MISSION REPORT 7
At this point in our time in Guatemala, our young adults have preached for a week and a half. Now we are giving appeals from the front every night for people to accept Christ, accept the Sabbath and accept Baptism. We have covered most of the “testing truths” so we are giving an appeal every night until the end.
The Churches hear do not use “Decision cards” like most evangelists in the United States do. At the conclusion of the message, we begin the invitation and we invite people to raise their hands, to stand and to come forward. It is very common for the Guatemalian pastors to spend 20-30 minutes in making an appeal. Also, it is common for the elders and the deaconesses to come alongside of specific guests and quietly and gently urge them to respond to the appeal, come forward, give their heart to Christ and make a decision for baptism. In the United States, our culture would be very distressed at what would seem to us to be major pressure put on us if we were a guest at a meeting. However here, that is not a negative factor. In fact, last night, I gave an 8-10 minute appeal before the baptism of 4 people.
At this point in our time in Guatemala, our young adults have preached for a week and a half. Now we are giving appeals from the front every night for people to accept Christ, accept the Sabbath and accept Baptism. We have covered most of the “testing truths” so we are giving an appeal every night until the end.
The Churches hear do not use “Decision cards” like most evangelists in the United States do. At the conclusion of the message, we begin the invitation and we invite people to raise their hands, to stand and to come forward. It is very common for the Guatemalian pastors to spend 20-30 minutes in making an appeal. Also, it is common for the elders and the deaconesses to come alongside of specific guests and quietly and gently urge them to respond to the appeal, come forward, give their heart to Christ and make a decision for baptism. In the United States, our culture would be very distressed at what would seem to us to be major pressure put on us if we were a guest at a meeting. However here, that is not a negative factor. In fact, last night, I gave an 8-10 minute appeal before the baptism of 4 people.
Then the pastor gave an appeal from the baptistery after the baptism, which went for 40 minutes! During that appeal, I left the platform and came down into the pews/benches where a young man was being invited forward by one of the deaconesses, but he was hesitant. I motioned to him, held out my hand. He took it, and then we walked to the front. After that, I saw the spouse of one the deaconesses who is a member, but has some sinful lifestyle issues, and I walked back to where he was sitting and held out my hand, he stood up, took it, and we walked to the front, where I put my hand on his shoulder and on the shoulder of the young man who I had just led up to the front. Then a woman in her mid to late twenties was in the back and an Elder had been speaking with her. The pastor had continued his appeal while about 12-18 people including 3 young adult couples came forward. So during his appeal, as he looked toward this twenty-something woman, he said to me in his halting English, “Pastor Ray, I need your help.” By then I knew what he meant, so I walked to the back of the church, held out my hand to “Brenda” as I later learned her name was, and she came over and we walked to the front.
Maybe in the United States we would not use those actions as to those in our culture, they might seem too intense. But it made me think, “Do I care for souls so much, that I am willing to move out of my comfort zone, and do whatever it takes, to lead someone to give their life to Christ and make a commitment to live completely for Christ in the middle of this ‘Great Controversy’ zone as the final events on planet earth wind down?” Is a person’s salvation worth my moving close to them and reaching out to their heart, without fear that they might reject the invitation – just taking the risk and trusting the Holy Spirit to speak through, over and around me?
What are we doing, how are we praying, for souls in the United States?
Maybe in the United States we would not use those actions as to those in our culture, they might seem too intense. But it made me think, “Do I care for souls so much, that I am willing to move out of my comfort zone, and do whatever it takes, to lead someone to give their life to Christ and make a commitment to live completely for Christ in the middle of this ‘Great Controversy’ zone as the final events on planet earth wind down?” Is a person’s salvation worth my moving close to them and reaching out to their heart, without fear that they might reject the invitation – just taking the risk and trusting the Holy Spirit to speak through, over and around me?What are we doing, how are we praying, for souls in the United States?
No comments:
Post a Comment