{2 Corinthians 1:3-4} “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Written by one of our IGNITE Class 10 interns, Natalia Navas:
In the morning I woke up early and read 2 Corinthians 1. That day we had an outreach planned to hand out hundreds of free plates of food along with water and Bible tracts to the local Guatemalans in Central Park. A few minutes before we got to the outreach I ran back to my room because I felt like the Lord was telling me to bring two Bibles instead of one. When I was in the room I opened the bible to 2 Corinthians 1 and highlighted verses 3-4. All tribulation is so we can comfort others.
When we got to the park I joined in singing worship. One of my teammates approached me and told me that there was a man there who wanted a Bible. My heart skipped a beat. I did have two Bibles with me, but one of them belonged to my brother. I started to go back and forth in my mind because I knew I had one. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that I needed to give my Bible to the man. I was being selfish because of what the Bible meant to me. I approached the man to talk. His name was Leon Catalan, and he was 77 years old.
He started telling us that the God that he believes in is not a god of wood or ceramic or iron, only the true and living God. I now knew in my heart the Lord was telling me give the bible.
The thing He kept telling me was: “I give you so much, give the Bible.“
I was struggling because I knew that I had the Bible in my backpack and no one else knew that I had it, only me & the Lord. As we were talking I looked into his eyes and noticed that he had cataracts. I remembered that the extra Bible had big sized font. I decided to sacrifice the significance of that material thing because the more thing. When I gave him the Bible I told him the importance of it. The Word of God with sentimental attachments, representing all the lord has done in my family.
When I gave it to him I opened it and the first page containing “this Bible belongs to…” was blank. In that moment I knew this was not my Bible. This was his Bible.
I talked to the man and he told me his testimony. I sat beside him on a bench and he put his arm around me. In that moment I felt comfort. I understood that this Bible will help him preach the gospel in the elderly home he lives in. He wants to learn the word and preach. This is going to be the tool the Lord gives him to continue growing in Him. This Bible was hard to let go, but God is the owner of our lives and even if we have nothing, we still have him. The man had many trials, his family abandoned him, and he felt comfort in the Lord because now he has a home and a Bible that will direct his steps. I will be praying for him I will rejoice and be thankful.
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