God’s timing

  

30-3-2014

“But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God's purposes know no haste and no delay” (The Desire of Ages, 30.1)

Last Sunday I was up at 4:30 a.m. to get some study time in, because at 5:30 it was my turn to help prepare breakfast in the kitchen. Directly after breakfast I had a group of colporteurs[i] to keep occupied until mid-afternoon. I did not relish the thought of packing books around all day under the hot sun, especially after already laboring for two hours over the cooking fire! By the time the water boiled, I had half-decided that we would stay on campus. I would have the kids work on their door-presentations, which they still needed to memorize anyway. On the other hand, I knew the kids could use some practice in the field. I only have a few more Sundays here with them this year before I have to leave, so I need to take advantage!

But then I heard there were drunken festivities in Yata, our chosen territory for the day. Oh great, I thought. That is the last thing we need! I could already picture potentially awkward and even dangerous scenarios. That settles it, we’ll definitely stay here today! I thought, happy for what seemed like a completely legitimate excuse. But suddenly I was strongly impressed with the selfishness of my decision. Don’t those people need God just as much even if they’re drunk? My thoughts took on a different tone. You know the holy angels are with you! You have nothing to be afraid of!

So I went and talked to drunk people in three different houses. At our first visit, a young man invited us inside. He had obviously been drinking, but he listened to us respectfully and was able to respond with a semblance of intelligence. Meanwhile a toddler played on the dirt floor, occasionally looking up with wide, startled eyes. The man expressed interest in our materials, but said he had no money, so we prayed with him and gave him a GLOW tract. After we left, Gina, the student I was working with was teary-eyed.

“It is so different out here than it is in the internado[ii]!”

“What do you mean?” I was surprised at her emotion.

“Being in that house brought back bad memories!” She paused, and I waited for her to see if she would say more. “I am so glad I am at the internado! I am so glad God brought me here! I was thinking about leaving, but I don’t want to anymore. I want to stay here for all four years of high school! That man back there reminded me of my dad.” she added.

As we continued down the street to the next house I tried to encourage her as my heart overflowed with joy to see the working of the Holy Spirit. Thank God! Even if Gina’s epiphany turns out to be the only reward for the day’s labors it will be worth it!

In the background thumped the heavy ubiquitous rhythms from a conglomeration of raucous party music. 

“This music is awful!” Gina continued. “It brings back bad memories! I’d rather be at the school singing hymns!”  

At the next house two young inebriates sobered visibly as I presented to them some DVD’s on the Great Controversy. They bought the whole set on the spot, and I could hear them playing it already as we walked to the next house where we sold Steps to Christ and Bible Readings for the Home to a very interested elderly woman while we also humored the conversation of her drunken brother.  

 

Today we went back to Yata and sold nearly $100 worth of material in a couple hours of time. That is big spending for the little town of Yata, where previous efforts never netted much more than about a tenth of that amount! Even more surprising was the level of interest in nearly every home. I’ve never seen anything like it here before! Even those who were unable to purchase anything listened intently to our presentation and expressed a desire to acquire our materials. Praise God for His sobering Holy Spirit that is counteracting the foul inebriating spirits that have so long held this village captive! 

            For years now I have been frustrated at what seems to me such slow progress of the gospel in Yata, including our delayed church construction project. But next month the church will finally have a roof! A sawmill was built in Yata just last year, and it began operation a few months ago. The new mayor, Richard Cordero, has four of his kids in our school, and has promised to speak to the mill owner and secure us a discount on the lumber we will need for the roof! Combine all that with this suddenly-heightening level of spiritual interest! Coincidence? I don’t think so. God always has his timing![iii]

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[i] Colporteurs are door-to-door booksellers. Our main goal in colporteuring is to meet new people and find opportunities to do good and to share Christ. The books we sell contain life-changing material that has been of inestimable value in our own lives. (The quote at the beginning of this story comes from The Desire of Ages, one of the books we carry. It is widely recognized as the best and most complete commentary on the life of Christ in existence.)

[ii] Internado is Spanish for boarding school, and it is the name that most people use for our school since we are the only boarding school in the area.

[iii] Another factor not to be ignored in all this is the flooding we’ve had this year all across the northeastern part of the country. I think God is using it to make people reflect. If a life’s worth of work and savings can be swept away in moments, maybe it is time to look for something sure and more lasting!

“I practiced what I learned in class teacher!”

A few weeks ago I was in the garden with Adrian working the compost pile.  Adrian is one of our graduating seniors this year. He lives in the nearby community of Yata and has attended our school since he was an eighth-grader. He has never been one for many words, but he has a soft heart for the things of God. According to his mom, when he was still very small, he received a blow to his head when his father came home drunk on the motorcycle. As a result, he has a lazy eye and slightly slow speech that belies a quick mind and hard-working hands. As we worked at chopping up the kitchen scraps and piled new layers of fresh cut grass, partially decomposed sawdust, and other organic materials, I asked Adrian what he did over vacation.

“I worked.” he answered me in his characteristically terse style.

“With your dad?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you do?” I hoped he didn’t find my persistent interrogation annoying, but past experience told me not to give up too soon. One thing I love about getting out to work with the students, in addition to the exercise, is the opportunity it gives me to get to know them better. As we work together, a bond of confidence forms between us that seems to be lacking in the classroom. Many times our work-time conversations provide me with opportunities to advise and encourage as we speak of things close to the heart. Other times I am the one who is advised and encouraged.

“We made chive.[i] My father is a farmer.”

“Do you use your own yucca to make it?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you help your dad in the chaco[ii]”

Adrian smiled. “My dad would never take me to the chaco. He didn’t think I could do it. This year I asked him to take me at least one day, and I cut more brush than he did!”

“I bet he didn’t want to let you stay home after that!”

“Yeah. He asked me where I learned to use the machete like that.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“Here at the school!”

“You didn’t go to the safra[iii] this year?”

“Yes, we went with my dad and my uncle. I put in practice what I learned in class” he smiled.

“Really? That’s great! What did you practice?” I prodded.

“That first-aid stuff from Teacher Susie’s class. My uncle had an accident, he shot himself in the neck with a .22.” Adrian said it with a calmness that astounded me. I had heard about the accident several weeks before we returned to Bolivia, but no one had told me that Adrian had administered first aid!

“So you were there when it happened, or did they call you?”

“Yeah, we were in the boat with my dad and they were all drunk. My uncle saw the other guy’s gun and asked him if it was loaded. He said ‘no’ so my uncle started pointing it around and then he was pointing it at himself and fired. There was blood everywhere. Nobody knew what to do. I was so scared, but I put pressure on the wound like we learned in class. Dad was trying to start the boat, but it didn’t want to start. I just prayed, and the boat started and we got him back to town.”

“Wow, thank God you were there and you remembered what to do! Do you realize that you probably saved your uncle’s life?”

“Nah, I don’t think so.” Adrian dismissed the idea with a chuckle.

“Well, of course God saved him,” I revised my statement. “But He used you to do it! What do you think would have happened if you weren’t there! Your uncle would have bled to death!”

Later I found out that there was even more to the story. When Adrian’s uncle shot himself, all the men in the boat despaired. When they saw the blood they didn’t know what to do. The uncle wanted to shoot himself again, because he said he would rather die quickly than slowly bleed to death. But Adrian took charge of the situation, made them put the gun away, and told his dad to start the boat and head for town. He applied pressure to the wound, and he prayed. When Adrian told me that he had prayed, I imagined him praying silently in his head. But I heard later that according to the uncle, Adrian prayed out loud for nearly the entire trip down the river! I think it is safe to say that that  has impacted him even more than the bullet did!

“Adriancito prayed for me! He prayed that God would save me. That’s why I am alive!” So far, the uncle hasn’t had another drop of alcohol, praise the Lord! His son Alex, another student of ours is hoping to start giving him Bible studies.

Sometimes it is tempting to feel like we are wasting our time at this little school out here in the sticks. But God has the best ways of humbling my selfish heart and self-important pride! He shows His transforming power, and his faithful hand, mighty to save! He is doing a work here, in spite of our blunders, and I feel so privileged to be a little part of it. May He continue to work His wonders and transform us all!

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[i] Chive is a made from shredded cassava that is soaked, cured, and dried. Toasted with onions and other flavorings it makes a very tasty and popular topping for rice and beans.  

[ii] The chaco is the land that is cleared by slash and burn and then planted in crops like rice, yucca, or plantain.

[iii] The safra is the Brazil nut harvest

Out of Nowhere

How is it possible to gather a team of volunteer staff for the new school year in two-weeks time when you have been unable to get anyone during the last four months? Well, when God tells us that with Him all things are possible, He is not joking around! Is He ever amazing! He has provided teachers at the very last minute seemingly out of nowhere. What a spectacular answer to prayer! Thank-you, all of you who have been praying with us for this need! ALL of our classes our covered, only one teacher has not arrived yet because of the severe flooding in her part of the country, but she is on her way (by boat) and should arrive this week! Let me quickly tell you how it all happened.

Despite multiple contacts with promising prospective staff families during the vacation, up until two weeks ago, we had only eight teachers confirmed for this school year. At minimum, we need double that in order to fully operate. When Lyli and I arrived only Scott and Min were here. We started working on the paperwork that the district office of education requires to begin the school year and kept praying for teachers.

One day, Ximena, one of our former students who graduated two years ago stopped by.

“I want to volunteer this year.” She told us. She is going to change majors and schools, but she decided to take the year off as a student missionary during the transition! Praise the Lord! Meanwhile, Cornelio and Susie had just arrived in Santa Cruz when a young man showed up at the TV station wanting to know how he could become a volunteer. His name is David Flores, and he has previous experience in educational work. He later told us how he happened to come by the TV station looking for work. Turns out he was riding one of the hundreds of city buses when a pastor that he had met a long time ago got on board. They recognized each other and struck up a conversation. David expressed his interest in missions and the pastor suggested that he go to the TV station and talk to David Gates. He decided to do so the very next day. After a brief interview, David Gates recommended that he work at the school and told him to talk to Cornelio.

Right about the same time, Cornelio was talking with a volunteer family at the TV station from Argentina. When they heard we were looking for teachers, they recommended some teacher friends of theirs back in Argentina. Cornelio spoke with them by phone, and after a brief interview, they decided to come immediately. Fabian is a primary school teacher and his wife Eliana teaches high-school math, science and history! Best of all, they have read many of the same books on educational reform and have a good understanding of the unique program that we operate here! What a blessing! One more teacher appeared when Cornelio and Susie went to visit the missionary training institute in Quebrada Leon in the mountains a couple hours out of Santa Cruz. The directors’ son, Benjamin Kim had previously expressed interest in volunteering at our school, and he decided to come for at least the first half of the year. He is teaching health, biology and bible classes.

Well, that was all good news, but we still had some big holes to fill. Would God provide for those too, or would he choose to let us start short-handed? We kept praying. Right before school started, the local churches asked if they could use our facilities for a four-day campout March 1-4. We weren't too excited about it, but Cornelio had already said yes back in December, before he knew that we would have to move up the date for the first day of school to the 5^th of March! Well, all the extra company to wait on (We had around 100 people there) and all the noise and such was not our idea of nice or what we had hoped for during the last few days before the students arrived. There is always extra trash to pick up and buildings to clean after a crowd like that comes through! Also, common decency demands that we would take some time to visit and socialize, something that seemed rather low on the priority list when there was so much to do to be ready for classes on Wednesday. I had to ask God to give me an extra measure of grace, change my attitude, and somehow use me to be a blessing during the weekend. Praise God, He answered, and helped me make good on that several times over the weekend.

But the biggest surprise of the long weekend was the dialogue that sprung up between Cornelio and one family of campers. Jose Luis and his wife Nadia are faithful leaders in their local congregation here in Guayaramerin. We got to know them a little bit last year, but we never dreamed they could be potential volunteer teachers!

“All this disorder must be hard for you” Nadia commented to Cornelio as a passel of noisy children went rushing by. Cornelio smiled and admitted that it is not his favorite.

“I like things to be in order too” she said. “I don’t let my kids just run wild!” As they continued chatting, Cornelio mentioned our need for more staff this year. Later on Nadia and her husband Jose Luis approached Cornelio and said they were interested and wanted to know more. We had an interview, and they said they would pray about it and let us know by Sunday. Classes were scheduled to start on Wednesday. Despite some recent financial setbacks including several debts and having their motorcycle stolen, they decided to come work with us as fulltime volunteers along with their four children! God honored that step of faith and all their debts were paid the same Sunday that they came to the school. In addition, Jose’s mother, who has been opposed to him, his marriage, and his faith, gave him a motorcycle! Nor does the story end there. The floodwaters have now arrived here to Guayara, and the house where Nadia and Jose lived was completely inundated and has collapsed! God in His infinite wisdom knew just who needed to be here this year, not only so we would have the help we need, but also so a family of his faithful servants would have the help they needed before they even knew they would need it! Oh, one other blessing that came out of our camp meeting: we met a man who knows the mayor and helped us get approval to have several dump-truck loads of "gravel" donated to fix our driveway that has fallen into rather sorry disrepair!

I find myself asking: What would have happened if we had told the churches that they couldn’t come for their campout? How many blessings do we daily lose because of our selfishness?