It's amazing how warm and receptive the people were! Most people gladly invited us in and insisted on serving us coffee as we chatted. One thing that our group really focused on was quality rather than quantity when it came to visiting. It is more important to spend time with just a few families, but that time be spent really listening, sharing, and getting to know the person, than visiting a whole block and the time have been meaningless. Sometimes we spent the whole day with about 4 families, but it was worth every moment and we left after having a meaningful conversation and having made new friends.
Overall the community was extremely poor (especially compared to the States). As a result, the people were very creative and made gardens out of everything. We even saw a garden made from an old sink basin...perfect for draining the excess water :) We spent a lot of time with this couple above. They are both illiterate and were very confused about what the Bible says - since they are completely dependant on believing only what other people say it says. They were very interested and open to talking with us and we had a great, long conversation.
This family above is facing a particularly difficult financial situation. The man has been unable to find work for a while and they have received no help from the government so far. During the morning we spent with this family, the man showed us his nearly empty container of rice. He said that once it was gone, he had no more. We could see through the clear containers that the flour, beans, etc were also running out. There was no lush pantry in the back room. We prayed with them that the husband would be able to find work. After we left we still felt this family's burden and spoke to the leader back at the "base". She helped us put together a box of food that we were able to bring to them the next day. The family was SO happy and relieved to receive the food. It was also neat to see when we returned the next day that the husband had his Bible open and was reading it before we came to the door.
We started talking with this young man, Hilton, as he waited outside a shop to get his bicycle tire repaired. He has a very rough past of addiction and violence - he told us that the first time he shot someone he was only 12 years old. 6 months ago he gave His life to the Lord and he has seen God completely transform him. His wife and him moved to a new city and are very involved with a local church. They started a business making pizza at home and he rides around the city on his bike trying to sell them. Our conversation was encouraging for us as well as for him and we were able to challenge him to keep pressing on in his new faith.
We met this sweet lady one afternoon and had a great conversation about faith. She was so sweet and even came to where we were staying to see us off on the last day.
This last visit was the one that stuck out to me the most. Marinauva (the woman) was alone in her living room when we stopped by but she immediately invited us in and seemed very interested in talking. We started sharing the Gospel with her and she explained to us that she had recently become a Christian and that it was changing her life. We had a long talk encouraging and challenging her. She then said one of the hardest things was that her husband Josue (middle) wasn't a Christian. We asked where he was and she said he had been in the next room listening the whole time.
She went back and got him (though he was very reluctant). As the conversation went on, he was more and more engaged in the discussion and by the end said he also wanted to give his life to the Lord. We prayed together and expressed that to God.
Then as we were about to leave there was a knock on the door and Marinalva insisted that the neighbor at the door come in and sit down and asked us to start all over talking about the Gospel. The neighbor also became more and more interested during the conversation, and although he wasn't ready to make a decision, he wanted to take a Bible with him. He works and lives on a farm 28 days out of the month, all alone in the middle of no where with no tv or radio even. He was leaving right after to go to the farm and said he would take the Bible and try to read through John while he was there. Although his name is escaping me, if you think of this young man this month, please pray for him!
The neatest part of this whole story was later that evening to see Marinalva and Josue at the Jesus film. They were both smiling ear to ear and Marinalva said Josue had been the one asking her to go, something VERY unlike him. It was amazing to see God was already beginning to transform this young man.
No comments:
Post a Comment