Dear Saints,
Praise God for the coming of Passover and Resurrection Sunday! With you, we rejoice that Jesus is Lord and Savior. He is so merciful and full of grace to us and we love to hear your testimonies of what God has done for you.
The number 5 is God’s number of GRACE. This year, 2025, is the multiplication of that grace: 5 x 5. This is comforting especially when there are moments of sickness, doubt or uncertainty. An even more exciting note is that every time the date “25″ rolls around on each month, we can sink into the amazing cushion of exponential grace: 25 squared. Say it, sing it, believe it and something will move in your spirit. I do not believe we have even the faintest idea of how great HIS grace is for us.
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) “So let us step boldly to the throne of grace, where we can find mercy and grace to help when we need it most.” Let us learn to think and see the situations in our lives as opportunities for God to lavish us with His grace, His strength and give us amazing testimonies.
I am compelled to tell you about a new student, Sindi, in our “deep, dark” jungle school near the Peruvian border. Her isolated family lives about 30 minutes upriver of the Cofan community and our school. This group consists of 1 or 2 men with 2 or 3 women and a host of children. Hygiene is not a priority to this family group. Their life-style is not accepted even by the rest of the indigenous village.
Sindi is 10 years old. When she was about 3-4, while playing in the jungle, she fell and a huge thorn destroyed her right eye. The years passed. Because the government paid for the gas for the outboard motor canoe, Sindi’s father sent her to the public school an hour further upriver. This little, unwashed, disfigured child was treated as a leper.
Thomas and Milena, the husband and wife teacher team in our little school found out about Sindi and offered to pay for the canoe gas to get her and two little sisters to our school regularly. This couple houses the three siblings during the week so they can attend classes without excuse. Milena bathes, feeds and fixes the children’s hair. Thomas encourages them and teaches Sindi with great patience.
When Sindi came to us in October, (at 10 years old) she knew neither her letters or numbers. She hardly spoke, and then only in a whisper. Her head was always down with her unkept hair covering the right side of her face. There was no patch or covering over the eye, only a red mass that her eyelid cannot cover.
When I presented Sindi’s father with her semester grades last month, he seemed surprised that she was starting to read and could do sums. I asked him what the doctor had told him about her eye. He replied he had not taken her to the doctor. I asked if it still hurt her. He said he had not asked her. I stopped asking questions.
This whole situation is amazing on different levels. The focus I believe God wants for us today is the selfless, open-hearted compassion that Thomas and Milena have displayed for these children. The GRACE that Thomas and Milena shower on three neglected children approaches heroic. Compensation for their costs, energy or attention has not crossed their minds. It is something they can do, therefore, they will. In fact, Sindi’s father finds ways of spreading vile rumors about them through the village when he has the chance. No gratitude, just raging guilt.
I am having a heart check. Do I extend God’s grace as freely as these two humble indigenous believers on the back-side-of-nowhere? It is easy to be exuberant and jump up and down about how much grace God wants to give ME, my situation, my family. But to whom much is given, much is required. Do I extend and overflow, with this amazing grace to others in a tangible way? Am I able to get over the darts of the enemy trying to entangle me in petty words, and see what GOD wants me to see and focus on? Thomas and Milena are an inspiration. Common, everyday grace dispensers. I can be too.
Be blessed. You, who give, pray and encourage us are part of Sindi’s story. As you pour into God’s little schools, His grace and resources are poured out in ever-widening ripples. Thank you for your heart to share His grace.
Together for the Kingdom,
Dave, Sharman and Kjersti Injerd
Misión SEA LA LUZ
Ecuador
27 years and counting
In His and your service, David, Sharman, and Kjersti Injerd
El Tambo, Napo Province, Ecuador
[email protected]
Phones: Ecuador Cell: From inside Ecuador: 099-917-0311; From outside Ecuador: 593-99-917-0311 Voice over Internet Protocol (Skype): 1-951-846-6979
HEADQUARTERS: Pure In Heart Fund 38416 Cherry Valley Blvd. Cherry Valley, CA 92223 President’s (“BJ” Stavness) E-mail: [email protected] 951-231-4872