Testimonies of God´s Love

Berta was one of the first people to welcome Oikos to Pacifico back in 2010. When Ronald and I joined Oikos in 2011 & 2012, we knew Berta as the woman who stood down by the bus stop in Pacifico, selling her plates of homemade food to the bus drivers and passengers who hurried by. She was always complaining of some physical ailment and suffered from terrible depression and anxiety, amongst other things. In 2013, she unexpectedly became pregnant with her third child, and suffered even more severe depression and anxiety. During that time, she became completely desperate for God and reached out for Him like she never had before. Team members prayed with her, called her and spent nights at her house. We began to see God change Berta´s life before our eyes. Not too long ago, Berta was all but begging for us to hold one of our weekly meetings in her house. We now have a weekly gathering in her house together with a group of women.  Berta has changed so much since we first met her- she now greets us with a smile on her face and although she still has days when depression or anxiety try to overcome her, she chooses to focus on God in the middle of life's storms. Please lift up Berta and her three children {Gustavo, Dana and Abraham} as we continue to see God's restoration and love at work in her life.

¨God has set things in motion, taken a step back and sometimes sporatically chooses to intervene in our lives,¨ She says between wrinkled lips and kind eyes. She had the kindest of intentions, but I sit still, sat before her fragile frame

The God I know interacts with me on a daily basis, he speaks to me and tells me secrets and trivial things- my God is so very present in my life, and he intervenes in the smallest of ways

But I can not help wondering Dad has suddenly lost over 50% of his hearing and the doctors have told him there is neither an explination or a cure. I can not help but wonder when
I see healing all around me. I have seen God heal hearts, legs, and arms right before my eyes. But when God doesn't heal my family, I take it personal.

Tears well up in my eyes, partly because of the onion I have just finished cutting, and partly because I am silently repeating ¨God is good,¨ but somehow my heart trips over Daddy´s hardened ear drum, and I can´t reconcile the fact God has told me that it´s not time for healing yet.

Another track is running through my head. The one that realizes that I have forgotten to thank God for the 59 years of open ears and converstations that weren´t full of the gracious ¨parden?s¨ my dad´s become accustomed to say.

The 3,358 miles that separate us tempt me to call them the culprit, but when I hear Mom telling me that insurance won´t cover it, and talk of hearing aids, I realize that I can´t fix this no matter how hard I try.

¨Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
Daniel 3:16-17 MSG

Testimonies of God's Redemption

Meet Jordan: A 19-year medical student whose family lives two houses down from ours.  Jordan's family is Catholic (as are the majority of the people we come into contact with). Two years ago, Jordan spent the whole summer talking with me (Ronald) about questions he had about God, and expressing a desire to know Him in a deeper way. Jordan ended up giving his life to the Lord that summer, but a few short weeks later, he had to leave to go to college in a town about six hours away. To be honest, I felt discouraged because I had spent so much time with the young people in our neighborhood and in the end, I thought it was in vain, because they all left or were forbidden by their parents from spending time with us because we were Christians.

Well, about a month and a half ago, someone knocked on our door. It was Jordan, and the change in his life is incredible. He is so in love with Jesus and it's evident that he has a close relationship with Him. He has started his own band and composes Latin American songs about life with Jesus. He has completed two years of his medical degree and he has told us that he talks about Jesus to many of the patients he encounters. Jordan has since gone back to where he is living and going to school, but we are looking forward to continuing a relationship with him in the future.