(#11) I'm thankful for Jeronimo
When I was 21, I befriended Hector Chavez, a Guatemalan Christian who is around my age. We spent hours together every week, him teaching me Spanish and how to cook plantains, and I teaching him a little English. I soon became obsessed with learning Spanish and developed a strong desire to understand Central American culture. I bought a plane ticket bound for Guatemala later that year. I would go alone, with zero personal contacts in the country. Thankfully my friend Leah Donahue had a relative, David Raif, living there, who put me in touch with a brother in Christ named Jeronimo Cox. Many American brethren know of Jeronimo but to me he was a complete stranger.
But from the moment I met him, Jeronimo and his late wife, Hipolita, treated me like their son. They were as different from any American couple as I could possibly imagine, but it took about 5 seconds to realize that they were quality people that I wanted to know and understand deeply.
My first Sunday there was also my first full day in the town of Xela, Guatemala. Let me tell you, if you ever have a visitor in your home and you want to break the ice, do what Jeronimo and Hipolita did: teach your guest how to make chicken soup, starting with a live chicken. I mean how to wring the neck, drain the blood, pluck, roast, boil, all that stuff. Jeronimo said we were "haciendo el sacrificio", preparing the sacrifice. He always has a great sense of humor.
Throughout my 3 weeks with Jeronimo that trip, and in another week I spent with him in 2016, I grew to see him as a deeply spiritual man, who had an unbelievable love for his neighbors and a humility I have rarely seen.
Because he was such a good neighbor, one year his community elected him to be something like a mayor. He didn't even have to run for the office. A typical day with J might involve giving a boy a shot because his mom called. People trust J to do stuff like that. One day a woman called him to come fix a computer that a sack of corn had fallen on. He regularly hops on buses and visits Christians in other parts of the country, just to see how they're doing and encourage them. It would be easy for someone who is so loved to become quite proud of their standing but this does not appear to have happened with J. One day as I was sitting on the edge of my bed, getting ready to head out for the day, Jeronimo walked in with a wooden bristle brush and a towel with some shoe polish. He knelt down and started shining my dusty shoes. I choked down a lump in my throat. You know what it feels like to be humbled like that? Jeronimo wasn't just shining my shoes. Jesus was shining my shoes through Jeronimo. Maybe some people think that's going too far, but that's honestly how I felt.
There's so much more I could say, but... God, thank you for Jeronimo and others like him in every nation where your Son is named.
But from the moment I met him, Jeronimo and his late wife, Hipolita, treated me like their son. They were as different from any American couple as I could possibly imagine, but it took about 5 seconds to realize that they were quality people that I wanted to know and understand deeply.
My first Sunday there was also my first full day in the town of Xela, Guatemala. Let me tell you, if you ever have a visitor in your home and you want to break the ice, do what Jeronimo and Hipolita did: teach your guest how to make chicken soup, starting with a live chicken. I mean how to wring the neck, drain the blood, pluck, roast, boil, all that stuff. Jeronimo said we were "haciendo el sacrificio", preparing the sacrifice. He always has a great sense of humor.
Throughout my 3 weeks with Jeronimo that trip, and in another week I spent with him in 2016, I grew to see him as a deeply spiritual man, who had an unbelievable love for his neighbors and a humility I have rarely seen.
Because he was such a good neighbor, one year his community elected him to be something like a mayor. He didn't even have to run for the office. A typical day with J might involve giving a boy a shot because his mom called. People trust J to do stuff like that. One day a woman called him to come fix a computer that a sack of corn had fallen on. He regularly hops on buses and visits Christians in other parts of the country, just to see how they're doing and encourage them. It would be easy for someone who is so loved to become quite proud of their standing but this does not appear to have happened with J. One day as I was sitting on the edge of my bed, getting ready to head out for the day, Jeronimo walked in with a wooden bristle brush and a towel with some shoe polish. He knelt down and started shining my dusty shoes. I choked down a lump in my throat. You know what it feels like to be humbled like that? Jeronimo wasn't just shining my shoes. Jesus was shining my shoes through Jeronimo. Maybe some people think that's going too far, but that's honestly how I felt.
There's so much more I could say, but... God, thank you for Jeronimo and others like him in every nation where your Son is named.
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