(March 19, 2014 - by Ruth Pike)  One thing is sure—if you’re going to encounter a caiman, better it ends up in your stomach than the other way round.

When Dr. Joe Martin landed in a tiny Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane in the Ecuadorian jungle community of Kapawari, a huge alligator-like caiman had just been killed. Later a chunk of caiman meat appeared on his plate. That week, armadillo was also featured on the menu.

Nearly a year since his first visit to this small Achuar jungle community along the Kapawari river near the border with Peru, Martin was warmly greeted by the community leaders who remembered him from his last trip. Many recalled how he had removed a large splinter from the arm of the mother of one of the village elders.

This time he didn’t have to pull out any pieces of wood, but he was able to treat a number of other children and adults as well as share the gospel and join some of them for a church service.

“I got to hear them sing in Achuar,” said Martin. “And then I got to preach for about 30 minutes which was really very fulfilling.”

Martin’s recent visit to Kapawari is the result of a partnership between Reach Beyond’s mobile medical clinic team in Ecuador and Compassion International, a Christian organization that sponsors children, providing them with medical care, education and other support.

“The purpose for us to visit a community is to see the kids that are sponsored by Compassion,” explained Martin. “But we set time aside every day to see those children that are not sponsored as well as any adults who want to be seen.”

Since 2010, Reach Beyond doctors have made trips to remote jungle communities to see patients, including children sponsored by Compassion. In the past, Martin and other doctors carried out this ministry alongside their responsibilities at the mission’s Vozandes Hospital in Shell on the western edge of Ecuador’s Amazon region.

With the recent closure of the hospital, following a time of home ministry assignment in the U.S., Martin has returned to Shell with his family to focus directly on this medical ministry among remote jungle communities.

“We’re spending more time in communities than we did in the past,” he said. “We’re not rushed to come back to work in the hospital.”

“As the mission goals are to go to the unreached and under-reached, we are trying to identify those communities, along with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health, that have a poor representation of healthcare.”

On these trips, Martin is accompanied by Compassion representative Jonás López. He is also often joined by a resident or medical intern from Hospital Vozandes-Quito, offering training opportunities by “exposing the young doctors and future doctors to what we’re doing.”

“I’d definitely like to see more Ecuadorians involved in the process,” Martin said. “Ultimately, it would be great if I weren’t here and other Ecuadorian doctors and dentists could go in and do what I’m doing.”

As the team seeks to share the love of God through their ministry, sometimes they encounter people with a genuine interest in the gospel. Like Carolina*, the young girl who was baptized last year and told Martin that she wants to be a missionary one day. Carolina’s favorite book in the Bible is Philippians. She enjoys playing the guitar and would love to see other people in her community come to know Christ.

However, some of the people are at the other end of the spectrum. Like Rodrigo*, the son of the shaman (witchdoctor) who translated for the team a year ago in another village, but appeared disinterested in their faith. Recently his father died, and Rodrigo has taken on the role of shaman.

“I prayed with him and his family,” continued Martin. “And then I just leave it up to God to do the rest. So, little opportunities like that are great.”

Reflecting on the future of the ministry, Martin underlined the need to pray “more than anything that God would continue to fertilize the hearts of those that we touch.”

*Names changed to protect the individuals’ identity.

Source: Reach Beyond