“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” Colossians 4:2-4
Hello my friends,
I hope all of you read one of my last emails about the faithfulness of our Lord to open that door for me to speak to Miguel for 3 hours the first day and 2 hours the second day concerning the things of the Lord. I titled that email “Can you believe this” so I decided to give this email the title of “Can you believe this…part 2 and 3” because the Lord opened up 2 more doors for Sarita and I to walk through and share the wonders of Christ with 2 more families. I have shared the gospel with a few people so far but it has just been a very quick and not very good presentation of the goodness of God…you know, that language thing is a barrier some times. But this time our God, who is faithful and true, put more Spanish words into my mouth than every before so our conversations were pretty good and I am sure that they understood me.
The first door (part 2) was opened last week when my friend Juan, the drunk man that showed up at our door (two days in a row) a month ago. He is the man that showed up after we came home from church one Sunday and I was able to read the word of God to him and talk with him for about 2 hours that day. Then he showed up the next day, drunk again, and I talked and read with him for another hour. But last week he showed up sober and brought Sarita a little gift and invited us to his house. We accepted the invitation and went to his house 2 days later. The first hour we simply talked with him, his wife Maria and children about general things and just got to know the family. They told us that they were Catholic but did not really attend church or do all the things that strong Catholics did.
We also talked about how Sarita and I could help him and his family make a better living…He and Maria have 12 children, 7 of which still live at home. They live in a wooden house with one large room probably measuring 20feet by 40feet and a dirt floor. Gabby, their oldest that lives at home, has worked at a bread shop for the past year; 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. They would like it if she would not have to work so much as she is really beginning to be tired a lot…imagine that…I mean anyone would be tired, much less a 16 year old. Sarita and I brought up the idea of a sewing machine and they seemed very interested in this. There is much that needs to be done before Gabby would be able to produce an end product suitable for sale, but at least we are moving in that direction. Before we left home, my uncle gave us a sewing machine, so at least this little venture won’t cost too much to get off the ground. Please pray for wisdom in this area.
The second hour I was able to talk to him, with his wife intently listening in from a little ways away, about God’s word. During our discussion he asked me if I would teach him the bible, to which I said yes of course. He was proud to pull out a plastic sack with three bibles in it…all three were New Testament and Psalms Gideon Bibles (praise the Lord for those Gideons!) but of course, as I already knew, he knows very little of the bible. Since he was sober this time, I took advantage of the time and asked him why it was that he says he believes God’s word and is a good man of God, but showed up to my door two days in a row drunk. He responded by telling me that the demons in his head talk to him a lot and they talk him into doing bad things. I told him many things, but I made sure that I told him that this was contrary to God’s word and was sin and that God was not pleased with people that do things contrary to His word (Psalm 7:11 “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”) Please pray with us, that God would allow Juan and I to sit down when he is sober so that he can hear the full gospel story and that he may be convicted of his sin and, in repentance, turn to the Lord Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The second door (part 3) was opened up when we received an invitation from our neighbors to go into Comitan to do a little shopping. We accepted and left a few hours later. During the hour drive into Comitan, we talked about how God had moved in Sarita’s and my life and the events that led up to us getting married and coming to Mexico for mission work. But on the return trip (which took about an 1 ½ because it started raining…of course it started raining, as it seems to do all the time here right now during rainy season) I was able to talk with the father Rojelio, with his wife Bettye and son Royo and daughter Anna listening in. This family is Catholic as well, but unlike Juan, Rojelio knew much about the bible…at least the story of Christ and His death upon the cross. As we talked, I saw that Rojelio did not understand the good news of the gospel as was evident when I asked him how he could receive forgiveness for his sins and he said that he had to believe in Jesus Christ, stop being a sinner and do the good works that God says in the bible to receive pardon from God. I told him he was close but still did not fully understand what the bible says concerning salvation.
We returned home and I wanted to talk with him just a few more minutes so he and his wife came into our house to talk a little more. I told him that he had some very good answers to my questions concerning God and the Lord Jesus but that he was missing one very important ingredient to the plan of salvation that God speaks of in His holy word, so he asked me to tell him what he was missing. I told him that yes he needed to believe in Christ but, try as he might, he would never be able to stop being a sinner, for Jesus says that even the littlest thought in your mind that is contrary to God’s word is sin…not just the actual doing of the sin. I also told him that the bible says that he could never do enough good things in his lifetime to make up for the sins that he has committed already and will commit in the future. I explained to him that the bible makes it very clear that going to heaven requires a man to see his sin, see his need of a Savior to pardon, confess and repent of his sin and place his faith in the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior. Of course I said much more but I will not write our entire 2 hour conversation here…you can thank me all later J. Please pray with us that this family will come to know the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and that they would see the beauty of Christ and find Him delightful and sufficient for all of their needs.
Now the God of peace be with you all,
Lance and Sarita
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
The first door (part 2) was opened last week when my friend Juan, the drunk man that showed up at our door (two days in a row) a month ago. He is the man that showed up after we came home from church one Sunday and I was able to read the word of God to him and talk with him for about 2 hours that day. Then he showed up the next day, drunk again, and I talked and read with him for another hour. But last week he showed up sober and brought Sarita a little gift and invited us to his house. We accepted the invitation and went to his house 2 days later. The first hour we simply talked with him, his wife Maria and children about general things and just got to know the family. They told us that they were Catholic but did not really attend church or do all the things that strong Catholics did.
We also talked about how Sarita and I could help him and his family make a better living…He and Maria have 12 children, 7 of which still live at home. They live in a wooden house with one large room probably measuring 20feet by 40feet and a dirt floor. Gabby, their oldest that lives at home, has worked at a bread shop for the past year; 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. They would like it if she would not have to work so much as she is really beginning to be tired a lot…imagine that…I mean anyone would be tired, much less a 16 year old. Sarita and I brought up the idea of a sewing machine and they seemed very interested in this. There is much that needs to be done before Gabby would be able to produce an end product suitable for sale, but at least we are moving in that direction. Before we left home, my uncle gave us a sewing machine, so at least this little venture won’t cost too much to get off the ground. Please pray for wisdom in this area.
The second hour I was able to talk to him, with his wife intently listening in from a little ways away, about God’s word. During our discussion he asked me if I would teach him the bible, to which I said yes of course. He was proud to pull out a plastic sack with three bibles in it…all three were New Testament and Psalms Gideon Bibles (praise the Lord for those Gideons!) but of course, as I already knew, he knows very little of the bible. Since he was sober this time, I took advantage of the time and asked him why it was that he says he believes God’s word and is a good man of God, but showed up to my door two days in a row drunk. He responded by telling me that the demons in his head talk to him a lot and they talk him into doing bad things. I told him many things, but I made sure that I told him that this was contrary to God’s word and was sin and that God was not pleased with people that do things contrary to His word (Psalm 7:11 “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”) Please pray with us, that God would allow Juan and I to sit down when he is sober so that he can hear the full gospel story and that he may be convicted of his sin and, in repentance, turn to the Lord Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The second door (part 3) was opened up when we received an invitation from our neighbors to go into Comitan to do a little shopping. We accepted and left a few hours later. During the hour drive into Comitan, we talked about how God had moved in Sarita’s and my life and the events that led up to us getting married and coming to Mexico for mission work. But on the return trip (which took about an 1 ½ because it started raining…of course it started raining, as it seems to do all the time here right now during rainy season) I was able to talk with the father Rojelio, with his wife Bettye and son Royo and daughter Anna listening in. This family is Catholic as well, but unlike Juan, Rojelio knew much about the bible…at least the story of Christ and His death upon the cross. As we talked, I saw that Rojelio did not understand the good news of the gospel as was evident when I asked him how he could receive forgiveness for his sins and he said that he had to believe in Jesus Christ, stop being a sinner and do the good works that God says in the bible to receive pardon from God. I told him he was close but still did not fully understand what the bible says concerning salvation.
We returned home and I wanted to talk with him just a few more minutes so he and his wife came into our house to talk a little more. I told him that he had some very good answers to my questions concerning God and the Lord Jesus but that he was missing one very important ingredient to the plan of salvation that God speaks of in His holy word, so he asked me to tell him what he was missing. I told him that yes he needed to believe in Christ but, try as he might, he would never be able to stop being a sinner, for Jesus says that even the littlest thought in your mind that is contrary to God’s word is sin…not just the actual doing of the sin. I also told him that the bible says that he could never do enough good things in his lifetime to make up for the sins that he has committed already and will commit in the future. I explained to him that the bible makes it very clear that going to heaven requires a man to see his sin, see his need of a Savior to pardon, confess and repent of his sin and place his faith in the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior. Of course I said much more but I will not write our entire 2 hour conversation here…you can thank me all later J. Please pray with us that this family will come to know the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and that they would see the beauty of Christ and find Him delightful and sufficient for all of their needs.
Now the God of peace be with you all,
Lance and Sarita
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
Psalm 34:8
Miguel is 2nd from the left...shorty!! He actually isn't that short but is just leaning back a little on the wall...Rigoberto his brother is the one on the end standing by my...
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These are our neighbors...from left to right we have Anna, Royo,
Bettye, and Rohellio...and of course my lovely wife and yours truly...
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These three photos show my friend Juan and I outside of our house on those two days that he came by...
First two pics show us on the first day (Sunday) and the last pic is the very next day (Monday)when he came by...
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no more..
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