Over a year ago, when my parents were in town visiting me, Carmen told Franci and I that she had found a place for us to rent so we could start to gather all our contacts in one place. With Mom and Dad in tow, we followed Carmen to a little house, number C-3, we walked in and I started crying out of joy and relief. Franci and I had been praying for a place to meet with contacts, we had been praying for a place exactly like this and there it was, right in front of my eyes.
Within the following days and weeks, we talked to the owner, signed a contract and got the keys. Then, on June 26th, 2011, we held our first service in Yanamayo, El Mirador C-3. We find ourselves here a year later and we wanted to celebrate and thank God for a year of meeting in Yanamayo. In that little house, which was a Habitat for Humanity project in the 80’s, we’ve prayed and cried, we’ve taught and sang, we’ve ate and played games, we’ve laughed and joked. We have had lots of good times in that little house over the past year. We’ve also had sad times, frustrating times. But as one of my favorite songs says, “When I’m losing, when I’m broken, when I’m sinking like a stone and it feels like I’m alone, I will worship You. When I’m dancing, when I’m hopeful, when I’m feeling mercy’s hand, and I’m living life again, I will worship You.” This was a time to worship Him, to praise Him, to glorify Him for the past year in Yanamayo, through the good and the bad, we are to worship Him.
So, that’s what we did last Sunday, June 24th. We figured we wouldn’t all fit into the little house since we had invited people from Huáscar, Salcedo and the central church. So, ironically, we celebrated the anniversary out on the nearby soccer platform. This actually posed a big problem as there was a community meeting right next to the platform at the same time we were trying to start our service. To show patience and compassion, we agreed to wait for the meeting to finish before we started our service. We ended up waiting about an hour. But, it turned out good because some of the people we know that were in the meeting came over after the meeting and celebrated with us while others stayed right where they were but listened in.
Things in Yanamayo have been tough lately. It’s actually discouraging every time we are up there. I’m saddened that we saw so much progress, so many lives changed and now many of those have fallen away, back to focusing on the world, focusing on this life on earth instead of a heavenward focus. This is spiritual battle. And there is some serious spiritual battle going on in Yanamayo. But what that tells me, is that God has great plans for this place and the devil is fighting because he knows it.
Pray for Yanamayo.
