All Things Work for the Good

“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28

I don’t know if I would have believed these words 10 years ago, when at the age of 18 months, our little Ezekiel was taken from us in a tragic drowning accident. I remember feeling lost.

The question, “What do we do now?” repeated endlessly on my lips and in my mind, as I sat in the clinic in Villa de Juarez, Mexico, holding my lifeless, beautiful little boy. We had chosen to serve Jesus with everything we had. We left our comfortable life and jumped into mission life with hearts full of hope and excitement, eagerly waiting to see the miracles God would perform through our “YES.”

After all, Jesus told His apostles, “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my Name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” -Mark 16:18-19  Yet, less than two years later we were holding a dead child and wondering why saving his life was not a miracle God wished to perform? We had given our lives for Jesus; couldn’t He do this for us?

Why we didn’t leave missions at that very moment can only be described as a supernatural infusion of God’s grace. I loved that little guy so much. My heart hurts when I think of him, his cute smile, and how I still miss him. And yet, during those weeks after his passing, the most powerful feeling I had was that we were not alone. God was with us, carrying us along. I FELT His presence. He was so close to us. He was our rock. He united His love with our suffering in a profound way, and I knew… THIS is what God wants to give the world. THIS is what I want to share! God is the only one who can truly give me peace and comfort in difficult times. He can be my refuge if I allow it. He IS the greatest gift I have in this world. I wanted to continue missions just to have the opportunity to share these truths with others. Everyone deserves a chance to know the Father and His love.

During those weeks after his passing, the most powerful feeling I had was that we were not alone.

We returned to missions with a new desire to serve and a zeal I never would have imagined possible. In our suffering, God sent us a beautiful gift: children! They came from all over our town to get to know our kids, to get to know us. This began a new path in our missionary journey. With the loss of our son, we experienced a wound that would never completely heal, but we were also given an even more profound love for the poor, the suffering, and the lost. Our ability to love and serve the “least of these” in this world has been a path to healing.

We were inspired to focus much of our mission on the neglected children in the communities where we lived. In Peru, we opened our home and began Ezekiel Home ministries that offered three different classes (guitar, art, and chess) to help enhance the lives of the children. This Home developed into the Ezekiel Center that operates today in Ecuador. Now, in addition to teaching children a few classes every day, we are feeding the children daily. And, God provided a whole team of local missionaries to accomplish this work!

What seems impossible for us is nothing for our God.

Could we have ever imagined what God would do with our mission when we began? Never. Could we have imagined how many people from the States would partner with us to make this mission possible? Never! God’s plans are so much grander than our own. What seems impossible for us is nothing for our God. He alone knows His plans for us, but we can be confident that He does have plans for us and His plans are good.

We strive to trust and to persevere. God does make all things good for those who love Him. I am sure of that. It may not happen all at once, but it does happen. Then one day, you look back, and 10 years have passed, and you think, truly, “We can do all things, through Christ who strengthens us.” -Phillippians 4:13

In Loving Memory of

Ezekiel Daniel Francisco Kiehl Vrazel

March 13, 2013 – September 8, 2014