Day 9: Laplata in Intag

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

Matthew 11:4-6 

Dear Saints,

We take a lot for granted in modern life. We expect that it is a normal and reasonable expectation to be able to see well, hear well, sleep well and walk well. However, as we go through life, we realize that all of those expectations and many others are often times either temporarily or permanently unmet needs. Many people in Ecuador have mild, and sometimes severe, disabilities. Our team helps people receive or find help. 

I met a young woman in Laplata who had painful feet. While examining her feet, our fifteen year old helper Charlie noted that she had a hole in the sole of one shoe. Noting that my shoes were about the same size as hers, we traded shoes. She was very grateful. As I wore her shoes the rest of the day, I understood why her feet hurt. We also treated many patients who could not hear well by irrigating their ears and relieving them of cerumen impaction. They were amazed at how much better they could hear. 

The dental unit had a dentist, Johana, from Otavalo, and a hygienist, Jan, from Kentucky. They relieved people of pain they had suffered from dental abscesses for months. Their patients were very grateful. The vision team helped people who had painful pterygia of their eyes as the result of chronic sun and wind exposure by giving them protective eyewear, and they helped people whose sight was poor by measuring their visual acuity and giving them corrective lenses. They praised God for the help. 

Missionaries served the team throughout our days of work. Kevin and Kathy Bruce have served the Awa people for many years in the villages near Lita, and David and Carrie Wells have served the people who live in the Intag valley for several years. All four helped with intake and translation throughout our time with these people. We were very blessed to know these warriors of faith, who had committed their lives to serving Jesus. 

The team was awed by the deep natural beauty of the Rio Intag and its valley, as well as by the surrounding mountains and deep blue sky. As we headed home at the end of the day, we could not help but sense the longing of the people for us to return again in the future. Indeed, we felt the same longing.

Awed by the compassion of our Saviour, 

Dr. Tim and Dr. Kim 

Postscript 

There was a man at Laplata, a carpenter by trade. While the team worked with the village that last day, he made 27 wooden gifts inscribed with meaningful verses from the Bible. Here he is presenting David Keene with his. The team was moved by his gifts.