![\"Leonard\"](\"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/08\/Leonard.jpg\")
<\/a>Leonard Egli<\/p><\/div>\n
One afternoon, several of the team members were taken to a large grove of trees near the ocean coast where wood carvers showed and sold their items.\u00a0 Karen had purchased some items previously from one particular man.\u00a0 She introduced me to Leonard Egli, whose carvings were easily recognized as superior work.\u00a0 My wife, Becky, and I have a collection of Noah\u2019s ark sets.\u00a0 I asked Leonard to carve an ark, with Noah and the animals.\u00a0 Leonard was born in the near-by country of Togo.\u00a0 I later learned that his birth family were not Christians and he had been forbidden to read the Bible.\u00a0 So he did not know about Noah. \u00a0After the explanation about Noah and that I wanted the ark to look like a Ghanaian fishing boat, he agreed to prepare the set and mail it to us.<\/p>\n
After a couple of months, the set arrived to our home in Georgia.\u00a0 Leonard and I had been in contact mainly through our emails.\u00a0 In one of my emails I thanked Leonard for his beautiful work.\u00a0 We greatly valued the amazingly detailed carving from ebony wood of the ark, Noah and the animals that were included in the set.\u00a0 At the close of this short email I wrote, \u201cGod bless you\u201d and then my name.<\/p>\n
Leonard later told me that at that time he was experiencing an extremely low point in his life.\u00a0 He was dealing with depression and a spiritual crisis.\u00a0 No one had ever told him that God could bless Him.\u00a0 He only thought that God cursed.\u00a0 The blessing jumped from the computer screen and into his heart.\u00a0 \u201cThat day I went from darkness into light.\u201d\u00a0 Christ became his Savior and Lord and the process of transformation in his life began.<\/p>\n
In the next few years Leonard felt God call him to become a pastor.\u00a0 He decided to attend Cape Coast Bible College, near his home city.\u00a0 To assist him with the expenses he sent small carved items, mainly Nativity and Noah\u2019s ark sets, to us and we sold his items to family and friends.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Since completing the Bible School in 2008 Leonard has continued to produce his art works and also preparing to become a pastor in a church.<\/p>\n
Through the years, our friendship has flourished.\u00a0 Leonard\u2019s faith in Christ is very simple and profound.\u00a0 I often am deeply blessed by his response to situations when he will say, \u201cBrother Lou, lets pray and trust God and see what He will do\u201d.\u00a0 I have learned from Leonard; he has captured the essence of our faith in Christ.<\/p>\n
Often our conversations are not perfectly clear; talking by cell phone from the US to a person using a cell phone in West Africa can have a lot of interruptions.\u00a0 English is also Leonard\u2019s fourth language and I certainly can\u2019t speak French, or Togolese, or the Ghanaian dialect that Leonard speaks.\u00a0 But we still effectively communicate.<\/p>\n
Bishop Doug Beacham invited me to join him and his wife, Susan, for Easter Celebration services in Togo West Africa in 2012.\u00a0 Leonard met us in Lome, Togo.\u00a0 What an excellent interpreter Leonard was for us during those days!\u00a0 He and I spent many hours sharing during this visit.\u00a0 He was gracious to answer many questions that I had about his life and culture.\u00a0 As a part of that trip, I added an extra day in Ghana.\u00a0 I met his wife, Comfort, and their children.\u00a0 His son is named for me.\u00a0 The children often ask Leonard when I will visit again.\u00a0 They refer to me as granddaddy.<\/p>\n
Leonard continued to faithfully pursue becoming an IPHC pastor.\u00a0 In June, 2013, he was appointed as the pastor of the Secondi, Ghana IPHC church.\u00a0 The church at the time was a struggling group of only seven people.\u00a0 There are now one hundred people that attend the church.<\/p>\n
When we greet each other on the phone or via email almost always \u201cGod bless you\u201d is a part of our greeting.\u00a0 Leonard is now giving the blessing of God to people, either as he carves items from wood or helping to carve the truth of God into the lives of people.<\/p>\n
And all of this from the casually expressed phrase \u201cGod bless you\u201d that was used at the end of an email!\u00a0 God is a faithful and good, good Father!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By Dr. Lou Shirey<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,284],"tags":[180,214,56,323,347,322,367],"class_list":{"0":"post-977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"category-phpp","9":"tag-180","10":"tag-december","11":"tag-lou-shirey","12":"tag-people-of-promise","13":"tag-phpp","14":"tag-place-of-hope","15":"tag-wood-carving","16":"entry"},"title_es":"El poder de "God Bless You"","content_es":"\u00bfC\u00f3mo es posible que una peque\u00f1a frase, casualmente escrito, se puede producir un impacto enorme sobre una persona? Me he maravillado de que la frase "Dios los bendiga", que escrib\u00ed como una declaraci\u00f3n saque desde el final de un correo electr\u00f3nico, ha sido utilizado por Dios para lograr un cambio en la vida de muchas personas. En 2004 yo era parte de un grupo de la misi\u00f3n m\u00e9dica a Bucco, Ghana, en \u00c1frica occidental. Karen dolor, mi hermana-en-ley me invit\u00f3 a ir con ella y un equipo de treinta personas. Karen hab\u00eda sido con anterioridad a esta ciudad en otro equipo m\u00e9dico. Ella era una excelente enfermera practicante. Yo estaba muy reacios a unirse al grupo porque tengo formaci\u00f3n m\u00e9dica muy limitada. En su insistencia, hice el viaje. control de multitudes y saludando a la gente se convirti\u00f3 en mi papel con el equipo. Tambi\u00e9n habl\u00e9 casi todas las noches durante un reuni\u00f3n de la iglesia en la zona. Una tarde, varios de los miembros del equipo fueron llevados a una gran arboleda cerca de la costa del oc\u00e9ano, donde mostraron talladores de madera y venden sus art\u00edculos. Karen hab\u00eda comprado algunos art\u00edculos previamente de un hombre en particular. Ella me present\u00f3 a Leonard Egli, cuyas tallas fueron f\u00e1cilmente reconocidos como trabajo superior. Mi esposa, Becky, y yo tenemos una colecci\u00f3n de conjuntos arca de No\u00e9. Le pregunt\u00e9 a Leonard para tallar un arca, con No\u00e9 y los animales. Leonard naci\u00f3 en el pa\u00eds cerca de-por Togo. M\u00e1s tarde supe que su familia de nacimiento no eran cristianos y que hab\u00eda sido prohibido leer la Biblia. As\u00ed que \u00e9l no sab\u00eda nada de No\u00e9. Despu\u00e9s de la explicaci\u00f3n acerca de No\u00e9 y que quer\u00eda el arca para parecerse a un barco de pesca de Ghana, que est\u00e1 de acuerdo para preparar el set y enviarlo por correo a nosotros. Despu\u00e9s de un par de meses, el conjunto lleg\u00f3 a nuestro hogar en Georgia. Leonard y yo hab\u00edamos estado en contacto principalmente a trav\u00e9s de nuestros correos electr\u00f3nicos. En uno de mis correos electr\u00f3nicos di gracias a Leonard por su hermoso trabajo. Valoramos enormemente la talla incre\u00edblemente detallada de madera de \u00e9bano del arca, No\u00e9 y los animales que se incluyeron en el conjunto. Al cierre de esta breve correo electr\u00f3nico que escrib\u00ed, "Dios los bendiga" y luego mi nombre. Leonard m\u00e1s tarde me dijo que en ese momento estaba experimentando un punto extremadamente bajo en su vida. Que estaba tratando con depresi\u00f3n y una crisis espiritual. Nadie le hab\u00eda dicho que Dios pudiera bendecirlo. S\u00f3lo pensaba que Dios maldijo. La bendici\u00f3n salt\u00f3 de la pantalla del ordenador y en su coraz\u00f3n. "Ese d\u00eda me fui de la oscuridad a la luz." Cristo se convirti\u00f3 en su Salvador y Se\u00f1or, y el proceso de transformaci\u00f3n en su vida comenz\u00f3. En los pr\u00f3ximos a\u00f1os, Leonard sinti\u00f3 que Dios lo llame a convertirse en un pastor. \u00c9l decidi\u00f3 asistir a la costa del cabo Bible College, cerca de su ciudad natal. Para ayudarle con los gastos de envi\u00f3 peque\u00f1os objetos tallados, principalmente conjuntos arca y No\u00e9 Natividad de, para nosotros y vende sus art\u00edculos a la familia y amigos. Desde la conclusi\u00f3n de la Escuela B\u00edblica en 2008 Leonard ha seguido produciendo sus obras de arte y tambi\u00e9n se prepara para convertirse en un pastor en una iglesia. A trav\u00e9s de los a\u00f1os, nuestra amistad ha florecido. La fe de Leonard en Cristo es muy sencilla y profunda. A menudo me siento muy bendecida por su respuesta a situaciones en las que dir\u00e1: "Hermano Lou, permite orar y confiar en Dios y ver lo que har\u00e1". He aprendido de Leonard; \u00e9l ha capturado la esencia de nuestra fe en Cristo. A menudo, nuestras conversaciones no son perfectamente claras; hablando por tel\u00e9fono celular desde los EE.UU. a una persona usando un tel\u00e9fono celular en el \u00c1frica occidental puede tener una gran cantidad de interrupciones. Ingl\u00e9s es tambi\u00e9n cuarto idioma de Leonard y desde luego no se puede hablar franc\u00e9s, o Togo, Ghana o el dialecto que se habla Leonard. Pero todav\u00eda comunicarse de manera efectiva. Obispo Doug Beacham me invit\u00f3 a unirse a \u00e9l y su esposa, Susan, para los servicios de celebraci\u00f3n de la Pascua en Togo \u00c1frica Occidental en 2012. Leonard nos recibi\u00f3 en Lom\u00e9, Togo. Lo que un excelente int\u00e9rprete de Leonard fue para nosotros durante esos d\u00edas! \u00c9l y yo pasamos muchas horas compartiendo durante esta visita. Era amable para responder a muchas preguntas que ten\u00eda sobre su vida y la cultura. Como parte de ese viaje, he a\u00f1adido un d\u00eda extra en Ghana. Conoc\u00ed a su esposa, la comodidad, y sus hijos. Su hijo se llama as\u00ed por m\u00ed. Los ni\u00f1os a menudo se preguntan Leonard cuando voy a visitar de nuevo. Se refieren a m\u00ed como abuelo. Leonard sigui\u00f3 aplicando fielmente convertirse en un pastor IISP. En junio de 2013, fue nombrado como pastor de la iglesia Bucco, Ghana IISP. La iglesia en ese momento era un grupo que lucha de s\u00f3lo siete personas. En la actualidad hay un centenar de personas que asisten a la iglesia. Cuando nos saludamos por tel\u00e9fono o por correo electr\u00f3nico casi siempre "Dios te bendiga" es una parte de nuestro saludo. Leonard est\u00e1 dando la bendici\u00f3n de Dios a las personas, ya sea como elementos que talla de madera o ayudando a tallar la verdad de Dios en la vida de las personas. Y todo esto desde la frase expresada casualmente "God Bless You" que se utiliz\u00f3 al final de un correo electr\u00f3nico! Dios es fiel y bueno, buen padre! Por el Dr. Lou Shirey<\/strong>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/08\/Cover-Photo-2-e1472590084128.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-fL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}