Guatemala & Nicaragua ISB - David Patterson, Mar 2011

Guatemala & Nicaragua ISB – 5th to 19th March, 2011

"? Puedo darle un regalo" – can I give you a gift? I must have said this thousands of times in the two weeks I spent in the cities of Guatemala City and Managua.

Most people of all ages and backgrounds receive the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs with great delight. I am not sure my Spanish was very well pronounced as sometimes I got a polite "thank-you" in return! But no matter, the important point is that after two weeks we understood that the ISB team or 22 Gideons from 7 countries together with local Gideons had handed out, one by one, nearly 600,000 copies of God's word. This far exceeded the initial target based on the pre-survey work. Included in this number are many professions of faith in our Lord Jesus as we had the opportunity to witness God's love and plan of salvation in many classes, using the selected verses and prayer that we are familiar with at the back of our New Testaments & Psalms.

I and my interpreter saw 43 children and a teacher indicate they prayed a prayer to receive Jesus as Lord and saviour in schools in Guatemala, and another 38 children in schools in Nicaragua! I particularly remember in prayer the single hands raised in front of their classmates, Ninsy and Elgar in their respective schools in Nicaragua.

A very shy young lady, Danushka, was encouraged by a group of friends to ask me for a New Testament after my report to a church in Managua. I showed the help section and then proceeded to take her through the verses at the back of the copy which describe God's love, the problem of our sin, God's remedy and opportunity today to receive salvation in the Lord Jesus. I asked if she was ready for me to pray for her with my interpreter. She agreed and afterwards she was warmly congratulated by her friends.

How many more Danushka's are there today in the very poor countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua as a result of the mass distribution of the New Testaments in March? It was all made possible by the generous giving of God's people in countries separated by thousands of miles but united by the urgent desire to see many come to know of God's amazing love.

David Patterson
March 2011