A Death-Bed Wedding, a New Believer

A man named Rafael was dying of kidney failure. His son Jimmy has been coming to our services in the Costa Rican slum of Tejarcillos.  Our local ministry leaders have gotten good at preaching, teaching, and doing pastoral visits, but this one was a little more difficult.

On the way to Rafael's house, I came the closest yet to being mugged there in the 'hood.  As our leaders Fran and Ileana and I turned the corner down a dirt path to Rafael's house, two young men were standing there watching us.  One of them said to the other within earshot of us, "I'll bet that Gringo has money  (meaning 'let's go take it from him')."  The other one said, "No, I know him.  He works over on that corner."  And they left us alone.

It was a Tuesday evening.  We went to  try to encourage Rafael, who clearly did not want to die yet. He was, I believe, 52. We prayed for healing and reminded him that life and death are both in the hands of the Lord. And for the believer, they're both good options (Philippians 1:21)! Rafael had accepted Christ about four months earlier. The conversation turned to his so-called wife Maria and it came up that they had never actually gotten married. Our ministry leader Ileana asked them if they would like to get married, and, if so, would I be willing to marry them on the spot? Now Costa Rica does not recognize Protestant weddings at all, much less an impromptu, ad hoc one in a shack. So it wouldn't be legal, but they would finally say their vows before God. I tried to put them off for a day, since it had been years since I had done a wedding, and had never done one in Spanish. Since we didn't know how much longer Rafael would live, Ileana said, no, it would have to be right then and I would have to remember the ceremony and do it as best I could, even if I had to say the words in English.

So I relented and said there was one condition. Rafael would have to ask for Maria's hand and she would have to accept. Rafael asked, and Maria said that, yes, she had always wanted to be properly married after being together for 28 years. So they gathered the extended family together from around the neighborhood, and I muddled through the ceremony in Spanish before pronouncing them husband and wife.

The following Tuesday I was at the house of our leaders, Fran and Ileana. We went from there to visit Rafael and the family. Fran and Ileana asked me to do the talking and bring an evangelistic message to the family. I hate it when they ask me to do stuff "off the cuff" without time to prepare or even think about what I'm going to say. But God is always faithful. The thief on the cross, who repented in the last hours of his life, came to mind, and I shared the story and its implications with the family. Rafael, who was no longer lucid, reminded me of the penitent thief since he had trusted in Christ at the end of his life. Rafael's other son, Esteban, gave his life to Christ that night.

Two days later Rafael died. He now awaits Esteban, Jimmy, and Maria in heaven.  Fran and Ileana are now following up with the family and taking them through a discipleship program.

 

The other bigs news is that, after nearly 13 years here, our family will be moving back to the US in December.  More on that next time...