A Tragic Accident

On Friday night, one of our church families was involved in a tragic car accident. The car swerved to miss a parked vehicle, went into the other lane and was hit by another car, and went over a precipice. The father was killed, the mother was treated for a concussion and stitches to the head, and the two children only received bumps and bruises.

The father had recently been elected as a councilman, so news spread fast of his death. Here in Ecuador embalming is not practiced, so everything proceeds fairly quickly. The husband's body was brought back to Riobamba in ambulance where his sister-in-law, a member of our church, cleaned and prepared the body for the funeral services. The missionary ladies cooked and served lunch on Saturday to the family. On Saturday night we attended the wake, along with other church families, as an encouragement to the family. Traditional black is worn, not only for the wake and funeral, but for the following year.

Yesterday afternoon we attended the funeral service. Since all of the husband's family is Catholic, the service was held in the big Cathedral downtown. The place was packed full and there were more than 500 people in attendance. The local media was there as well. The mass was held and our church family was in a group off to one side. At the end of the service, they allowed our group to sing one of the husbands' favorite choruses. As is the custom, they formed a procession out of the church following the casket. A long line of people walked down the streets to the cemetery. At the cemetery they lowered the casket into the ground and filled it with dirt. Not a word was said, and at the end the people applauded.

Continue to pray for the family and the church family as they deal with the loss of a husband, father, and friend. He will be sorely missed. Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel with unsaved family and friends.