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Santos, Simone and Rocky
It was my first trip to Peru. I was given the responsibility of taking a team out to a village in the foothills of the mountains. I was assigned a translator and three elderly men, Santos, Simon, and Rocky, all of whom had a great desire to be trained in how to witness to the lost. I gave them a 45- minute long training session, explained to them what we would be doing. They were excited to be a part of their evangelism outreach.
We ventured off, walking a long way to the first house. We knocked on the door, a man answered. To my surprise, the team quickly made an excuse not to stay there but to leave. As we walked away they explained to me that this man was part of the Shining Path, a very destructive organization against the government of Peru. They recognizes the notorious man since we were in their community. He had a bounty on his head and any association with him was not tolerated by the government. So, we walked the distance to the next house, knocked on the door, and began our interview. Everyone knew the parts perfectly. After we exchange pleasantries and talk of the weather, we ask if we could speak to them for a few minutes about God. As a team leader, using my translator, I took the family through a series of questions eventually asking them if they would like to open the door their hearts to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
However, the story doesn’t end there. About four years later, I was back in that area of Peru to hold an evangelism seminar. The man we were working with knew I carried many Bibles in the country. He suggested that I donate some of those Bibles to a local evangelist who had been working in the mountains and has literally planted seven churches himself. I was told that he was a very poor humble man but he loved Jesus and was doing great work as an evangelist. Of course, A Blessing to the Nations was honored to donate at least 50 Bibles into his ministry for him to take back to the mountains.
Later that day, I got a call in my hotel room. They said that the evangelist was there and would like to meet me personally and thank me for the Bibles. When I went downstairs, to both of our amazement, it was Santos, one of the elderly men I had trained four years earlier with Rocky and Simon! The incredible thing was that he was still using the same three-cent witnessing track that I had given him years before. He had placed it in a Ziploc bag and was using it as his only aid in helping people make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. I gladly handed him the Bibles and glanced down at his feet and saw his shoes. Those shoes had seen many miles and were coming apart at the souls. I gave him $35 to buy a new pair of shoes. He humbly thank me then ask if he could buy some electrical tape to tape up his shoes and then use the money for things needed in the ministry.
The last time I saw Santos, he was headed back in the mountains with a bag full of Bibles, brand-new tape around his dilapidated shoes, and a smile on his face. I thought back to the day he had fallen into the dirt crying after that first person asked us to lead them to the Lord. He caught the vision! Santos caught the vision! And there are more Santos out there. They are just waiting for someone to come and teach them.
