Thursday night I was getting ready for bed when David came in from several visits.

“Penelope!!” he whispered lest he rouse little miss G from her light slumber. I heard his excitement but could little guess what the next words would be.

“Doña I…. was saved last night during meeting.”

“What?!” I replied, incredulous and completely in awe of what God was doing. “That is incredible David.” I felt so small, so humbled that God was blessing in such a visible, obvious way.

It’s a beautiful thing to be able to share with your spouse. Working together, albeit in different aspects, to see God’s field give fruit. I am forever grateful for King David’s provision for the ones who stayed behind with the stuff. That’s me, quietly hanging in the back while David heads to the front, doing the preaching and the visiting. But the joy is shared equally.

While I don’t normally feel confident to outright encourage others, I do want to mention this. To any woman whose husband serves in a public way, your invisible work is no less important, indeed it is equally vital. While your husband is studying, keep order in your home then go into his office and tell him that you are praying for him. You may have the power to raise him from a spiritual block, your prayers could be what keeps getting the words out onto the page. Keep up with your own private devotions so that when he asks you for counsel, you have godly words of wisdom to impart. While he and others are sharing the gospel, pray that God´s Spirit would fill them with power. When he comes in sunburnt and socially exhausted from walking and visits, fill his soul with love and care, welcoming him in to a clean and peaceful home. You may never personally see a single person won to Christ, but your service to your family and husband through prayer and physical labor are avenues that God will use for your spouse to labor in confidence. You may be the reason God´s word is able to fully flourish.

After over a year of what has felt very stagnant, to see four people accept Christ and two ask for baptism in less than two weeks has been nothing less than a revival. Yes, hard things had to happen first, but God still honors holiness and delights to bless. It has also been so encouraging to see our little school help to bring parents out to hear the gospel.

We have ended the mini gospel series in our patio each Wednesday as another family would like to host for the next month.

While we feel joy and excitement, we also feel small.

I’ve told David before that I am glad for our sakes the places we work are not overflowing with humans and interest. It would be so easy to be filled with pride. To analyze our strategies and say, “this is why.” We could look down on others who haven’t been as successful. It would become easy to see gospel work like a business, sitting down each week to build our platform and schedule in an action plan, marking maps with highlighters and planning theatrical pulls.

Four souls, quietly reached during house meetings is an incredible victory for the gospel. Actually, any interest at all is God´s victory, not ours. We’re just empty but very fortunate vessels.