First Baptist Church of Middleton, Tennessee sent five super folks to work with us last week. We spent the week working in San Francisco de Coronado in the shadow of an interesting old Gothic style Catholic church and in a rough area with the unlikely name of Eden. Working with some members of a Baptist church located a few barrios away, we spent the week going door to door, chatting with people, and distributing the gospel of John to each family. In all, 1930 copies were given out.
The first morning was spent prayer walking (just what it sounds like...walking down every street and praying for the families and asking God to bless them and our work). Being the rainy season, we quickly changed our schedule when the first afternoon was washed out by torrential rain. The rest of the week we started earlier and worked through the noon hour. By the time we had finished lunch each day, around 2:30-3:00, the rain started, and we were pretty much through for the day. It worked out fine.
It's always interesting to talk with the people.Very seldom are they antagonistic or discourteous. Like everywhere, they are busy, but after we explain who we are and what we are doing, they seem to appreciate it. A few want to chat and a few want to have a real discussion. Most, of course, take the little book, thank us, and return to the house. Getting the attention of people is something people from the states aren't used to. Most houses don't have door bells, but virtually all houses have iron fences. You have to tap on the fence with a coin or key and say, "Upe"(oo-pay) or "Buenas" loud enough for them to hear. (Hearing "upe" in the various American accents can be comical at times. Southerners can actually make the two syllable word into 4 syllables.)
People aren't ignorant of various groups. Quite a few ask if we are of a couple of particular groups. When we assure them we aren't, they seem to relax a bit and are more willing to talk. My spiel is to assure a person we aren't of those groups, but that we are Christians, evangelicos (evangelicals), Baptists, and that our purpose is that every person know Jesus as Savior and read the Bible.
Eden is a poor barrio with a lot of drug related problems. Teen-age boys in groups (gangs?) hang around the streets with their head rags on and are a little intimidating. Before we began working in that area, the Ticos (Costa Ricans) warned us not to get separated from them. They were afraid that gringos would be sure targets for the local elements. Some of them were a little hesitant as well, but they were determined to work the area. We were all impressed that after prayer-walking the area, we didn't have a single incident of harrasment or threat. In fact, we had a pretty good opportunity to talk with some of the boys and give them the gospel.
One somewhat amusing incident...One afternoon I took the group from Tennessee to see the old Gothic Catholic church. Of course, in front of every Catholic church there is a park. We were in the park and there was a group of young men, older teens, who were playing "hac-a-sac" (probably not spelled right). One of our group, a young adult decided he wanted to play with them, so he joined the group...did pretty well too. They seemed to accept him, at least as a curiosity. After he finished playing, I informed him that he needed to get himself a head rag, because he had just crashed the game of one of the local gangs. At first he was a little shaken that he had done it, then, I think, a little proud. It did give us the opportunity to give them each a copy of the gospel.
It was a good week, and at least 10 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. I don't know how many indicated that they were interested in more information, but quite a few. The pastor of the church will follow up on those.
