Our final day in Namasigue was almost beyond words. I’m emotionally overwhelmed, and incredibly sad to be leaving this community. I also have great joy because of how good God is, and how powerfully He has worked in Namasigue this week.
Today the medical team treated 180 more patients in the clinic which makes a four-day total of 655! Great work by everyone who participated in the brigade and made such a HUGE impact on this community.
The evangelism team had an overwhelming day. We began by studying with a couple who had invited us into their home. The husband plays soccer with Javier, and asked us to come and study.
Studying with Meylin Cardenas and her husband…
All of us had the opportunity to teach, and the wife decided to commit her life to Jesus Christ. The husband could not be convinced and said that he would wait for his wife to lead him. This was very curious to all of us since he had invited us to their home.
Baptizing our new sister in Christ…
After the study we went down to the river, and I was blessed to be able to baptize her into Jesus Christ. Praise God!
Later that day, we visited with a young lady who is the sister of Sindy and Yerika that were baptized yesterday. We studied with her for a long time, and she kept saying that she was not ready.
Studying with Rut Castro…
Javier said the we should go, so everyone started to head toward the van, but Espartaco kept teaching. Javier came back and the two of them continued to study with Rut. She decided that she wanted to commit to Jesus, and again we headed to the river. Dondi was blessed to be able to baptize her into Jesus Christ! Praise God!
Dondi baptizing our new sister in Christ…
From there we visited with a family to drop off a sack of food. Javier had explained that the children of the house had been faithful in attending the local church since it was planted, but the mother had never committed to Christ. He said that he hoped she would be open to study in the future.
As we came to the house, Javier asked me to pray as we dropped off the food. I prayed that the mother, Norma, would open her heart to the study of God’s Word, and ultimately commit her life to Jesus. As I finished the prayer, she said that she was ready to study right now, so I began to teach her.
Studying with Norma Matute…
As I was studying with Norma, Javier went across the street and began studying with another family. I had only been teaching for 15 or 20 minutes, and could tell that she was very open to the message. I asked her if she wanted to commit her life to Jesus and be baptized for the remission of her sins. She immediately said YES, and gave me a big hug!
As we were taking Norma to the van to head toward the river, Javier came and said that a woman named Rixa from across the street also wanted to be baptized, and that there were others on the same street that wanted to study.
Espartaco, Wayne, Dondi and I headed to another family down the road, while Javier and some of the young men studied with a gentleman across the street.
We studied with a man named Pedro and his mother. Pedro’s wife was already a member of the church. As with Norma, I could tell that Pedro was very open to the message, and very shortly asked if he wanted to commit. He also said YES very quickly.
Studying with Pedro Munoz and his mother…
Pedro’s mother said that she knew what she needed to do, but would do it later after thinking about it for a while. All of us studied with her at length about the urgency of making a commitment, because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Unfortunately, she could not be convinced.
As Espartaco, Dondi & Wayne were studying with her, I headed across the street to where Javier was studying with a young man named Darwin. He had spent eight years in America, and had just recently come back to Namasigue.
Javier studying with Darwin Munoz…
While Javier was studying with him, Darwin said that he wanted to commit his life to Jesus Christ and be baptized. We also received word that one of the men on the evangelism team, Erminio Armas, had a 13-year-old son who wanted to be baptized.
Baptizing Christian Armas…
The evangelism team traveled to the river with the five who wanted to be baptized. I was blessed to be able to baptize them into Jesus Christ! Praise God!
Baptizing Rixa Jarquin…
After the baptisms, Javier exhorted the two men who were baptized to work towards being leaders in the local church in Namasigue.
Rejoicing with our new brothers and sisters in Christ…
From there we delivered several food bags to various members of the local church. We also visited with the mother of a young lady who had been working with the evangelism team, Yeny Guevara. Yeny’s mother is suffering from Leukemia and will soon begin chemotherapy treatments. Javier offered a prayer for her mother, and told a story about a critical medical condition he had earlier in his life that God had brought him through.
Kaitlyn Jamison from Maple Hill was with the team in the afternoon, and was able to share with Yeny that her mother had also had cancer. Yeny, and most of the members of the evangelism team began to cry. It was quite an emotional moment in the midst of a very emotional day.
Next, we visited with the Armas family. With the baptism of Christian, and the repentance of Hector earlier in the week, all of the members of the Armas family are now christians. The father, Erminio, asked that we pray to thank God that his entire family were now servants of God.
We came back to the church building well after dark, and began to say our goodbyes to everyone. As we were packing up the van, Javier came back and said that there were two more young ladies who had been studying and wanted to be baptized. He asked me if I would stay and baptize these two girls.
Baptizing Wendy Estrada…
It was well after dark, and not possible to go to the river, so Javier said that we could use the wash area inside his house.
Baptizing Gabriela Mendoza…
Being able to baptize these two young ladies was another great ending to another awesome day, and an incredible week. In all, 21 people committed their lives to Christ and were baptized this week. Praise God!
It was really tough to leave Namasigue, and to say goodbye to Javier, Espartaco, and the rest of the evangelism team. There is a part of my soul that is in Namasigue, and I can’t wait to go back again.