At the end of last month we were so happy to visit Orlando, FL where we were there as a family to celebrate the 140th Anniversary of the Evangelical Covenant Church at Gather 2025, which is the Annual Meeting of the denomination. This year was a special denominational gathering as the presidents of the sister Covenant denominations from all over the world were invited to celebrate this important milestone in the ECC as we share together the ministry that happens all around the world in the Covenant church’s name.
It was so neat for us to be here for this very special event. The president of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador, Pastor Christian Sani, was with us. You can see a picture of him above with our family, as well as our Ecuadorian friends (Henry and Olguita Burbano) as well as Rob Peterson and his wife, who is the newly elected Superintendent/President of the Covenant Church of Canada. Pastor Christian was given the opportunity to lead a morning devotional, participate in the worship services and was involved in many of the details and events of the denomination’s meetings and worship services. Kim was also recognized for her 14 years of service with the Evangelical Covenant Church as Serve Global personnel (missionary) to Ecuador. It was a time of many mixed emotions for her as they also held a reception to honor her and her service where Pastor Christian shared a brief prayer for her. The big thing that Kim has emphasized is that although her time has come to a close with the Evangelical Covenant Church an an employee of the ECC, her ministry to Ecuador continues as she serves the Santiago Partnership in all areas medical (medical liason, medical caravans and help with medical supplies and medicines).
Also as a part of Gather, we had the unique privilege of cheering on our dear friend and partner in ministry, Natasha Westerhoud, as she was ordained for ministry by the Evangelical Covenant Church. This has been a process of many years of planning, studying and service that has come together to allow her to now reach this point of ordination. I (Joel) was also reunited with my Marathon/Seminary buddies as we got the opportunity to reconnect with Jodi Moore and Johnna Muniz who I had run a marathon with while in Seminary together.
Gather 2025 provided closure for our year of Ministry Assignment (also known as Home Assignment) as we moved from Ecuador to Romeoville exactly a year ago.
The Santiago Partnership