How long should you persevere in the mission field? When is a final point where you look at a project as a failure and is breaking new ground? We are reached by our community of San Marcos in Quito at such a point. We are responsible for 14 years for a small Indian community Mondayacu in the eastern lowlands of Ecuador. But it goes further. The community lives only on the outside help. Without this constant help she collapses.
There was a small time of flowering with about 15 adult members. What she has held for some time together, the pressure was from the outside. The cath. Church was strong pressure against the new. Results: The Catholics read the Bible, have home visits, etc. Then a new group came up with the ominous name "Anglican Catholic Church in Ecuador as a branch of the diocese of Tripoli in Libya" They connected with a group, the old back to shamanism as the Religion of the Indians wanted. All that has survived the municipality. But much was worse and the community has divided, the envy. Two examples:
Years ago, we have given them good used clothing, which they distributed themselves. Result was a continuous battle, because the other family has always had the better clothes. When we stopped it, said a member: "Thank you, now we have peace again! In a sermon on envy, I asked the audience for an example and without thinking was: "If we see the field of the neighbor with better fruit than on our field, which leaves us no rest We are always wondering how we harm the neighbors. can without noticing that! " For us, the normal thing would be to consider how we can improve our own income, but here it's about to hurt the other - by magic or by other means. It is clear that jealousy destroys relationships.
This is the problem that the women are working to develop the men but little initiative. Many marriages and families break apart. The women take strong responsibility to the men withdraw. The boys have little positive male role models. And then the alcohol ........ The vicious circle without end. The
leads to girls it accomplishes this very early pregnancy and relationships, but to a marriage and family are both not mature. The relationship falls apart. Only very few years are a real struggle between the two spouses, but then leads into a stable relationship. And so there are many children, but few stable families.
The Indian culture is a culture of talking, not writing. Through much talk about other relationships are more disturbed with the result that one does speak with everyone to outsiders it looks for peace, but inside food is often the anger. Thus, there is no community.
But our work in Mondayacu has positive sides. The prize did our young people from Quito. Some have come to faith are spiritually matured, have either cut off a piece of home. The future leaders of our Community come from this work. That fact alone, the work has been worthwhile.
But at the lack of success in Mondayacu itself, we ask ourselves whether we would rather not stop and start new somewhere else to. Yesterday we decided at a community meeting to continue. An Indian team members told the example from his village, where after 58 years of missionary work, it finally came to a breakthrough. We hope and pray that it is not so long. 14 years it now has full effort, sweat and disappointment. Thank you for everything pray with.
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