Neuendorf (Puerto Rico) Update – August 2022

During one of our recent evening prayer services, I grabbed one of the bibles from the pew to read from because I had left my own in my office. When I opened it, a note written on the inside cover caught my eye, it had been written by one of our church members. 

It reads, “This is the word of God.” On the back cover they had also written a second note which (correcting for some grammatical and spelling mistakes) means something to the effect of, “study this at church and with your family.” I think that this little inscription, in all its simplicity, is beautiful evidence of the great wisdom that our Lord gives through the most astonishing of packages. 

The same “wise and powerful” people who might laugh at the little inscription and its errors, laugh even more at the words contained between the covers on which it is written. God’s Word is an absurdity to them, just as our faith is something to be ridiculed and mocked. In the eyes of the world, we are fools, and our crucified Lord who will not even use his almighty power to force His own people believe in Him is the greatest fool of all. 

Yet God really does, as the Apostle Paul writes, “use the foolish things of this world to shame the wise.” Recently the members of our congregation have begun to show the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are giving them the impulse to share their faith with others, and we will soon be finishing our Bible class on Acts and beginning to work through an evangelism training. The training will focus on their role as witnesses of God’s work in the Gospel and loving invitation to hear and believe for their salvation.

Still, as valuable as the training is likely to be, it is beautiful to see that our people already know what so many of the wise and understanding do not, and are the best possible instruments that God has chosen to share it; “This is the Beloved Son of God, come for your salvation and mine, here is His Word preached for you! Come and listen to Him.”