For Privacy reasons, I will not be using the name of the actual person I am talking about. I will be calling him John.
John told me that he really just had this desire to meet with one of our friends and fellow missionaries, Mark Clancy. We only have a few missionary friends here, but they have been such great friends to us so we are frequently are talking about them. John had met Mark last December when the team was down from Southmont. I think they cae bien (meaning they hit it off – their personalities click). I still though did not really know why John had such a desire to meet with Mark, yet looking back I know it was because of what the Holy Spirit wanted to teach John that night and for John to see what a Christian man looks like. I am not sure John has ever really known a Christian man, the only Christian examples he has had teaching him have been us (2 young white girls). Anyway, so Mark came out to Ventanilla and all four of us just sat down for a time of discussion and reading the Bible.
John shared his testimony with Mark about how he had been looking for God for years that is why he studied 11 years to be a priest. He did not find God in being a Catholic missionary or studying to be a priest because he had never put his faith fully in Jesus he just did a lot of things that he was told to do. Anyway, he left that pursuit and just started living his life being a professor and raising a family trying to do good things to bring glory to himself for being a good person. In about March or April of 2010, I started having weekly discussions/ Bible studies with him. They were more like fights, and I could not stand them. I remember one time I went back to my room and cried, but the Lord was working on his heart in an incredible way. Kelly Dillon came to Peru to visit me, and she went to one of our weekly discussions. God used what Kelly said to really change everything that John believed before. He always says the question that hit him was when Kelly said to him “Are you with Christ or are you not?” He said that just sent him into a whirl wind of thought and hit him at the core. About 2 weeks later when he was at his house alone, he gave his life to Christ. The months since then have been a marvelous sight to watch. He has stood firm for his faith, he has not participated in idol worship when everyone around him is doing it, he has stood up for Christ till’ the point of losing very important things in his life, he has stayed faithful during many trials, and now he boldly proclaims the gospel.
Mark shared many passages with John, some on the early church since that is our mission to do church planting, talking about how there were house churches represented all throughout the passage of Romans 16, talked about how we are weak on our own but we are strong in Christ and after someone believes in Christ they are now a precious child of God. John was so intrigued by how Mark taught him because he always read everything he taught directly from scripture. Mark seemed to have the whole Bible memorized. John shared many ideas with Mark and Mark shared many ideas with John. The majority of the night was spent on our new identity in Christ as believers how the old is gone and Jesus has changed us into a new creation and looking at what the early church looked like. It was a time of encouragement for everyone that was involved. For me personally, it was so refreshing to just get to listen and not have to teach for once. It was so incredible for the first time to get to see a man minister to a man. Since our team is made up of 2 girls, it was so neat to see the dynamics of how impactful it is for a Christian man to minister to another Christian Man. On that note, please continue to pray that more and more Peruvian men will come to know Christ and join us in the work of sharing the gospel all over Peru. It was a huge encouragement to me that another fellow missionary that lives in a city an hour and a half away would take the time to come and pour into someone that is a part our team. That really blessed my heart as well.
After that we all sent down to eat a yummy chicken dinner from the restaurant down the street, helped John get his lesson plans ready for the following day for his classes in the school where he is teaching the Bible, and celebrated early Mark Clancy’s birthday. We had a surprise birthday cake for him! The whole night was just a joy to be a part of!
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