Few church failures are more harmful and painful than a church split. When good Christians become so upset with each other that they forsake the basic rule of love and unity and opt insted for schisms and separation. The history of the church is littered with such sad tales, but our future does not need to be.
Today’s post is about a different kind of church split. A split not precipitated by pride or dissension but by location. The Tonsupa church was built on a fault line.
The Tonsupa church on a Wednesday night. We had the privilege of sharing with them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Disputes the long winded approach that Timothy took that evening, the children in attendance sat as quietly as the adults.This blurry photo shows the beginning of the church split. It enters the church building at a back wall of a Sunday school classroom.The split travels through a wall, into the sanctuary.Then the split exits the church building near the pulpit.Here is a poorly lit panoramic shot of the split.What you can’t see in this picture is the split at Angelita’s feet.
Here are some pictures of the split right after the recent earthquake. (Thanks to our friend Katia Salgado for the following photos)
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The church building reborn.
The church gathers to address the split.After a motivating sermon, the church got to work.Reduce, reuse, recycle. The walls that are reusable are stacked up behind the old church site. The floor bricks are taken up to use in the new church building.Everyone has a job, from young to old everyone lends a hand.Despite the church split, the church stands united. The church building will be rebuilt, avoiding the active fault line, this time!
Our hearts are joined with our brothers and sisters in Ecuador! We can’t wait to worship with the Tonsupa church in their post-split building.
Blessings,
The Downings
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Timothy and Angelita Downing are your missionaries in Ecuador. After serving Christ in pastoral ministry for 15 years they followed God's calling into missionary service.
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