The start of the vision
The vision for this mission work started back when my parents were united together in marriage in the winter of 1988. They vowed then that they would raise their children to serve God and to do His work somewhere in His harvest fields, although at the time they didn't know when or where He would use them. Through the following years, it was obvious that the devil was doing all he could to destroy our family. On this side of those years, we are thankful for Gods' grace and mercy in keeping us together.
All of us, (including my parents,) were born in north-western Connecticut. Through circumstances obviously from our Fathers' hand, we moved to upstate New York in the summer of 2002. While living there for two years, we came into contact with a couple who we became good friends with. We visited this couples church several times, and grew to be very close to the congregation, even to this day. This church supported Brother Elvis with his mission work, at that time in Suriname; and we grew acquainted with his work through them.
The year 2006 found us back in New York (we spent two years back in CT.), marveling at our Lords' leading. A few weeks after we moved back up, Elvis, who now was ministering in Ecuador (His wife's home country), came up to visit the couple and their church whom we had met before. We meet Elvis and invited him over to our house for an evening that would, (unbeknownst to us), change our lives forever. That evening, Bro. Elvis asked us to come and help him and his ministry, if we felt that it was Gods' will. Several years previous to this, my parents had sensed God's calling them to the mission field. At that time they laid a fleece before the Lord; saying that ' If we are to go, God would you have a missionary or some native people ask us to come serve them.' It's amazing the way our Father will lead if we will just follow Him.
My father and two of my brothers went down to Ecuador in the spring of 2008, to check things out and kind of pave the way. While there, they came to know Elvis, his family and his church pretty well. Also while there, they travelled into the jungle and met a tribe of natives. These natives were the same ones who killed five missionary men in the 1950's,(read about it ) and later turned to Christ because of the witness of the men's wives. At the time of the killing, half of the tribe fled deeper into the jungle, fearing retribution from the white men. The natives that stayed and later accepted Christ have asked us to help them in reaching their extended families and in bringing them the gospel. We feel that this is our job in the Lord's commission to all for us to 'Go ye into all the world'; and which we will be seeking to do by Gods' grace.
|
|