A couple of months ago, Sandy was asked by her cousins Gabriela and Diana, separately, to mentor them in Bible study.
I am so excited about this because both Gabriela and Diana have been tough nuts to crack. They have basically grown up in Christian families, they both claim Christ as their savior, and are both baptised. However, when it comes to allowing Christ to be Lord and His teaching to truly permeate them to their depths and then affect their way of living out their lives.....well, that's another story. In the past, when I lived in Cofradía, I often felt I was in the middle of an undeclared game of "Hot & Cold" with them: they would be upset if I did not pursue them, but then when I pursued them they would push me away or act like they weren't interested. So, by the time I moved back to the US, my strategy was to simply continually make it clear that I was interested in them and available to them, and then let them set the tone of our interactions.
They had both participated in the Navigators 2:7 course, but I'm not sure they completed it; personal study has never seemed of high importance to either. So, when Sandy shared with me the frequency of hang-out time with both and their expression of a desire to know more and their requests for her to help them, well I was ecstatic!! Ever since she began with each one, her reports have been positive despite frustrations. The girls are responding well to what they are reading and they are opening up in discussions.
This was one of the visions the Lord had given me in 2007: to invest in and equip Sandy and Mily to equip them to do the same in the lives of the other local girls, since those younger girls responded much better to Sandy and Mily than they ever did to me. It is exciting to see that vision bearing fruit!
Sandy recently completed the first study with Gabriela and is almost done with the first one with Diana.So, I asked her to share about this experience to poast here on my blog. Enjoy and PRAISE THE LORD!!!
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English Report
About one month ago, I began meeting with two gals that are part of the church and the youth group here in Cofradía, and it has been wonderful to fellowship with them surrounded by the love of God
Gabriela (Gabby)
God has blessed me greatly by allowing us to meet because it is not something we were accustomed to doing. God moved us to begin studying His word together with the purpose of challenging one another to continue living in obedience and love. Today, we finished reading a good of the Bible, one that was a good choice for our first; it is Galatians. This book teacheds us he truth of the gospel, causing us to remember the mortal danger of the mentality of salvation by works. I believe that this was good because it laid a strong foundation from which we might continue securely on together into what lies ahead, since God reminded us one more time that the only way a perso can be justified before God is through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16). In our last meeting of the study, we were in agreement that we should continue meeting together until God places something else before us. So, we decided to real the Old Testament book of Ruth, which surprised me because Gabby chose it and because it is a book of history in which we see once again faith and salvation demonstrated, but this time in action (put into practice by Ruth and I hope it will be that way with us as well).
Seeing the surprising wonders of how the Lord is moving makes us rejoice and encourages us to take more steps of faith because He shows us His great faithfulness and because we know that He will continue to surprise more and more. It has been such a treat to share about the wisdom and knowledge that CHrist is pouring out in our hearts, and I hope that it has been a blessing for you to hear it. Please keep interceding for us so that God will continue to cover us with His lordship.
Spanish Report
Hace aproximadamente un mes empecé a reunirme con dos muchachas que forman parte de la iglesia y del grupo de jóvenes acá en Cofradía y ha sido maravilloso convivir con ellas rodeadas del amor de Dios.
Gabriela (Gabby)
Dios me ha bendecido grandemente a permitir que nos reunamos porque no es algo que acostumbrábamos hacer. Dios nos movió a empezar a estudiar su palabra juntas con el propósito de retarnos una a la otra a seguir actuando en obediencia y amor. Hoy en día, ya terminamos de leer un libro de la Biblia, uno que fue muy bueno para empezar y se trata de Gálatas. Este libro nos enseña la verdad del evangelio haciéndonos recordar el mortal peligro de la mentalidad de salvación por obras. Creo que fue bueno porque puso un cimiento fuerte para de ahí partir juntas a lo que sigue con seguridad, ya que Dios nos recordó una vez más que la única forma en que una persona puede ser justificada delante de Dios es por la fe en Jesucristo (Gálatas 2:16). En nuestra última reunión de estudio estuvimos de acuerdo que deberíamos seguir reuniéndonos hasta que Dios nos diga otra cosa, así que decidimos leer el libro de Rut del Antiguo Testamento, lo cual me sorprendió porque Gabby lo escogió y porque es un libro de una historia en donde vemos una vez más demostrada la fe y la salvación pero esta vez en acción (puesta en práctica por Rut y espero lo sea o será también por nosotras).
Al ver las sorprendentes maravillas de cómo está actuando nuestro Señor, nos hace regocijarnos y nos anima a dar más pasos de fe porque nos muestra de su gran fidelidad y porque sabemos que nos seguirá sorprendiendo cada vez más. Me ha dado gusto compartir acerca de la sabiduría y conocimiento que está derramando Cristo en nuestros corazones y espero que haya sido de bendición para ti el escuchar esto. Por favor manténte intercediendo por nosotras para que Dios nos siga cubriendo con su señorío.



