True Forgiveness
By Darryl and Kelly Chambers,
OMS Ecuador Missionaries
You could have heard a pin drop as Antonio began to speak.
It was his turn to share a ministry report with the visiting One
Mission Society Board of Trustees, but the Lord had laid an-
other message on his heart. As he began to recount the his-
tory of the relationship between OMS and the Association
of Ecuadorian Evangelical Churches, one of our partner as-
sociations, tears began to flow. Over and over, he apolo-
gized for what had occurred over the last 12 years. One by
one, he confessed the sins he believed the association had
committed against the Mission. As he looked OMS President
Bob Fetherlin directly in the eyes, asking for forgiveness from
OMS for all that had transpired over the past 12 years, not a dry eye
remained in the room.
God was not only moving Antonio that night. He also laid something
on Bob’s heart. We scurried around to find all that Bob had asked
for, while Bob asked Antonio to sit in a chair. He called forward
the Board chairman, the OMS international regional director for
Latin America, the current field leader of Ecuador, and a past
field leader. As the bucket of water was brought out, Bob,
along with the other OMS leaders, got on their knees and
removed Antonio’s shoes.
Quickly realizing what was about to happen, Antonio
broke down and began to weep. “Brother, we want you to
know this evening that we offer you wholehearted forgive-
ness,” Bob began. “Because we have been forgiven much,
we want to forgive you. We believe that through this healed
relationship, God is going to accomplish great things. We want to
commission you to take our words of forgiveness back to the whole
association of churches, all of its leaders, all of its pastors. And so, with
the love of Christ, we want to use our hands to wash your feet.”
One by one, the five leaders, kneeling down before Antonio,
washed his feet. Bob closed the time by speaking forgiveness
on behalf of One Mission Society and the Ecuador field, and he
asked for God’s grace to continue to live in a spirit of forgive-
ness with one another, to love one another with pure hearts
before God and for his glory, and for the advance of his work
across the nation of Ecuador.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one other,
just as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 was lived
out for us all in that moment. Antonio later went on to tell us
that his heart was forever changed that night. For the first time,
as he watched the President of OMS kneel down before him and
wash his feet, he understood what it meant to be a leader. It was a
special night that none of us will ever forget.
15