Gray clouds threatened rain as we sat outside for church this morning. We were all praying that the rain would hold off for a few more hours, not just so we wouldn’t have to interrupt church, but also so that the mobile clinic wouldn’t be canceled.
Church
After church, the TIME students plus the Terhaars and the Floyds, ate lunch at our place and at 12:15 we all loaded up and headed for Santa Ursula. We’ve had the mobile clinic there twice before and it is always a blessed time. The mother of two San Francisco believers lives there (Na Irma) and has a nice big property with lots of animals. The kids enjoy exploring and trying to capture the animals.
Jeff saw about 10 patients – a fair amount considering that it was Father’s Day and it was either grey skies or raining the entire afternoon. Jeff presented the gospel and challenged the patients to attend the Bible study hosted by Na Irma every other weekend. A couple of the San Francisco believers gave their testimonies, which is always nice to see. As Jeff was treating physical needs inside the van, we were signing, reading the Bible and listening to a Bible study outside the van.
After the last patient, the family fed us a snack of cake, fried meat, mandioca and bread. By the time we left at 4:30, it was pouring rain and we had to slosh our way back home.
I love where they chose to hang the announcement of the mobile clinic
Drinking terere before clinic started
Bible study under the tarp
Hanging out with kids
Our goal has been to start Bible studies (with a believer from San Francisco leading it) in each town where we hold a mobile clinic. Jeff invites all the patients back for a 6 week evangelistic bible study, but (sadly to say) we have seen such little fruit. Although the mobile clinic has been great for the San Francisco believers to grow in their faith, we have learned that “casting the net wide” in this culture isn’t as beneficial as one on one relationships over the years. However, we realize that seeds are being planted and God is orchestrating things behind the scenes. Our job is to be faithful to the task he has set before us.
Two weeks ago when we went to Verakue, a young man was interested in a Bible study. When Jeff and Higinio went back that afternoon he wasn’t there. They left the MP3 player and instructions to listen to the message before the following week’s study. Last week they went back to study not knowing what to expect – would he be conveniently gone again??? – and to their surprise the young man had listened to the message and was ready to share what he learned.
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