I know that Jesus is really touching my heart with the fullness of the gospel. This week I have had a good deal of time to contemplate the greatness of God, and I feel like I’m at a point where the Lord is starting to fill many more aspects of my thoughts and actions in daily life. I’ve been thinking about the true, all-encompassing and revolutionary nature of God’s Kingdom; about how it breaks down barriers and creates unity; about how it always moves past simple actions and straight to the heart and the soul. Practically speaking, this has led to a deeper compassion for those around me.

Boys in the barrio of Los Pomos

There are thousands of people in this community- hungry and searching for something. It’s clear. Some can be seen drinking or just trying to forget about the pain- about how poorly they’ve been treated- while others seek reconciliation in churches, while still others have sunken into a bitter, complaining state- though still desperately needy. Especially some of the teens have built up such strong walls of personality that it is literally impossible to talk about anything serious. Others curse God for their terrible situation, thinking he has abandoned them. It is hard to see.

Yet the desire for fulfillment remains. I mean, on Saturday I read Romans 5:1-7 to my friend Marcos and he just took it in like delicious, soul-satisfying truth. We went on to talk about the tremendous implications of this relatively small passage and, yeah, it was awesome. I praise God for it.

I praise him for everyone he has brought into my life. I have one friend, Cristino, who is suffering so severely from diabetes (and doubtless other problems) that he is literally shriveling up. Since February he has grown so insubstantial he can barely move on his own and he has open sores all over his legs- causing him pain every moment of the day. He is forty-three but he looks like he’s about seventy. He’s losing his vision and his hair is all white; a man of suffering. To see him like this brings me grief, but I make every effort to visit him and just share liberating truths from the Bible, because he is unable to leave the house and has very few Christian brothers supporting him in his struggle. Yet how powerful it is to see him praising, trusting- even giving thanks to the Lord Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth! My mind is blown away and my situation brought into perspective by this brave man.

Cristino in February

I think I’m starting to do what Tracy referred to as “finding oneself in this culture.” It will be hard parting when I leave. But for now I am just living in the Word; loving what Jesus is doing in my life and how his Spirit is working through me to impact others. It’s funny how, when it comes time to talk about profoundly Christ-centered topics I am suddenly able to speak Spanish with much more fluency. Words just flow out of me- like God is using me as a vessel for his truth. On Friday I explained to a friend the ideas of God’s transcendence over time and his supremacy as it relates to his incarnation into earth with perfect clarity, answering his questions with wisdom that I knew wasn’t my own. Afterwards he explained excitedly how he understood; how he now saw God in a new way. He thanked me and I thanked the Lord- “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

My friend Jonathan