An "extraordinary," ordinary hero

Let me tell you about one of my heroes. I met Luis on my first trip to Colombia in the early 1990s. From the very beginning this Colombiano impressed me with his warm, engaging personality and excellent English.

He had come to an orientation along with other Christian leaders and pastors from his city as our team gathered with them to plan how we could work together to start new churches. We proposed that members of our team would go with them to share our stories of how Jesus changed our lives. Then together we would share Jesus' story with those who wanted to hear. Our hope was that the fruit of our combined efforts would result in new churches in neighborhoods where there were no churches.

He taught himself English

I was increasingly impressed as I got to know Luis and his delightful family. He had been raised by a single mom in a community on the outskirts of the city. As a boy he loved to watch American made western movies, but he couldn't understand English. To solve his problem, he taught himself the language so that he could better enjoy those shows.

Luis was a bright young man and finished his undergraduate degree in Colombia. Then he was accepted into a master's program in chemical engineering at a university in the U.S., for which he also received a Fullbright scholarship. So, he courageously packed up his young wife and moved to the States for his time of study.

While there he and his wife were befriended by some fellow students who were followers of Jesus. They started including them in their social circle and began talking to them about their relationship with Jesus. Luis and his wife felt welcomed and accepted by these new friends and started accompanying them to church services in the college town where they lived.

After a few months of hearing how much God loved them from their friends and how Jesus had given himself to pay for all their wrongdoing against him to offer them eternal life, they put their faith in Christ. Over the next couple of years they became close to the pastor who helped Luis get grounded and growing in his new life in Christ.

Words that marked his life

Luis graduated from the program and he, his wife and now two new young children packed up to return to Colombia to start his career in the oil and gas industry.

Luis told me that the day they were to return home, the pastor who had so impacted their lives accompanied them to the airport. Right before he boarded the plane, this pastor put his hands on Luis' shoulders, looked him in the eye and said words that marked his life from that point forward: "Luis, remember, you are a full time Christian and a part time engineer!"

With those words ringining in his ears, he and his young family returned to his hometown to settle down and begin work. They started looking for a church similar to the one they had found in the U.S. After much seeking, they found a close fit in the downtown area of the city. The challenge for them, though, was they could only travel there by bus which was about a 90 minute ride from their house. Despite this long commute, they started worshiping and serving with the people there. Several times a week they would take their young children and make the long bus ride to the church and back home, a total three hour round trip transit.

Impacting his community

When Luis heard about our vision and plan to help start new, organic home churches in local neighborhoods, he welcomed a team of three "gringos" to be with him and his family for a week. As a result of their combined efforts, at the end of the week there were about 20 new people who had trusted in Jesus near where Luis lived that were meeting in the living area of his home for fellowship and Bible study.

After we left, Luis and his family continued to lead that small house church which grew and reached others in their community. I returned a year later to meet with the folks who were regularly gathering in his home and it was a joy to see how they had grown and even started other home groups.

Over the years we worked with Luis to not only grow his church but to start many others in his community and nearby towns. All the while Luis continued to work as a petroleum engineer.

He had taken his mentor's words to heart. He saw himself first as a full time Christian placed by the Lord in his community to share the love of Jesus, and then as a "part time" engineer in his career.

The last time I visited with him personally in Colombia, Luis was developing a leader to take over his ministry there. He has since retired from his engineering job and has moved closer to his children. Not long ago I spoke with him by phone and he told me he was again working on starting a new church in his new community!

What if we all had his mindset?

As I've reflected on Luis's life, I have often wondered, what would happen if every follower of Jesus had this same mindset? If they saw themselves as a "full time Christian" placed in their community to show and tell others about the love and grace of Christ? If they reached out to help form new small groups and then helped others do the same?

I don't think Luis' experience should be viewed as abnormal for Christ's people. I believe it was how first century believers acted and how God intends it to be for all his people--that we all live this normal lifestyle as full time Christians and part time "whatevers."

I can only imagine what would happen if those who know and follow Christ would be more extraordinary, ordinary believers like my hero Luis.