Log in to your Account

After serving with the Mission Society in Mexico for four years, Tim and Daina Datwyler opened a new field in Ecuador five years ago. They work with short-term teams to build churches as well as to change hearts. The Datwylers encourage and train pastors of the young Methodist Church in order to better equip them to spread the message of Christ throughout Ecuador. The Datwylers also coordinate children’s ministry and youth ministry programs in their area.

Maria is an Ecuadorian woman who helps with the Datwylers’ ministries. She helps with the children’s ministries and cooks for their programs every week. Her family has been transformed through accepting Christ because of the Datwylers’ ministry. 

One day, Maria came to Tim and Daina very upset. She had just learned that her father had kidney cancer and was given three days to live. “She was more upset that her father didn’t know Jesus and was about to die, rather than solely the fact that he was going to die,” said Tim.  

Tim asked Maria if she wanted him to go talk with her father about Jesus. Maria and her father agreed, and Tim went to visit Jose. He shared with Tim, “I want to be healed from cancer.” Tim shared with him about healing of the spirit and about Jesus’ power to heal. Jose accepted Christ that day. Tim prayed for physical healing from the cancer as well. Jose returned to the doctor several days later and the doctor could not find the cancer. However, Jose was still very ill.

Maria is one of nine children, and everyone in the family had a different idea about Jose’s healing. “They brought in doctors and priests and witchdoctors, and everyone tried to heal Jose. But he would tell them, ‘You can do what you want, but my Jesus healed me,’” said Tim.

Jose lived for six more months. “I truly believe that God transformed Jose’s life and allowed him to live for six months so that he could testify.”