Election Day

God is so faithful, even when I do not want to do things or dread doing things that I know I have been called to, He always brings about something incredible that I never would have expected. That is exactly what happened on Election Day this past April. The Peruvians in late April had mandatory voting for the presidential election. This was the first out of two sessions. There were 5 running candidates and it was narrowed down to two after this session: Keiko and Ollanta. Anyway, Amanda and I had planned to go to the voting lines and pass out bracelets that shared the gospel. The bracelets have the arrows that represent:
Jesus came
Jesus died
Jesus rose again
Jesus went back to Heaven
Jesus one day will come again and all those who have put their faith in Him will go to Heaven with him forever
Last year in October Nancy and I had seen huge long lines on election day for the mayor or something like that and had gotten to give out several hundred bracelets. I decided that we would take advantage of this voting day again this year. Amanda woke up sick that Sunday morning and could not go, and I of course overslept. For those of you who know me that is normal. I was feeling very guilty for not getting there as early as I should have, but then I found out that there really were not lines this year. There were for only maybe the first hour but not all day like the last elections. This election was a lot more organized I guess. People were just going straight into vote, so there was no way I could really give the people the bracelets because they were walking straight into vote. I looked across the street and there were tons of vendors selling food to all the people who come by to vote. I started going to the little stands and asking people if they wanted bracelets. At first people were not really receptive, but then others that were watching started wondering what was going on and wanted bracelets. Although, I did not give out the 500 bracelets like I was expecting, I was able to give out about 30 and have about 5 very significant and long conversations about the gospel.
The conversation that was most incredible to me was a lady that was about 50 years old. That day was her first day to sell in that city, she normally sells cookies and soft drinks in another town. She started telling me what she believed and talking about how if you were good that is how you get favor with God to have eternal life. Then she asked me if that was correct? I told her no that it could only be through faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, that we could never gain salvation by ourselves. Of course the conversation was way longer and more intense, but it was just amazing seeing the Holy Spirit work because normally people never ask me “am I wrong in thinking this way in my beliefs?” That was an open door to share the good news that is only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved. I am going to visit her soon, hopefully next week and hopefully we will start meeting weekly to study the Bible.
Dircectly after that, I had house church at 3 Regiones. I honestly arrived just in time for it to start and did not have time to invite anyone. I honestly did not think anyone was going to come because it was election day and had not studied the lesson, I just knew what it was. Horrible to say..I know. Anyway, before I know it several teenage girls show up. It was probably the best house church we have ever had. They came on their own and even invited a new girl. We actually did the lesson from the week before because known of them had been there besides one lady. God was gracious to me and gave me the opportunity to do a lesson I was prepared for. We literally spent at least one hour reading a ton from the Bible about creation and Adan and Eve. The whole way through the teenagers were participating and answering questions. They were so eager to learn! It was a beautiful time together.
In Summary of the day, even though I was so unprepared on so many levels such as sleeping in late and not having my lesson ready for house church, God did an amazing work in spite of myself. He is so gracious and powerful! God also reminded me that sharing with the masses the gospel is really good, but also on the same token talking to a few individuals in a really in depth way about the gospel is equally important and can also at times be much more effective! We serve an amazing God.