Displaying items by tag: Vinces

Wednesday, 17 November 2010 15:49

Preaching and Teaching in Ecuador - Videos!

Pat and Daniel sent us some videos. This one is of Daniel preaching the gospel in the Guayaquil South extension of the Evangelistic Center of the Assemblies of God (CEAD Sur):

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And here's one of Pat teaching church leaders at a breakfast last Saturday morning in Vinces:

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They are on their way home today. We'll have some more videos and testimonies soon.

Published in Mission Field

Monday, 26 April 2010 12:55

Ecuador Report - April 2010

Heart of Titus Trip to Ecuador

April 21-27, 2010

Pastor Chuck Blystone

Missionary Notes

Wednesday April 21, 2010

Today was an early day as we had to be at the airport by 5:00AM in order to catch the flight at 7:00. The check in was easy as Ray Watson and I both had registered on line. We breezed through security and were on the plane by 6:15. The flight left Orlando on time for our layover in Panama City, Panama. The layover there was for almost 3 hours, and after having an early lunch, we boarded the plane at 11:15 for the 12:00 PM flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador.


L-R: Pastor Francisco Loor, Marcel Lopez, Ray Watson, Pastor Chuck Blystone

Ray and I were both searched at customs. I told Ray that he should have taken a much lower profile as he looked like a drug runner. They went through all of Ray’s stuff, including his past life before Christ! Ray’s inspector finally eased up on her crusade against him when she came across the Bibles he was smuggling – well, not really smuggling – just hiding throughout the luggage in order to displace the weight – anyway, he began to tell her of the church in Vinces that we were a part of and that we were coming to help them. The Bibles changed her mind about Ray and we were off to be greeted by Miguel Saez, Drs. Freddy and Edith Beltran, Marcel Lopez and our coordinator, Fernando Ubilla. After they all hugged us, they decided we should go immediately to the embassy to get “ready” for tonight’s services. I am not really sure if I needed that much “readying” but I know that Ray was in dire need! Come to think of it, my 3:00AM shower and primping had worn off in Panama City! The cool Ecuadorian shower was very refreshing!

When we arrived, our schedule coordinator, Diana Garcia had our agendas in hand. I distinctly remember that she had called Fernando twice while we were coming from the airport to see where we were! I think she gave me time for three quick sips of water and we were off to discuss the schedules for the week! No shower yet, though!

Wednesday Evening – Preaching at CEAD South – Pastora Elsa de Loor

We arrived at the church a few minutes before the service was to begin. Fernando told me that he was given the responsibility to cover all of the Wednesday evening services of this particular church and wanted me to take his turn tonight! What a great friend to me and Heart of Titus! I found this out after the service as I had asked him to help me pray and minister to the people and he stayed back. He said that he wanted them to experience someone different.


Pastor Chuck Blystone ministering, with Marcel Lopez translating

I thought I knew what I was to preach on, but during the worship, the Lord took me to Luke 1 and told me to minister on “Being Pregnant With The Word.” The Lord continued to give me real life comparisons of being pregnant to being impregnated with the Word. He gave me many examples to encourage them to not ‘abort’ the Word of God in their life, but to let the pregnancy come to its full term so the Lord could birth their future for them. They would go through many labor pains in the process, but the Lord would be faithful to His Word that He put in them. I gave an altar call and asked those who have felt that they have aborted the Word to come for prayer for forgiveness and restoration; for those who have been discouraged and have been battling the enemy about their future; for those who needed to baptized in The Holy Spirit. Many came for ministry and the Lord touched all who came.

Thursday April 22 – The Radio Station

Today we had the morning off, enjoyed a late breakfast, and then left at 1:15 to the radio station associated with CEAD. There were about 12 people in attendance. Ray decided that we would tag-team and we both spoke about the purpose and plans of God for our lives. I ministered primarily out of Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalms 139:14-18. We encouraged them that the Word of the Lord in them would not return unto Him void, but would be accomplished in His time. Then we prayed for everyone and the Lord moved mightily. Many words of encouragement were given; some were prayed for healing in their bodies. One woman, in particular, was delivered of witchcraft. She and confessed the Lord Jesus as her Savior but never renounced those things in her life. She had prayed for a fresh in-filling of the Holy Spirit. As we prayed she was manifesting a spirit of divination and moving like a serpent as she was standing there. Ray and I both concluded the same thing and we asked her if she had participated in witchcraft and if she ever renounced it. She said that she had asked for forgiveness over and over. I taught a little about the Proverbs 26:2 and the birds and curses. The Lord showed me that we should start the process over again and begin with repentance from sin and, after she renounced the witchcraft, proceed with deliverance. The Lord set this woman free and everyone commented on the change in her countenance! The Lord was faithful! We then stayed for a birthday celebration of one of the workers and had a piece of cake! After that we traveled back to the embassy to prepare for the evening services. Ray and I would be preaching in different churches.

Evening April 22 – CEAD The Main Church

I prayed for this service this morning, knowing that I would be in the main church tonight with Sonia as my translator. Sonia Tapia is the head of the prophetic and intercessory ministry of CEAD. She and I had ministered together the first time I came to Ecuador in January 2007. I remember the Lord showing up with signs and wonders and knew that he wanted to something special tonight. He told me to minister on Luke 1:25-38, about Mary becoming pregnant with Jesus by The Holy Spirit. He showed me how to link her pregnancy with being pregnant with The Word and that, as a pregnant woman’s body changes under the demands of the baby, so our lives must change under the demands of the Word that id now living inside us. This morning the Lord told me that many have aborted His plans for their lives by not allowing Him to have charge of their lives; many were discouraged because they do not understand the process and gestation of the Word of God in their lives; and specifically, many woman needed to be set free of the guilt of having an abortion and the Lord wanted them to be restored. I found out that Dr Freddy and Edith would be in the service with me so had them pray for the woman having had the abortions. There were about 15 women who responded just to that call. The altar was packed and we prayed for all. Many people experienced immediate relief of symptoms, pain, etc. Many were delivered and many were encouraged to hold on for the Lord’s timing and their purpose to be fulfilled. It was, again, an honor and pleasure to minister at the main church.

Freddy and Edith brought me back to the embassy. Ray got here the same time and we discovered that Pastor Roberto Rios, from Santo Domingo, was coming to see us. We brought an offering for him from H.O.T. He finally got here at 11:00PM along with a team of his leaders. We talked for awhile and they shared with us about what they are doing in that part of Ecuador. They are ministering in a church as well as to street people. The street ministry has become a church in Laura Flores. They minister to drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes, along with the poor and destitute. They emphasized that these people have nothing when they meet them. Pastor Roberto and his church are trying to teach them how to live and take care of themselves. Most of the women keep having babies that they cannot afford to take care of, in housing conditions that are dangerous to live in, not to mention the thieves and robbers that will take anything you have, no matter how poor you are. Ray and felt the Lord telling us to pray for them. We had a couple of encouraging words for them and the power of the Lord showed up at midnight. All of them collapsed under the power of the Lord and were touched by Him. They were thankful for the offering we brought to them.


Ray Watson ministering, with Marcel Lopez translating

Friday April 23 in the morning

I thought that I would sleep in a while and after having a chance to talk with Becky for a few minutes, finally came down around 9:30. I want to make a note to say that I am so thankful for my wife and her willingness to sow me into this country as much as she does. I could not nor would not be here if she was not in agreement with me to come. Thanks you, Honey, for standing with me! I know that she will be coming sometime in the future with me.

Pastor Roberto and his team were already here beginning breakfast. We had a great meal of spiced beef, rice, fried plantain chips and eggs. I will not be eating the rest of the day! Ray and I had further discussions of the ministry of this church and how we could be of assistance in the future. They told us that their main need for the community in La Flores is water. I suggested they look into drilling wells and we talked about that for awhile. I mentioned that I know a church in Peru that has been doing that and that I would try to connect them so that they could get ideas on how they got started. I suggested that they try to get the local government to hook up with them – the church could get the work done and the officials could take the political credit! Pastor Roberto thought that might be a great idea. After an hour and a half, they had to leave and we spoke of possibly seeing them tomorrow at our Heart of Titus meeting. They really want to get to know us more. We agreed and also invited Pastor Roberto to come with us today to Vinces at 3:00PM. He mentioned that he wanted to see how we minister and I suggested he come as he would have a great opportunity tonight! I am not sure if he will or not as he is attending a pastor’s conference on leadership over the weekend. Well, I have to get ready to leave for Vinces. It is now 1:00PM. More later.

Friday evening April 23 CEAD Vinces

We traveled the two hour drive to Vinces to visit a new work that H.O.T help to start. The church had a rough beginning but the Lord has been faithful to the 35 who began the work. The church, since September 2009 has now about 200 attending. There is an excitement in the air as the people have a great expectancy in seeing the Lord move by His Spirit. When we arrived Fernando took us to see the River Vinces and the damage that the town had suffered from a flood not too long ago. The river had begun to take away the seawall that protected the city from the water. It literally washed some of the wall away and has weakened parts of the streets along the river bank. The town officials are concerned that more of the streets may collapse into the river as well, carrying some old precious buildings of history with it. The city is almost 150 years old and has a great commerce history. They are famous for the production of cacao and bananas. The cacao was sold mostly to Europe in the old days and it made the city wealthy. I was told that if you have ever eaten a banana from Ecuador, it was probably grown in Vinces.

We gathered at Dr. Manuel and Lupe’s home for dinner and refreshing before the church service. Manuel and Lupe are members of Heart of Titus, and a main link to the work in Vinces for us, along with Fernando. Vinces is Fernando’s home town. He is like the mayor – everyone knows him.

The church service started at 8PM. The worship was great. For a moment in the service, I started entering into the presence of God as heard Him talking to me – I thought I was at The Gathering Place! To our surprise, Dr. Manuel was leading the worship! He has an anointing for it!

Ray asked me to bring the main message earlier and said that he would bring a short word and then hand the service to me. Ray began to encourage them to not be offended by the past and to trust the leadership that God was raising over them. He talked about having a new heart and mind and also spoke about being in unity.

The Lord told me to speak on Lazarus and being freed from grave clothes. We had a great altar response. I asked those who needed to be saved or wanted to rededicate their lives to Jesus to come and stand off to my right so that we knew who they were. I also asked for those who needed the grave clothes to be removed to come to left and stand there. We had two people get saved tonight and about 12 recommit their lives! Fernando and Gardenia prayed for those people. There were an additional 50 to 60 people respond to being set free. I led them through a deliverance prayer and had them renounce the sins that they were aware of that hindered them. The rest of the team helped me and we commanded them to be free in Jesus’ Name! Many were falling under the power of God. Many were weeping uncontrollably. We also saw many healings: one woman had a severe heart pain that left her after she received prayer; one woman believed that she was healed and delivered of epilepsy. A mother brought her son to me to ask for prayer for him. The Lord showed me that he was called to heal the sick so I prayed for him to be used; then I received a word that there were some with back pain. About 5 people came forward and I had the little boy – his name is Alvaro – pray for these people. Every one of them felt the pain leave them! He later prayed for his father for the same thing! Then a woman came to me telling me she was going blind with glaucoma. We prayed for her about seven times and each time she saw a little better. Sensing a resistance, I asked her why she was having difficulty with receiving her healing. She told me that she told the Lord that he could heal her a little at a time. I asked her if I bought you a car, would you go down to the car dealer and take parts of the car home with you or would you drive it away. She said I would take the car immediately. I reminded her that Jesus paid for her healing. I asked her if she wanted parts of the healing now or the whole thing. She said I want the whole thing. I led her in a prayer of repentance and had her tell Jesus, “Lord, I have changed my mind. Since you have already purchased my healing, I have decided to receive it all right now. OK?” When we prayed for that time, her vision was restored! Hallelujah! We stayed and prayed for everyone wanting prayer and then prayed for all of the leadership. Many words of encouragement were given. We left the church at 12:30AM! I think we actually ministered to all who attended that night. It was a great night and the Lord gets all the glory. I prayed when I came into my room that He would seal every healing and every word of encouragement with His Holy Spirit. To God be the Glory!

Saturday April 24 Heart of Titus meeting – Miguel and Judy Saez’s home

We all met at Miguel and Judy’s home for a Heart of Titus meeting. Of course, we had to eat before we had our meeting as Judy would not allow us to do anything else! We had a great meal of pork chops in orange sauce with rice and for dessert they served us guava and coconut whipped with some cream like a jello – yes, it was very good!

Ray led the meeting by asking everyone how they were doing and what the Lord was showing them or doing in their lives. Everyone shared about how the Lord was challenging them to move higher in their call and make a difference in the Kingdom.

Ray and I had agreed earlier to pray for everyone before we went off to ministry. We laid hands on all of the team. We started with Miguel and Judy – the Lord gave us a word about Miguel and Judy raising up leaders and pastors under them for Green Camp so that they can begin to get a rest from their labors; Byron and Leonora asked for prayer for Byron as he was to have a small surgery so we asked the Lord to heal him – he was touched by the Lord; we prayed for Jacquie for guidance in her family situation – we prayed and the Lord blessed her with His presence. We encouraged her to not be in any condemnation as she has been faithful throughout this whole ordeal. The peace of the Lord came. We prayed for Fernando and Gardenia for the Lord to increase them in the working of miracles as well as the marriage ministry. We also prayed for Marcel and Byron Alfredo and asked the Lord to use them both as doctors and also in the ministry.

Saturday evening April 24 Rios de Aqua Vivos – Pastor Miguel Barrera

When we arrived at the church, they were in worship. During the worship the Lord told me to preach from Hebrews 12:1-2. I was to encourage them to keep running the race and to not quit. I had Ray give a greeting and he encouraged the people to keep trusting the Lord in all they do. Marcel and I walked to the pulpit and both had the same feeling. The pulpit was located about 40 feet away from the main congregation and down a smaller sized part of the floor plan. It look like we were preaching from the Holy of holies out into the outer court! After about 10 minutes I decided to go to the people and minister with them instead of away from them. I spoke about laying aside the weight and the sin s that distract us from running the race. I also spent some time explaining about the requirements of the law regarding sin and why Jesus died. The Lord was moving on many people and hearts were being dealt with as we spoke. We gave an altar call for anyone needing to be saved; anyone needing to be delivered of entrapping sins and anyone needing a healing. That altar was flooded. There were about 100 people in the church and about 60-70 came forward to be prayed for. There were many people that came for prayer for healing and walked away with no pain after years of suffering; Jacquie and Maggie were praying for the children and the power of God was touching them – they were praying for the Lord to bless them. Many were encouraged as they received prophetic words about their lives. Two people that I know of came to Jesus tonight! Glory adios!

Sunday April 25 preaching at CEAD del Norte – Mario Ortega Leader

This morning I spoke on Luke 1 and becoming pregnant with the Word of God. I could see that many hearts were being softened as I ministered. I also related the story of Joseph and his trials in Genesis 39 and how the Lord’s Word grew inside of him and fashioned his life for his purpose. I gave an altar call and asked those that needed salvation to come forward. I also asked those who had tried to abort the Word of God in their lives to come and get forgiveness and cleansing; in addition, I asked for those who have been discouraged because it seems that the promises of God will not come for them – that we would pray for them to be encouraged! There were about 35 people in the church and most came forward for prayer. We prayed for many different things: from financial problems to healing to salvation. One young gave her heart Jesus this morning! Hallelujah! There two that I prayed for that were healed of pain and symptoms – one with severe kidney pain and infection and the other with a urinary infection that was giving her trouble. Both women walked away free of symptoms and pain! One woman was troubled about her family and I prayed with her to trust the Lord and get out of the way. I encouraged her to stop preaching at them and to start loving on them and let the Lord speak to them. I also prayed for the peace of God to fill her heart. She had a difficult time getting breakthrough to receive peace, but she stood strong and we kept praying until the Lord definitely touched her. She stood up smiling and shining with His presence. The service closed after the church prayed for the Lord to protect us and prosper us and for the Lord to give us revelation in His Word. I received all of that, Amen!

Published in Mission Field

Saturday, 17 April 2010 16:49

Return, Revelation and Rewards - Part 3: REWARDS

This is our final installment of Ray's journal from his last trip to Ecuador.

Our trip to Vinces was about an hour late leaving but we finally got our caravan of about 16 or 17 people together and made the 2.5 hour trek out to Vinces. In our car we had Pat, Chuck, Fernando, Marcel and myself. What a great time. I had planned to listen to some music and relax but this group had other plans. Chuck and Fernando spent almost the entire trip telling jokes and cracking us up. We declared Fernando the winner of joke telling just before we arrived at Dr Manuel’s home for a time of refreshing and dinner before our evening meetings. This was a great time of fellowship with each member of this group and helped clear our minds before the events of the evening.

Pat and Lee went with several of our group to speak at Galilea Church while Tim and I accompanied Chuck to Asambleas de Dios Church. We all had some great times of ministry with several healings and salvations. During the alter ministry, Chuck ministered to one of our team member’s brother. She had been praying for him to return to the Lord and for the restoration of his marriage. God showed up and did a wonderful work in him. It is so awesome to see cleansing come forth when the Holy Spirit is allowed access to soul.

Saturday, May 2^nd again proved how great our God is and how he so much wants freedom, healing and restoration for us. We were able to help facilitate a medical brigade in Vinces, with several of our team doctors and Dr. Manuel. We had over 200 people show up for some type of treatment or medication. The doctors would provide the medicines for the physical ailments and our team would bring the medicine from Dr. Jesus for the spiritual sickness. Both venues were successful as God showed his mercy and willingness to not only bring healing of the body but also salvation and freedom to over 50 people by way of introduction to Jesus. How awesome is that!

Saturday afternoon proved to be my revelation day for this trip. It was requested that Pat provide a workshop for business leaders at the home of Pastor Cesar Guerrero. This was supposed to be an opportunity for our team and local business men and women from his church to interact with us to learn and discuss business principles from a Christian perspective to help them grow not only their business but also in their walk with the Lord. Many of these people were successful in business but very new to Christ so they were eager to hear and learn.

We had been discussing topics earlier as to what we would talk about during our meeting and Pat asked me to talk about fear in the work place. I thought what an odd topic and until the Lord reminded me of my scripture, “…do not be afraid that some plan conceived behind closed doors will be the end of you.” All of a sudden feelings and thoughts about a previous job from almost 20 years ago rushed into my mind. All of the feelings and hurts of how I had been treated when I was terminated without warning or for any cause filled me again. I knew in my heart I had laid these things down in the past and had dealt with them. I had given forgiveness to my past employer and done all the things necessary to keep me from harboring offense.

Revelation came when God showed me that while I had done things right, I had opened a door to fear after starting my next job. I made a conscious decision in my heart no one would ever treat me that way again. As a supervisor, I ruled with arrogance, harshness and strong words. I wanted my employees to know I was in charge, fear me and do it my way. I managed this way until I went through Cleansing Streams in our church in the fall of 1999. I changed, but the roots of this fear was still evident in my life and it wasn’t until this meeting I realized where I had opened the door.

I immediately repented, renounced, broke the contract and prayed blessing on myself. Instantly I felt freedom be restored in my spirit and soul. A boldness like I had never had before welled up inside me. II Timothy 2:7-8, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So you must never be ashamed to tell others about the Lord” became alive in my spirit. I could actually sense a difference in my attitude and felt a weight lift from my body for the remainder of the trip. Our workshop was successful as each participant and leader brought forth good ideas for each of them to build on.

The remainder of this trip, Sunday and Monday were spent in El Empalme and Guayaquil speaking at several churches and spending time with our Heart of Titus team there. Monday night we met at Pastor Fernando Ubilla’s home as he hosted our Heart of Titus meeting. It is hard to comprehend that over 35 people would attend a meeting that would start some time after 10:00 pm. Many of these people were our friends from Vinces, who traveled over 2 hours to just be with us. They fed us, prayed over us, blessed us and loved on us and we returned it to them in kind.

If you have never been on a mission trip, this type of fellowship is hard to understand or even comprehend. How do people from totally different cultures come together and have such a wonderful time in the Lord? It is only through the love that Jesus gives and the closeness in the Holy Spirit, as he knits our hearts together. You talk about a reward, it doesn’t get any better than that!

Published in Mission Field

Saturday, 17 April 2010 16:15

Return, Revelation and Rewards

In honor of Ray Watson leading his first team to Ecuador, for the next 3 days we will be publishing parts of his journal from his trip to Ecuador last May.

PART ONE: RETURN!

I have just returned from Ecuador completing my seventh missions trip with Heart of Titus and wanted to share a little bit of what God accomplished on this trip. July 2009 will mark 2 years since I was there and a lot of changes have occurred. They just reelected their president for a second term and he seems to be proceeding full steam ahead with a very active socialist agenda to bring the people more dependent on government and the programs they will provide.


	Ray Watson writes about his last trip to Ecuador

Other changes include a nationalization of utilities and phone service, trying to change the status of churches from religious organizations to national foundations, and recognition of more liberal rights for gays and lesbians. There is also talk of a conversion of currency from the American dollar to a formation of a new currency between Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela.

All of this, in the natural, paints a pretty dull picture. But to Christians whose true hope is in the Lord, what exciting times we have to look forward to. The return of Jesus is closer than many of us can comprehend.

The growth of our local Heart of Titus group in Ecuador has really expanded and has caught the true vision of what servanthood is all about. Many of them made the late night trip to the airport to greet us and take us to the Christian embassy where we would be staying for most of our trip. The embassy has also changed since my last trip. The facilities are very modern and clean but a bit far out from the center of town area which make coordination of travel and getting to our meetings more difficult. We still managed to accomplish all of our prepared agenda even though at times it didn’t fit our time table, it did fit Gods’.

Once we arrived at the embassy, our translator, Pastor Miguel insisted he must lead us into the national anthem of Ecuador and the USA. I knew I had made the return to a country I had missed and excitement jumped in my heart at the anticipation of the new adventure God was ready to walk with me in and the revelations he was going to bring forth.

NEXT INSTALLMENT: REVELATION!

Published in Mission Field

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