Gospel Literature Impacts Lives (continued)
by Gene and Jean Easley
Mazatenango (continued)
One woman, particularly, stood out above all the rest. She was standing at the front side of my door, reaching her arm around and into the window. She was an Indian woman from one of the many tribes in Guatemala. What caught my attention was the expression on her face. Her very countenance sent forth a cry for help. She looked as if she had never received anything free in all her life. The hopelessness expressed in her face said to me that she had suffered so much loss and rejection in life that she could scarcely believe that something good could happen to her. What a joy I felt when I placed a Bible in her hands! Her smile of thankfulness made being a missionary worthwhile all over again! The hard trip and the constant dangers seemed a little price to pay to see that woman receive a copy of the Word of God.
When we drove away from Mazatenango with our chicken dinners, we were already refreshed, not from the hot meal, but from a new visitation of joy that God dipped into our hearts for allowing us to be a part of getting His Word to a few more people!
Tapachula
Tapachula is a beautiful
border city at the very southern tip of
As he rose to leave, we had almost let him go, before Gene approached the man and offered him a Gospel tract. He was courteous and somewhat attentive as Gene talked with him. The tract contained the plan of salvation and some Scriptures in bold print. After looking at the tract for a moment, the man asked Gene, "What are those?" He pointed to the bolded Scripture verses. Gene explained that they were Scripture verses about salvation from the Holy Bible. The man quickly and decisively said, "I'm going to go and buy me a Bible." And immediately he left and went toward the commercial area near the plaza, presumably to buy a Bible.
Gene felt he was very serious. It
was a real cause for rejoicing, and we have often wondered if he did what he
proposed to do and, if so, what was the final outcome.
Thankfully, the Lord is keeping track of all of our unknown
"outcomes" in Heaven. Praise
God!
Rural Mexico
On one of our many trips through Mexico, we stopped in a little village to fill the tank with gasoline. Though we had wanted to pass out tracts to the people mingling or doing business there, we were reluctant to do so because the people seemed hard and bad-spirited toward the Americans. So, we decided not to pass out the literature there at that time.
While
stopped at the station, however, Sis. Easley needed to retrieve something
from the back seat of the car and while doing so took out the box of
tracts and set it on the top of the car in order to reach something.
When she got back in the car, she inadvertently left the box of
tracts on top of the car. As
we pulled out of the station, we noticed all these people waving at us and
pointing toward the top of the car. We
immediately realized what we had done.
The people, in the mean time, began running to pick up the tracts
as they flew here and there. They
were trying to help us not to lose so many, we supposed.
As the people ran to us to return the pieces they had picked up,
Bro. Easley wanted to thank them for their help, so he gave each a piece
of the literature. As our
rescuers and now no longer strangers, they must have felt more comfortable
with us and happily accepted our gifts!
The people continued to run to collect more tracts, but the Lord checked us, and we encouraged them to leave them, for we felt that the Lord had meant for them to be scattered abroad in that particular place! We have often wondered since about those un-retrieved tracts and who else may have read the Gospel in that little town that night. God is indeed a cunning Workman…making sure that all things work together for our good!
Conclusion
Is it worthwhile to send the missionary? Is it worthwhile to send Gospel literature? I believe the people standing along the streets in Sumpango, the men at the border crossing, the crowd gathered around our car in Mazatenango, the man in the Tapachula Plaza, the campesinos in rural Mexico, and many, many others would all answer, "Yes, Gospel literature impacts lives."
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