Legacy

On October 23-29, I traveled to Ecuador in order to teach Hermeneutics at the Baptist Church of Pinllo in the city of Ambato. Although “Hermeneutics” may sound intimidating, its focus simply is to read the Bible correctly, to understand God’s message clearly, and to teach others in a way that they can understand.

During the training, I lodged at a nearby camp called Chacauco. From my living room window, I enjoyed an amazing view of the ice-capped Tungurahua volcano. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Ecuador, I recommend that you visit this region!

While I taught Hermeneutics in Ambato, Camp Chacauco hosted a team from Houston that instructed a group of natives from the jungle in the eastern part of the country. This is the area in which the missionary Jim Elliot and others lost their lives while they were sharing the Gospel with the natives. I was surprised to learn that one of the attendees was the great-nephew of one of the natives who murdered Jim Elliot.

Even though Jim Elliot gave his life to share the Gospel, many of the people to whom he ministered became believers after his death. These believers shared the Gospel with others, who also shared the Gospel with others. The great-nephew at Camp Chacauco represents the fourth generation of believers who benefited from Jim Elliot’s faithfulness to share about Jesus. What a legacy!

God has called believers to share the Gospel with others and then to disciple them. As we are faithful to teach others the Bible, they will reach a point when they will be able to do the same with others. The disciples of our disciples also one day will be able to train others. The apostle Paul describes this process in 2 Timothy 2:2: The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

A century from now it will not matter how much money we earned, what kind of cars we drove, or how large our houses were. All that will matter is that we were believers who faithfully trained other believers, who in turn trained others. May we have a spiritual legacy that continues to perpetuate until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ!