The Lord has again opened the doors we need to conduct Bible services in the district of Antioquia. The first time we began meeting with some of the residents of Nieve Nieve, we were meeting in a condemned house. Last Wednesday while making my regular rounds and visiting families, I inquired Jesus if we could use the property again this Sunday. He said he was sorry but a work crew that has been repairing the Inca Trail was using it during the weekend. We would be looking for another location until the workers finish. In the Spring of 2017 an El Nino rain devastated most of Peru. See how the Lord used the storm.
A year and a half since the roads opened again and backfill was hauled in by the truckloads to recover the lost ground that was swept away, the village of Nieve Nieve (Snow Snow) opens their arms now; and there is an entrance to the gospel where once it had been a closed and unreceptive community. Jesús's house (photo on the right) was condemned and his family had to evacuate the home he built. Within a week after the flood we had received enough funds to erect three 9'x9' Casitas, one for Jesús to live in. It took about four hours to assemble because it was my first attempt at modular construction (that is in another post called, "Son of a Carpenter"). The reason of this post is to give God glory for showing us how He can work through tragedy. Prior to the El Nino, the villagers greeted me as an outsider. After giving relief aid and returning day after day to see how much more thenroad had opened, they saw love in action. Our 'visiting' turned a corner and is still turning heads (see the post on "A Distant Call"). The situation is more perfectly explained in Titus 3:14, "And let our's also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful." One of the fruit in this case, was that Jesús gave us use of his condemned property. Although he is not allowed to live in it, it does not prevent him from sharing it with us. Actually, he is not the only one who offered their home. We have three locations in the same village that have asked us if we need a place to gather together. After almost three years of building relationships and seeing people come to Christ, we are meeting together once a month for regular services in the Lord's House.