A typical day was to go home to home in the mornings sharing Christ alongside a local church member. For m
any people the news of Jesus Christ was new as they had never heard the whole story before and for those who had heard of Christ had a desire to know more and more about Him. Many times our team would spend and hour or more talking with and discipling families. After lunch our team would set up for a time of sports which drew people of all ages. In the evenings we would have an evening service or training time.
One of my favorite moment
s on the trip was our second location, where during our time of sports, a massive downpour started. That didn't stop the young men playing soccer which turned out to be a hilarious slip fest. However due to the large amount of rain the roads were flooded and that meant only the faithful showed up to the evening service. The delight was that the 12 that were there were hungry to learn how to use the Evangecube so I had the precious privilege of teaching how to do evangelism. After the end of the time the very humble pastor asked the group to stay later to begin to strategize how to use their new evangelism tools to reach their neighborhood during the upcoming Holy week.
As a leade
r of many short-term mission trips I always like to say that the trip is usually just as much about the people that go as the people we reach. It was very cool to see a mom and two teenage sons be stretched into obedience and by the end of the week serving boldly. Or the young married couple on their first mission trip who wanted to serve together. Or the young man who is pursuing a career in missions. God is always at work in each of us so that ultimately He'll be glorified. Here are some of their stories:
“Many experiences during my week in Iquitos impacted me and are stories I will share for a long time to come. There are stories of salvation, answered prayers, and lots of joy. It’s the joy in Iquitos that stood out, e
specially on our last ministry day. I was able to meet a young man named Michael on that day who had already accepted Christ and was clearly living his life with passion of Jesus. His excitement over a small group of Americans sharing the Bible was incredible. He said that he had been praying for his village and that someone would come to share the Gospel with everyone there. Michael became even more excited by the new church being planted there and thanked us for coming. God showed me two huge truths through Michael. The first was that God uses simple people to answer prayers even if its in another part of the world. The other is that God will us passionate people like Michael to spread the Word long after the mission team leaves. My meeting with Michael served as an exclamation point at the end of the week saying ‘Yes, I will use you for My Will!’”
“…she had so many questions as she pulled out many books and her Bible. I did by best to answer all of her questions and we talked of many things; children, life in the community, church, faith, God, the Bible, and family problems…our surrounding bodies may have looked different but we were very much alike.”
“…the most memorable experience was being given the opportunity to share the Gospel to a primary school. To walk in and ask the director and 5 minutes later speaking to all those precious children was and amazing privilege. I’m humbled and grateful to our gracious father for letting me be a part.”
In the end ou
r sports team did 361 in home visits where 145 people gave their lives to Christ. We also had a great time building relationships, sharing Christ and beginning discipleship in our sports clinics with 510 people in attendance. With the Holy Spirit guiding us we were privileged to see Jesus build four new churches that are now well on their way to making disciples and reaching their neighborhoods.
Kelly for the team
e3 Church Planter
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