Marcelo

This is the story of Marcelo. If I didn't accomplish anything else in the time I was here in South America, this alone would be worth it.

Marcelo is a 50 year old man who is a vendor at the moving flea markets in the streets of Montevideo, Uruguay. One hot and humid Tuesday during our outreach time of handing out tracts, I walked past Marcelo. I'm not a fan of these, but I do love to meet new people and chat. Earlier in the day I told God, "I'm listening. Speak to me." So He led me back to Marcelo to talk to him. I smiled and introduced myself and invited him to the church meeting for the following day. After talking with Marcelo and rejoining my group, they told me I was no longer allowed to speak to men, so Marcelo was the last man I talked with. God's timing is perfect.

The following night, Marcelo was waiting at the church before anyone else got there. He stood there in his Sunday best with a nervous smile on his face and asked me if I remembered him. He was anxious as he said he was ready to experience God again. I learned that Marcelo had been a believer before, but 5 years ago he left his wife and Christ. He has a daughter my age, and now a granddaughter as well. He told me he is lonely. "I live alone, I drink mate alone,..." That broke my heart. Mate here is a very communal thing to share and to drink mate alone is downright depressing to imagine - more on mate in another post. He told me he saw something very special in me that day and that God was reaching out to him through me. He believed that God brought me all the way here for the moment of bringing him back to God. Wow.

After the service, with tears in his eyes, he told me he was getting back on the good path and going back to his wife.

What a privilege to be an instrument, a tool - His hands, feet, and mouth - in what God is doing to bring people to Him, whether its the first time or the fourteenth. He has such an amazing love for us, even though we deny it or throw it away. He pursues us - persistantly. He knows us intimately - the darkest parts, too - and He loves us anyway. He longs for us to choose Him. Like a spouse longing for their partner to come back, ready to forgive and move forward.

Thank you, Lord, for always being so faithful, so patient, and so persistant in your love for us. Even when we don't choose You, you're right there, wooing us back. Even when we miss what You want for us, you're there patiently revealing it to us again and again. You're forever running after us and our wayward hearts. You are the most faithful and wonderful lover.

Thank you, for choosing me to be your hands and feet to Marcelo. I'm honored.

Much love, heather