The Greatest Gift

Saturday, March 24, was our last evening in Mexico. We were very sad to leave, and the believers were sad to see us go. Therefore, we all decided to throw a party on Saturday night after the meeting. This worked out well, because Saturday was also my birthday, and the birthday of a dear woman in the church named Zoyla. While I was turning 25, Zoyla was turning 52. Zoyla is the mother of Pati (Uriel’s Wife) and Cesi, who’s gripping testimony I posted earlier about her life-changing encounter with Jesus while in prison for prostitution and drugs. For most of their lives, Cesi’s sons have lived with Zoyla. There has always been a degree of resentment between Cesi and Zoyla because of Cesi’s past. However, when Cesi came to know Christ and was released from Prison, she and her mother had an even greater separation: Christianity.

It’s not that Zoyla was not God-fearing. In fact, she was one of the most faithful attendees of our services. However, Zoyla still smoked cigarettes and drank beer, and felt it was inappropriate to claim herself as a follower of Christ because she saw the title as hypocritical of her life. When Cesi came home from prison with a changed soul, she and Zoyla disagreed extremely with Zoyla’s drinking and smoking. Unfortunately, because Zoyla did not claim Christianity, she felt it was not inappropriate for her to openly use cigarettes and alcohol, but her family was grieved of her fence-post faith: She believed in God and know Christ was a changer of lives, but she just couldn’t find it in herself to ask him to change her life.

In the last weeks of our time in Mexico, the tension between Zoyla and Cesi became so great that Cesi moved out of the house. Alone, Zoyla was left to reevaluate her decisions. After several talks with various Godly men, including Joshua, Zoyla asked prayer to stop smoking. The brothers prayed with her, but encouraged her that she needed a public profession of faith and accept a new life in Christ if she wanted to change. Adamantly, she professed her belief in God, but repeated her desire to not by a hypocrite by carrying the name of a Christ follower.

On the night of our going away party, and Zoyla’s and my birthday party, Zoyla approached Joshua and Greg and voiced her desire to profess Christ publicly as her Lord. Joshua was thrilled, and she asked him to lead her in a prayer. So, Joshua prayed in English while another missionary brother interpreted. Joshua was elated, and Zoyla was happier than ever.

We received a lot of hugs, kisses, and gifts of warm salutations as we left the church that night. But no gift was as sweet as the sound of Zoyla’s beautiful smile and voice: “God Bless You.”