Missions: The Hispanic Community

After we let the refugees stabilize, God led us to another case where we could practice hospitality through a neighbor that I had mentioned earlier in this blog as a person of peace. These folks came as asylees from a terrible government that had actually attacked and severely injured the husband in the family.

We had the great joy to help them monetarily as they began their life here and to invite them to the Hispanic church we attended a few times. We feel a strong bond with this family, and we have prayed with them many times. The husband says that he accepted Jesus as Lord when I used the Roman road to explain to him his need for Jesus, but we will see if it truly took root. I have since been trying fervently to teach him to pray with his heart to Jesus, to trust Him, and also to be generous to others since one of his issues is a poor handling of money.
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My wife and I also had the privelege to be invited by a small Hispanic church plant to serve them on a few occasions (My wife is Hispanic, and we both are fluent in Spanish.). After this, we felt God calling us to stay with them and serve their leadership in whatever they needed, and that is what we have done.

I won't say it has been easy for me; the culture shock is extremely intense for me. But I will say I have received a lot of healing, camaraderie, and honestly... some healthy leadership to follow. God continues to clean out my immaturity in many matters, especially as it relates to acting in love. I truly feel at home here with these brothers because they are mostly all striving to follow Jesus. When we speak about some truth in the Bible, they listen intently and take it to heart. They are hungry and thirsty for what God has for them, and what a refreshing experience it has been to be with my own kind in that sense.
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One piece of wisdom I will leave with you for this post with respect to speaking and acting in love, especially dealing with Biblical correction: Sometimes we can be right about something, but we become wrong about something when we don't speak it in love, humility, patience. Basically, if you are in the business of conquering people instead of reconiling people, you've missed the whole point.
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My wife and I have been strong elements of the Hispanic community since before our marriage, and we are excited to be going deeper into it as the Lord allows.