A Korean missionary family moved to Sucua about 6 months ago with the vision to start a Shuar church at the camp where we are building the foster home. The Shuar are the indigenous indian group in our region. They had their first service in late September! The family asked Roberto and I to help out a couple weekends ago with their Saturday/Sunday weekend program.
It was great to meet some new people, and share the gospel with kids and adults who knew little about our Heavenly Father! Roberto helped lead a foot washing ceremony on Saturday night, played guitar for the praise and worship portion both Saturday and Sunday, and Jill led the Sunday school lesson for the kids on Sunday!
Sunday we were greeted by a man (Benjamin) with a vibracious smile! He came up to me (Jill) shook my hand and introduced himself. Then he proceeded to point to different people in the room saying "Over there that is my oldest son, over there is his wife (she's pregnant), over there is my other son, Oh and this is my son too, and Oh yea over there is my youngest son", then he pointed well across the room to his wife. Pretty sure half of the people in attendance that day were his family members :)
Roberto had noticed that just before the Sunday service was about to begin that a lady (that was not part of the Sunday gathering) came up to Benjamin, pulled him aside and started yelling and screaming at him. After the service, Roberto asked him what is was all about. He said that he owed her money. He shared that he had been in the hospital for a surgery, and she had loaned the family money. Roberto asked the man about being in debt to someone, and also shared that it be best for him to pay off his debt.
In trying to see if we could help him with some work, we asked him what skills he had, and what he knew how to do. He said that he was good at building Shuar houses (houses that have a thatched type of roof,made from a material found here in the jungle). So, we decided to give him some work! Roberto asked him to come to the house the following Wednesday (to see how serious they were). Sure enough...Wednesday at my door with a sack of a typical jungle fruit to share with us was Benjamin, and his wife. Roberto wasn't home, so what does this little white girl do? Duh...invite them in for some ice cold crystal light sweet tea!!!
We talked with them and came up with a plan and talked about prices and a timeline...and so we have it...we are adding a small typical Shuar structure to the property to use as a "group meeting place".
It was great to meet some new people, and share the gospel with kids and adults who knew little about our Heavenly Father! Roberto helped lead a foot washing ceremony on Saturday night, played guitar for the praise and worship portion both Saturday and Sunday, and Jill led the Sunday school lesson for the kids on Sunday!
Sunday we were greeted by a man (Benjamin) with a vibracious smile! He came up to me (Jill) shook my hand and introduced himself. Then he proceeded to point to different people in the room saying "Over there that is my oldest son, over there is his wife (she's pregnant), over there is my other son, Oh and this is my son too, and Oh yea over there is my youngest son", then he pointed well across the room to his wife. Pretty sure half of the people in attendance that day were his family members :)
Roberto had noticed that just before the Sunday service was about to begin that a lady (that was not part of the Sunday gathering) came up to Benjamin, pulled him aside and started yelling and screaming at him. After the service, Roberto asked him what is was all about. He said that he owed her money. He shared that he had been in the hospital for a surgery, and she had loaned the family money. Roberto asked the man about being in debt to someone, and also shared that it be best for him to pay off his debt.
In trying to see if we could help him with some work, we asked him what skills he had, and what he knew how to do. He said that he was good at building Shuar houses (houses that have a thatched type of roof,made from a material found here in the jungle). So, we decided to give him some work! Roberto asked him to come to the house the following Wednesday (to see how serious they were). Sure enough...Wednesday at my door with a sack of a typical jungle fruit to share with us was Benjamin, and his wife. Roberto wasn't home, so what does this little white girl do? Duh...invite them in for some ice cold crystal light sweet tea!!!
We talked with them and came up with a plan and talked about prices and a timeline...and so we have it...we are adding a small typical Shuar structure to the property to use as a "group meeting place".
This leads to our other new friend! One of the workers, Humberto, that started working with on the Shuar house, shared that he knew how to do stucco on buildings. Roberto took him (Humberto) to look at the house and asked if he could work on the walls of the foster home. He took a look around and said "sure". Again, to see how serious he was about working, Roberto asks him to be at the house on Monday at 8am.
This past Monday at 7:30am,we hear knock, knock, knock on the door. So off he and Roberto went to work. Roberto returned home Monday afternoon saying "I've gotta tell you about this guy Jill".
Humberto has a wife who is pregnant, Georgina, and a son named Jason (about 4 years old). His sister, who is blind and also 6 months pregnant, is also living with them, because the husband has abandonded her. She has a son (so Humberto's nephew) who recently had a kidney surgery in Guayquil (about 10-12 hours from here) and was recently transferred back to the hospital in Sucua. The husband was supposedly staying and caring for the boy in the hospital, but no one in the hospital has seen him come or go. Basically, Humberto, is caring for his pregnant wife, his son, his pregnant sister, and his nephew!
While we pray that the money they earn for their hard work is a blessing, and can help their familie,s and personal situations, our hope is to open a relationship. Our hope is that these men can be better leaders for their families, that these men will learn to guide their families in the ways of the Lord, that these men will carry God's word with them each day.
Please pray for them, and for us (especially Roberto) as we minister to them.
This past Monday at 7:30am,we hear knock, knock, knock on the door. So off he and Roberto went to work. Roberto returned home Monday afternoon saying "I've gotta tell you about this guy Jill".
Humberto has a wife who is pregnant, Georgina, and a son named Jason (about 4 years old). His sister, who is blind and also 6 months pregnant, is also living with them, because the husband has abandonded her. She has a son (so Humberto's nephew) who recently had a kidney surgery in Guayquil (about 10-12 hours from here) and was recently transferred back to the hospital in Sucua. The husband was supposedly staying and caring for the boy in the hospital, but no one in the hospital has seen him come or go. Basically, Humberto, is caring for his pregnant wife, his son, his pregnant sister, and his nephew!
While we pray that the money they earn for their hard work is a blessing, and can help their familie,s and personal situations, our hope is to open a relationship. Our hope is that these men can be better leaders for their families, that these men will learn to guide their families in the ways of the Lord, that these men will carry God's word with them each day.
Please pray for them, and for us (especially Roberto) as we minister to them.