~ Separated to the work in Columbia; South America ~
Henry and Grace Sullivan
Nuquí, Chocó, Colombia
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord (Pe 1:2).
As of early January, we are back in Nuquí. We are enjoying a number of visitors and short-term helpers right now which have been a tremendous blessing. The house across the river is progressing well. Our use again of the “Bible House” has been delayed due to a situation that developed in it while we were traveling. We are working on a solution to it and expect to be able to use the building again soon. Also, our boat is nearly finished!
The Lord continues to give us friendship with numerous people, and we have seen several of those relationships grow significantly in just the last couple of months. Here are a few examples:
“J” is a believer who I have known for about as long as we have been here. Near the end of last summer we began to interact quite a bit more, and he was part of the little prayer meeting we had shortly before we traveled last September. We are in touch at least weekly now, and he has asked me to share a Bible teaching once a week (with some English words thrown in) for a group of about twelve students he tutors after hours at the school. It is going well, and it has been a neat experience to work together with him and get to know him more through it.
“R” is an Embera man who has been sawing lumber for the house from some trees we had to take down around the house site. I had the honor of serving as his helper for a little more than a week. During our time together, I continued to gently feel out the nature of our relationship and was amazed by the end of the week at the openness, friendship, and trust that he expressed to me quite suddenly, especially on the last day that we worked together. We continue to be in touch as friends even without work to bring us together.
“K” is a young man who has been a good friend for quite a while. I knew that he had a faith in God and had expressed some understanding of salvation and new birth in Christ, but I was not clear what he truly believed or where he was with it. I had gently tried to talk with him about it once, but he was not very open to talking about it that day. This morning, without any warning, he showed up at our house, sat down, asked for a cup of coffee, and started talking. I was quite stunned as he told us all about his growing up, his alcoholic dad, his grandmother who raised him and who loved the Lord, his own faith in God, and his longing to teach his children God’s ways. His hunger for the Lord and for greater understanding was obvious, and he was very willing to hear as I shared with him a few verses and foundational things about salvation and relationship with the Lord. He did not have a physical Bible, and I told him I wanted to give him one. He was delighted and seemed quite surprised that I actually had one to give him. I retrieved a couple from upstairs and handed them to him; he asked for a pen to write his name in large block letters across the first page and very quietly said, almost to himself, “I’ve been wanting one…”
Please continue to pray:
That the Lord would send team members to work with us in Nuquí.
For wisdom navigating delicate relationships without offence.
For “J”, “R”, “K”, “H”, “Y” etc. that the Lord would give understanding, faith and a great harvest.
Henry, for: Henry, Grace, David, Noah, Joseph and Julia
Write to:
songofthecoast@proton.me