The following is a general description from Justo Dorantes Sr. about his encounter with two men on the beach.
Brothers, what I am about to describe is hard to explain. I am amazed at the hand of God in different situations in this world. God continues to share the gospel of salvation with people who are truly seeking him. God puts people like me in the right place to share the good news. Just in the same way that God put Phillip in the right place so he could meet the Ethiopian Eunuch in the book of Acts 8.
Let me explain: “Last week my three daughters and their children and their husbands wanted to go to the beach. I did not want to go with them because I do not get in the water and they were going to spend the whole day there and it was too tiring for me. Since there have not been many opportunities to spend time with my family because of the corona virus, I decided to go with them and be with them.
We arrived at the beach called Chabihau, which is about 90 minutes from Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. This place is in the north east of the state of the Yucatan. We arrived there early, about 9:30 am on a Sunday. We found some palapas for rent right on the beach. We rented one to help us with some shade from the sun. We worshipped and partook of the Lord’s supper right under the palapa. The interesting part was that the man from whom we rented the palapa was watching us.
My children and grandchildren went to swim and play in the water. I decided to stay under the palapa and watch the backpacks and purses. As I was under the palapa the man who rented the palapa to us came by and asked what kind of religion is that one. Because he has not seen anything like it. We started to talk, and I explained to him about the Church of the Bible. What to do to be saved and about the Lord’s supper.Pretty soon the man was joined by his helper, his son. As my children and grandchildren were playing on the water, I was enjoying talking to these two men about God. They were so interested that they invited me to go to their village and teach them more about the Bible. They live in a Mayan village called Yobain. They travel from the village to the beach to work for man who owns the palapas. They told me that they have more relatives who would love to hear more about the gospel.
HARD DECISION
My family told me to be careful about visiting places because of the corona virus. They also always remind me about my age. I am not young anymore. They told me to wait until I have my second dose of the vaccine and then go to visit these people I met on the beach. My heart was burning. I could not wait until the following Sunday to speak to them about God. I decided to go and not wait until my second dose, the salvation of these people was at stake. My son in law Gerardo and my daughter Raquel went with me. When we got to the village there were ten people waiting to hear about the gospel. We spoke for about 3 hours. Two of those ten people said that they wanted to be baptized the following Sunday when I go back to visit them in their village.
I cannot wait to go back to Yobain. I know that more people will be baptized, and the church will be established in this part of the Yucatan. There are no churches in this region of the state. Brothers, God continues to work. God continues to save sinners. In the same way that God put a missionary in my life and your life to teach us the gospel. God continues to do it all around the world.
SAME BEACH
Isn’t that amazing that the exact beach where I met this man, and his son is the same place where I will be baptizing them next May 2, 2021? This man has been renting palapas for many years on this beach. He never thought that on April 18 he was going to meet a man who was a sinner like him but now is saved. He never imagined that the same man was going to be in his house on April 25, 2021 teaching him about God. This is just the hand of God in all this. We are just his instruments.Thanks to the Bibles you help buy, I will be able to give some Bibles to the people in this village. I have ten Bibles left, but we will use them wisely. We are also short in songbooks. Those come from Texas and they only produce them in the United states.
Brothers, I thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. God is using you and me for HIS glory. To HIM be the glory for ever and ever.”
~Justo
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