His smile was effervescent. His demeanor overflowing with joy. It was such a shock that I took this picture because when he was riding with us before there was really no emotion....yet here he was talking a mile a minute and very, very excited.
As Marguerite (pink shirt in picture and another leader from Enlace) told us what he was saying, all the pieces started coming together.
30 minutes earlier we had been in a young couples home far down the hill. They had the cutest little girl you could imagine (about 2 years old) and another baby on the way. We were there to deliver food to them from the local church. They were not believers in Jesus but were willing to talk with us. The pastor spoke with beautiful stories connecting everyday things with Jesus and what it is like to have a relationship with Him.
The husband said it bothered him that some of the people he knew who said they were Christians acted so badly. And the pastor said there are plenty of sinners in church but the decision to follow Jesus is a personal one because in the end God asks each of us to make a decision about his Son.
A team member felt at that time it was important to say something he had prayed before coming to El Salvador. He knew these home visits were going to happen, and he knew that even though God wants to have a relationship with everyone, it would be impossible for the team to meet with everyone in the community. So, the team member prayed for God to direct the team to homes where the people in those homes needed to hear that message RIGHT NOW....the message being that God wants to be in relationship with them.
So, that message was conveyed & translated by Marguerite with the final statement being "Jesus sent us from thousands of miles away so that you would know that He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you. The home we are standing in is your home. You are the person he wants to hear that message right now."
The pastor talked a little while longer in Spanish with the man. Then he and his wife both accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We all laid hands on this husband and wife and prayed over them. As happened Sunday, this prayer isn't one person praying and everyone else listening, everyone is praying out loud over this couple.
It was just incredible to be a part of this moment where multiple languages are being prayed over this couple with one message of Thanksgiving being sent up to God. IT WAS AWESOME.
We then headed up the hill a ways to an older couple's home, gave them food from the church and started talking to them about God. This older couple seemed resistant as well but as the Pastor talked they started to open up. The same kind of message as outlined above was stated by our team and then the man said he has been an alcoholic his entire adult life. That he wanted so much to quit but never could.
AND IN OUR GROUP were two men who battled alcoholism most of their adult lives, had tried every AA type program, in treatment programs etc but nothing ever worked. They always went back to the bottle.
Each of these men accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and allowed Him to invade their hearts. Once that happened to each of these men, these lifelong addictions ended and neither one of them has touched alcohol since then.
When our team members gave their testimony combined with the knowledge that God wanted them to hear this message right now, both of these older people committed their lives to Jesus Christ. This experience had a dramatic impact on both of the men on our team as they were able to see directly how their struggles for so many years were finally being used for good to bring others into the Kingdom.
We walked out of the house and a team member said "it's all because of Jesus!" and about a minute later AJ (who was in a backpack on my back) said as we were walking up the hill to the road "It's all because of Jesus!" and everyone just laughed and there was so much joy.
We got to the car and were speaking with the other team about all that had happened and were just about to drive away when Naphteli came sprinting to the car and began to joyously, excitedly talk to us.
The young couple had been his sister and brother in law. The old couple was his mother and father. He explained that he had been praying for 8 YEARS that they would come to accept Jesus Christ and TODAY WAS THE DAY!
He said when he walked into his parents home he saw joy on his father's face for the first time he could remember. Awesome. Just awesome. One of the best experiences of my life.
We went to another home where Naomi told us her story, listened to our story, and she too committed her life to Christ. Tears were flowing now from various team members as the blessings flowed. The seeds had been planted by many before us leading to this day. We had the privilege of reaping the harvest. Glory to God in the Highest!
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| Team Marguerite with Naomi |
Please pray for their continued growth in Jesus Christ...just pray for Naomi + Naphteli's sister, brother in law, and parents.
One other comment as a dad....at the end of the day we talked about all that had gone on that day. Even though V and S had not been in these homes, I was so impressed with how it still impacted them and what they had to say about it. My greatest prayer is that each of my children will truly give their hearts to Jesus and live their lives in His Name. I see growth in each of them and I'm excited as a dad to see how they will continue to grow.
Other Memories from the Day:
- The last home visit was to a Catholic leader in the community. She has been so encouraged by the growth in faith in the community and all the good works that have been going on the past 5 years. She was just wonderful and showed the girls how she sews with a machine her mom handed down to her.
- We visited a coffee processing plant this morning that employs over 400 people from the local community, saw how coffee is actually made, tested, and sent out to places as far away as Jordan, Germany, and Canada from this factory. We spent time with the 'taste tester' of the plant (great job if you love coffee) but he was very, very proud of his job and took it very seriously. The coffee lovers bought coffee including some for people back home (yes, Ron and Nathan your coffee is on the way).
- There was a LONG delay in actually buying this coffee which was very odd. The finished coffee was all around and we had the cash ready but for some reason it took about 30 minutes to finish the transaction (which should have literally taken about 30 seconds as everyone who was buying knew exactly how much they wanted and there was only 1 flavor here). We assume this delay had its purpose because we met this woman carrying ice cream up the mountain on the way to our work site. We stopped to give her a ride and then when we reached where she was going we asked "Can we buy some ice cream?" And she said 'yes'....and we bought pretty much everything she had. Her prices were so inexpensive we overpaid on purpose and I'm certain this woman had one of her best business days ever and a story for the kids that night.
- We got to the work site very late as a result of all the delays BUT we ended up being incredibly efficient with how we worked together (another lesson learned) and got the work done that we needed to get done. The house is starting to take shape...
Finally, I just love our little guy AJ. I think it is safe to say that he is the greatest 2 year old Missionary to ever visit these hills in El Salvador!
what exciting times!
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