Hi! My name is Aneida. You'd be smiling too if, like me, the Lord was doing so many incredible things in your life. Where do I begin to give Him thanks?
--Jesus saved me...
--I was recently baptized in a nearby river...
--the man I was living with got saved too...
--he stopped his drinking and carousing and decided to marry me...
--my mom and dad get saved, baptized and married too...
--I saw my alcoholic dad stop drinking the day he accepted Christ...
--I helped my mom lead my older sister to the Lord (daddy got to baptize her in the river last month!) ...
--we started a new church in our living room with dad leading the gatherings (see photo below) That may not sound like a big deal, but less than a year ago my dad was known by everybody as the local neighborhood drunk...today people seek him out for spiritual help and counsel!
--my husband now goes with me faithfully every week to disciple my sister-in-law who just made her own profession of faith in Christ...
--we are working alongside my mom and dad and are close to starting two other new house churches with people we have won to the Lord and are discipling...
Can you believe all the above happened in just the first six months of this year? I can't wait to see what God will do the second half of this year!
This is our church. We meet in the living room of my mom and dad's house. Most of the people here are related family. BTW, the man with the checkered shirt is my abuelito (grandpa), he recently got saved too! Right now we're working on my brother-in-law who has a bad alcohol and drug problem. Will you guys help us pray for him?
This is one of my friends (on the left). She hasn't accepted the Lord--YET--but we are praying for her salvation too. This picture was taken as the Good News was being shared with her one afternoon. You can see the comprehension of the Gospel in her eyes as she finally understood for the first time how much God truly loves and accepts her. Pray that she too will soon find the peace and joy that comes from giving her heart to the Lord. The lady on the right was God's instrument to lead my mom, dad, and myself to the Lord. We love her very much!
5 comments:
Guy,
This is one of the most important posts that I've ever read! Thank you for sharing how God works through the lives of everyday, ordinary people to change not only their lives, but the lives of the people around them. What an awesome testimony to hear about new believers making disciples without waiting to know enough, sharing the good news simply because they care about their friends and family, and opening their homes to other believers (and unbelievers!).
What a blessing! It makes me want to come to Ecuador. Even more, it challenges me to allow God to use me the same way!
-Alan
Thank you Guy,
I always enjoy what you share, but this one was something special, that brought a smile to my heart. It made all the strategies and teaching of mission and church planting wonderfully personal and real.
Ruth
Alan and Ruth,
Thanks for the kind words. Believe me, I too am moved and filled with joy in the Lord to see lives changed like this. Once again I am reminded how important it is to stay focused on the basic main tasks that the Lord commanded us: loving people, praying, going out and sharing our faith, disicpling those who give their hearts to the Lord, baptizing, gathering together these new believers as NT ekklesias, and teaching. The more we complicate matters the more distracted we become from these simple commands of Christ.
P.S. Thanks for the link, Ruth!
Fantastic testimony of God's grace and believer's obedience! I am sharing with a church this weekend on "The outrageous invitation" in Matthew 22: 8-10
And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
Can't wait for that day. I will ask to spend sometime at the "Ecuadorian table" and meet with new friends and old :-)
Negrito,
We can certainly identify with the application of the Matthew 22 passage that you will be sharing this weekend. Seems those we would like to invite don't show up, leaving us "everyone they could find..." God continues to do some amazing things in our midst with those gathered from the "street corners and everyone you see..."
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