A 45-year-old gift comes home. (Part 1)

Once again we visited the Tsachi believers in Cóngoma, joining in their joys, songs, and prayers.

(Once again I'm not starting at the beginning!)  Towards the end of the service, I was given the opportunity to present a special gift to the Tsachi church.  Let me tell you its story.

When I was 17 (45 years ago), I crafted a Bible verse, sewing the letters onto fabric, as a gift for my father.  The verse was Hebrews 13:8...in Tsáfiqui, the language into which he had translated the Bible.  He appreciated it so much that wherever he and my mom moved, the verse went along and was one of the first things to be put up on the wall of each new abode.  (My sister told me that!)  When my mother died, and I brought the verse back with me, I just put it away and sort of forgot about it.

Not long ago, I suddenly thought of it...and of the "verse-less" walls of the Tsachi church.  In a way, my parents' final "home" here on Earth is now the Tsachi cemetery, back with the people they loved.  What better thing than to, once again, put this gift up on their wall?  We had it framed, asking that it be done so as to protect it from humidity.  When I got up to speak, I told the story of the gift, and the reason I now wanted it to hang on the church wall...as a reminder of the love our family has for them (besides, of course, the love of our Father). I didn't finish with dry eyes.
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As the meeting ended, this young Tsachi couple let us know they wanted to dedicate their beautiful 6-week-old baby to the Lord.  Germán had the privilege of praying, and I had the joy of holding Ansel Daniel for this heart-warming event.
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After the singing in Spanish at the beginning of the service, we were so pleased to change languages!  Believers from another Tsachi area had come, trusting that I hadn't forgotten my offer to give them my keyboard.  As a group they did a lot of singing, but their keyboard was damaged.  They set this one up in a very improvised way (see photo below) and had us all sing  We were thrilled when he told us that one of their objectives is to make sure the children learn to sing to God in their own language.  Awesome!!

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Next week I will tell about some of the other highlights of this wonderful time.  Until then, think with me on the verse that now graces the Tsachi church:


"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  
(Hebrews 13:8)