I've mentioned it before, but one of the big problems of working with people in Latin America is that their "religion" is so ingrained in their culture and social life. Here's an example.
Last week one of our missionary couples, Brent and Savannah Sorrels, scheduled a baptism service for several new believers...a happy occasion...They knew that some of the people were still moderately attending the Catholic church, while at the same time, attending our Bible study group. They had accepted Christ and the Sorrels really believe they are saved, but leaving the very center of your cultural and social life is hard.
What they didn't know was that one of the young girls who was to be baptized was going to be "confirmed" in the Catholic church the very same day. What do you do? How do you deal with this? This young girl doesn't see the dichotomy in the issue. She doesn't know much about Catholic doctrine. All she really knows is the Catholic youth group, which is fun and where all her friends are. Every young person is confirmed. She says mass is boring and she doesn't understand it, but youth group is contemporary and fun. (Does this sound familiar?)
Such are the ongoing problems of a missionary.
