What happens when parents follow their children? After Edier (right) met Jesus afresh at the Matthew Training Center, his parents (Didier and Sandra) followed him there and began a new phase of their own discipleship journey with Jesus.
“I remember when we first interviewed him,” said Jen Schmidt, one of the leaders of the HADIME discipleship program at the Matthew Training Center in Guadalajara, Mexico, “he told us he was a follower of Jesus. But we weren’t sure if he really understood what that meant.”
The young man in question was Edier from Colombia. At the time, he was nineteen years old, and very young in his understanding of God. “I wondered what God wanted to do in his life,” said Jen. “When we prayed as a leadership team, we all agreed that we wanted to extend an invitation to Edier to come to Mexico and participate in HADIME 2020.”
At the time, Jen and the others at the Matthew Training Center had no idea what this would mean for Edier and his parents. They did know that Edier’s grandfather was a pastor and conference leader among MB churches in Colombia, but it seemed that Edier was on a different path, and they did not know about his parents.
“Within the first month of HADIME, as the other students shared their stories,” Jen recalled, “God was clearly at work in Edier’s life. He was learning about spiritual disciplines and what it really meant to follow Jesus.”
Then, one day, Edier approached the leaders and was honest with them about his own faith journey. “He told us very plainly that he didn’t know God,” Jen said. “He realized that he hadn’t been walking a life of obedience and surrender to the Lord, that he hadn’t ever truly given his life to the Lord.”
So, he did. Still at the beginning of his discipleship program, Edier surrendered his heart to Jesus and began his own journey of obedience.
“It was a beautiful moment for all of us,” said Jen. “We feel so privileged to have witnessed this turning point in Edier’s life. For those of us who know him, he is such a kind, generous, and sincere young man. Now we see him growing in his heart to serve others and to live out the calling that God has placed on his life.”
Edier knew that his decision to follow Jesus was also a decision to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather. It was actually his grandfather who had originally told Edier about HADIME.
At the end of the discipleship program, Edier made plans to return to Colombia and be with his parents. However, it was during the pandemic, so it was not an easy time to travel internationally. Eventually, he found an opening on a humanitarian flight and traveled home.
“We were glad to hear that he made it back to Colombia,” said Jen. “Because of his time away and all the uncertainty of COVID, we knew that his parents would be thrilled to have their only child at home with them again.”
After the family was reunited for a time, Edier’s parents, Didier and Sandra, were deeply impacted by the transformation that they saw in their son’s life. In fact, his life change made them think about their own lives.
Didier had served for many years in the Colombian police force and was now retired. He and his wife had time on their hands, and they were asking God what they should do for the next season of life.
“I began receiving messages from Sandra,” said Jen, “asking about whether they could possibly come as volunteers to the Matthew Training Center. It was at a time when COVID was still causing some issues for international travel, but as we prayed and talked about the idea of them volunteering, the excitement grew.”
During the time that Edier was a student in Guadalajara, he had seen various people come from different places to volunteer their time and energy at the Matthew Training Center. They often came to serve in some practical ways around the property or in the kitchen. It was Edier who planted this seed in his parent’s hearts.
Finally, in November 2021, the whole family arrived at the Matthew Training Center as volunteers: Didier and Sandra, as well as Edier.
“I quickly realized the value of this family,” Jen recalled, “their gifts of service, logistical and practical help, media work, and creative problem solving. Our center was so blessed by their presence with us.”
The family committed themselves as volunteers for six months, with an openness to extend their stay. However, before long, something changed.
During this season, Sandra and Didier experienced something significant in their own relationships with God. As they lived in this spiritually vibrant community and witnessed the dynamic change in the lives of other HADIME participants, they began to seek after God in a new way and they experienced healing in their hearts of past hurts. Instead of continuing as volunteers, they asked whether they could themselves become HADIME participants. Although they would be older than other participants and at a different life stage, they felt the invitation from God to join the program.
“I love how God calls families in such creative ways to himself and to his purposes,” said Jen. “Sandra, Didier and Edier all have their own journeys of faith. They each have their own callings to live out. But right now, they are serving and learning together as a family, and I am confident that God will continue to reveal his plan to them.”
“Within the first month of HADIME, as the other students shared their stories,” Jen recalled, “God was clearly at work in Edier’s life. He was learning about spiritual disciplines and what it really meant to follow Jesus.”
Then, one day, Edier approached the leaders and was honest with them about his own faith journey. “He told us very plainly that he didn’t know God,” Jen said. “He realized that he hadn’t been walking a life of obedience and surrender to the Lord, that he hadn’t ever truly given his life to the Lord.”
So, he did. Still at the beginning of his discipleship program, Edier surrendered his heart to Jesus and began his own journey of obedience.
“It was a beautiful moment for all of us,” said Jen. “We feel so privileged to have witnessed this turning point in Edier’s life. For those of us who know him, he is such a kind, generous, and sincere young man. Now we see him growing in his heart to serve others and to live out the calling that God has placed on his life.”
Edier knew that his decision to follow Jesus was also a decision to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather. It was actually his grandfather who had originally told Edier about HADIME.
At the end of the discipleship program, Edier made plans to return to Colombia and be with his parents. However, it was during the pandemic, so it was not an easy time to travel internationally. Eventually, he found an opening on a humanitarian flight and traveled home.
“We were glad to hear that he made it back to Colombia,” said Jen. “Because of his time away and all the uncertainty of COVID, we knew that his parents would be thrilled to have their only child at home with them again.”
After the family was reunited for a time, Edier’s parents, Didier and Sandra, were deeply impacted by the transformation that they saw in their son’s life. In fact, his life change made them think about their own lives.
Didier had served for many years in the Colombian police force and was now retired. He and his wife had time on their hands, and they were asking God what they should do for the next season of life.
“I began receiving messages from Sandra,” said Jen, “asking about whether they could possibly come as volunteers to the Matthew Training Center. It was at a time when COVID was still causing some issues for international travel, but as we prayed and talked about the idea of them volunteering, the excitement grew.”
During the time that Edier was a student in Guadalajara, he had seen various people come from different places to volunteer their time and energy at the Matthew Training Center. They often came to serve in some practical ways around the property or in the kitchen. It was Edier who planted this seed in his parent’s hearts.
Finally, in November 2021, the whole family arrived at the Matthew Training Center as volunteers: Didier and Sandra, as well as Edier.
“I quickly realized the value of this family,” Jen recalled, “their gifts of service, logistical and practical help, media work, and creative problem solving. Our center was so blessed by their presence with us.”
The family committed themselves as volunteers for six months, with an openness to extend their stay. However, before long, something changed.
During this season, Sandra and Didier experienced something significant in their own relationships with God. As they lived in this spiritually vibrant community and witnessed the dynamic change in the lives of other HADIME participants, they began to seek after God in a new way and they experienced healing in their hearts of past hurts. Instead of continuing as volunteers, they asked whether they could themselves become HADIME participants. Although they would be older than other participants and at a different life stage, they felt the invitation from God to join the program.
“I love how God calls families in such creative ways to himself and to his purposes,” said Jen. “Sandra, Didier and Edier all have their own journeys of faith. They each have their own callings to live out. But right now, they are serving and learning together as a family, and I am confident that God will continue to reveal his plan to them.”
P R A Y / G I V E
Pray for families in mission and for generations of disciples and disciple makers. Edier and his family are part of an intricate web of togetherness in mission. Edier’s grandfather, Manuel Mosquera, was discipled in Colombia by long-term Multiply missionaries, Trever and Godard, who eventually transitioned to Mexico where they started the Matthew Training Center and HADIME, where Edier and his parents were discipled by disciples of Trever and Joan. Who are you discipling?
Help cover costs for HADIME participants like Edier, Didier, and Sandra by contributing to the Matthew Training Center at multiply.net/mtc
