Jose

We have had a team from Tyler, Texas with us since January 20th.  I think their timing is God's grace, because since we found out we are going home I feel like March 31st can't get here fast enough!  Being busy with the team has helped so much, though, and it is nice that we already have a friendship with the leader (who came down last year).

There have been some amazing things happening with this team here so far.  Monday we went to Central Park to pray on one of their first ministry days here.  I don't know why, but I felt like God was asking me to talk to people who were there at the park instead of joining the group in prayer.  I looked around and talked to a few people who were walking past, but most of the conversations were not any longer than just a few minutes.  Then I noticed a man who had been observing us for quite a while.  I approached him and began to talk to him.  It turns out that HE was the reason I was supposed to talk to people and not pray.  His name is Jose and he is a husband and father to two girls.  He has been out of work for a while and things are getting pretty rough at home.  In fact, he doesn't know how much longer he can make it like this and tells me that he is thinking about committing suicide.  Wow.  Where do I begin?  First of all, I ask him if he loves his family and wants to be there for them.  He responds with a firm yes.  Then I ask him if he will be able to be there for them if he commits suicide.  He thinks for a minute and says, "well, I never thought about that but, no, I guess not."  That opened the door to talk about a Father and Friend who would never leave him or abandon him in his times of need.  Jose did not grow up in the church, so I got to share about Jesus and His sacrifice for us on the cross and it was the first time Jose had heard about it.  He was surprised that someone loved him that much and he wanted to know more.  At this point I was so excited and had to really slow myself down so that I could get the message across in the right way.  After talking more to Jose about the Bible, God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit I asked him if he would like to pray to receive Jesus into his heart.  YES! He did!  We prayed, he cried, we gave him a Bible, our phone number and a little bit of money and he was on his way. 

That is not the end of the story, though.  A few days later, Jose called Mario and they talked for a while on the phone.  Turns out that Jose had found a peace that he had never felt before, but things still were not getting better in his physical situation.  Mario and I prayed for him and invited him to come to church with us.  We also told him that we would be back downtown with the team the next day so he could meet us there if he wanted to.  He ended up being at the park when we got there and Mario and I spent all our time there talking to him.  He had all kinds of questions about the Bible and even asked Mario if he would be willing to do a Bible study with him so that he could learn more.  On Sunday morning on our way to church we picked him up at a gas station and he joined us for the service.  It was amazing.  He was definitely touched during the worship time and the sermon was about trusting in God because He is trustworthy- something that Jose needed to hear! 

I don't know where things will go from here with Jose, but I do know that there was a party in heaven that day that he accepted Jesus and we pray that he will continue to have a hunger to know this faithful loving God more and more each day!  

There are more stories- even other salvation stories (!), but for now I will leave you with this.  Please continue to pray that God will guide us and that we will be sensitive to His guidance as we continue to pour out His love and truth on Guatemala City!