At times, I feel it necessary to recount all the amazing things the Lord has done over the past year and a half, and how the Lord has used us to share hope with many in need. This is just one of the many incredible things the Lord is doing throughout the world.
Last February, we arrived in Honduras in time for the youth service to begin at the local church plant. David, one of the men who traveled with us had been sharing his heart for discipleship for men, and the passion had rubbed off on me.
As the service began, I took notice of a young man I hadn’t seen before. He wore a serious expression on his face and looked out of place, as if he was new to this church thing and attempting to mimic the actions of those around him to fit in. From the moment I saw him, I knew that the Lord had called me to minister to him in some way. When we serve the living God, we should not be surprised or afraid when He speaks to us and when His Spirit leads us. It’s only been recently that I realized I’m not crazy and that this is a part of the Christian experience. We serve a Living God who speaks to His people. Deal with it, Paul.
After the service ended, I pulled David over to speak to him. He told me his name was Edwin, and that he didn’t play much soccer or do anything beyond reading and spending time with his family due to a recent injury. Assuming he was a believer because he was in the church service (oops), we began to encourage him on what it meant to be a godly man and to pursue after God whole-heartedly. He hung on our every word and after we prayed for him, requested a Bible, because he wanted to search out the things of God for himself. As he walked out from the double doors, I noticed him walking with a pronounced limp and figured it was just a soccer injury that kept him from playing.
The next night, he showed us a local Mayan pillar in a nearby field, and I noted his limp even more pronounced than before. When we arrived back at the church, I asked him about his limp. He told me he’d been shot in the ankle. In disbelief, I repeated the Spanish back to him, “Shot… as in… with a pistol?”
He pulled his jeans out of the way to show a clear entry and exit wound. I winced, asking him what happened. He told me that he’d been working for an angry man who shot him just because he couldn’t open a gate in time. As though needing to justify that he didn’t deserve getting shot, Edwin added, “And it turned out he’d given me the wrong set of keys!”
I asked Edwin if he’d called the police and he said, “No, I believe God is calling me to forgive that man, and besides that, he would kill me.”
Solid reasoning there, I thought to myself.
As Edwin continued his story, he told me that just three days before our conversation, he had returned to his home town in Honduras – the town we were now visiting– and had begun to attend our church with his mother. Even though Edwin said he knew that God had placed him there and that God was calling him to forgive, I realized that he was not yet saved.
The call to dinner sounded, and I was getting ready to leave him when one of the other team members suggested that I invite him to join us, which he did gladly. We ate together at the end of the table near one of the elders, continuing our conversation. After dinner we opened the scriptures in the Bible we’d given him the night before. Passage after passage, we began to show him the gospel – Christ and Christ crucified as the only way of salvation. More of the elders arrived, and every passage we showed him, he continued to read long past the verses we’d recommended.
It was clear that he was hungry for the word of God, and that the Spirit of God was working on his heart even there as we answered his questions and took him through passage after passage. Finally, we asked if he was ready to receive Christ and he agreed, but I wanted to be sure, so I warned him that life as a believer also included the promise of persecutions and hardship. It was here that he stuttered. He told us he wasn’t ready for that yet.
Years ago, I would have prayed for him, told him to read the scriptures, and moved on— but not tonight. The Lord had bigger things in store for him.
Instead, we asked him if we could go through more passages in the scriptures, and he agreed.
Diving back in, we saw the lights continue to come on as the Lord used His scriptures to open his eyes. Finally, we asked him again, “Are you ready to come to faith in Christ? You will face persecution, but He is worthy.”
Nothing would hinder him this time. There, at the end of the table, long after the meal had ended, Edwin met Jesus Christ.
Smiling, he stood up from his seat and announced, “I just met Jesus!” And he worked his way down the table, announcing the good news to everyone at the table. His countenance had completely changed, and joy beamed from his usually serious face. It took a bullet to the leg, a journey back home, and our unusually early arrival the evening of the youth service, but joy came to his life at last. God will save His own; He works out everything for their good.
One year later, Edwin has been baptized and is not only continuing to grow in the Lord, but he is also bringing another man to the church, and the cycle of hope is continuing. His hunger for the word has not diminished and he desires to carry the gospel to many. His life, though still serious, is now serious about knowing and serving Jesus Christ. I cannot wait to see what the Lord does in his life.
Please pray for Edwin, that God would continue to grow his love and his passion for the gospel.
Grace and peace to you,
- Paul
