Day 1 - continued

"I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains
These are the things I will do,
And I will not leave them undone.”

 Isaiah 42:16

Dear Saints,

Over the past twenty-four hours, there have been a number of people that God has intentionally set in my path.  There is Charlie Duncan, grandson of Shelia and her now deceased husband Phillip. Charlie is recovering from bilateral corneal replacement surgery…a fulfillment of our mission verse this year (listed above). Charlie has grown physically and intellectually since I last saw him four years ago. I pray that he receives full healing of the grief he has suffered following his grandfather’s death. I pray the same encouragement and emotional healing for his grandmother, our mission leader. Shelia has suffered greatly following Phillip’s death, as has their daughter, Leah. I pray that God uses Ecuador and its people to emotionally heal both of them.

I met an Ecuadorian man at the airport in Miami. He lives in Quito and is in the flower business. He was very touched that our teams had been coming to his country to provide heath care and Christian sharing for nearly twenty-five years. He asked that God would bless our ministry in Ecuador. Likewise, we met a man who took care of our team at the American Airlines ticket counter in Louisville. He asked Shelia how one becomes a mission team member. Shelia told him that first you must be a believer in Jesus Christ, and he whispered to her that he was one! Over the next two hours he encouraged and challenged every team member.

Finally, I sat beside a grandmother from the Chicago area. She is 74, and is taking her 12 year old grandson on a National Geographic trip to the Galápagos Islands. Moreover, she is a nurse who worked for 35 years for a family doctor in Little Rock, Arkansas. Last year, she worked with a mission team from her church serving an indigenous group in Ecuador while traveling on one of the tributaries of the Amazon. We shared stories about how good God is, and how to do church, as well as stories of mission work  for much of the journey to Quito.

As the end of this very eventful day approaches, I must say that - though I am very tired - I am also remarkably filled with the Father’s hope, purpose, and mighty love.

Blessings to all, and Good Night,  Tim