After riding on a bus for three hours traveling south of Quito, Ecuador, I was confronted by a world completely foreign to me. I came in contact with a people called the Quichua Indians in the mountains of Ecuador. Immediately, I was reminded of Matthew chapter 5 in a literal sense. I was confronted by a people who had little even compared to what I was carrying with me in my luggage. I had my computer, ipod touch, electric razor, and my cell phone. I had at least two changes of clothes for each day I would spend in Ecuador.
The first things in the streets of Ambato, I saw an Indian woman who was crippled from her knees down trying to sell toilet paper she had in a pack on her back in order to make a living. After walking a few minutes from there, we were at a coop that was run by the Christian Indians to whom we were to minister. They said they were honored and blessed to have us there. How ironic!
Later that evening, we were up in the mountains at their village preparing for the evening service. We were greeted warmly by the members of the church. They each came to us individually and shook the hand of every member in our group. I realized I had met a truly meek people and who hungered and thirsted after righteousness. They had little of what we call physical comforts. But, they had an abundance of love and joy and God's Spirit that glowed from them. I realized how insulated we are in our culture. We have disposable phones, disposable dishes, disposable razors, and even disposable clothing. So fluid and disposable is our culture that our relationship with God and people has become temporary, usable and disposable. If you don't like your wife, you divorce her. If you don't want children, you get an abortion. If you don't like God, you ignore His existence. It is interesting that in Western culture we are the only people who deny the existence of God. It becomes very easy to forget about the people like the Quichua Indians, because we are so insulated from the world. Don't think of them as a disposable people. They need us and so do the rest of the poor and seeking people of the world.
This is a test.
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