Nathanael gives us a "guest post" about his recent trip. To that end, we have printed and sent a paper copy of the newest newsletter. As soon as that hits mailboxes, we'll be sending the e-mail version. Be on the lookout there are some "big" updates :)
It was about 7pm and we were hungry. Misael and I decided to go look for dinner. We ended up at a pupuseria. It was a long, tiring, good day. It started early in the morning with the church. After church, we dropped everyone off and headed to Belmopan, the capital of Belize for a short hike. In Guanacaste Park, we saw a family of coatimundis, monkeys, and the normal tropical birds.
I knew the area where we were eating our pupusas, a kind of stuffed corn tortilla with queso and pollo, with a bunch of pepper sauce on the top. Seven months prior I had dropped a family of 5 with a Deaf mom and dad off in the area so they could walk the rest of the way home. Misael and I decided to try to find them after we ate.
We drove to the area and walked around in the dark asking people, in Spanish if they knew a Deaf family in the area. With each response, we were closer and closer to finding them. Finally after about a half hour a young guy who spoke English hoped off his bike and walked us down a path past many houses with dim lights and a lot of barking dogs, warning us of our intrusion. The young man pointed in a direction where he said there was a house with a red roof. The only electric in the area were a few personal solar panels. Finally we found the house and called to the family.
The family was a little fearful and didn’t respond until I shined my flashlight on my face. I then heard my friends Deaf voice say, “Tortuga.” My nick name in sign language is Turtle, but that’s a story for another time. Immediately they opened the door and welcomed us in. After 5 minutes I had a 2-month-old in my hands to bless and kiss. It was difficult to communicate in sign language with the dim lights. I agreed to give them my rechargeable flashlight to help in the future with their communication. Misael and I invited the Deaf man on a hike the next day.
We picked Sandino up at 8 and headed to the jungle. We spent the day exploring caves, cenotes, and cascading waterfalls. I’m sure Jesus came up here and there, but I wasn’t intentional about it. I focused on enjoying the time and building relationship. At the end of the day, Sandino asked me about salvation and baptism. Misael and I decided to invite the family for Pizza. We 4 adults sat together as Misael and I laid out the gospel. What an amazing conversation initiated by the prompting of the Holy Spirit to Sandino. Please pray for Sandino and his wife Elena as we continue to find opportunities to minister to them.
