The following is by José, a Global Teams field partner from Central Mexico who is working with the Cabécar, an indigenous group in Costa Rica.

A few weeks ago, I was in a community where I had not been and something very interesting happened that I want to tell you about.
It turns out that one of the local leaders we have been working for a long time invited me to go to a new place almost three hours from where I live. When we arrived at the place, we met with two Cabécares boys; I was surprised by their punctuality (culturally it is not usually so.) One of them showed a deep interest in talking as if I had something very important to share that day.

The boy started telling me the story of Christianity in that place. He said that many years ago some missionaries arrived at the place, where people gathered, who had a “black book” of the “Jones” or a new testament (the Jones were the family that translated the new testament into Cabécar). He also said that one day – a long time ago, they left and since that day everything was over. He was a child when all this happened.

Every time he advanced in the story I was moved more and more; he speaks very little Spanish, but he worked hard to explain the history as well as possible. He went on to say that some months ago, his uncles (in this case he refers to the relationship by the clan) they had appointed him to be the leader so that he could teach this book. They wanted to learn. Curiously, in this community, the desire to follow these teachings was emerging, and they appointed him for this task. “Something good come in me,” he said.
He told me that his dad taught him to be an honorable man and told him stories about Sibö (God our Father) and Jesus. For this reason, he said, “I asked Sibö for help every day because I didn’t know what to do or how to do!”

He also said that he knew about a group of people who were meeting to study this book of the Jones; he referred to the Bible study our team has in Ñuká Kichá with Daniel (a leader of the team,) His idea of meeting with me was to ask me for help; they want us to start a study of the Bible there in that community. He wants me to help him learn to read and write, and to teach others.

This story moved me a lot and made me think many things but I’m going to say only two:

The first is how God is so sufficient within himself to do His work. I realize that He could do the whole Great Commission, and in an instant everyone in the whole world would hear, in his own language the gospel. That He could, in just a moment, make everyone hear Him.

The second is that, understanding that God can do all this, why does He not do it? I think part of the answer is; because he invites us to participate in His work to collaborate on the invisible things that He is doing right now in all the world.

Isn’t that exciting to you?

I hope this story motivates you to join God in his work, or that if you already are, Keep going.

A big hug and thanks for reading.

José, “Chino”

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