Praying for the Priest

Today is a cold rainy day and we made bets on the drive out to clinic about how many patients would show. Gaspar (the pessimist) won--guessing 4. So we were pretty bummed about that. But, one of the patients (a regular) who came in is an interesting guy. He is a neighbor of the family that hosts the clinic, very nice guy with a good family. But he says he doesn't worship in any of the churches in town. He is actually a priest in the Mayan tradicional religion. I asked him if he would like to visit and maybe learn a little about the word of God, and he said that he has been invited numerous times by several churches and prefers not to get involved in the problems he has seen in them. He pointed out that many so-called "christians" that he knows are people who steal on the side or preach a good sermon and have 2 or 3 mistresses behind their wives backs. He then said he tries to be a good man and provide for his family and feels like that is good enough. So we talked some more about how we are all sinners, that no one is perfect and must all answer to God for our sins, but that God offers to forgive our sins by accepting Christ's death as payment if we choose to believe and accept that forgiveness. He then went on to tell us about how many times God had spared his life and that of his family, at which point we quickly pointed out the mercy and patience God has had with him in desire for him to turn to God and that one day there will not be another chance. That without Christ, we will have to answer for our sins here on earth. He was willing to talk and said he agreed with several points but he would have to think about it and he was still watching the church members here to see how they conduct themselves.

The moral of the story is our actions speak so loudly, and people are watching what we do and comparing our words to our deeds. Please pray for this man (Diego) and his family as they struggle spirtually that God will continue to be patient and that they will come to know the Lord. And pray that the church shines brightly in the community as the body of Christ and the example of God's love.