This year as many in the past, we are celebrating Thanksgiving Day outside the United States. For many of you this would be very out of the ordinary but we have come to accept this as the norm. The truth is that wherever we are, if we have Christ in our hearts, we have something to be thankful for. We North Americans believe that the Thanksgiving holiday is ours and ours alone. To a certain extent this is true to the history of our country but Thanksgiving is at the center of our Heavenly Father’s heart and the family of God reaches beyond the borders of the United States of America. Our desire is that each of you would be surrounded by God’s love as you too remember how great a life we have under his care–HAPPY THANKSGIVING–give thanks abundantly.
We have much to give thanks for this year as we reflect on God’s faithfulness in our lives. We recently celebrated seven years in Ecuador. How fast time passes when it seems like yesterday we just arrived , my how God has blessed us with so much to be thankful for. The ministry of The Door of Hope has grown tremendously this year with the addition of Compassion International, Bible Institute involvement, home Bible studies, youth group and continued growth in the church and the community as well as the necessary construction to keep up with growth in ministry. God is so faithful in our lives as well as the lives of those He has entrusted us to minister to.
Recently in our worship services and in our weekly Bible study we have been working our way through 1st Peter. It is not by coincidence that as we study we find Peter’s letter addressing the issue of us suffering for our relationship with Christ with His suffering. We have had our share of persecution, broken relationships, trials, tests, abuse, of much and of little; and the list goes on but through all of this we at The Door of Hope count all this suffering as a great honor. We can rejoice to be worthy of such suffering because we are in relationship with Jesus our Lord and Savior. Take a look at: 1st Peter 4:12-13
We also want to take time to thank God for your faithfulness in ministry with us here at The Door of Hope. You are very important to us and God for it is through your prayers and support that God is able to continue to witness through us His love for the people of Ecuador. Thank you for answering Gods call to help. May God richly bless you, your family and your ministry.
To God be all the glory and honor and praise and may He receive our abundantly thankful hearts,
Your missionaries Tim and Daina Datwyler –Kevin and Esther too
Expect a full newsletter in the coming weeks, thank you for your patience.