Marriage Counseling?

I was on the phone with my son Joshua the other day. I said, “You know, the Lord has us doing some marriage counseling. Who knew?” 

“You guys have reached that level, at your age, Mom,” was his reply. 

We had a good laugh. But let me tell you about a sweet couple that we have met at one of our ministry sites. It all started as a temporary request by the directors of Luz en Tinieblas (Light in the Darkness). They were going to be out of town for the summer and asked us as an urgent request to sit with this couple, Pablo and Camila (not their real names). Pablo works in maintenance and Camila volunteers. Their son is a recipient of resources at the center. 

When they opened this center, it pretty much still looked like it was trying to overcome the abandoned look. Miraculously, the directors Dan and Gina, got the rights to use this huge site, an old school, rent-free via the Ecuadorian government. This is no small feat. They work hard to raise funding to have paid qualified staff, including teachers, psychologists, and learning specialists. But they also have a paid cook and maintenance workers. It’s such a blessing all around. And now, thanks to Pablo and the other workers, it looks beautiful! 

An important side note for me is that this site is located on an interesting little mound, called El Panecillo (pronounced pan-eh-see-joe). It is a sweet full circle because as a child, right before migrating to the US, my mother and I lived in a neighborhood on this mound. It is a tourist attraction at the top, but make no mistake, the neighborhoods represented there can be rough. And side note to a side note, the police have said, that since opening this center, there have been no reports of crime in the surrounding neighborhood.

Pretty cool!

We agreed to sit with Pablo and Camila but made sure to let them know we struggle too at times, we are here by the grace of God, and we aren’t professional counselors. During our first meeting, we learned that Pablo had given his life to Christ at 16 and Camila was not a Christian. They were already married over 20 years and she was ready to be done! We listened to their story which included alcoholism and domestic violence and asked the Holy Spirit to counsel them. 

To be honest, we went into a discipling session with Pablo, encouraged Camila to forgive him, and prayed for them both

Camila was against Bible reading or Christian activity because she was convinced it taught that women were not important to God. 

Honestly, as I prayed for them that week, I was convinced there wasn’t anything we could do for them. I doubted that they would make it. Also, our ministry in marriage counseling was over. But when we returned the next week, they eagerly wanted to meet. They had smiles on their faces and now wanted to talk about more topics. By the third week, as we ended the session, I looked at Camila and said,

“I’m here for you if you ever want to pray…” 

The look in her eyes…I could only describe them as longing. I should know. When I came to Christ, I missed my chance to respond to the altar call the first time I visited a Christian church. The second time I visited, I cried because there was no altar call. The third time I visited, as the pastor began his invitation, I ran to the front. Longing.

Deep calling to Deep. The roar of His waterfalls. (Psalm 42:7)

So in the span of a few seconds, looking into Camila’s eyes, I said, “Would you like to receive Christ for yourself?” Tears, smiles, and “yes!”

So began Camila’s walk from death to life. They still have issues, they come to us with new scenarios that they are puzzled about. We continue to ask the Holy Spirit to help us know what to say. And they look forward to this time together weekly. Community. Fellowship. Being heard, seen, and feeling important. Isn’t this what we all need?

A family from our visiting short-term team got a chance to pray for this couple. As we laid hands on them and blessed them, one of them, a young gal, with a gift of intercession, was allowed to feel the weight and pressure that Pablo carries as the head of his home. “It was so heavy,” she said. But something broke that day in prayer and we know God was in the process of delivering him in some new way.

The New Creation.

That is what we are each day receiving his faithful love.

Thank you for supporting us to do this great work,