2/11/07 (Sunday)
Sunday morning and the roosters are up bright and early and practicing for the church choir it seems. I hadn’t heard them so much before but they are out in full force today, at least around the clinic. Maybe they are a traveling troupe to provide awakening services for the community and we are the lucky ones today. The day today is one of travel to Ibarra to meet Greg Sutton and Loita and travel back to San Lorenzo. I hope to do some laundry this afternoon and do some studying on my Spanish.
My night was restful. I am glad to say I had no visitors last night. I was able to sleep the entire night through without awakening until the rooster choir arrived. The bed is fairly comfortable and I am glad I don’t have to get up at night and fight the mosquito netting trying to get out of bed or climb back in.
Lord, today is Your day and we give You the praise and glory. Thank You for the restful night and the good sleep. Thank You for this new day which is bright and sunny and brings a picture of Your glory to us. Thank You for making this new day possible. We realize, Lord, that our very next breath depends on Your grace and the breath we just experienced was a measure of Your grace. Your all-sufficient grace empowers us to do so many tasks and serve You in so many ways. Thank You, Lord, for this grace You give to each of us freely. Lord, I especially, want to thank You for loving me so much that You would give Your life just to give me the opportunity to spend eternity with You. Lord, as I ponder this act, I just become overwhelmed realizing how undeserving I am for this gift of salvation from the penalty, power and even presence of evil and sin and how gracious You are to freely give this to me and to anyone who would accept it. Your love is unfailing, Your mercy is endless and Your grace overflows! All I can say is, “Thank You,” and that just doesn’t seem like that is enough. But You have assured me through Your Word that indeed it is. Lord, my heart soars today just thinking about You and the opportunity You have given me to walk with You daily, especially walking with You here in
Ecuador. Thank You, Lord! Amen
This morning I wanted to spend some time in God’s Word so I opened the Bible to 1 Peter. The first two verses seemed to jump off the page at me, especially in line with what I had just been thinking and praying. The verses read: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” Peter, a chosen one himself, writes to us and describes identifiers of those who follow Christ, those who devote themselves to walking with Him day by day, step by step.
- God’s elect. Oh, the joy that comes when being chosen! I remember as a boy the sandlot baseball and basketball games we played. Oh how I wanted to be chosen for the team and be one of the first chosen if possible. I admired the leader, the captain, and wanted to be on his team. It was a thrill to me when the captain would choose me. Too often I was a leftover, one of the last to be considered and then accepted on a team as more of a liability instead of an asset, one who had to be taken because there was none other. I so much wanted to be chosen. And to think…we are chosen…by God! He wants us to be on His team. What a privilege! We are God’s elect!
- Strangers. God’s Word clearly states that this world in not our home. Our home is in heaven. The world is under the dominion of the devil, the one who rebels against God. We become strangers here if we enlist on God’s team. Many times strangers are looked upon with suspicion and distrust. They may not be welcomed and may even encounter hostility and danger just because of being a stranger, not of the world and culture in which they find themselves. Being a stranger is not fun. It is uncomfortable and can be frightening, especially when you don’t fit into the culture or look like the people. Yet, God’s game plan is to put on the uniform of a stranger and then be scattered into the world.
- Scattered. What happened to those who were added to God’s team? They were sent – scattered – throughout the known world. Think of the distances these people traveled, on foot, to live and represent their Captain to the people. When God chooses, He may scatter. His team is a global team. His playing field is the world. The game is to reach the entire world for Him.
- Chosen by foreknowledge. God has a plan and He already knew who He was looking for to fit precisely into that plan. The entire game strategy is complete. We are chosen to play a particular pole at a specific place at a specific time. God also knows what He will ask us to do. He clearly states that we are to be holy just as He is holy. In an unholy world, being holy makes one a stranger. Yet, the world notices holiness and seems to have a longing to reach that state. Unfortunately, the world does not want to give up it’s unholiness in the process. Thus, the chasm between God and man continues.
- Sanctifying. God’s Spirit goes with us to teach and guide us into holiness. Sanctification is a process, a walk, a lifetime of becoming holy in everything we do…step by step. We can only accomplish this through the power of the Spirit.
- Obedience. In this process we must walk with Christ – every step of the way. Obedience is essential to stay in step with Christ. My life is like that of a child walking with a parent, holding the parent’s hand. However, as every parent who has had a child by the hand knows there is a lot of letting loose, wandering and getting into trouble. I look back on my life and see periods of time when I let loose of God’s hand and wandered. Those were the times my wandering usually resulted in some sort of crisis. As I age I am learning that the wandering episodes don’t really benefit me at all. More and more I find my greatest pleasure and security is found at the side of Jesus, walking in step with Him, even holding His hand. This is obedience.
- Grace and Peace. The end result of all this is abundant grace that is fully sufficient for every situation and a peace that literally cannot be described in words.
As I look at the mission opportunity I am privileged to participate in with Jane Weaver, I am filled with joy because of the extra measures of grace that God provides just at the right time and the incredible, indescribable peace that floods over me. I am so thankful for these opportunities. They stretch my faith, grow my endurance, increase my tolerance of conditions that otherwise would be intolerable, make me more compassionate of those who suffer so much and enhance my desire to help, to serve and to point people to God.
On our trip to Ibarra I sat in the back seat so Jane and Damarys could talk with one another more easily. I thought I would study some of my Spanish. However, the curvy road did not make reading and writing easy. Before I knew it I started to get waves of nausea. Once the nausea became more intense I asked to stop the car so I could get out. Standing up helped and my nausea seemed to abate. I switched with Jane to sit in front because I usually don’t get motion sickness when I am sitting in the front. However, this trick didn’t work like I expected it to. We were going through a small village and I thought I would have to jump out of the car and vomit in front of the people there. We made it through the village and stopped and I then donated my breakfast to the beautiful land of Ecuador. This was not the time to remember that I forgot my Dramamine pills to combat motion sickness!
We traveled on to Ibarra and met up with Loita and her husband and Greg Sutton. At Ibarra I was able to buy some Dramamine and took two tablets right away. We had a little lunch there, at least the others did. I chose not to eat much at all because I was not sure what I would do on the trip back home. The Dramamine helped immensely and I made it back home sitting in the back seat with my eyes closed most of the time. Greg and Jane talked most of the trip about the incredible mountain scenery, the clinic, the Ecuadorian medical system, and other topics.
Once we arrived at the clinic we were met by a couple from the rivers. The Chachi Indian lady was sent for surgery. Jane and Greg evaluated her and we added her on to our schedule for tomorrow. This will make an even busier day but we hated to turn this lady away after taking the effort to come from her home on the river somewhere. She has early cancer of the cervix and really needs the treatment. So, we will work her in tomorrow.
Lord, this day has been interesting for me and a little stressful and embarrassing as well. I have not had trouble with motion sickness for so many years but today was a different story. Thank You for giving safe travel for Greg and bringing him here to work with us. He will be a huge help to us and to the patients. Thank You, Lord, for giving me insight into the words Peter wrote at the beginning of his letter. These seemed to jump off the page to me as I just opened the text there and started to read. I believe You were in charge of that revelation and I thank You for this insight. Father, I pray for a good night’s sleep. Our heavy schedule starts tomorrow. I pray for the patients we will be operating on. Please keep them safe and secure. I pray for Angelita and Maria Luisa as they work with us in the operating room. I pray for Jorge and Gonzalo as they help us as well in transporting patients and checking on them. I pray for Jane, Greg and me as we do the surgeries. Wrap Your arms of love around all of us and Your hands around our hands as we do the surgeries. Thank You again, dear Father, for bringing us here to carry out Your work with the people in this part of the world. All the praise belongs to You and You only! Amen.
Medical Missions 
I’m thoroughly enjoying your daily posts. Thank you for taking the time to write them so we can share this experience with you and remember to be faithful in prayer.