Mano de Amistad / Hand of Friendship

Humberto & Becky Ramirez – – Hispanic Ministry Update

January/February 2015  

 

In ministry, one is always looking for teachable moments.  And, sometimes you wonder if your messages about what the church should be are getting through.  And then something like this happens.

 

February is the traditional month to celebrate love and friendship.  So when the church’s young adults started meeting together secretly, our suspicion was they were planning something for Valentine’s Day.  Sure enough, in time, an announcement was made that all the adults were to get dressed up and arrive at the church building on a Saturday in early February.

 

The young folks had worked all day to turn our usual meeting area into a cozy restaurant atmosphere including decorated tables, subdued lighting, and soft music.  When we arrived, the younger children seated us at tables and then acted as servers for the lasagna dinner that followed. While we ate, courtship or wedding photos of each couple flashed on the screen. 

 

After the meal, each couple was invited to the front to share about how they met and something funny that happened during their courtship.  Of course, there were lots of laughs as we listened to the stories. 

 

Then, as the very last couple, Miguel and Roxana, got up to share, a slideshow of their lives started playing on the screen.  It ended with the picture of an engagement ring and the words, “Will you . . . .?”  At that point, Miguel went down on one knee with the ring in his hand and proposed.  As you might imagine, Roxana’s response was, “Yes!”  Cheers and applause rang out.

 

As fitting an ending for the evening as that was, once things settled down, Miguel began thanking everyone for their encouragement and for sharing in their special moment.  Then he started talking about his experience of buying the ring.  As he was purchasing the ring, the salesman asked if he wanted to buy a guarantee for the ring in case something would happen to it. At that point, Miguel said, “I thought to myself how great it would be if I could buy a guarantee for the marriage so it could be fixed if anything ever went wrong with it. And then I realized I already have a guarantee for our marriage—and that guarantee is all of you in the church who are going to stand by us, correct us when necessary and make sure our marriage is a success.”

 

Amen. Couldn’t have said it any better ourselves. 

 

As always, thanks for your prayers and for the financial support that allows us to continue working for Him.    

 

Mano de Amistad / Hand of Friendship

Humberto & Becky Ramirez  ¨  8311 Rumford Rd  ¨ Indianapolis, IN 46219

 

 

:To view previous ministry updates, visit us at http://manodeamistad.blogspot.com/.

 

Would you like to support our ministry? Checks—made payable to Mano de Amistad—should be sent to:

 

Mano de Amistad, c/o Englewood Christian Church, 57 N Rural St, Indianapolis, IN 46201

 

Gifts are tax deductible. Receipts will be issued.  For information about automatic payments, contact us. Thanks!