her sobs became uncontrollable. And she was saying, "Yes, Lord. I never imagined it. Yes, Lord, I know YOUR love now".

And when we dismissed service, she immediately came up to me, hugging me tightly and saying, "Thank you, Sister Susan. Thank You. " But I said, "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you."

Beyond her wildest dreams, but it has come to pass in her life. Because now, Pati really does know God's love.

God' s moving in Ecuador!

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:01:00 +0000

We have been so busy here, that I have really fallen behind on blogging. We just finished building a new, bigger, church in Puyupungo (the Kichwa Indian church) and we are having our dedication service there on Thursday. This church has no electrcity, but we will have a drum set in it for music, along with our tambourines. Charles built a beautiful, big round altar, so more souls can pray in it for their forgiveness and for their needs. I'm very excited! It's beautiful!

We also recently bought land in Yantana (this is where our Shuar Indian work is) and cleaned it last week. The ones who participate in this work came out to help us clean the land real good. No, there are no lawn mowers, no power saws, or dozers, whatever kind of machinery one would need. We used machetes, and hand cut small timbers, and a whole lot of tall thick grass! And now the men have begun cutting wood to construct the church, so it will probably begin going up next week!

God is moving and blessing in our services. We are still doing our rice and clothing distributions monthly, blessing more families than before. Also, we just gave out numerous backpacks and school supplies to many jungle children for their school year. It's such a joy to help others in need.

Good things going on in Ecuador! God bless all of you!

Puyo Children

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:40:00 +0000

The other night at service in Puyo, I asked how many people had worked all day long before coming to church. Of the 15 that were attending, 10 raised their hands. The majority had had a long tiresome day out working, selling on the streets, cleaning houses, doing dishes or sweeping, any thing to make a few dollars. My heart ached as I saw each hand go up, and had them tell what type of work they did, not because of their labor (they were all proud of it) but because this was a children's service. And everyone who had raised their hands saying they worked a full time job (some 7 days a week) was only aged 5-14. Children.

Magaly is 8, and she washes dishes, and sweeps floors for a Senora. Janeth, 5, sells pinchos with her brother, Franklin, 8, on the buses. Mirian, 14, and Luis, 10, sell Bon Ice on the streets, anxiously hoping someone will buy one, so they can make 3 cents. As I listened to so many, my heart nearly burst for these beautiful children. They love God. They worked hard all day, walking miles on their tiny feet, but yet, when they arrived in church that night, there were huge smiles on their faces, as they sang praises to God, and worshiped Him. Now, that is true commitment. True dedication. True love.

We made it back to Ecuador!

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Charles and I safely returned to Ecuador a little more than a week ago. We travelled from Nashville, TN to Houston, TX, then on to Quito, Ecuador. As we neared our landing in TX, the turbulence was pretty rough. So much so, that within mere feet of the planes wheels touching the runway, the pilot quickly jerked the plane back up! The turbulence was too rough for him to make a smooth, level landing, so we had to fly back up and circle the aiport to try once again. He did well this time!

Our layover in Houston was 4 hours, which didn't matter to us. We chatted with some of the Ecuadorians, and witnessed to a new friend, Angel, who lives in Riobamba, 5 hours away from where we live. As we boarded the flight, we were 'sniffed' by giant police dogs, and had 5 officers checking bags and asking us various questions. After this, we safely headed out to Ecuador. Upon landing in Quito, we were required to fill out forms with medical questions, and put on masks while still on the plane and keep them on until we exited the airport. After we passed immigration, there were doctors waiting to take our paperwork, and photos of us in our masks, to record everyone entering the country. It was all due to the swine flu situation. Life in Ecuador is always such an adventure!!!

The planes always land at midnight, so we spent the night in Quito. And had to stay an extra night, also, because Charles had to go the U.S. Embassy to renew his passport. We have to return in 3 weeks to pick up his new one. We took care of that and boarded a bus to Puyo, 6 hours from Quito. Finally after nearly 3 days of travelling, we arrived in Puyo.

Since we've returned, we've gotten right back into our work. But also in the last week, we had to pay all of our bills (which cannot be done online or by mail, all must be done in person, and that often includes an hour long wait or so just to pay). We also had to renew our censo's, which is a card that represents the census, to let them know we're in the country. That requires new photos, paperwork, like our apartment rental contract, our passports which contain our visas, going to the police immigration, them taking more photos in person, and renewing the paperwork there. And you need copies of everything, which they do not copy for you. You must go somewhere else and pay to have copies made. The whole process of renewing the censos usually takes hours, or even half a day!!! We had to do it in 2 days, because the first day we waited a while, and then someone finally told us the system was down, so they couldn´t do anything that day.

We also have had to renew our cedulas. That is a country card, which has your i.d. number on it. It also requires new photos, and lots of documentaion, a fee paid in the bank and a recepit showing you paid it, and copies of all that, and, of course, mostly several hours of the day, as well! Nothing is done in Ecuador for folks who are in a hurry!!:-)

We've also had to travel on 2 seperate days to Ambato, which is a 3 hour drive, one way. Once to have our oil changed in our truck and another to renew our car insurance.

It has been an incredibly busy first week back, but God is already doing great things! We are having some beautiful services, and more people are coming to church! We have begun construction on our new Puyupungo church, which will be much bigger than our current one. We're excited about that!

So, the work continues....and we love every moment of it!!!

Last Leg of our 2009 U.S. Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

We have been having the best time in the U.S. We have been here for 7 weeks now, recorded a new cd the first 2, and have been touring for 5 weeks in LA, MS, TX and AL! What FUN!! We love the road life!! And what beautiful, anointed services we have been having! Powerful!

We have been sharing some great stories of our beautiful people in Ecuador and so many are being moved with compassion when hearing these stories. We have received donations for more clothing, for new dresses for little girls, for more Bibles. A young gentlemen even gave the last $2 he had for the month because he wanted to be a blessing to Ecuador. God is so good and so faithful to repay all those even more than what they gave.

We miss our Ecuadorian people so much and can't wait to get back to see their beautiful faces! And be in service with them again. And we can't wait to bless their lives with these new gifts of clothing or shoes, and food, all from the kind people of the U.S.

So many of our friends have come to see us in our services here. We can't name them all, but many drove from Arkansas to LA, from Missouri to LA, and many others drove 3, 4, 5 hours to come to our services. Also friends we had not seen in YEARS!! 15, 20 years came to renew those friendships and it was so great to know they still love God.

We will be returning to Ecuador in 3 weeks, so our 2009 Tour is coming to an end soon. We'll be in AL and TN the rest of this Tour. So, please come out and be with us. You will be blessed and you will have a great time!

From the United States

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Charles and I safely arrived in the U.S. about 3 weeks ago, and we have begun our Tour. We are travelling in southern U.S. ministering and singing with our family group, The Templet Family Band (www.thetempletfamily.com) And we're speaking of Ecuador and sharing a presentation of beautiful photos of our people and our work there. God is moving mightily in our services, and blessing financially. He has already provided funds for us to build a new church in Puyupungo, as the one we built last year is already full and will be used for the children's class and convert as a kitchen area, too. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us.
Please visit our family website to view pictures of our concerts/missions services here in the U.S. We miss our people very much, but I have spoken with a few of them and they are going forth in Jesus, anxiously awaiting our return in June.

2009 U.S. Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Next week, we are travelling to the United States from beautiful Ecuador for a 2 1/2 month visit. God has done so many amazing things here in our work, and we are very excited to share it all with our supporters and many other churches in the U.S.

We are sad to leave the Ecuadorians, but we have entrusted someone in each church to lead the services and we are excited about all God still has in store for Ecuador, when we return here in June.

We will only be touring a very short time, so please check our Tour Schedule and come join us in service somewhere. We'll be showing lots of photos of our work here, and also be singing some great music with our family group, The Templet Family.

Looking forward to seeing many family and friends while in the U.S.!!

Contentment

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Sra. Maria is a member of our Puyo church. A small 8’ x 10’ room is what she and her children call home. She does have electricity but no running water, no indoor bathroom. In a recent testimony, she wanted to share with everyone how much God has done for her since she started to church one year ago. Many of her family and friends have asked her why she would want to change her life after living the way she did for nearly 50 years. She tells them that since she started serving God, her life is so blessed now, she has so much. Before she had nothing, now she has everything.

Fabiola, her husband and seven children are members of our Puyupungo church. They live in a jungle house with no electricity or running water. We had a family of 5 visit the church last week. After service Fabiola and her husband went to their garden and picked a huge amount of fruit and gave to this family. When Susan thanked them for helping this needy family, Fabiola wondered how they could not. She told Susan that God has blessed them with so much more than they need, that they feel it is only right for them to help others who are in need.

Both Sra. Maria and Fabiola live in profound poverty. They have little more than nothing. Yet they choose to talk about how much God has blessed them, how wonderful their lives are now that they are serving Him. If I, or most Christians in America, had to live in such conditions, we would not consider ourselves blessed and we would certainly not be thankful. I dare say most of us would even question why God had forsaken us.

But I Timothy 6:8 says, “And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.”

As an American blessed with far more than any person should have, I cannot fully comprehend the meaning of this verse. Yet in Fabiola and Sra. Maria’s world, this verse is their daily reality, their very existence. If I never get to a place that I can completely understand this verse, then how can I be arrogant enough to think that I deserve to spend eternity in the same Heaven as these beautiful people? Quite simply, I don’t.

By Ann Templet

A Blessing Shared

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:18:00 +0000

We worked at Talin church on Wedneday. Patricio and his family were there when we arrived, already working. So, they helped us with our labour, too. We cut down tall grass with the machete, and we also layed sand and more rocks in our walkway at the church, as it was not sturdy and becoming very muddy. We worked really hard that day, and it was worth it. It looks great now.

Before we left Talin that afternoon, Lucia wanted us to stop by their house for a moment. She said she wanted to give an offering to the church. And she gave a big one, a sacrifice for her. She gave us a beautiful live white chicken. We love chicken, but the Word of God teaches us to give to the poor, to share our blessings with those who are less fortunate than us.

So, when we got back into Puyo, we went by Maria's family's house. Maria lives with her parents, and 10 siblings in their home in Puyo. They have no running water, or electricity, and no indoor bathroom. We asked them if they'd like to receive a chicken, and they were so excited! They smiled, and said, "Oh YES!!" and ran out to the truck to get it!

Lucia did a good thing today. She wanted to bless us and the church, and she did. The blessing came not in us eating the chicken, but in just being able to share it with someone else!

By Susan Templet

I Have Decided To Follow Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:26:00 +0000

Yesterday in service at our Puyupungo church, as we were singing, "I have decided to follow Jesus", I noticed 11 year old Rachel worshiping the Lord. Her eyes were tightly shut, her hands raised in the air to Him. It was as if no else was there, just her and Jesus in the room. As I continued singing, I thought to myself how beautiful she looked in her worship to God.

After service I told her that I had seen her sincerely praying to God while we sang that song, and I asked her, "Rachel what were you thinking about at that time? or what were you feeling?" She said, "Hermana Susana, I was just thinking that I never want to go away from the Lord, I never want to go away from Him. Ever".

Oh, my heart just swelled because Rachel has only known God's love in the last 6 months. Before that, her family never served God, or never even knew about Him. And in such a short time, He has done miracles in this child's life.

Such wise words from such a little girl. I never felt more proud. And I thought, "Me, too, Rachel. I never want to go away from God either. Me, too".

By Susan Templet

Gloria's Song

noreply@blogger.com (Ecuador Missions) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:35:00 +0000

“I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart…” Psalms 9:1

About two weeks after my arrival in Ecuador, I had opportunity to witness someone fulfill this scripture. During service at the Talin church, Susan asked Gloria to sing a special song. I have been blessed to hear some of the greatest singers in the world. Their singing has moved me to tears; stirred my soul; touched my heart; even changed my life. But no singer, no song, has ever caused me to feel the perfect peace of God like I felt when Gloria sang.

Gloria is not technically a ‘good’ singer. She doesn’t always stay on key, her timing is not perfect. She would never win a talent contest, nor could she make her living singing. But I could sit and listen to her for hours. When Gloria sang “Yo quiero mas y mas de Cristo” (I want more of you Lord), although at the time I could not understand the Spanish words, I did not need to. The presence of God I felt when she sang was overwhelming. You just knew that she was singing with every fiber of her being, from the very depths of her soul, with her whole heart. It was as if it was just her and the Lord. The Talin church has no electricity, so there was no music when Gloria sang. The only other sound was that of a gentle breeze blowing through the open windows of the church. Even the birds that had been singing in the distance hushed for a time, no doubt knowing and honoring what a beautiful moment this was to the Father.

I am almost certain that even the angels in Heaven stopped to listen when Gloria sang. And I like to imagine that the Father proudly said, “THAT is what I made man to do. THAT is the very reason I created mankind. “

“I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” Psalms 7: 17

By Ann Templet