I want to tell you a little about Isaac, our yard worker. This young man came with the house. He is employed by the missionary that normally lives here, and we have kept him on to keep up the yard and do things around the house. Truly he is a very unusual young man!
What first impressed me is that he is always on time. I don’t believe he owns a watch, but he is always here before his work time. If we ask him to come at a different time, he is flexible and here for that time also.
I’m also impressed because he is self-motivated. I don’t have to tell him what to do to keep up with the yard (as if I would know anyhow!), and he looks for things that need to be fixed. As I’ve noted before, our water supply is not always reliable, so without me asking he began to check the polytank on the roof to let us know if it is running low. Around the property is a cement block wall, about 7 feet at its highest point. There are rusted knife blade type protrusions that are cemented on top to prevent people from jumping over the wall. One day I found him out there with cement replacing a portion of knife blades that had been knocked down. I hadn’t even noticed they were missing, yet he had and he was fixing it.
We were told that Isaac doesn’t know how to read or write, so I wanted to teach him. I told him I’ve never taught anyone before, but he said he would like to learn. He explained to me that he wasn’t able to go to school because his parents did not have the money to pay his school fees (books, uniforms, etc.). Instead he was sent from his home in the north to Takoradi to live with his uncle and to find work. He also told me he sends his money to his parents so that his younger sister can go to school. When I asked him about his siblings he stated his two younger brothers died ‘for want of food’.
Today Isaac was able to say the alphabet without looking at it, he read more than 15 words, and he could articulate what the difference is between B and b. He recognizes God, Jesus, his name and sin. I’m incredibly excited, but at the same time I wonder how he’ll ever learn enough to be able to read the Bible. It is one thing to quote scripture to someone, praying they’ll believe and understand, but it’s another to have them see it for themselves. I realize either way the Holy Spirit is the witness of the Truth, but so much of the word of God has been twisted here, and used to teach false doctrine. By his testimony he is trusting in his good works to get him to Heaven. I have witnessed to him once, but I want to lay a foundation of the gospel from the Bible. He said he is willing to let me teach him some Bible lessons. Please pray for Isaac!
good to hear from you!Hope your day was good.
ReplyDeleteWill pray that things continue to go well for Isaac.