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| The Consorcia health center, where the team lives and also holds house church. |
It’s funny because this post is behind schedule- I was in
Consorcia about a week ago- but already God has answered a prayer request I was
going to give you. For several house church meetings no one has been coming
despite many people saying they would. It was a little disheartening to the
team. But this past Sunday God started moving people’s hearts. It started with
a Bible study at a house last week. The team was sharing with the wife, and the
husband came in and started listening from the doorway. As the study went on,
he sat down and began leading the discussion with his questions. The team
visited the house several more times, which included a second couple, and they
answered all kinds of questions about the Bible and faith. Soon they all wanted
to give their lives to Jesus, and then they were the first people to attend the
house church. The team was holding back tears as the men thanked them again and
again for coming to them and sharing the gospel. One of the men, a former lay leader in the local Catholic Church, said he had nearly given up on God and His
existence until the team came in and opened the scriptures to them.
It’s just one of the ways God is moving here. A lot of times
we like to think that two months, which seemed like so long when we were preparing
for this trip, is not nearly enough time to build relationships and impact
lives. One might either expect the baptisms to come in droves, or to not make
any at all because you didn’t have enough time to preach. But God works in us
no matter what the time is. It reminds me of a verse I heard recently, Mark 4:26-27.
Jesus tells a parable in which a farmer waters and plants a seed but doesn’t
know how it grows. In similar fashion, though we preach the gospel and have
Bible studies, the way God will bring some to salvation is unknown to us. It’s
cool to see God moving though while we are still here. Pray that He continues
to do so, especially once the team is gone.
-Brian & the Consorcia Team