For years and years we have evangelized this town, but for a long time we didn’t see much fruit. In many ways, our small community is the cradle of idolatry for this area. There are only three streets in the whole town, so when the pagan festivals take place nearly every individual participates.
Also, because we are a small town, everyone knows one another and everything that goes on in each other’s life—there’s nearly nothing hidden here. So, in the midst of the idolatry in our town, the testimony of the few believers began to be more and more recognized by others. The work of regeneration that the Lord has done in our lives is now notorious, and this is helping us to be able to have more opportunities to share the gospel with people.
There are a lot of influential people in the community that are devoted to pagan worship. Before, they hated us because we were Christians. But now some of them are sick and are getting older and they’re actually calling us to come and share the gospel with them! Only God can do something like that.
Many times I thought that the situation here would never change. It was really frustrating for us because we seemed to be making such little progress. In fact, sometimes I even thought about leaving the jungle altogether and returning to Lima because of the constant rejection of the people here. But now, from the very same lips of those that used to hate us years ago, we are getting requests to come and tell them about Jesus. It’s a great encouragement to us. The Lord is beginning to work on the hearts of the people in San Rafael.
