Joyce Update June 2nd, 2009

To all my friends and family,
Wow! What a day I had last Sunday.  At least I feel that I have something interesting to write.  Mark and I were headed to Pano to pass out tracts. Last November we met a boy in Tena that lived there and he said to come on May 24.  Don't ask me why, a Divine Appointment! We were at the bus stop waiting for the bus and Mark was saying that he thinks Shandia was in the same direction.  That is the town where Jim Elliot lived.  Mark and Elvis visited there last year.  I asked a lady next to me if the same bus goes to Shandia, and she said yes, but it is farther.  When we got on the bus, a lady sat in front of us said she heard us asking and that she lives in Shandia.  We asked her if she was familiar with the story of Jim Elliot, and she said she grew up hearing the story.  Mark asked her if they were still making a museum out of his house and she said yes. She was very friendly, and said she would show us where the house is.  So, we decided to go there before going to Pano. 

When we got to Shandia, about 30 minutes away, she introduced us to an older man, who was a leader in the church there.  He said he knew Jim Elliot, and received Christ under his ministry.  He and another man let us into the museum and showed us around.  They are redoing it and it will be open on June 12.  Mark and Elvis thought this was his house, but the younger man said no, his house was actually about a 10 minute walk into the jungle. Did we want to go see it? YES!  So the younger man led us up the dirt road and then said he would be right back.  He walked into a house, and came out a few minutes later.  We started walking and I looked back and an old Quechua lady with a machete was following us.  We walked into the jungle with the man in front of Mark and me behind him, and the lady following me.  I then went ahead of Mark-I have read way too many missionary stories!  I was wondering who this lady was and why she was following us with a machete.  We got to the house and the man let us in.  He then introduced this lady as a Christian who got saved under Elizabeth Elliot.  She told us her story in Quechua, and the man interpreted it into Spanish.  Needless to say, we still didn´t understand much of it.  The lady was very emotional, and Paul will be coming back there with us on Sunday.  I hope we can hear it again. 

My first impression of the house was that it is really run down inside.  Giant bats were flying everywhere, and the floors were covered with dirt.  But it looked structurally sound.   He showed us the cupboard that held the communication radio.  I wonder who owns the house now.   It sure would be a good project to fix it up and have someone living there.  The man also told me to take out my cell phone and look for service.  We went out the front door and I got phone service.  He said in the  entire town of Shandia that is the only place that gets phone service.  Interesting.

He also showed us the rest of the town.  A perfect Indian town.  I just loved it there.  Unlike Shell, it is not Americanized at all.  Jim Elliot is most remembered for his martyrdom, but this was his first work.  It was a blessing to see that it is still being carried on.  We will be going to church there this Sunday. I am looking forward to fellowshipping with these Christians.

On to our original destination-Pano.  Every little village has their own festival, and theirs was Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  ON Sunday, there were about 25 people left still drinking and partying. What a ministry that would be to follow around after the festivals and give people the hope of a clean heart.   We went up to them and gave them tracts and said, Jesus te ama- Jesus loves you.  After spending some time with them, some of them opened up and shared their problems with us.  Some of them asked us to pray with them and we got to.  It was such a blessing.  There was one group of about 5 men that were all passed out and Mark put tracts in their shirt pockets.  It was pretty funny.  We saw a few children playing and gave them some mini Bibles. We did not see our young friend, but we will be able to tell him next time we see him that we were there. I would like to go back and pass out more tracts.

Shandia was a beautiful native town.  When we got to Pano, I could feel the oppression.  I cannot describe what my heart felt.  A few days later I was telling a lady in church about it and she said Pano is big on their witch doctors. That explains that.

This town needs a full time missionary.  Who will come and tell these people of the hope that is in Christ? Who will go to all the other villages in Ecuador, South America, Africa and every other place where they have never heard of the Savior? Is it fair that so many of us have heard, and so many of them will go into eternity without a chance of hearing the Gospel? 

Love to all, Joyce