An Early Christmas Present

Over the past year and a half, I have wondered why I am here in Ecuador. Satan has done an amazing job at hiding the truth of the gospel behind the walls of a supposedly “Christian” church that teaches its followers that to gain salvation one needs to be baptized, be confirmed, and take communion at least once. A church that teaches that the souls of the dead hang around and cause all the bad things that happen in an individual’s life. A church that teaches that God doesn’t save all. He only saves the good ones. It has been so hard to get the kids to separate religious dogmas from the truth of the gospel.

After my first year, I doubted my call to come back. I felt that everything I said fell on deaf ears. But I knew from the very beginning that if anything was going to come of the work, the Holy Spirit was going to have to do it all! I can’t take credit for anything that has happened with these kids. I went into this situation with poor Spanish and almost no experience working with kids in a school-like setting. I’ve been praying for these kids. I’ve been pouring myself into these kids. All the while, Christ has been my example. I’ve been quick to forgive and I’ve tried to be slow to anger.

One thing I was certain of was that I did not want to be rash with the gospel. I have seen too many people present the gospel in such a way that nothing is demanded of the listener. It is a gospel that seeks to add numbers, not find true seekers of Christ! I’ve been very clear with the kids that once they decide to follow Jesus, he demands their ALL! Down to their very lives. I’ve been open with them about the fact that saying a prayer doesn’t save them. True belief and surrender to Christ does.

Things have been coming to a head lately. It started when I went out to visit with a missionary couple with Action who run a similar club to what I run, but on a much larger scale. While I was visiting with them we saw tens of thousands of people doing an all-night walk to visit the statue of a virgin. Supposedly she grants miraculous healings. I watched the way the missionaries dealt with the issue of idolatry in the club and it was very counter cultural to me.

In Canada we are told to sugarcoat everything. We cannot offend. If they believe in idol worship, let’s respect that and focus on what unifies us. But this goes against what the Bible teaches. How can we watch as people who claim to follow Christ choose to worship a statue over their Maker? At what point do we stand up for truth? I realized that day that I was not standing up for truth the way I ought to all because I was scared to offend. I was scared that a parent might come to the club to talk to me, or worse, that the local priest would stop by. But those would just be more opportunities to teach truth! I learned a lot from this missionary couple in only two short days.
            Upon returning to my kids I was surprised to learn that about half of them had gone on this walk to the virgin of Quinche. They all had necklaces on with her image. We opened the Bible and read the ten commandments out loud. Then we read Psalm 120 which talks about those who worship idols as being as useless as the idols they worship. It hit the kids hard. They’re not taught this in Catechism.

The next day, all but one girl returned to the club without their necklaces. They had become convicted and they acted accordingly. Over the following week I explained the gospel as clearly as I could. I emphasized the grace of God and I contrasted it with much of what they have been taught about salvation. No response.

I could have made the gospel more appealing I suppose. I could have left out the part about surrendering everything about themselves to God. I could have only talked about God’s love and then lead them in a prayer. But I’m not interested in numbers. I’m interested in seeing a genuine change in the lives of these children for the glory of God.

Today, the Holy Spirit was with me. This whole “the world is going to end on Friday” thing has opened the kid’s ears to the gospel in a whole new way. They are thinking about death and the afterlife. Se we needed to talk about it. One of the kids was certain she was saved because the Catholic Church has baptized her and confirmed her. Her brother insisted that thieves and murderers cannot go to heaven because they are not good enough. I used the illustration of the thief on the cross to explain the gospel. He never had an opportunity to be baptized, to take communion, or to be confirmed. Worse still, he was a thief! Yet simply by confessing that Christ was God he went to heaven that very day.
            Again, I wasn’t going to force anything. I simply told the kids that if they wanted to know Christ and to be forgiven for their sins then they could talk to me privately. You can imagine my elation when two girls, Carla and Gabriela, came to me after the club and said that they wanted to talk to me more about salvation. We sat down together and four more kids sat down with us. I asked them what they understood about the gospel. They were too shy to speak. So I explained it again. Carla got it. The others still seemed confused. Praise God I had an Ecuadorian friend there to help me today. I turned to Glenda and asked her to explain the gospel. She used the colour system (black, red, white, green, yellow). They seemed to be getting it. I emphasized (probably about 10 times) that any prayer we say does not save them. It is the first step in a life of surrender. God’s salvation comes when we repent, but that doesn’t mean we get to live how we want. I explained the gospel one more time and had each of the kids explain it back to me in their own words. Not all of them could do it, but some of them could.

It would have been impossible to make them each say a prayer in their own words (because of how shy they all get about prayer). So I decided that I would say a prayer for them, and I had them repeat those things in their hearts to God. After praying I told them that this was the first day of the rest of their lives. That from now on their lives are not their own, but God’s and that they need to be ready and willing to do anything for Him. I also told them that they should each go home and say a private prayer to God in their own words, and then to keep the line of communication open with Him. They now had his Holy Spirit and had new power to face life and all of its trials. Last but not least, I told them to share their faith with others. They had salvation from sin and that is something they cannot keep to themselves.

As I left the club I was overwhelmed by the fact that 6 children had just made confessions of faith!! SIX! After a year and a half, God gave me my first ever harvest. I was saying “praise God” as I walked down the street! God does amazing things in the lives of people. He times everything perfectly.

Please be praying for all six of the children who made professions of faith today! Magda, Martha, Carla, Gabriela, Wendy, and Christian. They are all between the ages of 8 and 11. This was just a first step. Now I have until June to continue discipling them. I long to see them grow in their faith and fall in love with Jesus over the next few months.
            I need to say it some more. PRAISE GOD!!!! PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!! GOD HAS DONE WONDERS! HE HAS SAVED US FROM DESTRUCTION! HE HAS DELIVERED SOULS!!!! HALLELUJAH!!