March, 2014
Dear Joyful Saints,
How great is our God and what an adventure to serve Him! Thank you for your continued prayers and support for what He is doing here.
Nine precious students shine with the Joy of the Lord!
The view from the front step of the new church
Our field news concerns an amazing event in Guabug, the site of our second school. To refresh your memory, the Lord drew us to this Kichwa village in 2011 at the prompting of our co-laborer, Maria, who has many contacts in this area. In the 1960’s missionaries came to Guabug, planted a church, built a building and started a small school. In less than ten years these missionaries were forced to leave by threats of physical violence from the major portion of the village. In the early 1990’s, one of the indigenous converts began his own house church that consisted of two or three families. When the Christians began to make plans to build a church, they were again ostracized by the town and forced to meet in the small, vacant school building located in the pastures on the outskirts. This is where we met the thirty faithful members of the New Life Christian church. They were VERY excited about having a school and welcomed us warmly.
The church choir singing praises in the new building
As soon as the school started it was evident that the church and the school could not co-habit the same building. With the blessings that came with the school, the church attendance began to grow and again plans were made to build a big (300 person) church building. Again the enemy came against the Kingdom work but now it focused on the school to discredit the efforts, the education, the faith. Over these two and a half years an incredible assortment of “authorities” from the town have come to the school to denounce, ridicule, threaten and abuse the staff and children. Each time, God intervened and turned the evil attempt into something that glorified Him. The church began building its dream in mid-2012 among the chorus of nay-sayers within and without. We helped in a very small way with Dave and two men from one of our supporting churches in Washington working on the electrical system.
Some outlets sprouted up after the visit of Dave’s electrical crew
Last week, Dave, Maria and I were invited to participate in the dedication of the BEAUTIFUL completed church building birthed in tears and faith. That is only one part of this miracle. Every Sunday, since the building has had a roof, up to 150 children come for Sunday School! There are still only about 50 faithful members, therefore these children come from the homes of the people who threw the Christians out of town. That is another part of the miracle. The Sunday of the dedication, we arrived to a basically empty area with only the 20 or so church ladies frantically peeling potatoes and boiling chicken for the lunch following the service. Everyone else was in the center of town forming a parade with banners to announce to the world what the Lord had done. Knowing the situation, we guessed that maybe 100 total would show including the children and support from churches from other villages. We were dumbfounded when well-over 200 people filed up the hill to celebrate the opening of a Christian church in this historically antagonistic village. What was more amazing was that they were ALL from Guabug itself! Awe and faith welled up in my heart as I witnessed the fruit of many years of labor and prayer beginning more than 60 years ago. To our surprise and honor, I was asked to give the dedicatory prayer outside (in the rain) and then later inside to bless the special speaker. Our school children had a special part in the worship service and we were all blest. Maria said it best: that if she had not seen it with her own eyes, she would not have believed it. Praise God for the move of the Kingdom that is beginning again in the Kichwa people in the Andes of Ecuador.
Prayer of Dedication on the doorstep of the new church building
Steamy potatoes being prepared for the crowd
Church ladies enjoying their culinary craft
We would like to announce our Home Ministry plans for this summer, 2014. We will be on the East Coast and would very much like to see you and share more of what God is doing in our part of the world. Please contact us soon so we can plan accordingly. The dates are not firm but close.
July 3 – 9 Kissimmee/coast, FL
July 10 – 14 South Carolina/Virginia
July 15 – 21 New Jersey/New York
July 22 – 24 Bemus Point, NY
July 25 – 31 Ohio, Michigan, Illinois
Aug 1 – 4 Indiana
Aug 5 – 7 Tennessee
Aug 8 – 11 Atlanta, GA
Aug 12 – 15 Pensacola/Miami, FL
God’s best and many blessings to you and yours.
Together for the Kingdom,
Dave, Sharman, Erland, Mayra and Kjersti Injerd
PS Please visit our website! www.sealaluz.org