By Holly Blosser Yoder and Lynda
Hollinger-Janzen
Mennonite Mission Network
Note: This article
is reprinted from the Mennonite Weekly Review. This is the church in Riobamba,
Ecuador that five AMC members visited in July 2010.
Riobamba, Ecuador –
After 30 years, Beatriz and Daniel Escobar are singing together the songs of
faith that once divided them. And they are learning to lead the
1-year-old Riobamba Mennonite Church in the Andean Mountains.
Until three years ago, the idea of serving
in a pastoral role together would have been unthinkable for the couple.
Although the Escobars have had a loving home, they were quietly at odds over
religion for most of their 36 years of marriage.
Beatriz Escobar, who grew up in an
evangelical Christian milieu, said that before her husband’s conversion, church
attendance meant little to Daniel beyond being a national past time, something
one did on holidays, like going to a bullfight. “I was critical of both
Catholic and Protestant hierarchies,” Daniel Escobar said. “When my wife
brought up church or faith I was very stern and resistant.”
Many factors contributed to Daniel’s
conversion, but the patient faith of his wife, a scientist, teacher, singer and
poet, is what finally convinced him. “Before my conversion, things that
interested me were cultural, such as poetry and fiestas, or fun times with
friends; but also I was always working for the rights of the poor,” said
Escobar, speaking of the days when he poured his best energies into academia
and his law practice.
Escobar repeatedly told his wife to destroy
the poems and songs of faith she composed. As a result of Daniel’s aversion to
all things related to the church, the couple rarely discussed faith. “Out of
respect for Daniel, I didn’t argue with him or even attend church much,”
Beatriz Escobar said. “I prayed for Daniel, that Christ would save him and our
household.” She waited and prayed for more than three decades.
A Church of Action: In May 2007, a brain tumor turned Daniel’s
world upside down. Though surgery was scheduled, the doctor cautioned Escobar
that death on the operating table was a possible outcome. Facing the end of
life, Escobar began to imagine a new beginning. When a pastor came to pray with
him, Escobar committed himself to the way of Christ, citing his wife’s faith as
a part of his inspiration. “I was the happiest woman in the world,” Beatriz
Escobar said.
During the long recovery period, the couple,
newly united in faith, studied the Bible together. Daniel found that Jesus
shared his passion to serve the poor. “I would tell Beatriz, “Underline the
parts that have to do with action,” he said. “I had a desire to be part of a
church that was active . . . a church that reflects the ways of Jesus Christ in
the world.” But where to find such a church?
“We went from place to place,” Beatriz said,
“We prayed, we cried, we read the Bible, and we left. Nothing more.” The
Christian culture they encountered “was egoism rather than service to others, a
sense that faith is between God and me,” she said. “Daniel would say, “Where’s
the action?” Then they were invited to a Friday night Bible study that
discussed Anabaptist theology and practice. The Escobars began attending
regularly. The Bible Study group grew and in March 2009 became Riobamba
Mennonite Church, with regular attendance of about 30.
The Escobars have become associate pastors,
working alongside short-term mission workers Don and Jan Rheinheimer. The
Rheinheimers, members of Hopedale (Ill.) Mennonite Church, arrived in Riobamba
in 2008 through the Ecuador Partnership, in which Central Plains Mennonite
Conference, the Columbian Mennonite Church and Mennonite Mission Network
minister collaboratively. The Rheinheimers are returning to the United States
in September. Columbia Mennonite Church is interviewing candidates to serve as
pastoral mentors to the Escobars and Riobamba Mennonite Church.
Global Connections: Daniel and Beatriz Escobar attended the
Mennonite World Conference assembly in Paraguay last year and describe it as a
powerful experience of global unity. They also feel a connection that defies
national barriers in the Ecuador partnership. “There is a feeling of
brotherhood, that we are not alone but a part of a larger body of people in
many places,” Daniel said. “When I found the Mennonite Church, I felt, this is
incredible. I had a compatibility with this church already.”
The Escobars are open to becoming
missionaries. “If God permits us, maybe we would even travel to another country
for mission, following the example of Don and Jan,” Beatriz said.
