My Friend Ramon

Here is my friend Ramon.  He lives in a pretty remote barrio called San Jose, Dominican Republic.  In November Ramon made a commitment to start a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Here he is in November at our medical clinic when he made a commitment to begin a relationship with the Lord

Here he is on Friday March 9th getting a solar device where he can listen to sermons by Charles Stanley and the New Testament in Spanish

Here he gets an explanation on how it works

His face was priceless

Here he is getting a hair cut


We left right after this picture was taken and Ramon collapsed.  He was limp and lifeless.  They grabbed a motorcycle and took him to the nearest hospital in Boca Chica about 20-30 minutes away.  I just picture their faces as they feared Ramon had passed away.  The ride is dirt road through cow pastures and sugar cane fields.  Good news is there will not be a traffic jam of any sort.  After they got him to medical treatment his pulse was really low and he slowly came back.  


It was all the buzz in the community that Ramon had almost died....again.  This was about the 3rd time this had happened.  His sugar drops.  I forgot to tell you Ramon is 100 years old.  He has 21 children and 53 grandchildren.


It is never too late to learn about Jesus.  But it is important.  A relationship with Him is important.  Spending time in the Word is important.  We never know when it will be our time "to go limp and lifeless".  Jesus commands us to love Him with all our heart and mind.  When you really love someone don't you want to know all about them?  Think back to the beginning of a new relationship and you spend countless hours just talking, listening and getting to know everything you can about them.  That is what Jesus wants from us.  He wants us to read His Word and to spend intimate time with Him.


One day we will all be before God at the end of our time on earth.  I can just imagine what that will be like.  Some may argue, well I did this good thing and doesn't that outweigh the little bad I did?  I did much better than that guy I thought.  I believe it matters more how much we knew Jesus and have filled ourselves up with His Holy Spirit so that we can go through life with Him living inside us and our actions are a reflection of his amazing light.  He will already know us since we have an intimate relationship with Him.  All of this I don't know for sure, but I feel like even if I am wrong, it is a pretty good way to live!


I don't know Ramon's heart before I met it back in November.  I don't know what God knows about him, but I love to see the excitement in his face when he hears stories about Jesus in his ear.  I loved hearing the story when my friend Craig went to check on him after he returned from the hospital and he and his family were in the front yard all listening to his new solar powered device.  This is SO powerful here because MANY are illiterate and a third world country does not have the access to iPod sermons, books and even churches sometimes.  I am SO glad that Ramon is still here, although one would think at 100 years old that it could be any day.  Ramon lives in one of the furthest houses away from the center of town.  He walks along a rocky path that winds through hilly terrain.  My friend Craig thinks this may be why he is still in such good shape.  I just hope I can be that with it and mobile at 100 years old.

I love this picture because it shows today's youth juxtaposed against a man who has about 97 more years life experience than he has.  This young boy can't probably read yet, but he has his whole life in front of him to know Jesus and work on his relationship.  Either way....YOU ARE NEVER TO OLD (OR YOUNG) TO START LEARNING ABOUT JESUS!


In His Grip,
Jodi