Log in to your Account

Have you been praying for a long time? Do you feel discouraged as you wait to see your prayers answered? Daina Datwyler writes from Ecuador with her story of waiting to see God fulfill His promise to her.

Six years ago, my husband, Tim, and I were building our house and ministry center on property we had purchased. Emanuel and Veronica are a young couple with a one-year-old son, Anthony, who lived nearby. They had attended some of the weekly children’s events Tim and I had hosted in their community.

We asked Emanuel to help us lay bricks as we constructed our house and ministry center. Veronica and Anthony would often come to help, and we spent time getting to know them and sharing Christ’s love with their family. They seemed close to making a decision to follow Jesus, but every weekend Emanuel would go out drinking with his friends.

We held out hope that Emanuel and his family would come to know the Lord. One day, God showed me that this family would be leaders of the church we were currently building.

Veronica did commit to following Jesus one year later. She and Anthony were actively involved in our children’s ministries, and she prayed faithfully for Emanuel’s salvation.

Sadly, we watched as Emanuel continued a lifestyle of weekend binges with increased abuse and violence at home. He became very antagonistic and violent toward his family and the church. We continued to pray and hope in the promise God gave me years before. The situation worsened, and Veronica began to make preparations to leave Emanuel. He started stalking her and plotting to take Anthony away.

A few weeks ago while I was in the US, Tim called me, bursting with excitement. Emanuel had come to church and asked to receive Christ!

Emanuel and Veronica are doing well as they work through serious family and financial issues created by his years of abuse. We praise God for not allowing us to give up on Emanuel. God's timing is amazing after a sometimes frustrating wait.

After serving with the Mission Society in Mexico for four years, Tim and Daina Datwyler opened a new field in Ecuador in 2005. They host short-term teams  and encourage and train pastors of the young Methodist Church, seeking  to better equip them to spread the message of Christ throughout Ecuador.