My Best Experience Yet

For those who have read every word of this blog intently (which I DON'T expect anyone too:), likely you will have already read or be familiar with this happening. But I haven't wrote verbatum as of yet what was said during the course of a converstion I had informally with a young man (at least younger than me). So I am stealing what I wrote to Jan and posting it here. Hope you enjoy, I sure have :

I had a really great experience Tuesday that you may have/haven't read about on the blog.. I was at the Gringo Market in Boquete since a brother and his wife had a booth set up there to make some extra income (and they were driving us back home afterwards- a 2hr drive).. so while there I just so happened to randomly mention to a guy and his wife who had a booth behind our friends that we were Jehovah's Witnesses (Testigo de Jehova). He only understood those particular words in Spanish... the rest of what I said he pretty much understood in English. He told me he was a Christian too..then it went real silent (because you never know what will be said next, or what a person "means" by saying that).. but he spoke up and said "I believe like you..only Heaven and Earth". It caught me by surprise so I said, "yes Heaven and Earth..but no Hell". He didn't understand the word "Hell" so his wife spoke up and said inferno.. He got it and agreed (which the pause in translation made me nervous, I didn't know if he was truly going to agree). We laughed for a second then he spoke up again and said "many people believe God and Jesus are the same, but I don't". Again I was shocked.. and relieved that he was bringing up those things. I was totally shocked by his statements (of course since they are in harmony with what we believe) and I asked him how he learned such truths. He said he reads his Bible, and doesn't just blindly listen to what preachers have to say. Again I was blown away! :) At that moment a brother walked up and I whispered to him "do you have ANY literature in your vehicle?!!" He didn't.. the guy Sebastian kind of knows the brother, Dan, because Dan has had a booth there for 3 weeks in a row and has met Sebastian before. I told Dan that Sebastian believes like we do on some things and that he told me he was leaving town and wouldn't return til JANUARY!! And asked him to talk to him. So he discovered that Sebastian and his wife and daughter were heading to David in the morning by bus, then bus to Bocas del Toro (which is a 4-5 hour trip away for an unspecified amount of time). So Dan offered to drive them to David the next morning, Wed, and they agreed.

Coincidentally Wednesday I was in David for field service and at lunch Dan brought me my camera to the restaurant a lot of friends stopped at (because I accidentally left it in his vehicle Tues on our ride home). I asked Dan how the trip went (praying that nobody backed out or that "something" had come up..) and fortunately all went smoothly. Dan took them to the bus station in David and so it gave them about 45 minutes together. Dan didn't tell me all that was said, the restaurante was really chaotic..but he did say that he told Sebastion during the course of discussion that "I know you aren't my brother now, but I know you will be". Those are some reeeaaalllyyy powerful words as you know for a witness to say that to someone. It was really beautiful to hear!! Then Dan said "Jehovah will send you someone in the Bocas" and Sebastian's reply was "I know he will".

 

It doesn't get any better than that!! :)