A Tsachila invitation to prayer!

Tsachila outreach team in front of the newer Tsachila church building

"Hermano David," Lorenzo's voice crackled over the poor cell phone connection, "I have good news! Leaders from the Tsachilla church in Congoma called to invite us and members of our church to join them for a day of prayer and fasting! Can you come?"

I was encouraged,  this invitation came in response to our survey trip to Congoma last week.

Our recent outreach to the Tsachila people was born out of several years of prayer.  I think it very fitting that our first contact* with this small band of believers will also begin in the context of prayer!  (*beyond our initial visit with Rosa last week)

Please join us on Feb 8 (8am-4pm) for a time of prayer and fasting with the Tsachila church.  When you close your eyes to pray, picture a Tsachila hand in your left, and a Quichua hand in your right, as they will be praying next to you in Spirit from Congoma. Together, with one voice we will magnify the Lord and pray for his gospel witness to go forth among the Tsachila people.

Let us know, I am sure word of your participation will greatly encourage them!

Do you see the unseen? The importance of knowing the cultural and Biblical worldview of the people we disciple!

When our kids were young we used to play "I see something... what do I see?" One person would find something hard to guess and the rest of us had great fun trying to find it.

When I look at the indigenous Quichua, I often wonder "what do they see?" 

Concepts of truth, justice, poverty and suffering are different here. Trust, family obligation, shame, and self-worth are based on a practical need for survival rather than an ideal they cannot connect to. "Do I see what they see?" 

If we are not careful we can import a western gospel of independence, self-sufficiency, and multiplication, that is foreign to their world of relationship, dependence, or loyalty to community. "Of course they see what I see!" 

Yet... if the power of God is placed in the broken, the presence of Christ made manifest in suffering, and in the Spirit of the Lord we find liberty,  Perhaps it is better to first sit with the hurting and be present with them in their world, unjust and corrupt as it is. Then we can walk out together to a new place of hope and learning. For when we turn to the Lord in the midst of our afflictions, we find an eternal weight of glory! "Do you see the unseen?" (2Cor 3:17-4:18)

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).

Partnering with the Quichua to reach the Tsachila through Discipleship Training!

This picture represents an incredible connection God has put together in relation to our outreach to the Tsachila people.

On the left is Lorenzo, a pastor of a Quichua church in Santo Domingo and part of Ross' Pastors Discipleship Group. Next to Lorenzo is Jessica, a Tsachila woman who is married to Luis, a Quichua man (not in photo) who attend Lorenzo's church in Santo Domingo.   Next to Jessica is Rosa, a Tsachila sister who attends the Tsachila church in Congoma, whom we met this morning! Rosa knows Jessica's grandmother and is happy to serve as a connection for both Lorenzo and I in a future visit when the church is meeting! Next to Rosa is yours truly!

Unfortunately the Tsachila church in Congoma has gone through a split which has greatly reduced their size to about 15 attenders! The others have left to joined a heretical denomination which has greatly reduced the already small evangelical witness and will create confusion as the two churches begin to present a different message among their people!

Stay tuned and keep praying!