Day 8: Laplaya in Intag

By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing. 

Ezekiel 47:12 

Dear Saints, 

The Intag Cloud Forest is a remote and ecologically diverse area of northwestern Ecuador. The Intag River is completely surrounded by a circle of high and steep mountains, so that to journey there one must journey up to the top of the mountains, then descend into the bowl shaped valley below. There are many small villages within this unique valley, which usually is sunny in the morning, and then covered with clouds in the afternoon and evening. Today, at the request of the community, we visited the village of Laplaya, where a weekly Bible study has been started by Galilea church. 

Usually, when we travel to such places, the Ecuadorian part of the team will travel to the site early in order to set up petitions in existing buildings, or set up plastic tents outside. Today, we did both. 

One case that was different for me this day was the case of an elderly gentleman. He was very outspoken about the poor health care in his country, and was very distraught about his suffering from many, many vague maladies. At last, Shelia and I decided that we should seek the assistance of pastor Wilman, who prayed at length with the man. Prayer seemed to help to give him hope. I did recommend that he return to see one of his surgeons. 

It was a very nice day. The weather was sunny, with a nice breeze and the constant song of the Rio Intag nearby. The children loved the VBS activities, and the community was very grateful for the health care. I believe we all knew that God the Father was caring for His family. That evening, the team enjoyed a wonderful meal and a great night’s sleep in a recently established hotel alongside the River. 

Blessed and very much so, 

Tim and Kim