A Good Day

I've been storying with two groups of women.  One group is larger, averaging 6-8 women (plus children) and the other is much smaller, averaging 3-4 women.  In the smaller group, there are two women, N and C, who have been present at each session and have really taken an interest in the stories.  (I've been a little discouraged with the larger group, because even though they allow me to tell them stories, they don't all pay attention and I'm constantly talking over them in their conversations, and they struggle to remember the stories after I've told them).

Anyways, N and C are always able to answer my review questions after I tell a story and can help me summarize the stories I've told in previous weeks.  They've even started making some connections between the stories, such as God made covenants with both Noah and Abraham, and making observations such as "How can we deny God is God if he created our entire world?" and "I don't have it, but I wish I could have faith like Abraham."  How great is that?!

Not that every story isn't important, but this past visit I shared about the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah and the story of the birth of Christ, and was nervous/excited as to how they would accept it...things could not have gone better!  They were astounded with the number of prophecies in the Old Testament that were all fulfilled by Jesus and that some were made over 700 years before his birth.  I had them read Isaiah 53 aloud, and then we chose one section and went line by line, looking up verses in the New Testament as to how each of these events came to pass in the life of Jesus.  They were very impressed :)

In talking about the Christmas story, I asked if they had heard this before.  They said they had seen a cartoon about this before and we talked about the events that are actually recorded in the Bible, versus what many have guessed to be true (such as Mary riding on a donkey, Jesus being born in a stable, etc.). We discussed how we imagine Mary must have felt and how Jesus was a descendant of the Old Testament forefathers we had talked about in previous weeks, whom God had promised to bless their family lineage.  So there were a lot of connections made which was such a joy to see after all these months.

After this, N asked me if I was an evangelical.  Now, I have been very careful to not label myself as a M or affiliate myself with any 'religion' or denomination.  I have simply said that I believe the Bible and have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  However, I will not deny anything when asked.  I told her I was, and she went further to say, "But evangelicals in the United States are different than evangelicals in Brazil, aren't they?"  I asked what she meant, and she said that evangelicals here are very prejudice toward ind. and do not accept them into their churches.  They look down upon them and do not want to have anything to do with them.  But she commented that Nick and I are not like that.  I tried to explain that this attitude is not indicative of being an evangelical and is in fact a sin.  But that all people, whether or not they are believers, struggle with sin.  I told them that the Bible tells us to love all people, our neighbors and even our enemies.  C asked if the Bible said people were equal and I was able to show them verses about how God created all people equal and desires all of us to know him.  They were very excited to hear this! (But how sad that they haven't always been told this).

We talked about how we are to love others no matter what, and they asked if this meant people of other religions too.  I said yes, however, I cannot accept other religions as true.  I talked about how the Bible tells us the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ, and that many other false teachers will come telling them their way (or religion) is true. N and C asked how they could know the difference between what is true and false, and I told them that since the Bible is completely true, we can measure everything we are told against it.  Then, I asked if they had a Bible, and when they replied no, I asked if they would like one. Both quickly replied yes, and I was able to get two new Bibles out of our car to give them.  They opened them immediately and started looking for stories I had already told them.  (Even though I tell them every week that every story I tell is from the Bible, they still seemed surprised that they could find them all in this 'book,' haha).  Since I will be telling stories about the life of Christ over the next few weeks, I suggested they read the book of Mark and they could already be familiar with some of the stories I am going to share.

Please pray for all of the K people, but especially N and C.  I truly feel they are open to the gospel truth and am praying they will understand their need for a Savior in our next meetings.  I am praying for them to share this truth with their friends and family and not have fear in accepting Christ.  (The leadership of the village has said people will not be able to remain there if they convert).  But we serve a mighty God who moves in the hearts of his people in powerful ways!