Meet Ebe and Shiney, from India. I stayed with them while visiting Ecuador and we have kept in touch ever since. I’ll let them introduce themselves…
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Vanessa: in a few sentences describe the work you do in Ecuador.
Hi Vanessa, we are Ebe and Shiney, Indian missionaries serving the Lord here in Ecuador. We do a ministry of restoration according to the vision God gave us from Isaiah 43:19. We help those who have lost their faith in God. Our main focus for a long time was Bible studies and working with Venezuelan immigrants. Now that our community of Venezuelan immigrants are doing better, we focus more on Bible studies (sometimes giving weeklong courses) and taking free English classes for the youth every week.
We also work with the churches in our town wherever we see a need. Prayer is a large part of what we do so we often have special prayer gatherings with other missionaries to pray for Ecuador and other specific prayer points. Apart from this we also do small house prayer meetings with people who need hope.
Vanessa: what is your vision for the work there?
The vision God gave us was one of restoration and a life of faith. To bring healing to the people of Ecuador and restore their broken relationships with God, whether it is by helping a church or an individual. God has also been working on us, healing areas of our life as we guide others to the cross. Our dream for Ecuador was to see the churches united, especially since we were one of the few missionaries who worked with all the churches and by the grace of God, last year it finally happened. We were invited to take part in a worship evening where all the churches we had worked with came together to praise the Lord.
Vanessa: how long have y’all been serving the Lord in this area?
We have been here, independently serving God in Ecuador for 4 years. We came from India in 2021 seven months after we were married. We received a vision in prayer concerning the land of Ecuador where God showed us various locations such as the coast, the mountains and the cities. He also showed us the Panama hat, a hat that is largely exported from Ecuador. We initially did not know how to go to Ecuador, but then God guided us to reach out to a Youth with a Mission (YWAM) base in Ecuador and the director of the base told us that she received a vision of an Indian couple coming to Ecuador.
At the time the Lord gave us his word from Isaiah 43:19 and the director of the base was surprised and said she too had received the same verse. So, she immediately helped us with our visa process. We then sold our car and bought our flight tickets.
Vanessa: why did you start doing this?
For us it was simply an act of obedience. We followed God's voice and his calling to work here in Ecuador not knowing the people nor leaving India with the representation of a church or an organization. We understood God's deep unconditional love for the people of Ecuador and wanted to share it to the people here.
Vanessa: what keeps you going?
Our faith in God keeps us going. And our desire to fulfill his plan in our lives. God has been faithful, and we have seen his hand move in the midst of our darkest hours.
Vanessa: do you ever feel discouraged?
Yes, there have been times when we nearly gave up. We had never imagined that God would call us out of our own continent to a culture we didn't know and a language we did not speak. When we came to Ecuador we arrived with just two suitcases and a date of delivery for our daughter who was born slightly premature two weeks after we landed in Ecuador. Learning to manage our lives without our families or people from our home country was a struggle. Ecuador is also a dangerous place with shootings and gang violence taking place just outside our home. It can be very disheartening and frightening. Shiney's mother also recently went to be with the Lord, and it was a great sorrow to be so far away from her family and not be able to attend the funeral service.
Vanessa: what is it that encourages you in those times?
Our encouragement was the word of God. We always had faith in God and all the promises he gave us. We would look back on the times we had seen the goodness of God, and we would praise him. Oftentimes we as a couple encourage each other when we notice the other feeling down. We encourage one another to seek God fervently when we feel hopeless and when one of us can't seem to pray, the other will sit with them and pray for them till they find the strength to call on God.
Through faith and God's word, we also found a breakthrough. Whether it was an emotional, spiritual or material suffering God always provided help. Sometimes it would be from people we knew and other times it would be from complete strangers.
Vanessa: what is a verse that has been an encouragement to you?
For Ebe the verse that has been a blessing to him is Isaiah 49:15. (Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.) A verse that he received shortly after his mother passed away when he was a child. It is a verse that he clings to in times of hardships because it reminds him of how much God cares for him. For Shiney it is Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.) because it is an assurance that God is a good God and He is always in control.
Vanessa: what encouragement would you share with others?
We would like to encourage others to focus on receiving the grace of God for various areas in their lives. The grace of God is what sustains us, without it, we would be nothing. So if there is a task you want to do or a problem you want to overcome, ask for the grace of God. Many times in our lives we focus more on blessings than we do on Grace. While Blessings are wonderful to receive, Grace makes us worthy of the vision that God has for us and helps us strive to be better.
We also want to encourage those who have a calling for the ministry to fully rely on God without fear. No matter how impossible it may seem, surrender to the will of God and watch as he leads you in a new and unforeseen way according to Isaiah 42:16.
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As was mentioned, the Lord has fulfilled the work he called Ebe and Shiney to do in Ecuador and recently they received a new vision to return to India. As they move into this new chapter the Lord has for them, please join them in prayer for all the necessary arrangements. Due to the school schedule of their daughter Ebe's need to be in India by the first part of May. So, you can pray for the visa process, funding, etc. as they walk by faith and not by sight.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
If you are interested in contributing financially you can use PayPal ssebesamraja@gmail.com
Or via their go-fund-me page here
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