"Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth"

-Colossians 1:5b-6 (ESV)

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

-1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (ESV)

My meetings this last week in Sullana with Angel C. (pictured here) and Gilberto N. were a tremendous blessing for me. Meeting with them caused me to reflect on each of the passages that I have quoted above.

First, these meetings caused me to reflect on the Colossians passage because I got to hear first hand accounts of how the Gospel has been "bearing fruit and growing." In addition to meeting with these two missionaries I also got to meet a missionary named Willam Chambers. Brother Chambers was a missionary years ago in Peru and he has continued to be involved in the work there over the years. I got to hear both from him and from Angel the story of how Angel heard the gospel from him and of how he came to know Christ.

After coming to know Christ, Angel (pronounced Ahn-hel) went on to take over the leadership of a small group of believers in the city of Sullana. Now, over thirty years later, Angel and his church have been used to plant many churches. There are hundreds of churches that are a part of the association of churches which Angel now leads. I'm sure that Brother Chambers could not have imagined this happening when he first met Angel. Yet, this is a wonderful demonstration of the power of the Gospel to "bear fruit and grow."

In 1974, one of the people that came to know Christ through Angel's witness was Gilberto N. Much in the same way that Brother Chambers probably did not expect to see so much fruit from his time spent with Angel, I suspect that Angel had no way of knowing what the Lord would do through Gilberto. Yet, God was working. He was slowly, steadily, and in an inconspicuous way causing his Gospel to "bear fruit and grow."

Before meeting Gilberto (pictured left) I knew that he worked with an association of 40 churches. What I did not know was that before he came to know Christ that none of these churches existed. They all came into existence either directly or indirectly through his influence. He personally planted 10 of them and the rest were 2nd or 3rd generation church plants. Gilberto was almost apologetic about the fact that he had not been to seminary. He told me: "Well, I haven't been to seminary or anything but I've done what I could." I don't think that he realized that most people that have been to seminary haven't planted even one church.

Both in the case of Gilberto and Angel, the Lord has seen fit to use very humble men. Neither of them is impressive in stature or is eloquent. Neither of them comes from a wealthy family. Neither of them had the opportunity to attend prestigious schools. Neither of them is currently living a luxurious life. Gilberto even shared with us that the town where he lives is supposed to be getting power and running water soon. Yet, the Lord has used each of them in a great way. It was truly humbling and it was a privilege to get to meet with each one.

As I reflected on how the Lord has used each of these men it caused me to reflect on the passage above from Corinthians. As I heard their stories I got to hear how the Lord has indeed used "what is weak in the world." And of course, the point of the passage is that God wants the glory for himself. So, Praise the Lord for the way that he has worked through humble and weak men to exalt himself and to draw people to himself here in Peru!