Dear Friends,
Let me share a couple of highlights from two recent mission trips to South America. One from Larry Cochran about being deep in the Amazon and another from Dr. Larry Frick about medical ministry to poor Colombians.
From Larrry Cochran:
Up the Shuzi river live the Charapillo Indian tribe. They speak the Chauita language.
Our GO team this past week had the privilege to hike our way to this distant village and hold a medical and eye glasses outreach and distribute Bibles. We prayed for all the patients and several came to Christ. The desire now upon our Peruvian leaders is to return and plant a new church. The local tribal leader is very excited about this possibility.
While our living and eating conditions were primitive at best, we met some great people and continue to find the people receptive to the Gospel. There are now five new communities within hiking distance that beckon us to come and share with them. Local leaders from these communities are asking for a training event to help children leaders and lay leaders lead their flocks.
From Dr. Larry Frick:
We were having a great medical team ministering with our partner Guillermo Parra in Bogota, Colombia. We had seen God do many things already. However the day we visited Vista Hermosa, one of our partner's child feeding centers, we really experienced a move of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the week our team had been witnessing to patients through gospel presentations using the Evangecube and praying with patients who came through. Many had already come to Christ. However that day we had been praying that we would see God do even greater things. God was so faithful to answer our prayers. Early in the day I was treating a thirteen year old named Jason.
The Lord prompted me to ask if he wanted to receive Christ and he said yes! Our cardiologist, Robert Bradley also was having a number of people coming to the Lord. Near the end of the day, I checked with our registration and triage team to see how we were doing. We had stopped registering patients, but still had many patients who yet to see. Our partner wanted us to leave by a certain time due to security concerns as nightfall approached. They asked if we wanted to send patients home untreated. I felt impressed that we should really try to honor our word to those patients we had already registered.
As it turns out, we had several more come to Christ in that last hour of the day. More than half the patients who came to Christ that day came in that last hour and would have missed the opportunity had we turned them away. God provided wisdom and power through the Holy Spirit and was glorified that day. And with His help we were able to finish nearly on time and return to our guest house with no problems.
Those are exciting stories aren't they! If we can help you join a mission team please give us a call!
