About
New International exists to proclaim Christ and make disciples globally. Let us join with God as He continues to make all things new; He gives us new vision of new ways to reach new communities with the Good News of Christ, bringing new light to hearts that have previously been lost.
Connect
Today's story is from Habacuc and Liz Diaz-Ramos. They work in Chile, reaching out to urban youth through skateboarding and meaningful relationships.
We started a discipleship study using the Alpha Course. This is a course designed for individuals to learn about Jesus. We invited several skaters to join us, six of them said yes. I was stoked about this, so I went out and bought the books for the study, we set up our meeting time at 8.00 p.m. every other Tuesday at a Starbucks at a convenient location near the subway.
The first meeting was great, three skaters showed up and we had a good start and then for the rest of the meetings only two came. Everyone had perfectly good reasons to not be there, reasons like school, work and family things.
I had been praying about this study and asking God to inspire these guys to come. I invested time getting ready and we worked out the family schedules. But at the end, I was left feeling that this was yet another flop.
That was until Sebastian sent me a WhatsApp message asking me to meet that evening. I knew something was going on. Over coffee, Sebastian told me that his father was drinking again, leaving Sebastian broken hearted and very worried for his mother. His voice was sad and tired as he spoke to me.
Sebastian, of course, is one of the two skaters that kept coming to the study and expressed to me how excited and thankful he was about meeting and learning.
He also shared with me that pretty much every other farmer like his dad usually worked all week to get drunk on Fridays, making Saturday morning a pretty miserable time for everyone. "This is how I grew up but I am trying something different," he said.
Then Sebastian said this to me "Well, you know the book you gave me? I started reading it to my Mom and Dad on Saturday mornings. I get up early to fix breakfast and then I read to them. I read slow and repeat the good parts and the parts about Jesus. They just sit quietly and listen while they eat their breakfast...something is different now...I can feel it. Thank you for the book," he said to me, smiling.
Sebastian is only been a Christian for two years, but the way God is working on his life is very evident and powerful. I can't wait to see how God will eventually transform his Mom and Dad.
