Visits to the Sierra

During the Christmas Project last year Misión Rescate, directed by brother David Murphy, was a great blessing for me. They helped to package the Tee shirts by size for each church, a work which they did in two hours, and which would have taken me much longer doing it bit by bit.

For Simon Curry it was a great experience to see the routes by which, at times on foot, at times on bicycle and finally by land rover, Sam and Mary went to the different churches. As usual, the brothers asked that the missionary preach and David gave them a good message encouraging the children to continue learning the Word of God.

It is always a joy to converse with brothers and sisters who were converted through the preaching of the first missionaries. I can still see their black and white attitudes which reflect the teachings of these missionaries. On asking them how their churches were going on, one pastor said that two groups of young people had left the church, one along with their own leadership and the other with some of the young people. I asked him how he felt about this and he replied that it was good for the church because “I teach the Word of God and if someone does not want to obey this it is damaging for the church”. I asked him if he did not feel sorry for them and he replied “I cannot do anything, I just have to pray. I am the pastor and I have to care for the flock of God”. The church has now grown in numbers and they have more than 30 children in the Sunday School. The pastor’s daughter teaches them each week.

I was encouraged by the firmness with which the pastor spoke and decided to help him through the Christmas Project this year. This church is on the frontier with Bolivia. Pray for all the activities in the churches in the Sierra.

Lourdes Mengoa