… I would be the only one able to speak Spanish to them, so I hesitated…but Sarah-Jo urged me again to go with her and Amber (from California) to speak to the four or five ladies who were watching us from a distance in front of a house. We said hello from a little distance away and asked if we could come closer to the house. They said yes.
When we reached the front of the house we introduced ourselves and asked them their names and ages (all of them within the 14 to early 20 age range: Belinda, Hilma, Adalina, Cintia, and Nolba—the grandmother of Belinda who joined us later in the conversation). I then asked them if they knew what the gospel is and what the Bible is about. They knew neither. So, in Spanish, I shared the gospel with them starting with a brief synopsis that the Bible is about God and His salvation of people through His Son Jesus Christ. I explained that the word “gospel” means “good news,” that God is the Trinity, the eternal Creator of all, the Lord of all, holy, and just. I explained sin beginning with Adam and Eve, and how we are consequently born with evil, corrupt, sinful natures that are opposed to God. I explained that God has to punish us for our sin because He is holy, and that the punishment is hell—the eternal and conscious torment of being underneath God’s righteous wrath for our sin. I shared the good news with them, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God—both God and man—came to earth about 2,000 years ago to live a sinless life and to die to pay the punishment that sinners like us deserve. In love, He took our sin on the cross, and He suffered underneath the wrath of God on the cross on behalf of sinners. He rose from the dead three days later to prove that He is God, the only way to God, and that God the Father was satisfied with the payment Jesus made for sinners on the cross. I explained that God commands all of us to repent (turn from sin) and trust in who Jesus is and what He did to pay for sin. Before explaining each truth within the gospel presentation (i.e. the character of God, creation, sin, hell, Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, repentance, faith), I would first stop to ask them if/what they knew about each truth. They responded almost every time with, “I don’t know.”
I then showed them the Bible in my hand, and told them that I wanted to share some verses with them so they could know that I wasn’t making it all up. That’s when they invited Sarah-Jo, Amber, and I up to sit with them in the shaded area where they were sitting in front of their house. We sat with them and got to know them a little better. I then read and explained Isaiah 53 to them, along with other verses, including Hebrews 9:27, 1Peter 3:18, Romans 6:23. Then, Amber and Sarah-Jo each shared their testimonies with the ladies as I translated. Amber emphasized that we can have true relationship with God through Jesus. Sarah-Jo emphasized that God can truly change our evil hearts to love Him and others, and how incredible the Word of God is. I also shared my testimony. We told them that we wanted to come to their town and tell them about Jesus because of how great the gospel is, and because God has changed our hearts to desire Him and proclaim Him.
A few children came as we continued to speak with the ladies. So now, this time with Nolma and the few children around us, I shared the gospel a second time with the ladies, mainly using Romans 6:23 and an illustration I drew on a notebook paper for them. We asked them if they had any questions for us, but they were still very shy and didn’t ask questions. So I prayed with them and asked God that He would help them understand and believe the gospel. We let them know that since we were just visiting, they can always talk to Mark or Christy Patterson in the future about these things because the Pattersons plan on making more trips to El Buen Pastor. They thanked us for sharing with them…
