Below is his e-mail. I thought it so good, I thought I would share.
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I hope that this Lenten season has been a time for quiet reflection
on His passion, and for you, a desire to grow deeper in your missionary
vocation. He loves us so much, and desires an intimate relationship
with us. Jesus is so patient, waiting for us to finally want to 'rid
ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us' and truly fix our
eyes on Him. May we, like Him, except the trials that come for the sake
of the joy that lays before us. (See Heb. 12)
I must apologize for my absence over the
past couple of weeks. We hosted a mission trip of students from SFA
University and put the new guys in language school in Quito. Matt and I
finally have this day, our day off, to catch up on some updates. Praise
the Lord!
First of all, thank you for all of your prayers. The
short-term mission trip was a huge success. I was so incredibly blessed
to witness the hands and feet of Jesus at work, both from the students
of SFA and the people of Misahualli. Our first ministry day we hiked a
couple of hours up the mountain, in mud and water, to Verde Cocha and
Ishkanampi. It was a physically demanding and dirty hike, which finished
with us getting poured on when we came back. At one point, a young girl
of the community helped lead one of our missionaries who was struggling
with hike the remaining 45 minutes of the journey. She held her hand,
encouraging her and giving her confidence. At the end, she proceeded to
wash off all of the mud from the missionary and clean her socks and
pants. She was her angel! And the missionaries were amazing! They never
complained. They were praising the Lord, falling and getting up again.
It was incredible! Isn't this what the Lord wants at all times. That we
give praise and thank Him, especially during those difficult moments.
For certainly, praising and thanking Him will bring us healing when we
are sick and hurt. Complaining and worrying will do nothing but bury us
deeper in the mud.
We reached the communities and ate our lunches,
sharing with the kids. We gathered everyone and sang Kichwa songs. Some
of the missionaries gave testimonies. We read scripture and reflected on
it, delivering them a message: Jesús les ama and He thirsts for a
relationship with you. We finished with prayer over the people of the
community.
We also helped three different communities build
chapels during the day. In the evening over three nights, we held a
prayer group in the church. We gave a series talks called the Kerygma.
These are fundamental teachings on our Christian faith and beliefs. The
new missionaries here in Ecuador each gave a talk, while myself, Rachel
and Matt were the hosts for each night. The missionaries from SFA gave
testimonies, which were so powerful. We need to do more of this, sharing
with others how God has worked in our lives, through Christ, to bring
us closer to Him. He tells us over and over in scripture to tell others
about His marvelous deeds.
Our trip ended in Quito, where we had a pilgrimage.
Our Blessed Mother guided us on an incredible journey of faith. She put
in our path the opportunity to visit a cloistered convent of nuns called
the Conceptionists at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. It was
here where Mary appeared to a nun, Madre Mariana de Jesus Torres in the
17th C. Her body is incorruptible. (See my blog lawlessadgentes.blogspot.
There is much more to tell. I pray that each of you
are finding His burden to be light and His yoke gentle. He will not lead
you astray. Let us, each day, be more and more excited about our faith:
giving Him all praise and lifting up our hands in Joy! Praise you Lord
Jesus Christ!
Through Christ, our Peace,
Ryan
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Enjoy the journey . . .
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