By Ingrid Koss
Gladys Rempel on the set of Een scheenet Läwen (A Good Life).
“When my husband left me, I thought no one would ever want to hear me speak again!”
Gladys Rempel had an effective ministry teaching Low German-speaking women how to be godly wives and mothers. Then her husband left her for someone else. In her conservative church in Mexico, to be divorced was to be disqualified from public speaking.
But God had other plans.
As her marriage ended, Gladys had to learn to parent alone, to manage her finances alone, and to discern God’s leading alone. Throughout this painful time, Gladys was learning anew about God’s great love for her, and about her value in God’s eyes.
People noticed. They asked how she could be so confident and happy after all that had happened to her. And Gladys told them. She began by sharing what God was teaching her:
"If you just hold on to Jesus, it will be better than it was before."
Along with renewing her joy, God also renewed her speaking ministry.
Two years ago, God led Gladys to partner with Square One to produce Een scheenet Läwen (A Good Life), a weekly Low German video series on YouTube. She says, “I think my personal story has a lot to do with people wanting to listen to me. I went through a really difficult time, but God gave me hope for a beautiful future. Because that’s how God works!”
In ultra-conservative cultures, women are sometimes taught to submit no matter how they are treated. That leaves them feeling worthless. The audience of A Good Life regularly leaves these kinds of comments and questions:
“If I submit to my husband, we have a good marriage. If I speak up, my husband gets angry.”
“When my husband comes home drunk, he beats me where the kids don’t see. My church tells me to be patient, but last time he beat me so bad, I could hardly get up again. Is it God’s will for me to stay?”
“I found out that my husband cheated on me. I want us to go for counselling, but he refuses because he says it’s my fault he was unfaithful!”
Gladys invites viewers to put their trust in Jesus so they can have the same hope for the future that God gave her. She wants women who believe they don’t matter to anyone to learn that God loves them and has a purpose for their lives.
Gladys believes that when women become confident in Christ, they can begin to stand up for themselves. Then marriages and families are better. Then communities are better. And that changes the world.
Because that’s how God works!
A Good Life (Een scheenet Läwen) was launched almost 2 years ago, in June, 2021. Since then, A Good Life has had over 200,000 views, the channel has over 2,500 followers, and Gladys is regularly invited to speak at events across the Americas.
A viewer writes, “I can trust Gladys to understand me and give good advice because she’s been through hard things, just like me.”