"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."

Matthew 5:13-14

 

This morning during my devotion time I was challenged by a few questions. "Are you salty salt?  Does your presence in the world cause others to thirst after the Fountain of Living Water?"  We are called to have a distinctive "flavor" from those who are not saved.  If our lives are indistguishable from those who don't claim to follow Christ, then what are we doing here?   Good food for thought!

Our VBS in Puyo was great.  We took a team of seven down to help with a week-long VBS the first week in August.  We had 96 kids that came during the week, and our group was responsible for arts and crafts, music, game time and helping out wherever needed.   Darryl and I were very moved by how the group immediately loved on and ministered to all of the children.  Even through language barriers, the group was able to have a wonderful impact in the lives of so many children as well as the national team members who we worked with during the week.  This video was taken during one of the opening ceremonies.  In it the kids are singing, "My Savior is not dead.  He is not in the grave.  My Savior is not dead, because he has risen.  Christ lives!"

Alejandro & Rosa performing with their family

Our "high" for the week came when the Lord put an opportunity before us to witness to and pray with a family of Shuar Indians.  We met Rosa on Sunday night when she, along with her children and a few other Shuar women, came to do a special presentation for our group. During the church service she shared her sadness of living with an alcoholic husband who, even that night, was out drunk in the street.  The group committed to pray for her during the week, and on Tuesday night, during the evening service, we noticed that Alejandro, her husband, had come to church with her.  On Wednesday, we had the chance to go to Alejandro and Rosa's home to visit and pray with them.  It was such a moving time, as Alejandro rededicated his life to the Lord and then spoke a blessing over each of his children and over Rosa.  What a blessing to be used by God even in a small way in the transformation of that family.  On Friday, when we had our closing ceremony for VBS, Alejandro and his family came to do one more presentation for us, and as he led his family in praising the Lord through songs and dance, we all were moved to tears. 

Jess & Ryan at the rehearsal

We sent the group off on the morning of August 7th and filled the house with wedding guests that evening for the following week.  My sister Jessica and her fiancee Ryan got married August 12th here in Quito, and we had a week filled with activites for the family and friends who came to Ecuador for the wedding.  It was such a fun week, and we enjoyed getting to know Ryan's family and friends better.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and we were so blessed to be able to be a part of that special time for Ryan and Jess.

Thankfully, we have a pretty slow couple of weeks coming up.  We have a full guest house this week, but after that, things slow down a little bit, and we plan on FINALLY working on our apartment.  We have made improvements to every part of the guest house except for our apartment.  Hopefully, we will be able to at least get it painted before things pick up again.

We pray that your presence will cause others to thirst for the Fountain of Living Water this week.

Building His Kingdom in Ecuador,
Kelly, for the Chambers