I had a simple revelation today on the steps of the Catholic church in Tumpa.
Today was just another ordinary day here. We ate breakfast at 8:30am and then met at 9:30am to walk to Tumpa. We spend our mornings walking around town getting to know the people. Today was focused on making a second contact with people we have met before.
We has our little maps with numbers marked and a list of names to match. We set out to our specific areas to search for people to invite to our Saturday outreach. My group found all but two of the people on our list. It was a pretty good day. We had some nice conversations and invited a lot of people to our outreach.
We went to the square around 11am to review our map and make notations and corrections. The group usually meets there at noon to pray over the town before heading back to Musho. We were a little early, so we got some ice cream and Edwardo went to talk to a guy sitting across the street reading a book.
I sat down and started reading me Bible, and within a few minutes some little girls came around the corner. I said hello and invited them to come and sit with me. I asked their names (Pamela and Maria) and we just sat and chatted with the little Spanish I know. Edwardo came over to help me out a little, and they asked if they could have my book. He explained that my Bible was written in English and they wouldn’t be able to read it.
They persisted. They wanted to know if we had any Spanish Bibles. I asked if their parents had a Bible, and they said no. I knew they were too young to read themselves, so we encouraged them to bring their parents to the outreach on Saturday. We bought some Bibles to hand out and would love to give on to their parents if they wanted it.
About this time, the rest of the team arrived to pray. We all gathered on the steps, and the girls followed. At first they were talking and laughing, but after a few minutes they noticed we were all sitting quietly with out heads bowed. As we took turns praying, they listened attentively. Of course, they had no idea what we were saying because we were praying in English.
I desperately wanted these young girls to understand what we were doing, so I tried my best to pray in my broken Spanish. ” Gracious Padre por esta dia y me nueva amigas (Thank you Father for this day and for my new friends). Gracious Jesu Christo por me vida (Thank you Jesus Christ for my life). Te ama Jesu Christo (I love you Jesus Christ). Ustead es me premera amigo y my salvador (You are my first friend and my savior)”.
It was the greatest thing to be able to just sit there with these little girls and pray. Just to be an example. It occured to me later that this is what Jesus did best. Most of the time he spent with the disciples was just living as an example. He just did what was right and pleasing to the Father, and they watched and learned. It wasn’t formal lectures and classes. It was life. Jesus didn’t sit down with them and say “These are the steps to sharing the gospel. This is how I want you to go into the world and this is what you should say”.
The disciples learned who Jesus is by living with him and learning from his example. When it was time to go into all the world, they knew what to say becuase they knew Jesus, not becuase he taught them what to say.
Sometimes we think we need all of this formal training in order to teach the Bible or to be an effective minister of the gospel. All we really need, is to know Jesus. We know him by living with him, talking to him, listening to his words in the Bible; we learn by following his examples. When we know him, it becomes easy to share and teach about him.
Classes and studies can be good, but something as simple as being an example can be the most powerful.
Thank you Jesus for this simple but profound lesson.
