Poco a poco

November 2, 2011

This chill time in Guatemala has been good. My head hurts from my two hours of intense Spanish lessons. Guillermo, my Spanish teacher, ends each session with the phrase “poco o poco”. Little by little. I pray for the pouring down of the Holy Spirit and a miracle of tongues – preferably Spanish. But nothing.

Today I wrestled with a question from our morning Bible Study.  It related to how the Christians in Jerusalem felt about the newly converted Gentile Christians during the Apostle Paul’s time of ministry. The Christians in Jerusalem were Jews – God’s chosen people. It was clearly recorded in all of their sacred scriptures that God had set them apart. He had promised them great things. He had led them to victory over their enemies. He had rescued them from slavery. He was their God! They were having a hard time with this new way of thinking and letting go of the old law; that Jesus had come to save more than the Jewish converts.

The Gentile Christians had not received all the formal training. Paul had shown up one day and told them the good news of Jesus Christ. They had listened – they had heard - they had accepted – they had been baptized. Then Paul and his mission team had departed. The new believers did not have the NIV Study Bible to help them in their newly found faith. They only had Paul’s testimony and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They had little of the history of the Old Testament.  Sure, Paul would return to encourage them. But they were left to learn on their own. I can certainly understand why the Jewish Christians felt like their way was the best.

 I fast forward to our work in the Quiche region. I once asked a man in Cajixay, who had recently given his life to Christ, how he gains his knowledge about living a Christian life. He looked at me, then his gaze returned back to the surrounding mountains – and he slowly pointed to the sky and said, “From the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches me and convicts me.”