ENCOURAGING

Due to the discouraging news from the pastor, we decided to start visiting our friends in town Monday afternoon. We only had one phone number, but it was not working; therefore, we decided to just show up Monday afternoon around the time that everybody gets home from work. There is a road in town where there is a cluster of homes, all belonging to members of the same family. Only two families attend the church. We went to one of the homes, but the lady of the house was not home. One of her nephews, a boy who used to be in our English Club, came running out of another house and gave us a big hug. Pray for him, Manfred, he is now about 14 years old and needs to Lord. He told us that his aunt was out getting something from the store, but the other family next door was home.

We visited this couple. They have a 4 year old daughter who needs eye surgery to correct a birth defect. They are one of the couples who attended our couples event last time. So, we talked to them and asked what is going on. They told us that they were having marital problems. We did a little counseling and encouraging. Since they both come from abusing backgrounds, it is hard for them to have healthy discussions. They just don't know how. She tends to fly of the handle. She says she is praying that the Lord will help her control her anger. Unfortunately, she won't be able to attend our couples event this time because she is going to the capital with their daughter. The surgery is scheduled for January 19th. We had this issue of the surgery last May, but it was canceled due to a doctor's strike. We had brought a study Bible for them. Pray that they use it and learn to follow His Word.

The lady next door came home, saw our car and came over. She works on Sundays because she works in a hotel. She had lost her job here in our compound last May, and this is what she could find. Since most jobs depend on tourism here, the economic crisis has hit them hard. She said that she will be in church Thursday.

We then went to visit another family on the other side of town. This is a middle age couple with two teen-agers. They are upset at the pastor for not supporting them on their time of need. She is having female problems and needs a hysterectomy. Since they have socialized medicine here, just as with the little girl above, she has to wait for her turn in the hospital. Right now she doesn't know when her surgery will be. In the mean time, she is on bed rest. The problem with that is that she and her husband were care takers of a property. She cooked and cleaned the house and her husband kept the grounds. Well, since she had to quit because of her health, her husband had to quit also. The owners want a couple. Now neither of them have jobs. They are very discouraged, and as I said, they feel that the pastor doesn't visit them and gives them the spiritual support that they need. We tried to encourage them also. We also had a study bible for them. Please pray for these families and for wisdom for the pastor. He and his wife also work taking care of a property, but the main problem, we feel, is that since he is not considered a pastor under the rules of his denomination, his own pastor expects him to participate in the big church as the other members. He just doesn't have much time for visitation, and besides, counseling is not his strong suit. He is a good Bible teacher.

It seems that the Lord has given us a ministry of encouragement. Wherever we travel, we end up encouraging the Christians we meet. Carlos from Christ for the City asked us to enroll in a class to learn to counsel and minister to missionaries. We will start the class on line on January 16th. Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom, and that we can use what we learn here and in other places. We need wisdom on how to approach the subject of counseling with the pastor. We are having lunch with him and his wife tomorrow, but we are not sure on what to say at this time. He sees their discouragement as falling away from the Lord and as bad witness for the community.

Last night we went out with another couple from that first family group. They are good friends, but unbelievers. He had a snake bite last July and almost died. I mentioned that he needed to be sure he knows where he is going when he dies, even though the Lord spared him this time. It was quite an ordeal for him. There is a doctor and a clinic here, but they did not have anti-venom (They do now!). He said that he waited for an hour as the finger kept swelling up while the doctor went on line trying to figure out what to do. Well, he ended us going home on his motorcycle, picking up his wife, and then driving in their car to the nearest hospital 90 minutes away. By the time he got there, it had traveled up his arm almost to his heart. He spent four days in the hospital, but even after that, he had problems with constricted throat and blotches that would appear, and he had to go the the clinic a few times. He was home four weeks, but the company here paid his salary because the injury occurred at work. This is a delightful couple. Please pray for their salvation. We have known them from the beginning.

This morning John went golfing and I took a walk by myself. On the way home, I decided to stop by our American friends here. They live in the same condos as we do but full-time. They also have had a rough year due to illness, and the economic crisis has hit them as well. This couple accepted the Lord a few years ago and were attending an English-speaking church, but their walk is not consistent. John and I had talked about getting together with them, but I was sick and had not called them. Well, it turns out that today is their wedding anniversary, and they had nothing planned, so, when I asked them if they wanted to go out to dinner, they were glad to do it. We will go to the new Beach Club here tonight and watch the sunset, which is always a beautiful sight from there.

Pray for us as we try to encourage our friends here. Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom: "Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances." Prov.25:11

Until next time...from the beach...