World, meet Errelio. This man is what made me fall in love with the Dominican Republic so quickly.
Who’s Errelio you might ask? He was our hotel concierge for 5 days while we were at debrief in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic.
Picture me, groggy and sleepily walking down our hotel stairs around 7:50 am, struggling to find joy because it’s SO early in the morning. If you know me at all, you know I’m not a morning person.
Every morning, it never failed, he was full of energy and always had the biggest smile on his face. And even though I had NO clue what he was saying because he spoke nothing but Spanish, he never failed to make me laugh.
Errelio did so many things for us while we were there. He served us food & desserts, answered our questions, and went above and beyond for us while we were there, not because he had to but because he wanted to. He made us feel at home 1,294 miles away from home.
But there’s one thing that really stood out about Errelio, he was just one of those people where you could sense the Holy Spirit on Him because of the joy that sprung from him and bled out so easily.
His servants heart and love for others shined so clear.
Near the end of our time at debrief I really felt like the Lord was calling me to write a letter to him, thanking him for his phenomenal service to us. Not only choosing to do his job, but also choosing to form relationships with us and going above and beyond to do that.
Now the only problem was that I am in no way fluent in Spanish, but thankfully the Lord can work in any circumstance and knows no boundaries. Also, praise Jesus for google translate!
In that letter I was able to share the gospel with him, sharing with him that the Creator of this world sent His one and only Son to die for us so that we could live a life free from sin if we believed in Him. And that the Lord loves him deeply and will always no matter what.
Like stated before, something in me knew that Errelio was already a believer just by the way he presented himself, but I felt like the Lord wanted me to remind him, so I did.
A few hours before we left I handed Errelio the note and hugged him, which caused the biggest grin on his face. Then when it was time to head out I went up to hug him one last time. And after we hugged he did something that nearly brought me to tears, he proceeded to put his hand on his heart and then pointed up to the sky. In that moment my heart was filled with so much joy, joy in knowing that Errelio knew the Father above. That the joy that was seeping out of Him all along was directly from the Father.
PRAISE JESUS!
Although my time with Errelio was such a short amount of time and the few words that were said were rarely understood, I am so incredibly grateful for the friendship the Lord gave me with this gentleman. I’m so grateful that God gave me the opportunity to remind one of His children that they were deeply loved by the Father.
And finally, I’m so grateful that the Lord allows me to have small encounters like these. THIS is why I’m on the race, to encourage other believers and to reach those who are lost! This is what I’ve been searching for, a life filled with kingdom receiving and kingdom giving. Thank you, Jesus.
