August 31, 2025 - Ministry Partners Conference - Session 1 - Miriam Gebb, RN, Reach Beyond

Well, it's a privilege for me to be able to stand

up here to introduce Miriam Miriam correct me

if I'm wrong, but your dad your father was a

former pastor of literary of actual Bible for

many years as radio program he was a real scholar

and I've heard a lot of Through the church a

lot of the good things about him and I appreciate

his influence in your life and excited about

what God is doing so Well that are there any

like teenagers well then Then all of my questions

are going to be for the adults. Okay. But that's,

yeah. Okay. Then I'll start, I'll start with,

oh dear, they have that on. Oh dear. Well good

morning everyone. And I've so appreciated your

all's prayers over the years. Yeah, after my

dad died in a car accident It was then you came

and were there at the church and Yeah, it's interesting

what's happened over the years Then I'll start

since the kids aren't here I'll start And just

to kind of tell you all what's been happening.

I'm officially retired But I'm going back four

to six months out of the year. Two years now,

I've gone back for six months. And it looks like

maybe it'll be four months this time as a volunteer

in the Shell Hospital, which is the Mission Hospital.

And they now have a chaplaincy team, which there

was one person, there was not a team. that person

said well I'm only a chaplain for inpatient patients

not for the clinic area and so the Lord has been

working and now there's a chaplain team and so

I may be phasing out of that what I have been

doing over the years is When jungle people come

in, because that's where my main focus was with

the jungle people, when they come into the hospital,

I kind of walk them through the system, because

it's kind of scary, and a lot of times they don't

have money. There's no way to earn a living in

the jungle, but they have everything they need.

They have family, they have roof over their head,

they have food, and you show up at a family's

house. they're automatically open to feeding

you and taking care of you, which is a little

different than here. Maybe a hundred years ago,

that's what happened, but so I helped them walk

through and we have a small pharmacy at the hospital,

but many times we need to go into a pharmacy

and buy the medicines for them and the Lord has

provided money for that. ministry and I'm on

WhatsApp and so they're calling me all the time

and yes I'm sorry to interrupt so we're new what

country are you oh sorry about that I'm sorry

I'm in Ecuador South America and Ecuador gets

its name from the equator because the equator

runs right through Ecuador and It was HCJB, which

are the call letters of a radio station. Now

the radio station has their own Ecuadorian foundation.

And HCJB, or Reach Beyond, as it's known now,

is more focusing. They want to decrease their

footprint. Missionaries have been in Ecuador

for about 100 years. And so they figure it's

time for the Ecuadorians to take over. Thank

you for that question. And anybody else? Just

ask. And so the hospital is no longer part of

HCJB or Reach Beyond. It is now an Ecuadorian

foundation that is recognized by the government.

And that is very important because a couple of

years ago there was a president who wanted to

get rid of all foreign entities. And so this

way, the hospital is recognized by the government

and has legal rights to function. And a German

surgeon who used to work in the hospital, he's

now retired, he helped set up this foundation.

And the leaders there are... faithful to the

Lord and so this is it they're having a bit of

a problem at the hospital because before there

were a lot of missionary doctors and a lot of

missionary nurses and the nurses and the missionaries

have their own support but now they have they

only have one missionary from Holland And he's

a doctor, and he's going to be going back for

a couple of months to Holland. And he is the

only missionary who receives support from outside.

So now the hospital is having to hire professionals,

nurses, doctors, and so forth. And so they're

having a bit of a difficult time. They do have

day surgeries and sometimes those surgeries stay

two or three nights, but they don't have regular

inpatient like we did before just because of

the financial covering for 24 hours of nurses

and docs. So please be praying for the hospital

that the leaders there would have wisdom. and

knowing what to do and then then the government

comes in and says um you need and they just updated

the operating room but that wasn't good enough

and so they had to redo the floors and redo all

of the walls and that was quite expensive too

um so these are things um money speaks a lot

but god owns the cattle on a thousand hills and

he is able to intervene. Okay. Okay, that's for

later. Any other questions about what I've just

said? The hospital you say is one of the entrances,

it does need help? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And

I can give you that information. There's a foundation,

a tax deductible foundation here in the US that

receives money that will go to the hospital.

How big is the hospital? Had about 40 beds and

I don't know the exact number of doctors. They're

looking for specialists, and sometimes specialists

will come just for like a couple hours in the

morning, two days a week. And we have a pediatrician,

we have some surgeons, and other specialties.

So, I'll share something else that's difficult.

My boss down there, the director of the department

where I... in Shell. He's Ecuadorian and he wanted

me to funnel all of the patients that came to

me to the Ecuadorian health care system and it

is a socialist system and the indigenous people

are not really respected. They're not quite human

in some people's eyes and so that has made it

difficult. So I started asking people when they

came to me, what have you been to the clinic?

Oh yes, I went four times. Now, I don't know

if this is true. This is just what I was told.

Went four times and all they do is give me Tylenol.

And then another lady came and I said, have you

been to the health department? She said, oh yes.

They gave me an appointment for two weeks. And

she said, I'll either be better or dead by then.

So they are not treated well. Now, there's a

social worker in community development, community,

ministries in Shell. And if she goes with them,

they're treated very well. But she can't be everywhere

at once. And so that makes it a little bit difficult.

That's kind of why I feel like I should be there

in Ecuador to help people when I can. We need

to pray about that, don't we? Yeah. So what happens

at the Mission Hospital, you can come in, you

get your appointment. You can walk in and get

appointments. And a doctor will see you. If it's

a specialist, it might take longer. You can get

lab work done. You can get x -rays done We need

an echo tech echo sonogram or how do you say

that? Well Yeah, we can do EKG's but then they

send them to Cardiologist, huh? Echo cart, that's

for the heart. What's it when you just check

your Ultrasounds that's the name of it. Yeah,

we call them echoes, but they're ultrasounds

and You can get we need an ultrasound tech So

that it can be taken care of there and not have

to send them to Puyo Which is kind of scary for

people when you come out of the jungle and so

They can get everything done Leave with a tentative

diagnosis. Not always can you do a diagnosis

that same day if you need other tests and leave

with medicines and so in one day and that just

I Just feel a lot more comfortable with that

instead of sending people away who are hurting

So yeah, please be in prayer for the hospital

So Lord willing when I go back last year, I didn't

make any jungle trips Because my knee was really

bad and I thank the Lord for physical therapy

that I've been able to get I have two more weeks

of physical therapy. And so my knee is a lot

more stable and and hurts less So I'm hoping

to get back to some of the jungle communities

But then also be available for those people from

the jungle that come out that need help. When

I went down there, it was really interesting.

I was still applying to the mission. I guess

I had been accepted and I wrote the mission director.

I said, there's an opportunity to be a nurse

practitioner, to go into a course with a nurse

practitioner. And he says, go for it. Well, I

don't know. I did not know. And I don't think

he knew, but the Lord was guiding him. And with

my nurse practitioner training, I was able to

do the jungle work. And for many years until

about 10 years ago, I was able to look at the

patients, diagnose them, give them antibiotics.

or whatever it was that they needed. Now, the

last 10 years, the socialistic government said,

no, you're a nurse. They don't know what nurse

practitioners or physicians assistant. That is

out of their realm. And you can't diagnose. You

can't prescribe medicines. So I'm very thankful

for that training. And God knew that I would

need that. So what I was doing until about 10

years ago was training village health workers.

And a lot of it was prevention. Some of it was

teaching them how to give the relevant information

over the radio, over a two -way radio that MAF

has, Mission Aviation Fellowship. and be able

to send in medicines when it's necessary, or

bring out the patient to the hospital. So I was

training village health workers with the shwar,

the atshwar, the kichwa, and the wawrani, formerly

known as alkas. So that's what I was doing for

a lot of time. This is not anything that I had

planned to say, but I'll say this. Okay, I interrupted

myself, sorry. So it's been wonderful. One of

the communities that I went to, one of my health

promoters was now the church leader in that community.

So I asked him, I said, are you still working

as a village health worker? And he said, no,

and just waited. And I did not respond because

I didn't want to be negative. I don't know all

of the situation that he's facing. And then after

a silence, he said, but I've taught everything

you taught me to my son. And he's the village

health worker. I just got chills again thinking

about that because some have been able to pass

that on and that is important. I'm glad he's

a church leader. He just didn't have time to

do the other health issues as well. So be praying

for the jungle people. They need good strong

leaders in their churches and they also need

to continue to be concerned about their communities.

One of the issues is a lot of the parents want

their kids to be educated. In the jungle they

have up to sixth grade and so a lot of times

those kids come out to the big city which isn't

that big. It's by the hospital. It's maybe 3

,000 people. But they come out and they don't

want to be known as indigenous or Indians because

they're looked down on. So they're changing the

way they appear so that they'll fit in with the

dominant culture. The problem is that a lot of

the girls get pregnant. then they give their

baby to the mom in the jungle for the mom to

raise and they want to fit in with the and get

their high school education. If the last two

years of high school what you can do is go into

teaching and then you have another two years

and then you get a teaching certificate. So a

lot of the people are wanting to do that. A lot

of the teens from the jungle. But it's really

sad because they come out and they get teaching

of evolution and they get a lot of godless teaching

and it's just really sad to see the young people.

Whereas the Alka or the Waorani Indians and most

of some of you might know about that back in

1956. there were five missionaries who were speared

by the Alka Indians and this little spear here

is made by them but it's a miniature and it's

got beveled edges here and this is what they

what they do only their spears are 10 to 12 feet

long and they even have identity that you can

tell what family they're from by the, what do

you call these? The, yeah. And then on the other

end is individual persons. So that if you find

a dead body in the jungle with a spear in them,

you know who did it. You know what family they're

from, you know. the individual that did it. Now

this doesn't have that on this end, but it's

how this little, how these little wrappings are

wrapped so that you know the individual. This

I'm going to leave here for the church. So that's

just as a prayer reminder. And I don't know who

did it, but somebody put out birds. and all kinds

of things. Now this, this is Quechua and if you're

from Peru it's Quechua because the dialect is

a little different. So if you hear Quechua and

you think, she's not pronouncing it right, and

Quechua is in Peru and Bolivia and Quechua is

in Ecuador. And this is the kind of woven things

that they... They do that by hand, that weave

and stuff. Oh yes, yeah. Not so much now, but

when I first went there, yeah. Yes. And then

you have a little quichua doll here. And there's

lots of llamas in that whole area. Not so many

in Ecuador, but in the highlands you find it.

And it's 13, 15 ,000 feet going over. Let's see

what else. And they use a lot of the pottery

and so forth too. Till now, are there any questions?

I have a question. Yes? You're talking about

the teens going into schools and stuff. If you

get enough of the teens that get their teaching

certificate, is it possible for them to learn

to be able to teach grades higher than six? Oh

yes. Yeah, that's the whole point. Yeah. And

some of them are wanting to go back into the

jungle. so that the people don't have to leave

their families. And so, yes, those especially

the believers. But pray for the teens that come

out to get their teaching degrees or some of

them are doing other things like computer science,

tourism, and getting their degrees so that they

can have an income. So yes, there's a lot of

different things. There's a number of different

languages that they use? Yes. Now I can't speak

for Peru and Bolivia, but in Ecuador there are

eight main languages other than Spanish. And

some of them are similar. and they can understand

each other and others are completely different.

Like the K 'ichwa is completely different from

the At -shuar and the Shuar. And Shibiar, that's

another one that's... And then the Auqa is from

Wycliffe Bible translators. The Auqa or the Waorani

language is completely unrelated to any other

language in the world. Yeah. So they have been

isolated for so many years. And the alka means

savage. So I try not to use that word down there.

It seems like it's very derogatory. And now they're

wawrani, which means the people in their own

language. So we are the people. And that's there.

One thing that's sad about the Waworani Indians,

when the missionaries were killed, then Rachel

Saint, who was the sister of one of the fellows

that was speared, and Elizabeth Elliott, who

is the wife of one of the men that was speared,

they went back into the jungle. And they... Had

to learn the language had to work from nothing

to work with them and The reason I'm smiling

is because there's a problem with missionaries

because a lot of the missionaries are leaders

and They need to be but then you have these strong

personalities that butt heads And this is what

happened with Elizabeth Elliott and Rachel Saint.

They didn't agree on things, and it's sad. That

happens here in the U .S. too. And churches split

over sometimes what we would think trivial things.

So pray for your missionaries. that they would

be sensitive to the other missionaries, that

they would be sensitive to the people, and let

the people take the leadership when it's their

turn. It's easy for us missionaries to think

that we know it all and we don't. So, okay, any

other? Yeah, I got a question. In the jungle,

do you ever see them coming in with, like, speedbikes?

Oh, yes. I think they got a poisonous frog. Okay,

that's more in Columbia. Okay. I've never seen

anybody bitten by a or They they it the poison

is in the skin and In Columbia and in other parts

they use that for poison darts when they go hunting

But that's not been a real issue snake bites

are a definite issue Yes, yeah and I'll have

to tell you something really funny about the

snake, well, come. I was walking down the hall,

just kind of talking to myself, and there's a

snake bite season. And so I think, oh, why are

there so many snake bites right now? And the

lady that was in the hall, she said, Don't you

know I'm supposed to know everything Don't you

know and I said no why and she said it's because

the resurrection celebration of the resurrection

is coming and Satan is angry and It's there's

a season where there's more snake bites and it's

right before Easter and so Yeah, don't you know?

I mean it's very obvious. So, I'm not sure. I

might have learned more from them than they learned

from me. So, we both were learning together.

So, oh dear. Let me start with what I was gonna

do for the kids. Okay, um now this this is miniature

This is a miniature net there this is for fishing

and They it's a big net about this big and then

the women depending on how long they're their

arm is that's how deep it would be and So they

go fishing and they use a poison that It's it's

a route and they take the route and they beat

it in the river upstream and it's a white milky

liquid and The men are at the top and they're

using their spears because there's It's a sport

and so then further down are the women with their

fish nets and they, a lot of times they'll have

a basket on their back and then they'll put the

fish in there or they'll put a piece of vine

through the gills and keep the fish that way.

And then down further, where this little stream

meets a big river, they have put bamboo stakes

so the fish can't escape, the water can escape,

but not the fish. And so then down at the bottom

part, The women who are pregnant, or the old

ladies, or ladies that have little kids, they'll

be at the very bottom. And then they can catch

the fish. And then afterwards, it's a day -long

thing. Afterwards, everybody gets together and

starts cleaning the fish. And then the fish gets

smoked. This is kind of the story of the fishnet.

And what I was going to do with the kids, I wasn't

going to tell them all that. Do they do that

as a community? Yes. Or as individuals? You can't

chew fish, that's your fish. Well, they do it

as a community group. And I'm not sure how they

separate it up. Since almost everybody in the

community are relatives. So then you know, that's

and I don't understand the other language Spanish

I can handle but so they're probably Deciding

all of that and I was unaware of it. Okay My

question for the little kids was okay Do they

have fishnets in the Bible? Okay, so I want you

all to tell me, okay, where does it talk about

fishnets in the Bible? Peter, he was a fisherman,

he had nets. Exactly. Peter, James, and John.

Okay. Okay. So, and then what were the disciples

taught? You will be fishers of men. Okay. So

that was a little thing for the kids. And then

the next thing was the spear. Do we have spears

in the Bible? Yeah. Okay. Jesus' side was punched

with the spear. Okay. Jesus' side. After he was

already dead and out came blood and water. So

it had separated and that shows the death. So

where else would there be spears? Okay, the thorn

in the flesh, and in Sunday school class you

were talking about difficult times. And sometimes

these thorns make us more like Him, create His

image in us. Yeah. But when you're in the middle

of it, you don't like it. Okay, this is a headdress.

The Indians like to put in feathers and feathers

are a little hard to explain to some people because

they say, well, you kill those birds. So this

is just a headdress. Do we have any mention of

headdresses or crowns in the Bible? Okay, what

give me examples of the crowns Yeah, okay, there's

the crown of thorns yes We can work for crown

we give crowns and then we Throw our crowns at

his feet. Yeah, we throw our crowns at his feet

Okay And then someone was playing the flute I

think And this is, where did it go? Here. Okay,

now this is small. The ones that the Highland

Keech was used are about this long. So you can

play songs on this. And it's kind of like a flute.

What, not necessarily flutes, but what do musical

instruments mean in the Bible? Was it praise?

Praise? Praising the Lord, yeah. How often in

the Psalms it talks about praising the Lord.

So this is something that's important with the

fellowship. the community praise to the Lord.

We as individuals should praise the Lord, but

also as a group. Okay, let's see what else comes

up. Okay, baskets. Are baskets mentioned in the

Bible? Yes. Okay, give me some examples. I was

going to try to get these kids to do those things.

Yes, yes, and so there's there's many examples

of baskets in the Bible and yet these are things

that are common to them and when Jesus preached

are taught He used things that were known to

get them to the unknown Like the harvest the

harvest is plenteous But the labors are few.

They knew about harvest. And so that's what I

was going to try to do with the kids. I don't

know. This might have been beyond them. I don't

know. So then the basket. And then how many baskets

were taken up after Jesus multiplied? Twelve

and seven. And there was a time when I thought...

Hey, these Gospels don't agree. But there's one

Gospel that has both accounts. And so that confirms

the validity of the Bible. Okay. And there's

another. The Waorani did not wear a lot of clothes.

They had cotton that they planted and they used

it for armbands. The Shuar men had little short

skirts. The women had longer skirts that they

used to make out of the cotton that grows in

the jungle. And I don't know if I have, if I

brought that here. But anyway, there's, and I

didn't look it up. I have this for later. that

Though a Bible says with food and clothing be

content But some people say that that and I'm

not a Greek scholar or anything, but that that

means food and covering so that could be a Roof

over your head or the clothing it could it could

apply to both? and then Christ said, or Jesus

said, He had no place to lay His head. And He

didn't own anything. But God always provided

a place. And God can provide for us as well.

Okay. Oh dear. I'm never going to get through

all of this. Okay. Then I was going to ask them

about robots. You know, who made robots? Man,

man made robots. What do robots do? What man

tells them to do, okay. We are not robots. We

have a choice. And in the jungle I use this.

Who built this canoe? And they tell me the name

of the guy or the family. that built the dugout

canoe and well who has the right to say who can

go in that canoe or same thing for a house if

you have built your house then you have the right

to say no don't want you coming or yes you are

very welcome here and so I was going to use that

with the kids just to say We are not robots we

have a right to decide who comes in and is in

control of our life and Those are decisions.

God doesn't force us to accept him, but he's

offered his love Them Okay Then I wanted to share

a little bit about Dawa Dawa was the wife of

one of the fellows who killed the missionaries,

who speared the missionaries. And she and the

other women were up on a little hill watching,

watching when this was happening. And she said,

before the missionaries came, I didn't sleep

very well, because the Waorani, or the Alcas,

came and speared at night. And so she said, I

never did sleep well until the missionaries told

me that Christ forgave me and that I can forgive

those people. And right there was the man who

had killed her father. And yet they were in the

same location. And they were now believers. And

also, There was no word for forgiveness with

the Waorani. It's just revenge, like the Hatfields

and the Mukoys. And there was no word for forgiveness.

And so a missionary who was trying to work with

them tried to explain what forgiveness is. And

I don't know if it was Dayuma? or if it was somebody

else, but they said, oh, that's love. So they

were equating forgiveness with love, and love

your enemies? Ooh, that's hard sometimes. Yeah,

it is hard. Okay. Okay, he loved the, what the

father's love has for us, so that we can be called

his children. and he sacrificed his only son

on the cross. And that is love, even though...

And he forgave the people who were killing him,

who had beaten him, who had put that crown of

thorns on his head. Okay, I got ahead of myself.

I wanted to talk about shoes. Now these are the

these are the Highland Kichwa shoes and at that

time you just couldn't go and buy a pair of shoes

and so they took rope and Made shoes and you

can come up and look at these things later and

then later on They would take tires and make

the soles from the tires And then, of course,

this is hand -woven. And so you can come and

look at these shoes a little bit later. Now,

where in the Bible does it talk about shoes?

Okay. Any others? Yes, the gospel of peace. So

this is, it's so interesting because that's what

Jesus did. He took things from the ordinary and

made application to the people. And that's what

I've tried to do. I haven't always been so good

at it. In Ecuador, they know I'm a foreigner.

They most of them know I'm a missionary so it's

okay I'll talk about the Lord and they'll listen

politely not everybody agrees with me, but they'll

listen politely but coming back here to the states

and seeing my neighbors and and talking to people

that's hard I Don't know if you all have experienced

that or not and when I first came back The lady

across the street who's from China, her mother

used to live in the house with her and she's

passed on. And I felt a burden for her, so I

got a Chinese Bible for her and gave her the

Bible. Well, when I came back this year, the

first time I ran into her on the street, she

walks her dogs. She said, now your mother, essentially

tried to evangelize and so she was just letting

me know she didn't want to hear any of this she

didn't want to know any of this and just keep

quiet and I hadn't even said anything but because

of the Bible now I don't know what effect that

Bible had but it was in Chinese and I'm hoping

and praying that the Lord used that but the daughter

wanted nothing to do with that And I'm sure that

you have found that too. And if you talk to them,

well, about building a canoe or building a house,

so the builder is able to have the say. Well,

God created the world, but now nobody believes

that anymore. or they believe it was 15 million

years ago, and all of this stuff happened on

its own. And so it's really hard to witness to

people and say, well, do you go to a church?

And I'd ask this of another neighbor, and she

goes to a, yeah, my spiritual experience is,

but it was one of these. I'm not sure exactly

what the name of the church was but it was the

spiritual and the meditation and and all of this

stuff and it's just it's hard to relate to that.

So I would ask for prayers as for all of us that

we would have wisdom to know what questions to

ask and how to interact with our neighbors because

they need the Lord as well. And then I was going

to close with, weave a story to tell to the nations.

Any other questions before I... You talk a lot

about the jungle. When I picture a jungle, I

picture a machete going through and having to

cut vines. You had mentioned cotton. Do they

grow that cotton or do they just harvest the

cotton? If they find it, then they will actually

put it near their houses and plant it. Because

before there was no communication with the outside

world. And so they had to do everything. Clothes,

food, they had to do everything. True. Now there

are roads in some of the places. But that's got

its disadvantages. People were saying, oh good,

now we can take our bananas and sell them in

the city. We can take the plantainos and the

papayas and the pineapples and all of this stuff.

But then the trucks that come in bring in beer

and other things that are detrimental. And now...

Now they have, some of the communities have internet

and so there's all kinds of garbage that it's

good because the people can talk to me and say

I'm sick and I'll call the hospital and say so

and so is coming and please take care of their

bill. I'll arrange later. But all this other

garbage that's coming in is distracting the people.

from even wanting to know the Lord, they think,

you know, even the kids that come out and are

educated, they think, well, I know more than

my parents. And so there are valuable things

in the culture, like the family unit and respect

for elders. And now a lot of that is disappearing

because of the changes. Yes, yeah Now somebody

I think it was you asked about snake bites, okay

They have what they a bushmaster and the ekis

which that's their name for it and It's it's

a very very poisonous snake and even the babies

when they first hatch They are very venomous

as they have as much venom as their parents that

are much longer. I used to really be afraid to

go to the jungle because of the snakes. And when

I would get off the plane at Missionary Aviation

Fellowship plane, I'd go to the schoolhouse.

That's where we would see patients. That's where

I slept. And for the longest time, I did not

go. out except when I needed to, but not very

far. And it was very interesting. God has a sense

of humor. And while I was in the jungle, I never,

at that period of time, I didn't see a snake.

But two snakes on separate occasions came into

my apartment in Shell, which was near the hospital.

And so it's like, Miriam, if you're where I want

you to be, you'll be safe until the time comes.

And so that's another thing that was very interesting

to me. Anyway, that's another thing. Any other

comments or questions? Well I've heard that snakes

are more afraid of you than you are of them.

Some snakes, it's true. If they're corals, they'll

run. But there are other snakes, and some of

them are in Ecuador, because there was a missionary

who ran into a snake, and then she started running

away from the snake. At that time, we all wore

skirts. And the snake chased her and actually

got the hem of her... Garment. So, yes, most

of them don't want confrontation, but some of

them are very aggressive. Most people don't like

them, I guess. Yes. In Ecuador, there's a saying

The only good snake is a dead snake. But the

black snakes are very good. I mean they take

care of mice and rats and they'll even eat poisonous

snakes and they're not affected. The thought

just occurred to me this was not... thought of

before is that if we can be more like the black

snake when people come at us and We don't react

we don't They might have venomous words and yet

their venom doesn't hurt the fat black snake

and the black snake just Goes on so Yeah, anyway,

okay So I think if you all want to come up, there's

some pictures of the various animals there. There's

this that I'm leaving. His call, it's a poem.

See the fields. But seeing it only, there is

work for you to do. And so these are some things

that I can leave here for you all to take as

you. would want. Anything else? When did the

Lord start calling you into the mission field

to do the work that you're doing? My dad was

a pastor. You knew that. And so a lot of times

we had missionaries stay at our house. So ever

since I can remember, there were missionaries

who came and told stories about the mission field.

And so I think that was, that started it. But

then there were two old -made missionaries that

came and spoke at the church in Lakeland where

I was born. And I don't remember anything. I

remember two things that they said. One was they

woke up one morning and all of the the people,

they were missionaries in Africa. And everybody

was out there talking and talking and talking

and they went out to see what it was. And there

was a huge lion footprints all around their house.

And they had no windows, they had openings, but

there was no way to close your windows. And you

didn't want to because it was so hot there. And

so here was these huge lion footprints. circling

the house and nothing happened to them. And so

God used that story to tell me that God's protection

is with you if you know where you should be.

And then the other story they said, if twins

were born, they thought one was a human child

and one was a demon child. And a lot of times

they would kill them both. because they didn't

know which was which, or they'd let them starve.

And so, I remember while they were still speaking,

inside of myself I said, I gotta go and tell

them it's okay. That those are made in God's

image. And that's, I guess this is the end. So

anyway, I was just, I don't know if the kids

know that song. We have a storage to tell to

the nations. Where is it? So did they receive

that information when you told them about the

twins? There were twins that were born in Ecuador

out in the jungle. And there were two, there

were several sets of twins. Sometimes I didn't

hear about it until after the fact. But they'll

feed one. They'll choose one and feed one. And

the interesting about this story is that the

grandmother said, I'll take this one. Well, that

one was not doing well. And they figured that

they didn't have enough milk for both. And I

said, oh, yes, your body will produce what's

needed. And so anyway, the grandmother took the

one kid and the kid was really, really bad. And

I was scheduled to go in for a course, a health

course with the health promoters. And it rained

that day and I couldn't get in. But the lady

also heard on the two -way radio that I was coming.

So she brought both of the sick babies. to the

community but I wasn't there because the plane

didn't arrive. So my health promoter and they

were both at the point of death I think and she

was able to get them hydrated. She had a baby

as well so she gave them her milk and it was

it was just so neat because the health promoter

came to me the next day and told me what the

situation was. They still were not well completely

but They made it through the night with the health

promoter's attention. And then we mixed up some

formula, which is you couldn't, at that point,

you couldn't buy formula. But it's something

that they had used in Africa for the babies.

powdered milk and oil and what else was it there

were three things and you make a concentrate

and then You able to feed and they made it to

their teen years. I haven't I don't know about

them now but they they made it and so that's

There's been a lot of blessings that I've had

in my own experiences And I'm just very thankful

for that. And I better shut up.