Encountered by God

Einer & Girlesa Zuluaga are missionaries working with MB Mission who are serving among the Embera and Wounaan people in Panama. When they first met Ricardo, he had been a pastor for five years. But Ricardo did not know God’s word very well and he always preached short messages that had very little depth.

Einer & Girlesa began to meet regularly with him to study the Bible and pray together. One morning, Ricardo came to speak with Einer. He confessed to Einer, “I feel bad because I don’t want to be a pastor anymore.” Ricardo felt that he had been deceiving the congregation for all the years that he had been a pastor and he no longer wanted to live this way. Einer told him, “This is the right time – when you feel this way – that you can become a real pastor.”

Einer explained to Ricardo that he could ask God for forgiveness and pray that God would make him a true pastor of the people from now on. After listening to Einer’s advice, Ricardo decided to accept this challenge.

That Sunday, Einer & Girlesa went to church to listen to Ricardo’s message. When he got up to preach, Ricardo announced, “God has spoken to me!”

Ricardo told the congregation that he had struggled for a long time the night before, but God had insisted that he needed to share this message with the people. Tears rolled down Ricardo’s cheeks as he spoke about how God was dealing with him. He shared about the importance of the word of God and how God was calling him to come back to His word.

Since that day, Ricardo has not ceased to speak the word of God with boldness and strength and the power of God. He is no longer the shy and timid man that he used to be. God has transformed him and has even given him the courage to directly confront people in his congregation when they continue in their old beliefs and go to witch doctors.

Recently, Ricardo was elected as president of the Panama MB Conference. Praise God for raising Ricardo up as a strong godly leader in the church. Pray that God will fill him with love, humility, compassion, and hope for the people of Panama.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12