To the saints who have committed to pray for us,God has displayed His saving grace to a friend of mine here in Costa Rica who attends the Bible study that I help with. This friend, Giovanni, is a man who has found himself living on the streets of downtown San Jose for some time and is now in the process of trying to get off them.
The humility displayed by this friend is inspiring; to see his hunger for the Word of God is encouraging. God has clearly displayed that it was through the "foolishness" of what was preached as being what saved this friend. I say this because the Gospel that this man heard came from the lips of a man who does not speak Spanish as well as my four year old speaks English. This message preached was preached by a man who has been speaking Spanish for less than a year. Giovanni heard the simple message of the cross, a message that came not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
Through the redemption of this man, God has clearly shown that it is He and He alone who redeems mankind through the power of the message preached and not through man's wisdom. God has freed this man from the bonds of sin by capturing him and making him His own and one day Jesus will lead this friend, along with us who believe, in a triumphal procession. Thanks be to God!
Giovanni is standing by me in the yellow shirt. The other Tico men in the photo (the four men in the middle) are men who also live on the streets of San Jose and attend the Bible study. Their names are Jose, Jimmy and Johnny.
The man to my right as well as the two men on the right side of the photo, are fellow language school students who are also involved with the Bible study.
Please pray for these men.
-Pray that Giovanni continues to grow and that his desire for the Lord increases.
-Pray that he will desire to share Christ with others and to disciple those who come to know the Lord.
-Pray that if these other men do not know Jesus, that God would open their hearts to hear the Gospel message as He did Giovanni.
-Pray that we, the men who are currently leading the Bible study, would be faithful in the message taught.
-Pray that these men would develop a passion to share the message that they are hearing to their friends.
-Pray that this ministry grows through these men and that they have the desire to take ownership of what God is doing and to not depend on us Gringos.
-And humbly REJOICE in the knowledge that God has shown mercy to another undeserving sinner such as ourselves.
