Felipe and the Gospel

I believe there is power in prayer. So here I am asking you to pray for my new friend Felipe.

 

I met him on my connecting flight from Atlanta to St. Louis on Thursday morning. While I thought it was super silly and out of the way for them to connect me in St. Louis when I needed to get to Dallas, the Lord obviously had a plan for it.

Here's a little about my new friend-he was friendly, and our conversation came easily. I found out he is from Colombia and has been in America with his wife and 3 kids for 13 years now. He is the VP of an organization called Hispanic Unity of Florida that helps Hispanics have better lives (through language and citizenship classes, tax and legal services, small business workshops, and programs for kids and teens).

Lonnnnnnggggggg story short (we talking for the whole hour and 45 minute flight), I got to hear about his life and family, and I got to talk about my mission trips to various countries and what the Lord has taught me through those. Eventually I asked him if he was Catholic because I saw him doing the sign of the Cross as we were taking off. He said yes he was, and our conversation about religion began.

When I made the comment that I was Protestant, he literally asked me, "So what's the difference between what you believe and what I believe?" Um, open door much??

So over the next hour, I explained the Gospel and:

• How we are sinful and therefore do not meet God's standard for entering Heaven
• How Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins
• That salvation is by faith alone and it is a gracious gift from God
• Sanctification and how we are constantly striving to be more like Christ, and we can only do it by the help of the Holy Spirit
• Why it's important to be plugged in with a body of believers (community, accountability, encouragement, etc.-like many others, he makes it to mass for Christmas and Easter)
• Why we need to read and study the Bible on our own

(I'm sure there was more, but in that moment, you're just rolling with it and trusting that the Lord is guiding what you have to say.)

Words literally were rolling off of my tongue (that was alllllllll God). At one point I paused to take a breath and apologized for just totally going off on a tangent and halfway preaching to him, and he said, "No, keep going." He was super attentive and absorbed in what I was saying. That's when you know the it's the Spirit.

I just can't even explain how awesome it was to get to talk to Felipe and encourage him. 

Through our conversation, he was able to catch a glimpse of the passions the Lord has placed in my heart, and I think he was curious as to how a 22-year-old, American girl could be concerned with more than just herself or social media or partying or popularity. 

I pray that that passion stays alive in my heart. I know there will be ups and downs, but it's nice to be riding the wave for a little bit. 

And once again I implore you to be praying for Felipe. He has such a great position in the Hispanic community down in Fort Lauderdale, and I've been getting excited just thinking about how influential he could be if the Lord got a hold of his life!! If anybody can do it, God can!