One of my favorite stories in the history of evangelical work in Ecuador took place in 1892.*
I love God's sense of humor. See if you don't agree.
Francisco Penzotti, a Uruguayan carpenter-turned-preacher, had been jailed in Lima, Peru for eight months for distributing the Word of God. After his release in early 1891, he headed north to Guayaquil with his boxes of Bibles. As he pushed these pass the customs inspectors, one of the officials declared defiantly: "As long as Mt. Chimborazo stands, these books will never enter Ecuador!"
Not only did the Word of God enter the country that year, but today, all around the slopes of Mt. Chimborazo, an estimated 40-45% of the population claim to be evangelical believers. Chimborazo Province has the highest concentration of followers of Jesus Christ than any other region of Ecuador or South America that I am aware of.
From Chimborazo, the Gospel is spilling over into the neighboring Andean provinces of Tungurahua, Cañar and Cotopaxi. This is an exciting time to be a missionary in Ecuador. Click on this video to hear a Quichua believer singing to her Lord and see the faces of a people long held in spiritual captivity, but now being freed to join the swell of what is rapidly becoming a nationwide spiritual tsunami.
I love being on the winning side! More than 100 years since the infamous customs official's words were spoken, God is still proving to Satan and all his hosts that no matter how hard he tries to stop "those books" from entering, JESUS SHALL REIGN WHERE'ER THE SUN! And Mt. Chimborazo, at 20,946,230 feet, the highest point on the surface of the Earth (when measured from the core of the earth), stands tall as a majestic spiritual icon to remind the world "the gates of hell shall not prevail." Don't you love God's humor? Can't you just see Him smiling?
*Source: Daybreak Over Ecuador by Richard P. Reichert.
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