Ministering to the Waoroni

Dear ones,

Peace and grace to all from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Day 3 was our first day of seeing people in clinic. We set up in a home here in puyo, which is being used as the church for the Waoroni people in this area. We had a roomy set up on the third floor, including the terrace on the roof. Shelia Duncan and I saw children as well as adults, Kim saw adults as well as children, Nick fitted folks with glasses, Leah and Brandon ran the pharmacy, and Linda provided health education as well as remarkable dialogue with the patients. Too many highlights of the day to recount here, but some included were a lunch for all 120 people, financed by River of Life and prepared by the ladies of the church. Great food and fruit juice beverages. Shelia and I were afforded the privilege of providing care for the grandson of Mincaye, the Wao featured in the movie ¨The End of the Spear¨. We saw about 120 people. More importantly, as stated earlier by our missionary host Chet Williams, was the establishment of relationships with the Waoroni people. We got to spend time with them, look into each others faces, and communicate through translators. We saw all many of disease and trauma, much as described in Matthew 15 regarding Jesus and those brought to him for healing.

The mission people here are and have been remarkable. Their faith and lives are deep in the lord, and they live their love for the waorani on their sleeves. Life can be hard here, but they smile a lot. Chet´s wife Katie is raising three very beautiful children, and the two of them are in charge of running several different ministries. Chet works for Youth World, which brings teens from churches down here to learn about life through working and living in the Amazon, etc. We met two interns while here, as well as his summer assistant Daniel. Daniel has a strong interest in health care, and spent a lot of time with our team. He is from Canada. While here, we have experienced a terrific mixture of different groups of Ecuadorian Indians, Americans, and internationals. The body of Christ is wide and strong here. The team has been richly blessed. Breakfasts at our hotel (the hostal of San Patricio) have been wonderful, and our sleep has been deep (secondary to exhaustion from working and sweating all day).

We are traveling by bus today all the way to Otavalo. This will be a 5 or 6 hour journey, passing through many mile long tunnels through the mountains, driving alongside wide sweeping rivers, elevating from jungle terrain up to the bare cliffs of the Andes. As we travel, we plan to recount the experiences of the last three days, along with explaining their significance. Linda said that yesterday was one of the best days of her life. She will tell more about that today.

We love you, and hold you close in our hearts.

Love,
Tim