New Pants For The Boys - Jean Distribution

On this day we were distributing jeans to all the little boys in Puyupungo. What a huge blessing
this is to those children!

Afraid Of A Tarantula?

The community of Talin is known for having the most tarantulas. Big, hairy brown ones and big, hairy black ones! Two weeks ago, we went to service on Saturday at Talin. We sang, danced to God, preached the Word, had a beautiful altar service, and the moment we said “Dismissed”, 4 year old Mirian ran up to the platform and pointing with her tiny finger, said, “Pastora, hay una tarantula por alla en la pared’. (There’s a tarantula on the wall there!!!) Well, we had seen him earlier in service, so we thought it adorable that she warned us! We let him alone, since he had not moved while we worshiped.

When we returned on Tuesday for Bible study, we quickly went in to see if ‘he’ might be there. Sure enough, there was one big brown hairy tarantula! In the same location, same wall, same corner. One of the ladies said, “I’ll get the broom and kill it’!!! We told her not to, as he wasn’t bothering anyone. And during Bible study, ‘he’, again, did not budge.

By now, it’s become an event for the church to see if ‘he’ is still abiding there. So, this past Saturday, we all walked in looking for him. Yep, still there. On Tuesday again, yes still there. We decided yesterday that he has officially taken up house in our church. That’s ok, as long as he listens to the Word of God and disturbs no one. We do believe that ‘he’, too, is powerless to move in the presence of God!

Maritza, the Witch’s Granddaughter

Maritza is 15 years old. She lives in the jungle community of Jatari, which is right next to our Puyupungo church. Maritza started coming to our church about a year and a half ago. And she fell in love with the message of God, one she had never heard before. She never missed a service and it was only recently that we discovered that the community witch which we’d heard many tales of, was her grandmother, with whom she lives. We’ve heard countless stories of the bitterness and anger that her grandmother carries and how she often will ‘cast spell’s’ on others just because she is upset or doesn’t like them.

You’d never know it by meeting Maritza, though. She is never without a smile. She is always faithful to church, she teaches our 6-9 year old children's class, and she is the loudest to say “Amen” when the Word is being preached. Although her grandmother restrains her from participating in many activities with her community or friends, when something is ordained of God, even the devil himself has to obey. He is powerless to stop her from attending church and serving God.