A Prayer Vigil at Simón Bolívar

Last Saturday evening, several members of our little assembly attended a prayer vigil for the community of Simon Bolivar (see previous post here). It is a small, isolated community with only a handful of believers. We gathered at “Catorce” around 6pm in order to arrive at Simon Bolivar by 7pm. Upon our arrival, supper was served before the vigil officially began. This gave us some time of fellowship with the people there. There was a visiting preacher who has also been working with the believers there, whom we had never met, but had heard about (and of whom we were particularly concerned!). We ate with them and, as is custom, let the brothers know that we had some songs and a message to share.

The event began. We prayed together. We sang and worshipped together. It was a very uplifting time. Our primary music person, Guillermo, was not able to attend, but Levi, Dan, and Nate did a great job leading a couple of songs. We were asked to hold off on our message until “later”. If you have ever been to Latin America then you know that “later” can mean many things!

The visiting preacher started off the message sharing time around 11pm with the understanding that he would end before midnight and allow others time to share. His sermon started off with the importance of prayer, and most of what he said I agreed with. As he continued, however, the legalistic tint of his doctrine became more and more apparent. By 11:40p, all of my kids had turned to me with eyes wide open, with a look of shocked confusion that screamed, “Did he really just say what I think that he said?!?!???” — which was mainly, If you don’t live perfect (according to his standards), then you are a liar, and if you are a liar then you cannot go to heaven, regardless of what you believe Christ did on your behalf. Romans 8 was used to justify this conclusion.

He went on to talk about dress codes, and fasting, and about the weekly “all-nighters” that he does as a sign of (his) holiness, and how he had been shown in dreams that those who do not follow the extra-Biblical details he is describing end up in hell. David, a leading member of our assembly who attended the Ecuadorian version of Emmaus Bible College, got up and walked out. We, the Catorce leadership, had previously decided to hear this man out fully and NOT interrupt – especially since we had been given a time to speak “later”.

The visiting preacher finally finished around 12:40, way passed our allotted time. As the vigil started to move on to other activities, I stood up and gave a few words over 1 Thess 5:23, which is a verse that he had referenced, though strangely out of context. I told of the peace and confidence in God those of us who are true believers in Jesus Christ have to be completely sanctified, now and for always. And that our place with God is preserved by HIS work on the cross, not by my works in the flesh. And we made our exit.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23

The following Lord’s Day, after our usual services, the leading men gathered to discuss the previous evening’s vigil. It was very encouraging to listen to the other brothers. They saw and heard the same things and were concerned about the same teachings. While this may sound like a small thing, it was really a big WIN for our little, congregation; the legalistic preacher was a very good speaker and could rattle off Bible verses without looking them up. He was very convincing, and I wasn’t sure if anyone from our assembly would be confused by his teaching, but no one was convinced, not even 12 year old Noah, who was barely able to stay awake. This, in itself was a great victory!

As a church, we are discussing how we shall address this teaching. We don’t want to let these dear people be led into this kind of bondage, but we want to act in a way that if at all possible does not bring division to a tiny, struggling assembly. Please pray for us, and for them.