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Serving Christ in Ecuador |
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
-Jeremiah 29:11
I feel when I originally thought about being a missionary, like most people, I thought you sign up and then GO! It’s easy! I’m glad it isn’t that way, but I also didn’t think it would take almost 10 years to get to where we are. It has been a journey, difficult sometimes, times of questions and wondering what we are doing or not doing that is taking so long.
We’ve had people ask us along the way if we ever thought about quitting, about throwing in the towel and saying “we’re done”, it’s taking too long. I guess I can honestly answer, no. We never thought about throwing it in, like I said, there were questions along the way. There was a time when I was in grad school that I failed a class and thought about quitting school, but I didn’t. There were tears and there was even anger, likely more with myself, but some frustration with God for letting that happen and taking even MORE time in school. When we both started school, right after getting married, again we thought it would be a couple of years and then we would go to the mission field. We ended up in Chicago for 8 years. In the midst of it, we probably wouldn’t have thought it was something we needed, hence all the questions as to why it took so long. But, we can now look back on it and say that was a time of preparation that we needed before going to the mission field. I suppose some people may just be able to sign up and GO! Maybe they’re ready on the spot. Heart-wise, we probably were too, but we realize had we gone at any other time than when we did, we wouldn’t have been there at the right time. God set up the time of preparation for a reason, a purpose, bigger than us, but watching out for us and weaving together in us what He has for us. We have seen in many steps along the way how God has woven it all together. We were told when we first went to Ecuador in 2010 that we came at a great time in the history of the Ecuadorian Covenant Church. We are thankful for this and we are blessed that God has prepared us to go at this time, in this way and in this place, our new home in Ecuador.
God truly has gone before us and has prepared our way!
Thanks be to God.
I had a wonderful time worshiping today with Dawson Covenant Church in Dawson, MN. There are some faithful, supportive people in western Minnesota that are a part of that church. Thank you for the opportunity to share on Memorial Day weekend and may God bless you! Thank you!
We wanted to say Thank You to Pastor Kevin Melin and the Evangelical Covenant Church of New London, MN. They had me (Joel) in on a special Wednesday evening get together to hear our story and about our project in Ecuador! They were a delightful and very supportive bunch and had a very nice time meeting with them. Thank you to Pastor Kevin for the invitation and the time together before our meeting and a very special Thank You to Margaret and Gerald Zilmer for their hospitality in giving me a bed for the night as well as a delicious breakfast. God bless!
Kim and I both want to give a BIG THANK YOU to First Covenant Church Willmar and Winthrop Covenant Church for having us visit last Sunday, May 19th. It was wonderful to be with you both, get to know you all, worship with you and have the opportunity to share. We very much enjoyed ourselves! Thank you for the opportunity and may God bless you both, your communities and your ministries!
We want to give a big THANK YOU to Riverside Covenant Church in West Lafayette, IN!!! We had the pleasure of worshiping with them yesterday and had the opportunity to share with them in their Annual Youth Sunday. It was a very powerful service and we felt privileged to be a part. In spending just one quick Sunday with you all, we can see that you are a very loving and supportive Congregation. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to be a part!
We had an awesome time of worship and sharing at Hilltop Community Church in Mansfield, OH this morning. We were there on the invitation of Pastor Andy Hupp, a friend of Joel’s from his days at Indiana Wesleyan University. We really enjoyed their friendly, inviting atmosphere and were inspired by their uplifting worship. We also enjoyed fellowshipping with folks afterwards who wanted to be involved.
Finally, we had the perfect ending to our day in Mansfield when we went out to lunch with Joel’s family who had come to hear us speak at Hilltop. Joel’s Aunt Vangie and cousins Marty and Angela and their families all came out to hear us speak and then lunch afterwards. It was so great to see them and be with them for a little while. Thank you to everyone who made it such a wonderful day!!!
We also wanted to give a big THANK YOU to St. John’s Church of Millersburg, OH. They had us in last night, May 1st, for a special Wednesday evening gathering. We had a wonderful time with them in sharing but they also gave us a nice dinner, presents for the family and also for Kim and Simeon specifically. They also put us up in the nicest hotel that we have stayed at yet during our time of Home Assignment. THANK YOU ST. JOHN’S CHURCH!!!!
One of the perks of making a church visitation trip to Ohio is getting to go see Joel’s favorite sports teams from Ohio. We celebrated Joel’s birthday present (yeah…a little late!) by going to a Cleveland Indians game on Tuesday night. It was great because we were able to go with our long-time friend Darin Bilek and his fiancee Kristina and her brother Michael.
The Santiago Partnership