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2010-06-01 issue:

Esther's house of healing

by Everett J. Thomas

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"When I was in my first marriage," Esther Vazquez said on April 24, "I attempted to get help from the church. A woman would come to my house and see me badly beaten, and I would say, 'Does God want this for me?' She said, 'Your faith will save him.'"

"So when I left the relationship, I thought I left God," she said. "We're told to carry the cross, and we interpret the abuse as our cross. Many women cannot disclose the abuse because their husbands are leaders."

Esther Vazquez (in the middle of photo) with her children and grandchildren. Her four children and eight of her nine grandchildren attend House of Healing Mennonite Church in Dallas, Texas, where she and José, her husband, are pastors. Photo provided

But Esther had not left God when she left her abusive marriage. Today she is helping lead a third church plant in the Dallas area. Unlike the first two efforts, however, she has a partner in ministry this time. José Vazquez, her husband of three years and former leader in the Puerto Rico Mennonite Conference, works with her as the leadership team for the House of Healing Menno­nite Church in Dallas. The congregation started in 2005 as a house church.

"My background is reflected in my messages," Esther said. "I speak of a protecting God and a healing God, and that comes from where I was [in an abusive first marriage] and a need to share it."

House of Healing rents a building from a United Methodist church. Currently 147 people participate in congregational life, with a weekly attendance of about 80. The church has a large youth group, with 35 regular participants; the youth group is led by Esther’s son Raymond Delgado and his wife, Paty.

"I asked the youth group to sit in the back of the church," Esther said, "because the group was so big; when they left the worship service for their Sunday school class, the church looked empty."

In addition to her son, Esther's other three children and eight of nine grandchildren also attend House of Healing.

Esther's home church was Luz del Evangelio, a church that was planted in 1990. Her first church plant was an assignment that was in a three-woman team ministry at the Many Peoples Mennonite Church from 2001 to 2003. She mentored and assisted with Iglesia Menonita mi Redentor 2003-2005, which is a Nicaraguan congregation that is still open.

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