...
Who knew God would use something as simple as a Coke bottle to open a door and bring a deeper understanding of a heart and the issues there that needed to be dealt with. I mean...I guess I did know that...but somehow it still comes as a surprise to me some days...how God uses the simplest things.
One of the guys came into my room last week. He sat on the bed and we started making normal small talk. We chatted for a couple of minutes and then he got kind of quiet. I just sat there, since I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Then he started to tear up, and I really wasn’t sure what was going on.
Then he started to apologize for different things...none of which seemed that severe to me...but for all of which, I assured him that he had my forgiveness. Then eventually, as I thought he might, he got around to what was really on his heart. In the midst of the tears, he asked for forgiveness for his pride and how he’s treated me at times. That caught me off-guard. Not that he didn’t need to ask for forgiveness (‘cause for sure he did), but that he was all of a sudden recognizing that.
I’ve known this young guy for a lot of years, and we’re great friends. But if there’s one guy in the house that I want to lock in a closet some days (if we had closets here)...it would be him. He can be the greatest help or the biggest pain (as I write that, I sort of wince because I can kind of imagine my mom reading and laughing...I’m pretty sure she’s said that about me on more than one occasion). With this guy though, it all comes down to his pride. I’m not going to go into great detail, but his pride is the root of a lot of the conflict he ends up having with other people (and for sure with me).
The past couple of weeks with him haven’t been that great either. He’s been working long hours at a construction site over the holidays, and has come home beyond tired. I’ve tried to give him grace for that very reason, and not sweat the small stuff. But yea...he’s been difficult. On good days that pride and attitude can come out in him. On bad days when he’s super tired? Oye...as we say here in Bolivia.
Bit by bit, he shared with me the story of what had happened that day. He’d called me in the morning and asked if I could bring him some dry work clothes he had in his room. He was mixing cement (which is done manually here) and the cement and water had soaked through the clothes he was wearing, making them really uncomfortable (and giving him blisters). I told him no problem, and headed off to his work site. He saw me when I arrived and came over while the cement he’d just mixed was hauled up to the fifth floor where they were working.
I handed over the bag, along with some buns I’d brought for him. I knew he wasn’t going to make it home that day for lunch, so I thought that might help him get to the end of the day. He said thanks and then asked if I would mind grabbing him a Coke. So I walked over to a store a couple of blocks away and bought him a Coke too. He was working again when I got back, so I just dumped the bottle on top of his clothes and took off. I really didn’t think much about any of it.
When they stopped for lunch, one of the other workers asked who the gringo who left the Coke was. So my guy explained where he lived, who I was and how I was helping him. The other worker stopped, looked my fellow right in the eye and told him that he’d been disrespectful to me when I was there...that he hadn’t been very thankful. Then he got pretty emotional and said, with tears in his eyes, that he wished he had someone like that to help him change his life.
I gather he said other things too, but it all hit my guy really hard...he was pretty emotional while he was trying to talk to me. I got a little lost. But in general, I understood that he suddenly realized how much he was taking for granted and what he was actually receiving...how many people would kill to be in his place. And he recognized how prideful he’d been in the past. Over and over he just kept asking for my forgiveness.
Since then, I can see a definite change in his attitude. It’s been like night and day. I’d been experiencing a bit of a tough time just before this, and doing the “is this ministry really succeeding” questioning thing. So this caused me to take a step back and realize that God is at work in ways that I can’t see or even imagine. I need to trust that and not second guess everything. Once again...this is not my ministry, it’s God’s. He’s brought us this far...
Thank you for your prayers. That’s a huge part of what happens here.
Who knew God would use something as simple as a Coke bottle to open a door and bring a deeper understanding of a heart and the issues there that needed to be dealt with. I mean...I guess I did know that...but somehow it still comes as a surprise to me some days...how God uses the simplest things.
One of the guys came into my room last week. He sat on the bed and we started making normal small talk. We chatted for a couple of minutes and then he got kind of quiet. I just sat there, since I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Then he started to tear up, and I really wasn’t sure what was going on.
Then he started to apologize for different things...none of which seemed that severe to me...but for all of which, I assured him that he had my forgiveness. Then eventually, as I thought he might, he got around to what was really on his heart. In the midst of the tears, he asked for forgiveness for his pride and how he’s treated me at times. That caught me off-guard. Not that he didn’t need to ask for forgiveness (‘cause for sure he did), but that he was all of a sudden recognizing that.
I’ve known this young guy for a lot of years, and we’re great friends. But if there’s one guy in the house that I want to lock in a closet some days (if we had closets here)...it would be him. He can be the greatest help or the biggest pain (as I write that, I sort of wince because I can kind of imagine my mom reading and laughing...I’m pretty sure she’s said that about me on more than one occasion). With this guy though, it all comes down to his pride. I’m not going to go into great detail, but his pride is the root of a lot of the conflict he ends up having with other people (and for sure with me).
The past couple of weeks with him haven’t been that great either. He’s been working long hours at a construction site over the holidays, and has come home beyond tired. I’ve tried to give him grace for that very reason, and not sweat the small stuff. But yea...he’s been difficult. On good days that pride and attitude can come out in him. On bad days when he’s super tired? Oye...as we say here in Bolivia.
Bit by bit, he shared with me the story of what had happened that day. He’d called me in the morning and asked if I could bring him some dry work clothes he had in his room. He was mixing cement (which is done manually here) and the cement and water had soaked through the clothes he was wearing, making them really uncomfortable (and giving him blisters). I told him no problem, and headed off to his work site. He saw me when I arrived and came over while the cement he’d just mixed was hauled up to the fifth floor where they were working.
I handed over the bag, along with some buns I’d brought for him. I knew he wasn’t going to make it home that day for lunch, so I thought that might help him get to the end of the day. He said thanks and then asked if I would mind grabbing him a Coke. So I walked over to a store a couple of blocks away and bought him a Coke too. He was working again when I got back, so I just dumped the bottle on top of his clothes and took off. I really didn’t think much about any of it.
When they stopped for lunch, one of the other workers asked who the gringo who left the Coke was. So my guy explained where he lived, who I was and how I was helping him. The other worker stopped, looked my fellow right in the eye and told him that he’d been disrespectful to me when I was there...that he hadn’t been very thankful. Then he got pretty emotional and said, with tears in his eyes, that he wished he had someone like that to help him change his life.
I gather he said other things too, but it all hit my guy really hard...he was pretty emotional while he was trying to talk to me. I got a little lost. But in general, I understood that he suddenly realized how much he was taking for granted and what he was actually receiving...how many people would kill to be in his place. And he recognized how prideful he’d been in the past. Over and over he just kept asking for my forgiveness.
Since then, I can see a definite change in his attitude. It’s been like night and day. I’d been experiencing a bit of a tough time just before this, and doing the “is this ministry really succeeding” questioning thing. So this caused me to take a step back and realize that God is at work in ways that I can’t see or even imagine. I need to trust that and not second guess everything. Once again...this is not my ministry, it’s God’s. He’s brought us this far...
Thank you for your prayers. That’s a huge part of what happens here.
1 comments:
Wow, Ken. That's awesome! :)
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