Team Ecuador

(July 25 – August 4)

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

- Jim Elliot

Facts (Source: Wikipedia/CIA – The World Factbook)

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador (República del Ecuador, literally, “Republic of the equator“) is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 965 kilometers (600 miles) west of the mainland.

Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 256,371 square kilometers (98,985 mi²). Its capital city is Quito; its largest city is Guayaquil. It has a population of over 13 million, the majority of whom are under 64 years old with a median age of 24-25 composed almost equally between men and women.

Approximately 95% percent of Ecuadorians are Roman Catholic. In the rural parts of Ecuador, indigenous beliefs and Christianity are sometimes syncretized. Most festivals and annual parades are based on religious celebrations, many incorporating a mixture of rites and icons.

Thus, the demographic our team will most likely encounter will be young, native Ecuadorian men and women with a strong Roman Catholic upbringing.

Team Objectives

We have had two previous scouting trips to Ecuador seeking to develop a partnership with the local church there, Good Samaritan Church (GSC), and their pastor Jose. As a result of those efforts, this will be our first short-term mission team to Ecuador. God-willing, the trip will be successful in establishing a long-term relationship with GSC. The church is located in the Guachala area in the town of Juan Montalvo, which is about 2 ohurs NE of the capital, Quito.

During our stay, the team will be ministering to the brothers and sisters at GSC in the following areas:

1. Pastors Gary Takahashi & David Yu will be ministering to and training the pastors of GSC;
2. Team members will be involved in serving the local children through teaching VBS; and
3. Team members will be doing construction work on the church building.

Prayer Requests

These are general prayer requests for the Ecuador Team. Please also keep in prayer the individual prayer requests from the team members you have supported.

• For the spiritual growth of the members of Good Samaritan Church and Pastor Jose and his family
• For the success of the VBS program in spreading interest amongst the local families
• For Pastor Gary & Pastor David as they preach and teach
• For opportunities to present the gospel
• For an attitude of sensitivity in terms of the culture; boldness in terms of the gospel; love, joy, and humility in terms of serving
• For the physical well-being of the team
• For God be glorified in all things

Team Members

Pastor Gary Takahashi, Pastor David Yu, Mark Choi, Marie Cuevas, Benjamin Hom,   Sheila Lachica, Christina Lau, Stephanie Lee, Tony Lee, Yoonjin Park, Stephen and Jenn Runyan and Matthew Tweedie.

CGBC Summer Team 2008: Patrick & Sheryl Tsai

The Tsai Family will be part of the Summer Mission Team from Chinese Grace Bible Church  (their chrurch from No. Cal).

Pat will be serving as a missionary dentist and Sheryl will be involved with the women’s ministry & VBS, as well as giving a talk about women’s health.

Please keep them in prayer as you pray for the IBC Ecuador Team.

“New Beginning”

INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT, AND GLORIOUS GOD,

I adore thee and abase myself.

I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,

               a creature worse than nothing.

My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze,

My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.

Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,

                    to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,

                    to resign myself to that agency

                              which can deliver me from the bondage of corruption

                              into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

Thous hast begun a good work in me

               and canst alone continue and complete it.

Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err,

               and of my exposure to sin.

Help me to feel more of the purifying, softening influence of religion,

                its compassion, love, pity, courtesy,

                and employ me as thy instrument

                         in blessing others.

Give me to distinguish between the mere form of godliness and its

                                              power,

                                     between life and a name to live,

                                     between guile and truth,

                                     between hypocrisy and a religion

                                              that will bear thy eye.

If I am not right, set me right, keep me right;

And may I at last come to thy house in peace.

(”The Valley of Vision” Copyright 1975, The Banner of Truth Trust. [pg. 95])

“Penitence”

O LORD OF GRACE,

I have been hasty and short in prayer,

O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,

to bewail this ingratitude;

My first sin of the day leads into others,

and it is just that thou shoudst withdraw thy presence

from one who waited carelessly on thee,

Keep me at all times from robbing thee,

and from depriving my soul of thy due worship;

Let me never forget

that I have an eternal duty to love, honour and obey thee,

that thou art infinitely worthy of such;

that if I fail to glorify thee

I am guilty of infinite evil that merits infinite punishment,

for sin is the violation of an infinite obligation.

O forgive me if I have dishonoured thee,

Melt my heart, heal my backslidings,

and open an intercourse of love.

When the fire of thy compassion warms my inward man,

and the outpourings of thy Spirit fill my soul,

then I feelingly wonder at my own depravity,

and deeply abhor myself;

then thy grace is a powerful incentive to repentance,

and an irresistable motive to inward holiness.

May I never forget

That thou hast my heart in thy hands.

Apply to it merits of Christ’s atoning blood whenever I sin.

Let thy mercies draw me to thyself.

Wear me from all evil, mortify me to the world,

and make me ready for my departure hence

animated by humiliations of pentential love.

My soul is often a chariot without wheels,

clogged and hindered in sin’s miry clay;

Mount it on eagle’s wings and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

(”The Valley of Vision” Copyright 1975, The Banner of Truth Trust. [pg. 90])

In the coming weeks, we will post Puritan prayers from a compilation known as The Valley of Vision. This collection of Puritan prayers and devotions were “drawn from the largely forgotten deposit of Puritan spiritual exercises, meditations and aspirations.” They illustrate the rich prayer life and meditations that the Puritans practiced. Hopefully, through meditating on the words of these brothers and sisters from centuries past, we can renew and enrich our own prayer life and meditations.

“The Valley of Vision”

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

thy life in my death,

thy joy in my sorrow,

thy grace in my sin,

thy riches in my poverty,

thy glory in my valley.

(”The Valley of Vision” Copyright 1975, The Banner of Truth Trust. [preface])

Preacher: Nam Park
1 Timothy 6:1-2
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I think it’s particularly interesting that Paul writes to Timothy concerning how to conduct the affairs of the church. That’s what the epistle of 1 Timothy is. At its heart, these are the things that we ought to do in order to glorify God as a congregation and at the culmination of it, the final two chapters deal with how we are to interact with other people; how we interact with one another in the body of Christ. We say that because if you guys look in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, we see how Timothy is given this command to be careful how he reproves older men and younger men, older women and younger women. In other words, he is given instruction on how to relate to them…Download Transcript

Preacher: Nam Park
1 Timothy 4:7-10
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There was on the one hand to reject the mythologies, the fables, which are only fit for old women. That is no offense to women at all. In fact, the Greek term we said had already come into use to the point of being an idiom. So in other words, even in Paul’s day, it was kind of like saying it’s an urban legend. It’s a wives tale. In fact our English term “wives tale” continues that same tradition was of classical Greek. And Paul even draws back to that. It’s an idiom in the time of Paul, it’s an idiom even to this day, and it is meant to offend nobody. When we say “it’s an old wives tale,” we don’t want all the old wives to go “that’s offensive to me!” That’s why most modern translations don’t even use that terminology. Most of your other translations, the NKJ or the ESV, will say something to the effect that they are just silly fables…Download Transcript

A few weeks ago, pastor Nam briefly mentioned a popular book called The Shack by William P. Young, which had since its printing become a hot topic amongst both Christians and non-Christians. It has been on the NY Times Best-Selling list for the past 10 weeks (currently at #17). It has been praised by some to be a source of solace and inspiration, even being compared to such classics as John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress and C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Others, however, have found it to be less praiseworthy, even dangerous.

Tim Challies wrote an excellent review of the book. He sorts through the book’s merits and more importantly, its faults; focusing on the author’s troublesome treatment of various theological topics, particularly the Trinity. You can find his review here: www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/a-review-of-the-shack-download-it-here.php He also created a more extensive review of the book in .pdf format found here: www.challies.com/media/The_Shack.pdf

Challies’ writes: Despite the book’s popularity among Christians, believers are divided on whether this book is biblically sound. Where Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver says it “has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim Progress did for his,” Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says, “This book includes undiluted heresy.” While singer and songwriter Michael W. Smith says “The Shack will leave you craving for the presence of God,” Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle says, “Regarding the Trinity, it’s actually heretical.”

Whether you have read the book, plan to read it, or just want to know more about the book, consider reading the review by Tim Challies to get a sense of a book that you will undoubtedly will hear and read about.

Preacher: Nam Park
1 Timothy 5:3-8
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It may seem odd to us in the twentieth century to think about the care of the widows in the church, but we are called to do just that; to the same extent that we’re supposed to take care of the orphans in the church; just as we’re supposed to take care of all of those whose care we are entrusted with. For instance, we would all find it ridiculous if someone had a child and they decided to just neglect that little baby. How preposterous would it be for someone to get tired of taking care of an infant and then decides to just stop caring for that baby? That would be ridiculous! We often forget that we ought to care for one another in the family of Christ to the same extent that we care for our own families. The church is to (by reputation) demonstrate the attitude of God by its actions…Download Transcript

“It’s like a finger pointing away to the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all the heavenly glory.”

The quote above is a small picture of what some of our people will be trying to do this summer. Many small fingers trying to point people to the truth of God and His Word.

We’ve been given opportunity this year to go to a couple of different places.

Japan (July 25 – August 17)

This year will be the 10^th year that we’ll be sending short-term missionaries to Japan. We will be ministering alongside two different churches: Izumisano Church and Inochi no Izumi Church. We will be involved in English VBS-type ministries with both churches. Because many Japanese find it difficult to attend a Sunday morning worship or are intimidated by Christianity in general, these English classes often provide an access point for children and their families to become more familiar with the church, Christianity, and the truths of the Gospel. Our team members will also be fellowshipping with the respective members of the churches for mutual encouragement in the Lord.

Our team members are as follows: Ray and Shelley (soon-to-be) Kwan (who want to eventually serve the Lord in Japan as long-term missionaries), Gabriel Oh (our current Japan super-ambassador, who has been serving on the short-term trips for the past several years), Fabian (our former Japan super-ambassador, who makes a triumphant return after not being able to serve the last couple of years) and Tamara Saucedo, and Matt Yrizzary (the up-and-coming Japan super-ambassador, who will be serving for the very first time this year).

Our own Pastor Nam and family will be going on the trip as well. This will be the second time that the whole family will be going. The first time being shortly after Chloe was born, almost eight years ago.

Ecuador (July 25 – August 4)

This is our first year sending a team to Ecuador (if you don’t count the two scouting trips we sent the year before). We will be ministering alongside our brothers and sisters from Good Samaritan Church in Guachala. Like our Japan team. Our team members will be involved in VBS ministries, however, unlike our foofy (I only kid) counterparts, we will also be involved in construction work on the church building.

The team consists of Pastors Gary Takahashi and David Yu, Mark Choi, Marie Cuevas, Benjamin and Pat Hom, Sheila Lachica, Christina Lau, Stephanie Lee, Tony Lee, Yoonjin Park, Stephen and Jenn Runyan, and Matthew Tweedie.

Please pray that the Lord would be glorified in these summer ministries by all the little fingers that will be pointing to Him.