When we were in San Jose, we visited several different neighborhoods that were specifically chosen for our mission trip. These neighborhoods all had bus routes that drove past Vida Nueva church, the church we were helping. One of our goals for the week was to invite all the people we met to the church. Some of the neighborhoods we visited were not as safe as others. There were times that our leaders gave us specific instructions to take off all jewelry and put away any cell phones or cameras.
One night, while we were in one of those 'not as safe' neighborhoods, we came to a dead end street. At the far end, where the pavement ended, stood nine young guys. They were talking and laughing, while a few of the guys were working on a car. David, me, and our translator merged with another team because there was safety in numbers. Our new team for this particular night consisted of David, our male translator, little ol' me, and two teenage girls. wink. We had to make a choice- do we walk down to the end of the road and approach these young men (appearing to range in age from late teens to mid-twenties) and try to share the gospel, or just keep walking? We decided to go for it.
We walked to the end of the road and our translator asked if we could talk with them. They agreed, but most of them kept working on the car without even looking up at us. David started to share the gospel, and slowly, he gained everyone's attention. The young men started putting down their tools, leaning up against the car and listening to David and our translator as they shared the Good News. Six of them accepted Christ that night! And, the really neat part of this story... an older gentleman approached us just before we left and he quietly spoke with our translator. Our translator told us that the older gentleman was a Christian and he had spent years watching these neighborhood boys grow up, and sharing the Truth with them. He had been praying for their salvation as long as he could remember and he was rejoicing because tonight, their eyes had been opened and their ears had heard! We praised God for answering this prayer!
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| This picture was taken as we were out walking one night. Aren't the mountains so beautiful? |
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| Downtown, San Jose. |
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| David and me with our friend and translator for the schools, Ricardo. |
I love reading your stories from Costa Rica even a couple weeks later! God did such amazing things!
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