From an abandoned building to a "living stone": our quest to find the Tsachila Church

Tsachilla evangelical church in Congoma, 

My heart grew heavy as I looked at the broken down, abandoned, church building. From what we understood there was only one Tsachila evangelical church among this "least reached" (2%) people group. I paused at a feeling of spiritual defeat. It was almost as if the building was a visible monument to a battle lost.

We pushed on to find out what happend to their members. My spirits began to lift when we met Rosa, a Tsachila believer who told us that her church had not entirely disbanded, but a small remnant of roughly 15 believers continued to meet twice a month in a newer building next to her home. (see previous post)  http://evmissiontalk.blogspot.com/2017/01/partnering-with-quichua-to-reach.html

As Rosa told us about her church, I was struck by her humility. She spoke broken Spanish, could not read, and lived in a very humble home.  When I prayed for her she grasped my arm tight, then looked at me with the light of Christ behind her tears and simply said "thank you!" Behind her words another voice seemed to say... "Thank you Ross, for looking beyond an abandoned church building to Rosa's home. For 'I am not the God of the dead, but of the living' (Mat. 22:32). As we pulled away I realized we had found one of the "living stones" of the  Tsachila church (1 Pet 2:5).