Please read the post previous to this one -- the story is incomplete without reading it first!Seven seems like a strange number to symbolize perfection or completion, but God seems to like that number. He instituted seven days in a week. The Bible speaks of the seven spirits of God and the seven churches in Revelation as well as other groupings of seven. In music there are seven notes in the major scale. Completing seven, eight stands for new beginnings and starting anew.
On August 28 the Gualaceo house church celebrated seven years since the baptism of the first believers. A day-long celebration was planned beside the river. Anticipation was high as a busload of believers from Arenillas arrived, along with extended family members of the Gomez family from Guayaquil where Luis Gomez, father of the family, as shared and encouraged a house church to begin meeting. Believers also gathered from the neighboring towns of Chordeleg and Zhondeleg where the Gualaceo believers have begun house church meetings.
The day's program was filled with singing, testimonies, and a challenging message to live out true worship in daily life. Between 150 and 170 people were served a delicious noon meal. As at last year's anniversary, after we ate, we gathered at the river for the testimonies and baptism of five people. God keeps calling and people take the step of faith to follow Christ.
God worked in some amazing ways in the days preceding the anniversary. At last year's anniversary celebration Libia's mother, Carmelina, was baptized. At the time I thought, Libia may say she wants nothing to do with Jorge's "religion," but God is bringing His truth in through the "back door" of her life. While Libia resisted Jorge's faith, her mother decided to make a public declaration of her faith. (Libia and her mother are seated, second and third from right. The man at left is Miguel, also baptized last year.)
Jorge watches as Clayton and Jesus baptize Libia.
The day held special surprises. Maria Magdalena and Edi's son Mathias was born on July 26. From his first moments his little life was marked by struggle. First of all, he was born with a cleft palette. The parents were totally unprepared for this. Within three days he needed surgery on inner organs that needed to be properly located in his abdominal cavity. The doctors were pretty pessimistic that he would pull through. But Maria Magdalena was not about to give up on this son they had so eagerly waited for. Contrary to the doctors' dismal predictions, Mathias began to rally. Though they were told he would have to be fed with a special bottle, he was nursing normally before he left the hospital. He went home at age two weeks, and has been gaining strength and weight since. His presence at the anniversary was a HUGE answer to prayer. Maria Magdalena says, "God has already answered so many prayers for this baby, so I just keep asking Him for what we need."
The day's festivities ended with joyful praise to God. Dressed in traditional Ecuadorian costumes, aunts and nieces presented a colorful, choreographed, symbolic tribute to the harvest God is bringing in Gualaceo. Everyone felt the spirit of jubilation and praise to God.
What will God do in this house church as the eighth year of its life together as the Body of Christ begins? How many other surrounding towns will be touched by the shining light of the Gospel? Who of these precious young people will be the leaders taking the church forward? We believe God has only begun to do what He desires to do in this part of Ecuador. Please pause to praise God for His amazing grace, patience, love and transforming power.
Let me begin this post with a wee bit of history so the present good news makes sense to you. You may remember that in 2007 Mariana, the wife of our main house church leader, Jorge Gomez, passed away. It was a blow to him and his children and extended family. Though sickly for years, Mariana had been a pillar of emotional and spiritual strength to the family. About nine months later Jorge remarried to a much younger woman without informing his children or adult siblings beforehand of his intentions. That really set things on edge. He pretty much devoted himself to being a husband to his new, young wife, and his Christian life slipped into a low priority.
Jorge's children went to live with his mother and several unmarried adult siblings. Things were rough, especially for his children. About Easter time last year four of the six children moved in with him and his wife, Libia. Two of the older sons chose to stay living at the grandmother's house. Things continued along, ups and downs and not a little tension between Jorge and his young wife. Her dream in marrying Jorge was that the two of them would start their own family. She was not interested in being a step-mother to his children.
Sometime in March of this year Jorge moved back to his and Mariana's house, and all the children moved home with him. He and Libia were having a lot of conflicts and they decided they needed some space from each other. She is expecting their first child and works as a nurse at the local hospital. Though living apart, they maintain daily contact.
Early in July a fresh longing for God began to grow in Jorge. He began to seek God again with a hunger that only the Holy Spirit could inspire. Bible reading became a priority. He read the entire New Testament in about three and a half weeks. His children and Libia could see and sense the changes taking place in his attitudes and general mood.
The weekend of August 24-26 Jorge and Libia attended a weekend called Encounter with God (we have been helping lead these weekends since April). Along with the two of them, six young people from the Gualaceo house church also participated. On the same weekend, at a different conference center, a youth retreat was held, and other youth from the Gomez family attended that event. The photo below shows part of the Encounter group -- the Gualaceo participants on the far right and Damian (from Cuenca) and his friend Gabriel standing at top left.
Sunday afternoon we joined the group of returning retreat participants, their parents and others of the family who met together in Gualaceo. The young people shared how God had spoken to them and ministered to them. There were tears. Young people were asking their parents' forgiveness. Parents and children were hugging each other. Libia shared that what happened deep in her heart was that for the first time she asked forgiveness. We had observed that she went over to Jorge during one session, and she told the group that was the first time she ever admitted that she was wrong -- to anyone!
Then Jorge told the group that he wanted to "finish" his retreat experience. He explained that he needed to ask forgiveness of numbers of people, and since they weren't at the Encounter, he couldn't ask their forgiveness there. Then and there he began to make things right. He asked his children to forgive him for abandoning them when they needed most after their mother died. He cried and hugged them. They gathered around him and they all just hugged each other, crying. He turned to Clayton and said, "What I did hurt this church so much. I caused so much damage. Will you forgive me?" The two of them hugged. He turned to each brother and hugged and cried -- there has been a lot of hurt and struggle over Jorge's actions. To Sixto who carried much of the weight of responsibility in Jorge's absence, Jorge cried, saying, "My brother, my pillar, my example."
By now the afternoon had changed to evening, and still we sat listening to those who wanted to share what God had spoken to them at the two retreats. It was a sacred time. I doubt that we will ever forget how God came and brought restoration to those relationships.
Two of Jorge's sons told the group that they wanted to be baptized. Libia said she wanted to be baptized!! When she married Jorge she said she did not want anything to do with his "religion." Now she expressed a desire to be baptized, and Jorge said he wanted to be baptized again -- he wants to start in new!
It was an evening to remember forever. God's Spirit was bringing repentance, reconciliation and restoration into a situation that was long needing His transforming work. We praise God for how the Gualaceo house church is tasting revival. The events of the following weekend gave tribute to God's patient, faithful work in this family. (see next post)
The day's program was filled with singing, testimonies, and a challenging message to live out true worship in daily life. Between 150 and 170 people were served a delicious noon meal. As at last year's anniversary, after we ate, we gathered at the river for the testimonies and baptism of five people. God keeps calling and people take the step of faith to follow Christ.
God worked in some amazing ways in the days preceding the anniversary. At last year's anniversary celebration Libia's mother, Carmelina, was baptized. At the time I thought, Libia may say she wants nothing to do with Jorge's "religion," but God is bringing His truth in through the "back door" of her life. While Libia resisted Jorge's faith, her mother decided to make a public declaration of her faith. (Libia and her mother are seated, second and third from right. The man at left is Miguel, also baptized last year.)
The day held special surprises. Maria Magdalena and Edi's son Mathias was born on July 26. From his first moments his little life was marked by struggle. First of all, he was born with a cleft palette. The parents were totally unprepared for this. Within three days he needed surgery on inner organs that needed to be properly located in his abdominal cavity. The doctors were pretty pessimistic that he would pull through. But Maria Magdalena was not about to give up on this son they had so eagerly waited for. Contrary to the doctors' dismal predictions, Mathias began to rally. Though they were told he would have to be fed with a special bottle, he was nursing normally before he left the hospital. He went home at age two weeks, and has been gaining strength and weight since. His presence at the anniversary was a HUGE answer to prayer. Maria Magdalena says, "God has already answered so many prayers for this baby, so I just keep asking Him for what we need."
The day's festivities ended with joyful praise to God. Dressed in traditional Ecuadorian costumes, aunts and nieces presented a colorful, choreographed, symbolic tribute to the harvest God is bringing in Gualaceo. Everyone felt the spirit of jubilation and praise to God.
What will God do in this house church as the eighth year of its life together as the Body of Christ begins? How many other surrounding towns will be touched by the shining light of the Gospel? Who of these precious young people will be the leaders taking the church forward? We believe God has only begun to do what He desires to do in this part of Ecuador. Please pause to praise God for His amazing grace, patience, love and transforming power.
