Update
A few years ago I was on a plane flight home from one of many summer work trips to Mexico, feeling rather accomplished and fulfilled. We had spent the previous two weeks working on the building for the church Cristo Victorioso. I was sitting next to a man named Eduardo from Mexico City. He spoke English, and at the time I knew no Spanish. Eduardo was very interested in hearing about why we were in Mexico and liked practicing his English as well. He was really curious about what exactly we believed and he himself, although he said he was Catholic, really wasn’t sure what he believed. I talked with him for a couple minutes, vaguely explaining what we did for the past few weeks and asked him a few questions about his family and not much more. He wanted to talk. He was interested. I was tired. I had done my work for God the past two week. I wanted to sleep. Not soon after, I got my wish, slept for the rest of the flight, and never saw him again. I don’t really remember how long it was before it hit me. But it hit me hard. I really blew it. God gave me a completely open person to share the gospel to, and I literally closed the door on him all by myself. I was guilt stricken for weeks after that, wondering: If I can’t share the gospel with someone I’m stuck next to on a plane for 2 hours who is really interested in hearing what I have to say… who can I share the gospel with?
A few days ago I was on a 2 hour bus ride home from Mexico City to Puebla, feeling the heavy burden of just having attended the funeral of my great friend, Zack Saint, who was actually on the aforementioned trip years ago. I was empty, hadn’t slept at all the night before and was tense from all the traveling I had to do that day, and was looking forward to getting some sleep on the bus ride. I ended up sitting next to a Taiwanese man who came from Michigan to do some work for his company (Johnson Controls) in Puebla for a week. Ven was his name. He was a Buddhist, PHD in chemical engineering, 2 children, and wanted to talk. After I got to know him a little bit, and told him I was a missionary in Puebla and what I do, the questions started pouring in. He was a man who was not content with his religion, nor at peace with where he was going to go when he died. He had never ever read in the Bible, had heard of Jesus, but not more than his name, and had never heard the good news of Salvation. Through our conversations, he revealed that he was fully aware that he was a sinner and had to somehow pay for those sins. We talked and talked. He had so many questions about sin, death, and this “Jesus” whom I shared with him as my Lord and Savior. Ven was at a point in his life where he had no peace or contentment and was absolutely blown away by the fact that God would just give us this gift of eternal life without having to pay for it. We spent the full two hours talking and told me during our conversation, in his thick Chinese accent (he spoke English), “I weally tenk dat you ah like an angel to me,” because he was so ready to hear the Good News, but didn’t know where or how it would come. The message of salvation was so refreshing, so delightful for him to hear. I had never seen anyone so ready to hear the Gospel in my life. He was not ready to accept Christ then and there, because he said he wanted to read in the Bible and see these things for himself that I was explaining to him. I told him that a good place to start was in the book of John… especially because it was easy for him to remember because my name is Jon. How clever.
Anyway, this little story just goes to show that God can use us at any time, in any circumstances, and even when we are at our weakest, for his glory. I can’t take the credit for one bit of it. I had nothing to give, and God saw it as a perfectly opportunity to use me. If there was one thing I had learned, and not forgotten, from my blown opportunity with Eduardo, to the conversation I had with Ven… “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” -1 Peter 3:15.
Visit with Omar
I got a phone call from Omar after I got back from PA. He wanted to know how I was doing and wanted to get together. He has a neighbor who is 87 years old, diabetic, and a strong believer in the Lord. This lady has been in bed for days and Omar really wanted to do something for her to encourage her. I went over to his house on Tuesday night and we cooked some baked ziti to bring over to her and her family. We spent about 2 hours at their home. The greatest thing about it was that it was Omar’s idea to visit her, and encourage her, because he really cares about her. It’s been awesome to watch him grow in the Lord.
New missionaries
It was almost three weeks ago that Neil and I traveled to San Antonio to pick up the newest addition to our team. Gary and Kim Lidstone came from Ontario Canada to join us for 4 months, to study Spanish and help out in any way they can. They are seriously considering Puebla as a full time missions field. We spent a little over a week traveling and staying in San Antonio with Larry and Doris Puckett. San Antonio is a beautiful city and it was great to be able to speak English for a whole week strait! I got to see many good friends who I met on previous medical caravans and really enjoyed my time in S.A. It was on our trip back to Puebla when I heard that my good friend and brother in Christ, Zack, went to be with the Lord. I had decided months ago that if he passed away, I wanted to be at the funeral. God provided me tickets, twelve hours before I had to leave, at a price only a few dollars higher than any tickets I’ve ever purchased to Mexico. That was a gift from Him, to be able to show, in as small a way as it was, how much Zack’s friendship and testimony meant to me. I will never forget it.
Now we’re all back in Puebla, getting back into the swing of things. Our group has almost doubled in size over the past two weeks. We were joined by another Crossworld missionary, Christina Wade, who will be with us for 6 months, and a young couple from Germany, the Pauks, who are here for two weeks to see if Puebla is where the Lord will be calling them in a few months.
My parents are coming to visit today! I saw them a week ago, but it will be great to see them again so soon. They’ll be flying in this evening. I have to pick them up in an hour.
Praises:
1. I’ve been so thankful to see Omar continue to grow and mature in the Lord. Please continue to pray for him.
2. I have started studying the Bible with my neighbor Alberto. I would love to see it flourish.
3. Someone broke into my car a few days ago, but didn’t steal anything. A passerby actually saw it happen and chased them, but they got away. My mom and dad are bringing down a new driver’s side window for me tonight because it’s impossible to get Toyota parts in Mexico. Isn’t the Lord good!
Prayer:
1. Now that I’m over 1/3 of the way through my 2 year commitment, I will need to start thinking about what’s next. Please pray for the Lord’s guidance in his will.
2. We’ll begin seeing our first group down here in March, and then have one group every month until August for about two weeks each. I’m really excited about the groups coming down. Most will be teaching English, and one will be from our church to do a building project.
3. To continue to be ready to share my faith with any person, at any time.
Thank you all so much for praying. Some of you have been faithfully sending emails to me every time I write an update letter. Thank you so much! You don’t know how much I appreciate hearing about what’s going on with you all back home.
God bless you all in your daily walk with Him.