Not too long ago I referred to a man who was a lay pastor and is being very instrumental in reaching "Ticos" (Costa Ricans) for the Lord. As is often the case, Satan isn't happy about that and began to attack with a vengence. First Jose suffered a heart attack, but quickly recovered and continued to work hard going from place to place preaching and witnessing. Then family problems began. First, a son sadly confided to his parents that his novia (girlfriend) was pregnant. Then his brother revealed the same news about his novia, who just happened to be the sister of his brother's girlfriend. Well, you can imagine that this caused quite a family disturbance. The parents of the boys were very discouraged. ( I really don't know about the girls' parents, although I expect they weren't too happy either.) We were all saddened, and a little angry at the boys. They are boys who have shown signs of being dedicated Christian young men...should know better, and the surprising outcome of the story doesn't excuse their actions. However, as it turns out, the girls weren't pregnant at all, but both had made up the story...I suppose vying for marriage...who knows?
Anyway, please pray for Jose, Felicia and their boys...might want to pray for the girls too.
Also, pray for Gilberth and his family. He is struggling with an old problem of alcohol. Pray that they will find some fellow believers with whom to associate and have some support.
We just returned from a week in Guatemala for a regional meeting of missionaries. It was generally a good meeting, but one particular situation impressed and gave me cause to be thankful. During one time of praise and prayer, we were invited to just pray for a time, either alone or with someone else. I prayed for a while, then sat up and just looked around...not trying to be nosey, but just observing all the people praying. One particular thing I saw warmed my heart. A teen-age boy, 16 or so, turned to his friend, another young man, and asked him to pray with him. The two of them bowed in prayer for some time. They are missionary kids, so what do you expect? Well, it isn't always the case, but it made my heart glad to see these two big, strapping (both well over 6 ft) guys praying together. Pray that they will remain faithful to the Lord as they grow and won't ever be too "macho" to pray with a friend.
Pray also for a team that is coming from California to help do some research and scripture distribution in an unreached area in a couple of weeks. Pray that God will use us and allow us to see what we need to in order to plan strategy for reaching into that area.
