Home again, sometime in September.


Remember Mitzi saying, in the August 20th posting, that "the internet place is run by a very smart fellow that is crippled"--? His name is Santiago. He won't leave my memory. There was something special about him, and it turned out he was a very devout Christian.



In Mexico, "Christian" more or less means Protestant, or at least not Roman Catholic. A friend told us about a woman whom he and his wife befriended and who later asked them, "My children don't play with your children, do they?"



"I don't know," answered my friend, "but why do you ask?"



"Because my children have been raised Catholic and have been taught not to play with Christians," the woman replied.



At our last venture to Santiago's internet cafe, he told us why he loved Jesus. His body was mangled in an accident and because of his trust in Mark chapter 11 and verse 24, he is able to walk. In Mark 11:24 Jesus says that "whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Through that experience and the guidance of other Christians Santiago had learned to trust in God and not in the sole authority of the Roman Catholic Church; therefore, in Mexico he called himself a Christian.



Even before telling us his testimony, Santiago (who spoke no English) and I had a lengthy conversation in Spanish. We translated words through the computer when we weren't sure. He is a middle-aged man now working on a Master's degree at the University of Guadalajara so we have a lot in common. Santiago's deepest love is telling his people about Jesus.



"Santiago, can Mitzi and I come live near you, immerse ourselves in the Mexican culture, and help you tell others about Jesus?"



"San Felipe, can Mitzi and I live in your hotel and, through teaching the Bible and painting the parables of Jesus, work through you with the Mexican and English children you have so much to do with?"



"Dear Gringo friends, may we come to your church at San Patricio, maybe preach once in a while, and maybe teach a Bible class up the coast where the Catholic alligators are?"



And so forth....



Lord, what would you have us to do?