Wonderful Power!

I have been here for five weeks today. In some senses it seems like such a short amount of time, but in others, it seems like I have been here from a really long time. I wrote the following for something else, but I thought I would share it here....

How do you even begin to sum up the past month of my life? I have witnessed events that I only know a fraction of the ramifications now. I will have to wait till eternity for the rest.
Take for example last week in a place called Tilipango (sp?). A couple of the missionaries and I were in a home there. The home was simple and well taken care of. Everything had a place, including religious paraphernalia that was in the center of the main wall. I sat quietly as the family and the missionaries conversed in Nawigk (sp?) and Spanish. The Bible was opened. After a while, they prayed together and then everyone sat there for a minute. The matriarch of the family rose first to prepare drinks for everyone. All was still silent. The soft-spoken, patriarch of the family slowly came over to where I sat and reached for something above my head. It was a hammer. He then in silence and without drama, he began removing items from the wall. These items represented the false religion he had been in bondage to. Soon, the whole family concentrated on taking down the images and idols. Once they were finished, the man destroyed everything with his hammer. Then they used it all for kindling a fire. As I watched, the words from an old hymn rang again and again in my mind: “Would you be free from the burden of sin? There is wonderful power in blood! Would you o’re evil a victory win? There is wonderful power in the blood!”