THE STRUGGLE TO REMAIN FAITHFUL

I can look around me and see the situation as very terrible and dark, judge this work as poor, fruitless, and lost, etc., and even if that were the case, nevertheless I have no other reason to be here nor any goal in this life but Christ and His will for me, and whatever He orders, however difficult it may be, will be good, because as someone said: «Hell with Christ would be better than heaven without Him».

And although the work is certainly difficult, God is in control and will help us rise above whatever we have to face.

As a missionary, my main task is to preach the Gospel and wait for God to give life to the dead. And of course, this will not be immediate, nor is it something that depends on me, and even if there is no response soon or I do not obtain “extraordinary results,” I must press on, trusting in the power of the One who will bring His children into the light—not in my timing, but in His.

The Sierra is a spiritually arid place, and one of the greatest obstacles I have faced is apathy toward the Gospel. I believe that witchcraft, violence, heresies, and wickedness in general have hardened people’s hearts, and yet every day I must encourage myself in the promises of God and in the truth that nothing done for Christ is in vain, and press on.

It is terrible to see the condition of people who live without faith and to think that one day they will soon die and give account to God for their lives. I do not know if they think about it, and if they do, it seems they do not care because they continue on the same dissolute path, far from God despite the warnings, but God has been good in giving them the opportunity to draw near to Christ and find forgiveness, and now after preaching to them repeatedly, their destiny is in their own hands.

Now I have to say that in 10 years in the Sierra it has not been for lack of effort on my part; I am not boasting about anything, I am nobody and without God I can do nothing, but I have done what the Lord has commanded me to do and we are still moving forward by His grace and because He allows us to, but it has been a constant struggle to remain faithful. The road sometimes becomes lonely and heavy, and when it seems that we are making progress, something happens—I mean when people who seemed to have found the Way turn back again. This is very sad and frustrating for me, but salvation belongs to the Lord. I know that Satan lays claim to the souls of those he holds captive, and for that reason he plans anything to catch them again in his nets, and this is what happens in many cases with people who generally are not sincere. But I do not allow myself to give up because of this; I know that greater is He who is with us than he who is in the world, and I trust that in due time He will give us the victory and will fulfill the purpose for which He brought us here to the Sierra. This does not mean that at times I do not feel exhausted, doubting, and even tormented with negative thoughts circling in my head like: «you are a failure,» «God has not called you,» «you are not the right person for this work,» etc. In short, this comes and then goes again. It is the attack of the evil one who wants to discourage us, but God never abandons us and when we look to Christ, peace returns.

It has not been like that with the children. It is true that some are no longer with us, but that is because they have left the village. This usually happens, and it will probably happen with others as well, who will grow up and leave to seek a living (better opportunities) elsewhere, but the seed has already been sown with much prayer and much of the Word.

Meanwhile, some others still remain, and our prayer continues to be: Lord, save them for the glory of Christ!

In short, I think this time I just wanted to share this and ask you to continue pleading with God for us and for the work in these villages.

This Thursday we have an evangelistic event, and during these days I will be inviting people from these villages to come and listen to the message. Please ask God to open the hearts of those who will attend and that the Lord may be glorified through this.

Thank you very much.

Heber.

“The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.”

Psalms 138:8 NIV