Rafael had told me they were going to buy a new bike for Elisabet because she had borrowed one before that had no gear box. She did not think she could bike all the way here again without the option for lower gears.
Unfortunately, they got to the bike shop after it closed Saturday night. So, yesterday morning, they decided to bring their truck to come study. However, personal vehicles are prohibited on the weekends. The police stopped them and turned them back.
I had suggested from the beginning that they take a combi, but they didn’t want to because they could get Covid from people in the combi. Never mind that they run a store where people come in and out all day.
They were to be here at 8:00, so they left Izcuchaca in their truck at 8:30–and were turned back. They then got a combi. I picked them up at the end of the lane at 9:15. Steph and I were prepared to delay the morning service.
We served them breakfast and coffee and chatted while they ate. I sent the children upstairs to color while we studied. China was able to watch them, which was a huge help and kept them quiet.
Elisabet said she wanted to use her Catholic Bible because she didn’t trust our Protestant Bible, so I told her to bring it. We started our study by comparing an English Christian Bible, a Spanish Christian Bible, and the Spanish Catholic Bible. I then gave them a brief history of the church and how we got our Bible translations.
They were both surprised to learn that the books in our Bible were the same as theirs. They merely have extra books. When I explained why our compilation doesn’t have those extra books, it made sense to them. They have been told all their lives that the Christians wrote their own Bible and are simply a cult. This was an eye-opening experience for them.
They then had questions about specific teachings: mass, confession, praying, and so on. They had a good idea of some things we differed on. So, we went to the Bible and found answers. We had three Bibles out on the table, and we compared them all each time.
Elisabet kept asking why they do certain things if the Bible teaches differently. She had a notebook along where she made notes of ideas and references to study later. I helped them find a Bible on their phone so they could more easily study in a modern Spanish translation. They don’t care for the Bible versions that use the Spanish from Spain, which is different in various ways from Latin American Spanish (think British English versus American English).
We stopped our discussion around 12:00. I gave them a booklet from Luz y Vida in Huaral that goes through the Book of John and looks at the life of Jesus. They plan to study that this week and bring it back to discuss next Sunday.
Pray for them. God is speaking truth to their hearts, but the enemy doesn’t want any of us to walk in the Light. He will be working against them this week.
We went ahead with lunch and then I took them back out the lane. They found a combi to Izcuchaca. We then had naps after which we had our Sunday morning service. I edited the sermon and sent it out to my normal group before supper.
It felt like a bit of an upside-down day, and I was fully tired mentally by the end, but we felt blessed to have been able to share God’s Word with our friends.
Juan David 