Spreading the Seed

Friday came along and everyone had high hopes for the day.  We were going back to the village by the river in Cacao.  We had bible studies set up with Lisseth for that morning and then with Karen and her family in the afternoon.  Keith asked if I would be willing to lead the study with Lisseth, and I was very willing of course.  I was however very nervous since my Spanish is still a work in progress.  I had made some notes ahead of time that I hoped would help, and I prayed that the Lord would make sure that his message was understood in spite of my own shortcomings with the language.  Of course I did have Keith right there with me to help as needed so that helped a lot.  The thing that gave me the most comfort however was this verse: 1 Corinthians 3:5-7. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.  I knew that I was not that important in what we were trying to accomplish.  The Gospel was the important part, we just needed to spread the seed and let the Word of God go to work.  Matthew chapter 13 contains a wonderful parable about spreading the seed of the gospel.  I love how this parable relates to us the simplicity of spreading the Gospel but also shows us how the growth of that seed can be so easily destroyed by the trials and cares of this life.  We had high hopes this day that we had found that good ground that Jesus speaks of in verses 8 and 23.  Only time will tell what sort of ground these people are rooted in, and what kind of heart they have for the truth.

More pictures of these peoples homes from the river side

As we arrived and found a place to sit, Lisseth rounded up Julio and Jorge.  She wanted to make sure that they were present for this study, and I took that as a good sign that this was important to her.  Lisseth's husband Jorge was at work, so unfortunately we was not able to attend.  Once we got started we led her through the gospel plan of salvation.  I simply read the verses and repeated or emphasized where appropriate and let the Word speak for itself.  There were a few spots where I felt some explanation was called for, and I called on Keith to help me out when my limited vocabulary failed me.  The longer we studied it was apparent that Lisseth had used that old Bible of hers and had not just left it on the shelf.  She listened very intently but she was also not afraid to jump in with a question or comment.  We were very encouraged by her open and honest spirit not only during the study but during the entire time we spent with her.  The study went very well and she seemed to understand everything we discussed.  We continue to pray that this study and future studies will help Lisseth and her family to obey the Gospel. 

The study lasted for a few hours and once it concluded Lisseth was kind enough to offer us lunch.  It always made me feel bad to eat their food when they had so little to give.  However it would have been rude to refuse such a selfless gift given with sincerity.  We enjoyed the homemade tortillas and fixings and then it was time to move on to the study at Karen's house.  I must admit that my own foolishness caused me to miss most of the study with Karen and her family and friends.  I had walked back to the car to get more water bottles and made the mistake of locking the keys in the car.  I had set them down in the back to pick up the water bottles and then locked it from the door.  I saw the keys sitting there as the door swung shut and I just about dislocated something trying to stop the door.  My hands were full so unfortunately I failed in that attempt.  I was obviously not very happy with myself but I stood there a minute considering my options.  My first thought was to try and call someone that could get someone down here to get in the car.  After checking the cell phone, there was no signal.  At this point Keith had already started the study and I knew I had to get this fixed or I would be useless with worry.  I trudged back up to Lisseth's house in frustration, explained the situation to Kalina and tried to explain to Lisseth what had happened.  I was marginally successful and was able to explain that I needed a hanger if she had one.  Now I have never had to break into a car before so I went looking for anyone that could help out.  I went looking for Jeremy, not because he is an expert car thief, but because he is a very handy guy and I figured if anyone could help it would be him.  Well my luck continued to hold out, he had no idea what to do.  But as always he was game to give it a shot.  Well after several minutes of hair brained ideas and failed attempts, we were about to get discouraged.  But thank the Lord that one of the locals wandered by about then.  I explained the problem and he quickly showed us how it was supposed to be done.  With his help it did not take long and we had the door open, problem solved.

We hurried back to Karen's house to find it packed to the gills.  Her house had a sizable back deck/balcony where everyone was gathered.  This deck was about 15 feet above the ground below and I was not convinced that it was structurally sound.  There were probably around 20 people crowded onto it so I just stood back and observed from the edge of the deck as the study was coming to an end.  It was wonderful to see the Gospel preached to such a large group of people.  Lord willing, the Word found some good ground to start growing in that day.  They finished studying and a few people drifted out, but someone wanted to sing some gospel songs.  They had a few copies of a paperback book with some songs in it.  I think they wanted us to teach them some new songs.  Keith was able to find a few that we were familiar with and we all chimed in the best we could.  There were very few books and there was not one close enough for me to see.  I knew the tune and the english words so I found myself humming the tune in an effort to contribute something.  I was eventually able to get to where I could see one of the books and that was a huge help.  There was a little girl there that was really getting into it, you could tell that she loved to sing.

It was a great day and we were all very encouraged by the reception that we were given. The Gospel was preached to 20-30 people and all of them showed a willingness to listen and learn.  There were no heated arguments or confrontations about differences in belief.  I think everyone already understood that the Word of God was the truth and they were just eager to learn more about what it says.  There is a heavy Catholic influence in Costa Rica and even the devoted Catholics tend to be uneducated about what the Bible really says.  The good news is that there is an inherent respect for God.  The challenge going forward will be to help them see what God really wants from them. 

One other thing of note happened before we left for the day.  Keith talked to Lisseth and she agreed to allow us to hold our Sunday worship service in her home or outside weather permitting.  We set up a time for the coming Sunday afternoon and then headed back to Atenas with joy and thanks in our hearts for the many blessings of the day.

The next day was Saturday and we had another potential contact to follow up with.  Until next time....

Dios les bendiga,
David