Ecuadorian Sabbath

July 13th

Patate, Ecuador

The start of a new week came again here in the Andes Mountains and with it the realization that my summer here in Ecuador is passing by very quickly. A new group of fresh, ready-to-work faces came in yesterday and today we worshiped in Patate at Iglesia Bautista de Valle (Pastor Angel’s church). However, Pastor Angel was on assignment elsewhere, so we had a guest speaker come in from Ambato and deliver a message on clothing ourselves with righteousness everyday. It was a good message, but I’m afraid that my mind started to drift halfway through the service due to the translation (from Spanish to English) for our predominately Anglo-Saxon audience.

After church came the part that I like best about the Sabbath, resting and taking a day off from work. And rest I needed, especially after two straight days of hiking and mountain climbing and the work from the week before with the kid’s camp. So I rested and recuperated and even managed to sneak a workout in before dinner time.

Following dinner, we shot the first of a three videos in a series of messages for the youth camp here at Chacauco this week. Today’s message dealt with the topics of peer pressure, drinking, drugs, and one’s conscience. For some reason, they included me, the gringo, in the video as the drug dealer. Anyways, I hope it goes over well this week because we certainly put some time into producing the thing.

Each day is a real blessing here in the mountains, but there is always something about Sundays. Getting to worship with my Ecuadorian brothers and sisters in two different languages is something amazing in itself. Catching up on the week’s stories and resting helps recharge the batteries for the upcoming week. And recharging we always need, especially with a whole new group of Ecuadorian youth coming to learn about God’s plan for their lives for this week at camp.