Jeff Adams

What’s a pupusa? Never mind, you probably wouldn’t understand. For those of you who do, I was eating pupusas within 12 hours of touchdown here in El Salvador. A bit slow, but I didn’t have my own transportation.

This morning was the first of two sessions on missions for pastors and leaders. I think it was well received. Following the morning meeting I had lunch with the church board to discuss their possible participation in the BKA, our alliance to reach the K people Last night was the first of three evening messages on the mission. Tonight is the second. I am writing early because I won’t be back to where I am staying until very late and will be tired.

Thanks to those of you who are praying for Gabriel. As I mentioned yesterday, Gabriel is the adult son of the widow in whose home I am staying. Let me give you an update. They have determined that the cancerous tumor they discovered yesterday is in the central part of his left kidney. This means they will have to remove the entire left kidney. Evidently, this is the type of tumor that explodes at some point and sends cancer throughout the body. Fortunately, they think they have caught this one early enough to remove it before this happens. I hope I am explaining this right in English. It makes very good sense in Spanish, but I’m not sure how to be a bit more technical in English for those of you who are medically inclined.

Right now they are admitting him to the hospital and tomorrow morning (Friday), they will take out his kidney. If all is as it appears, they believe he will be able to live a normal life with one kidney. That is our prayer.

Here’s what is interesting to me. This all began yesterday in the middle of the night when he awoke to severe pain and they rushed him to the ER. They soon had the pain under control, but had him go back yesterday afternoon for the scan that revealed the tumor. It was the pain that resulted in the discovery of the tumor that could have taken his life.

Think about that. It was the pain that is apparently going to save Gabriel. This is so consistent with biblical truth. God uses pain and suffering to protect us and to help us grow. We often mess things up by resisting, ignoring or running from the pain. Maybe we should learn to embrace pain, be sensitive to it and see how God wants to use it for our good. We are do goofed up with legalism and shallow understanding of the Bible we think that all pain is our fault, or means we messed up somehow.

Got pain?