José jumped out of his vehicle and asked me if anyone answered the door. I had been knocking on his front door while he watched me from his vehicle. I had no idea he was there. As I turned to leave I noticed him talking on his cell phone. He seemed upset. I immediately thought that this might not be the best time to be at this home, so I headed straight for my car. That’s when he jumped out. I told him that no one had answered.

He picked up the phone and told the person on the other end that he would call them back. “Who are you looking for?” he wanted to know. I swallowed. “I am a church planter. I just wanted to meet you.” He looked at me and I could see that tears were filling his eyes. “There are no coincidences.” he said. “Ok.” was all I could muster unsure about what he meant. José began to tell me how he had just been talking to his mother trying to share Scripture with her to encourage her as she was having a very difficult time right now. He then told me that he had become a follower of Jesus, but did not attend a church. “Can you teach us the Bible?” he asked. “I would love to.” I said. He just stood there and waited. “You mean right now?” I asked. “Yes.” he said.

He gathered his family (3 generations) in their living room and set a swiveling desk chair in the middle of the room for me to sit in. We prayed together and applied Colossians 1:15-20 to our lives. The next day José called me and asked if I could come back every week. I will be meeting with José and his family on Saturday evenings. Please pray that José will continue to lead his family toward God. Pray that I will have wisdom in knowing how this family might fit into a new church plant.

Tags: church planting, hispanic, latino, memphis