Of the 65 people that attended the first church service at Cita's home, almost all had been personally visited by Benji, Natalie, Christie, or me over the past year or so. Many were involved in our weekly Bible study or had been visited by us in their homes on a regular basis.
Gina, however, was new to us. She had been invited by Cita and had been a Christian for a number of years.
On Friday, Cita, Benji, Natalie, Christie, and I set out to visit Gina in her home. We were told she lived at the top of the mountain. We walked and walked and walked, higher and higher and higher. Much of our walk was through mountainous jungle. At one point we came to a clearing where it became apparent how high we were. Benji immediately sat down and said he was afraid of heights and could not go on any further. When we finished laughing hysterically, we told him it was no problem, we would go on and he could sit here and wait.
Natalie and Gina's home.
Mary Jane, Gina, Mary Grace and her husband.
Cita and I
When Cita, Natalie, Christie, and I arrived at Gina's home, we found she had 4 adult children who were not believers. Christie prepared to share the gospel and we asked Cita if she could interpret. Up until this point, Cita had simply accompanied us without actively participating in the sharing. She had heard us share the gospel with Benji interpreting many, many times. When Christie started sharing, Cita was able to interpret point by point with no problem. As Christie read the scriptures in her English Bible, Cita would read it in the Tagalog Bible. Cita actually grabbed the water bottle from Christie and did our illustration of 1 John 5:11-13 by herself. It was a wonderful and moving scene for me. It has been on our hearts that the believers in Guinhawa would grow and take on a more active role in the sharing and Bible studies. This was happening before my eyes.
We left Gina's home with four new members in our spiritual family. As we walked back down the mountain, Cita's face beamed each time we shared with the people we passed how she'd done such a fabulous job interpreting Christie's gospel presentation.
. . . and if it hadn't been for Benji's fear of heights, this great step forward would not have happened :)
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