He gave some to be... teachers...

The Ephesians 4:11 declaration about the gifts that Jesus pours out on His church continues to be true today. And often we find ourselves in the teacher role. 
Where? Clayton taught for a semester at the local seminary on how to work with people in premarital and marriage counseling. To be honest, a lot of the teaching was taken to heart very personally by the students -- but teaching was happening! The majority were young single adults who were eager to hear some good counsel -- without seeming to eager...

 Various married students also were eager to receive words of advice for personal situations or for a need they knew about. It was a special joy to serve these eager students for almost ten weeks.

Thelma is currently teaching through a series known as Pastoral Theology, basic Bible doctrine and understandings of the faith, using a series of well designed workbooks written years ago in Chile. The course is designed for students to study a significant amount of material before class, and then class time is used for group discussion and expanding the themes studied. The entire course will last nearly 18 months. So far enthusiasm remains high. This study is being held in the Gualaceo house church.

 Twelve students are now working in book 2. We are thrilled that these young adults are eager to increase their understanding and strengthen their faith in sound Bible understandings. We know that soon some of these young people will be leaders along side of the current leaders. 

 Pray that each participant will become a confident, strong leader for the future of the Gualaceo house church and help to bring expansion into new groups.

Out of this group and Arenillas house church we are beginning to see that Jesus continues to give to His church -- apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Pray that each believer will find their place in the growing Body of Christ in these two areas.

"A Time To Plant..."

It was a conference for church planters -- people who are about the business of planting the kingdom of God wherever they live and work. Thankfully the conference proved to be a time when truth, encouragement, ideas and mutual support were planted in the hearts of the planters. More than 80 people from various regions in south Ecuador gathered for a first-time conference for leaders and potential leaders of house churches on the first weekend of November. It was a thrill and privilege to participate as attendees and experience God teaching us how to better do the tasks before us. 

The following photos tell a bit of the story of a Saturday and Sunday gathering of people eager to spread the good news that "the kingdom of God is near." Our goal was to learn how to better impact and make this message accessible to people through house churches.  Below: an attentive audience.

 A dynamic teacher for the weekend conference of the South Ecuador Network of House Churches. His key challenge: to take the church to the people instead of making the people come to the church.
Main speaker: Fabián Cortez, Quito Ecuador

All participants were assigned groups that did all activities together throughout the weekend.

On a large sheet of paper each group had to design and illustrate the leadership dynamic principle assigned to their group to explore and explain to the gathered participants.

Working together prodded us to learn how to share leadership responsibilities.

Then came the presentations as each group enthusiastically told how the "body part" they were assigned illustrated some aspect of leadership and group dynamics that need to be incorporated into a healthy house church. Below: the hearing ear...

This group told us about warm hands that reach -- reach out to draw in, reach toward fellow believers to serve. Attendees were a cultural mix of Ecuadorians -- from the coastal region, from the Andes highlands along with brothers and sisters from the indigenous Quechua Indian population. Note the speaker's black hat in the photo below -- part of the dress style of Quechua men, along with a long braid of black hair and knee length pants. All participants joined in eagerly.

We watched with interest as each small group displayed their artwork and creative drama in order to teach the house church principles we had been assigned to study and teach from our textbooks.

Church planter pioneer and the brain and heart behind the organizing of this conference, Patricio Orellana, far right, back to camera, stayed mostly behind the scenes as he empowered members of his various house church network leaders to facilitate the weekend activities. Jorge Gomez from Gualaceo (white shirt, speaking) and Edgar Jaramillo from Arenillas (red striped shirt) were part of this team's presentation of "an encouraging tongue."

We were thrilled that twenty of our leaders and potential leaders could attend and be challenged. We were motivated and encouraged by so many other brothers and sisters learning along with us how to more creatively and effectively spread the good news of the Kingdom of God.

When the day and a half conference ended and we went our separate ways, we knew that we were part of large band of people with a vision for reaching individuals, families and homes in south Ecuador for Christ. We returned to our homes with new vision, inspiration for greater effectiveness and ideas to implement.  Below: Outdoor break between sessions.

Thank You, Father, for making it possible for us to participate in this important vision-expanding opportunity with other house church leaders.


















 

It's been a long time...

It was exactly a year ago today that I last wrote and posted on our blog. So yes, it's been a long time -- too long. And I'm afraid I made an apology related to that a while ago, on this same blog. (sigh) 

But the title today bears more than one significance. Yes, I have not added new thoughts to this blog in a whole year's worth of special days, but today I want to share about a special person whose long, full life impacted mine so profoundly -- my mother. But her life was long and full -- a whole 92 years of loving -- and I am thankful she has finished her course here and kept the faith in ways that will live on in those who come after her. I base that assertion on the promise in Exodus 20:6.

On November 8 my mother began a sudden downhill descent physically. Earlier that week she had again said she wished to go home, meaning back to live with my father in the small apartment they had shared for three years. My sister Arlene made sure they had times together at their little house several times a week, and on this Thursday she had had lunch and the afternoon with my father. My sister took her back to the rest home (five miles away) in time for the evening meal and bedtime, but before the evening was out, the family was called to please come, something was very wrong with my mother. Her blood pressure had dropped and she felt generally very weak and ill. By Sunday Clayton and I had made the decision to travel to the United States because Mama was not improving but rather losing ground. We traveled on November 13 and found out when we arrived that Mama had also been "flying" that day -- straight home to heaven. Today I want to share a couple photos and the eulogy I wrote and read at her funeral on November 18, 2012. It's sort of long, but even still, it seems so inadequate for all I would like to share about her. (Photos taken spring 2011)

Eulogy read at Salina Gnagey Eberly's funeral at United Bethel Mennonite Church, Plain City, Ohio:

I would love to stand here and look you in the eyes and talk about my mother today. But we would be here too long for me to finish, so I will stick to my written thoughts and share with you what this woman gave to me and to my family.

We knew her as mama. You knew her as Salina - one of God's ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things with very ordinary resources but with an extraordinary love. My memories of her began on a one acre plot of land west of Pigeon, Michigan. I doubt that any other one acre segment of land on this planet produced more variety than the Eberly homestead: the apple trees my parents planted - seven varieties, no less, along with pears, two kinds of plums, peaches, apricots, three kinds of cherries, and the mulberries, strawberries, raspberries and elderberries. Did I forget anything? :) Oh, and ground cherries! How could I forget one of our family's favorite pies?! And then the vegetable garden and the unique things Mama found to plant along with all the regular stuff. Remember the huge Hubbard squash she had to chop open with an ax? Oh, our table saw many interesting and tasty offerings. I remember smelling the odor of another pressure canner load of green beans being processed as another summer day's work was winding down and Mama tucked us into bed. Every fall the colorful contents of jars of canned garden produce filled shelves in the basement.

Mama's hands were seldom still. In earlier years the tender care of an invalid infant daughter, along with the care of older siblings Linda and Nelson shaped the heart of a young mother. Compassion and sensitivity were definitive trademarks. Evelyn passed away at nine months of age. I was born next, and soon three more siblings filled the quiver and Mama's hands full. Aletha, the youngest, was an invalid with the same congenital disease as Evelyn had had, and she died at three years of age. Arlene, Willard and I grew up as little ones who learned to love and consider the littler, weaker one. Mama and Papa loved us all - and taught us to work.  :)

Mama's roots of faith went deep into God's grace during these years. Perhaps many of us would have felt the day was too short to get everything done, nevertheless, daily family worship figured into our lives. Bible reading and prayer were a part of each day. Thank you, Papa and Mama, for not suspending this priority in our family.

Those were the days of wringer washing machines. Need I say more? My maternal grandparents lived in part of our house. They were a source of help and moral strength for our family, and later their needs figured into Mama's full agenda. Mama's hands and heart gave and gave. We never doubted that her hands first served her family. She had that priority straight. But Salina's hands found ways to serve others, and often those others were people with last names that didn't sound like the familiar local community names. Remember Minnie Eimers? The Kamlaperkers? Mr. Schuette? Mrs. Schwab, Mrs. Musselman? [My brother Nelson mentioned the Randoph family and Mr. Lobdale in the obituary]. Salina's heart grew as big as the number of people who needed a friend. Wherever we went, we could expect that Mama would strike up a conversation with whomever she had a minute to exchange a few words of greeting. Those who knew her those last eleven months at the nursing home, came to know her loving spirit, even though her now frequently garbled speech limited extended conversation. Her sunshine smile said so much.

Salina was not your "regular missionary," I guess, but Christ's imprint on her heart showed through in her genuine, loving interest in people. Our parents chose to be involved in mission outreach from the beginning of their life together. During the years they served at five mission locations or "mission stations" as they were called then, and by that, teaching us children their spiritual values by walking out their talk. Mission work was not theory at our house. It was something we did every Sunday. Whether Salina ever made the association, I cannot say, but she literally obeyed Titus 2:3, 4, fulfilling the role of an older woman teaching younger women the spiritual principles of godly mothering through a weekly Bible study that continued many years. Mama loved the Word of God and taught children's and women's Sunday School classes.

Memories flow and blend into other memories. Salina enjoyed color - she knew how to plan pleasing color combinations for the borders of the rugs Papa and we children wove on the looms [of our family rug-weaving business]. She thrilled to see returning birds in the spring - the usual robins, the excitement of spotting a rose-breasted grosbeak in the blossoming cherry tree, or the Baltimore Oriole weaving its unusual nest in the willow tree and later the cedar waxwing helping itself to the bright red cherries outside the living room window. Mama looked, enjoyed and called our attention to the beauties around us. And she made beauty - those doilles she crocheted as a young bride-to-be, her flower gardens, the hundreds of rugs she planned for us to weave, and her later-years-hobby of painting on cloth. She painted and quilted a quilt for each of her grandchildren and later still made soft, colorful cloth balls for the great grandchildren. Her fingers taught mine to knit, crochet, embroider and make tiny stitches and a million other mother tasks. She passed on a legacy of skillful womanhood to her daughters -- and today I love watching my daughters being mothers, and I see unmistakeable, familiar traits.

And Mama sang. Even when her speech skills were affected by the last stroke, she could still sing. And that's what she gave to each of us. A song to sing of thankfulness for a rich spiritual heritage, memories of a home where love and godly virtues surrounded us, a song with varied tunes and words that remind us of Jesus and great grace. And she gave us perhaps the most valuable treasure a mother could have given us: the example of her life lived in daily, common, ordinary ways for God. A life coming from a heart that had allowed itself to be carved into a channel for God's love. Thank you, Mama. The love flowing from your heart continues to flow on to others in more ways than you or we can know. I thank God for designing and creating you and planning for you to be our mother.

              (Photo: Albert and Salina with five of the then six great granchildren - summer 2011)

Thank you for allowing me to share about my mother. As I typed these words into the computer today, it felt so inadequate, so incomplete. There is so much more to say about her, but this will have to suffice. I am so thankful for all the memories that live on in my heart. She gave her life for her God, her family and so many others and I am so thankful that she was my mother.

Two hearts touched by God

From the first day Victor and Teresa attended a meeting of the Arenillas house churches, Victor had that friendly smile that made you want to get acquainted. He immediately manifested interest in the teaching of the Word. Teresa was more reserved, and she seldom smiled. Victor committed his life to Christ first. Teresa has told me that she would awaken at night and hear Victor praying for her out in the living room, asking God to help her surrender her heart to Him. In September 2008, they were one of four couples who got married in the third wedding ceremony held by the Arenillas house church.


At their baptism the following day, Teresa gave a short, honest testimony. She said, "I can't testify to God changing my life radically since I began to follow Him. I have not changed very much, but I want to. I am trusting God to change me." Clayton encouraged her that God was at work and would continue to transform her as she yielded to Him.



Today Victor is the main house church leader in Arenillas. In the following photo he stands beside his son Hoover who is leading the evening singing at a monthly joint service that all the area house church groups attend. Hoover has only been playing guitar for two years ago.



Teresa has been a strong support to Victor. Together they have visited acquaintances and unsaved family members, witnessing to their new life in Christ and doing home Bible studies. Their home is the scene of weekly meetings for the house church in La Libertad, their area of the city. Victor has a shepherd's heart and is willing to go wherever he senses someone wants to know God.

Teresa's personal mission field is the neighborhood children. Though she first thought she could not teach a class (she struggles to read), she decided she would do what she could to spread the Gospel to others. She visited the parents of families living nearby, and invited the children to come for Bible class on Saturday mornings.


Victor and Teresa purchased Bibles so the children could read from the Bible together and learn God's truth right out of The Book.


Though some parents did not want their children to receive religious training, their children slip over at meeting time and attend the study anyway. Teresa says, "I can't send them away if they come hungry to learn."


The class begins at 9:00. At our last visit to Arenillas, the children were beginning to arrive soon after 8:00. Teresa invited them in, and they sat quietly on the chairs, waiting for the time to begin. Teresa is willing to give the best she can, even though she has no fancy Sunday School materials or colorful books. And these days I see her smile often! Her whole face lights up and it is easy to see God's joy shining through.


The first Saturday of January, 2012 Victor and Teresa accompanied us for the first time to the annual assembly of the Mennonite churches of Ecuador. Here Teresa gives a brief testimony of what God is doing in Arenillas through the house church movement.


New Year's Day, 2012. The learning continues and challenges will always arise, but we are happy to see Victor and Teresa growing in their relationship with God and eagerly and joyfully serving Him as best they understand to do. And God is blessing them. We delight to call them brother and sister and work together with them in the special harvest field of Arenillas.

Angel sightings

Sorry - this post has no photos. Hopefully these "thousand words" will paint a vivid picture for you!

Would an angel ride a motorcycle?
I cannot verify that for certain, but one night as we drove back from Arenillas, we had strong suspicions that an angel was guarding us. We had left Arenillas later than we usually like to. There were various relationships and church issues that needed attention, and we just did not get away. So the trip found us after dark, making our way back home over the mountains. We came to the now familiar dirt road detour that took us over one part of the mountains. It had begun to rain. With four wheel drive engaged, we drove up the road and came to the corner where we usually took a sharp right, continuing up the mountain. Just as we came to the sharp turn, we could see the headlight of an approaching motorcycle, coming down the steep incline. As we paused to wait for him to pass, he came to a stop and hollered over to us through the noise of pounding rain, "Don't go up that way, it is impassible. Take the road straight ahead. It will get you to the same place." We did not wait to converse longer. The rain was coming down steadily. So with a hollered, "Thank you!" we headed on up the mountain road. "Could that have been an angel?" I asked. We often saw no traffic on that part of the detour, and to meet a motorcycle after dark, in the rain, seemed like a long stretch from the "usual" traffic on that road.

A few weeks later when we again passed through detour land on the way to Arenillas, we took our usual route, and sure enough, the hill we would have climbed that night was rutted with deep gullies and not a pleasant descent, even in dry weather. A rainy night would have been a nightmare on that hillside. We remembered the "angel" on the motorcycle.

A dog named Bear.
Several years ago we went weekly to the home of a lower income family, high on a hill just outside of Cuenca. We had to park the car down by the main road and walk up to their house, passing other dwellings on the way. Every home had a dog, it seemed, and we heard lots of barking announcing our arrival each time. The family we visited had a black dog named Oso (Bear). He would watch for our arrival, and accompany us to the door. After Bible study one evening, the neighborhood dogs seemed especially agitated as we made our way back down the dimly lit hill. Dogs barked and growled all around us, and I hoped that none would break loose from whatever was holding them back from outright attack. How would we ward off that pack if they came after us? We made it past the first house, the second house and though the growling and fierce barking continued unabated, we still seemed to be safe. One more short stretch and then the dogs would be left behind as we finished the descent to our parked car. Suddenly, out of the shadows, I saw a flash of black dog, and realized that Bear had been accompanying us down the hill -- seemingly aware that we needed some extra bodyguards that night. Had God prompted Bear to go with us, or was an angel following us dressed in "Bear's clothing"? As we passed the last danger point, Bear silently disappeared and we finished our evening's mission safe again from the threatening pack of watchdogs.

Border crossing angels.
Last week we were attending to some paperwork having to do with visa renewal. An official from Cuenca told us to cross over the border into Peru and then return to Ecuador, thus obtaining a 30 day tourist visa to give us extended time to work on some additional paperwork. So, trusting the advice given, we headed to Peru as part of our trip to Arenillas. Peru is another 45 minutes up the road and this would be a simple addition to our weekend trip. We drove confidently to the border crossing immigration buildings. A large complex of offices and vehicle examination areas greeted our eyes. But everything seemed to be asleep. A few slow-moving guards were all we saw. We were told that the computer systems were "down" and we would need to return to Huaquillas, two kilometers back into Ecuador, in order to do any kind of official paperwork.

So we made our way back to the border city of Huaquillas and a small immigration office. To our amazement, we were told that the instructions given to us in Cuenca were flawed -- that for us to leave Ecuador, stamp our passports with an exit stamp, and then try to reenter would have left us sitting in Peru. Some quirk in immigration law would have denied us reentry! The immigration official was very gracious and explained the mystery glitch in the visa system that would have kept us stranded in Peru (it's still a mystery to us!). His gracious patience and help as he and we tried to figure out our options was a gentleman's best. After paying the required fees and having our passports stamped with a 90-day visa, we left the immigration office, grateful to be in Ecuador. We were awed at God's precise protection: He had blocked us from following through on what we thought was accurate counsel -- the Peru officials at the border sent us back to the immigration office in the city where we learned of the difficulties we would have faced if we had not been barred from proceeding. Were there angels protecting us from our own well-intentioned efforts? Was the immigration officer an angel whom God appointed to keep us out of trouble? We both know we were very grateful for God's 24/7 - Psalm 121 care: "The LORD will keep (protect) your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore." Amen!

Angels? Oh yes! They are real. It's impossible to give a head count on how many we have seen or been protected by along the way. I doubt that we recognized most of them, but I have no doubt they have been part of the "picture" more than once. (I suspect they are somewhat camera shy...)

Once more from Ecuador!

This past weekend was definitely a first ever experience for us. We hope this story will spark your desire to find new, creative ways to connect with the people who cross your path.

On November 5 we held a wedding in Arenillas for a young deaf couple. The bride's parents came to Christ when she was a young teenager. Nelly's parents were married and baptized in 2008. The challenge for this wedding was how to make the ceremony meaningful for the couple who would hear none of the music, none of the message, none of the excited conversations about plans and the actual proceedings of the ceremony.

My thoughts turned to a retired missionary friend who had visited Arenillas with us once with the intent to meet and get acquainted with Nelly. She and Nelly had connected well. Oh, how I wished Peggy was still here. An email to Peggy put us in contact with a talented young woman in Cuenca, a young dentistry professor who has adopted work with the deaf as her special ministry. She and two friends disciple about a dozen young people in a Baptist church here in Cuenca. We were thrilled when she said she would spend the weekend with us in Arenillas to help with the special ministry needed for Carlos and Nelly.

Friday evening we gathered around the family table, and Liz's gracious spirit and patience opened the way for important communication to take place. ALL of us were learning how to relate to people with a hearing handicap, and she was a significant catalyst for strengthening relationships.


At 8:30 Saturday evening, the wedding finally began.

Carlos and Nelly and Nelly's two little sisters, Gabriela and Kimberly, with mother and father seated behind them.

Throughout the ceremony, Liz was immediately at hand to interpret and help Carlos and Nelly be a part of all that happened. Their eyes were continually on Liz as she interpreted the songs and Clayton's message. Here Clayton is reading for the congregation and the couple the simple vows written out in language suited for a deaf person's understanding. They publicly signed their names on the written promises, a formality that contributed to the solemnity of the occasion for them.


Liz helped Fransisco, Nelly's father, share special regards to the couple.

Carlos, Nelly and Nelly's parents, Josefa and Fransisco.

The next morning we gathered at the river for a baptism. A baptism? Yes, Nelly and Carlos indicated that they wanted to also be baptized, even as they had observed other couples before them. We gathered together at the river to celebrate this step in their lives as well.


Liz continued signing for Carlos and Nelly as the morning meeting got underway. Her signing skills were of interest to everyone. How could her gestures communicate so much?! Yet Carlos and Nelly obviously understood. As a brief part of the Sunday baptism service, Clayton asked Liz to communicate to the church how we could be an important part in helping Carlos and Nelly and other deaf people feel loved, accepted, and welcomed into the body of Christ. She told how many deaf people are often lonely and encouraged us all to learn to sign. Many caught a new vision of a new kind of outreach for the Arenillas church.



Liz signed as Clayton gave the meditation by the river before the baptism.


Carlos and Nelly laugh as Liz's signing connects with their understanding.

Liz made herself available to the couple for interpreting, helping Carlos and Nelly stay connected with the activities. Here she signs Clayton's words as they are about to be baptized.

As we drove home from the weekend events, Liz expressed again her desire to continue a relationship with Nelly and Carlos, and to bring two other young adults along to share in a ministry to the deaf young people in Arenillas. She is eager for Carlos to meet Pedro, another deaf young man who's love and passion for God spur him to share the Gospel whenever he can.

Carlos, Nelly and Carlos' mother

We thank God and Liz for making this weekend something that connected meaningfully to the hearts of two young people who are starting on a new life venture. What can and will God do with this young couple? We hope this is but the beginning of a new avenue of ministry for the Arenillas believers. Pray that Carlos and Nelly will desire to reach out to others as their own faith in Christ becomes more sure and secure.

I promised!

I promised in my previous post that I would share some photos with you, so as I wait for another half hour to pass here in the Atlanta airport, I will share a few of my favorite photos from the summer. It's hard to choose from the many I took, and limit my choices to a few. So many good memories of times with those we love. Here are a few:


We welcomed Eva Victoria on June 15!

Grandpa plays with the grandsons -- those farm toys are so much fun!

Our anniversary was fun to celebrate with a breakfast buffet with our children.

Eva grew so fast -- she's almost three months here, and her Mommy coaxed this darling smile from her for our photo.

Jonathan, the smiling three-year-old.

Adrian's smile was too good to pass up -- riding in the van on a rainy day...

Duane and Jonathan take a quiet moment beside the river on our hike.

Jonathan and Liliana look at a book and identify letters and numbers.


On a chilly afternoon at our family weekend, Duane and Adrian cuddled together in the hammock with a blanket to keep the chill at bay.

These are just a few of the many special memories we carry home in our hearts as we leave for Guayaquil tonight. It was a wonderful summer and we are so glad we could be enriched again with times together with those we love. It was a rich summer in every way.

Thank You, Father!!