“Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly.”
~ 1 Samuel 19:4
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever been befriended by another kid? Have you ever befriended another kid? When your grandpaa was befriended by Papi Cardona, your grandpaa learned a life lesson. The life lesson that your grandpaa learned when Papi Cardona befriended him is that being unconditionally affirmed and unreservedly appreciated by another guy made your grandpaa want to do the same to Papi. Your grandpaa met Papi the first Sunday afternoon after he, your grandmaa, dad and Aunt Lynn arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia to join a church planting team that was embedded in the South America Mission field missionary team. The first Sunday morning after your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn arrived at the end of August of 1978 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, your grandpaa was told that guys every Sunday afternoon would get together behind the Alto San Pedro Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals – which is where he, your grandmaa, dad and Aunt Lynn had gone that morning, to play volleyball on the volleyball court that was there. Your grandpaa had walked the two blocks from where he, your grandmaa, dad and Aunt Lynn were staying – which was the Bolivia South America Mission’s mission base, to where the Christ-follower guys and gals in the Alto San Pedro Christ-follower fellowship met Sunday mornings and played volleyball Sunday afternoons to watch them play volleyball. When Papi saw your grandpaa, Papi for some reason asked your grandpaa if would like to play on the six man volleyball team that he was playing on. Your grandpaa thought that he was an okay volleyball player until . . . it did not make any difference at all to Papi that your grandpaa did not understand what he said or that your grandpaa did not know how to bump a volleyball. The guys who played volleyball behind the place where the Alto San Pedro Christ-follower community of guys and gals met would form teams of six guys. When a team of six guys lost, another team of six guys would play the team of six guys who won. Your grandpaa had no idea what to expect that first Sunday afternoon when he showed up at the place where the Alto San Pedro Christ-follower community of guys and gals met to watch guys play volleyball. When a little older looking and front teeth missing guy – Papi, sat down next to your grandpaa and began talking to your grandpaa, your grandpaa did not know what the guy was saying to him. Your grandpaa found out later that Papi was the oldest kid in his family, that his family were Christ-followers and went to the Alto San Pedro fellowship of guys and gals but that he rarely if ever went to an Alto San Pedro Christ-follower fellowship service and that he was poor. When it was Papi’s team’s turn to play against the winner of the game that had just ended, Papi motioned to your grandpaa to go with him to the volleyball court and to play next to him. When your grandpaa found out that he would always be called for an open hand hit when he hit the volleyball with his hands open and flat – and that the volleyball would go to the other team, Papi did not try to find another guy to play alongside him. When the team that your grandpaa was playing on lost the first time and his team had to sit down and wait until . . . Papi left your grandpaa sitting alone on a bench. A few minutes later Papi returned with a cold drink that was made from reconstituted dried apricots and an empanada – which is deep fried turnover that is made with what your grandmaa and grandpaa called ‘Mennonite cheese’ in the middle of it. Each Sunday afternoon when your grandpaa went to play volleyball where the Alto San Pedro Christ-follower community of guys and gals met to play volleyball, Papi would always have your grandpaa play alongside him.
Having a guy like Papi – who was not an exceptional, unique guy and who had no motives that your grandpaa could tell for deciding to do what he did in coming alongside your grandpaa into an activity that your grandpaa had no clue of what would be expected of him, made your grandpaa realize how invaluable it is for a guy to have another guy – or for a kid to have another kid – or for a gal to have another gal, to guide him or her through the unknowns of a new situation until he or she is at ease at being in whatever it might be. I Samuel 19 tells how one guy befriended another guy. Jonathan befriended David. Jonathan came alongside David when David was having a really hard time with Jonathan’s dad. Jonathan’s dad really wanted David dead. Jonathan’s dad even told Jonathan at one point to kill David the next time that he saw David. Jonathan did not want to kill David – as he really did like David. Verse 4 is Jonathan defending David to his dad, “Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “‘Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly.” David was risking his life to fight the Philistine people group guys. The Philistine people group guys and gals were constantly making life as miserable as possible for God’s specially chosen guys and gals who God had move into the land area of Canaan to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . by marauding their land. Jonathan was able to convince his dad that David was an okay guy and that . . . Saul had David return to the palace where he lived for David to play harp music for him again. When an evil spirit told Saul later to use his spear to pin David to a wall in his palace, things were back to what they had been like between he and David. David was able to escape Saul.
In May of 1990 – less than a month before your grandpaa returned to the United States and as he was driving down a Santa Cruz backstreet, your grandpaa suddenly spotted Papi. Your grandpaa had not seen Papi for years. Your grandpaa immediately stopped the vehicle that he was driving, got out of it and he and Papi gave each other a long Bolivian hug. A befriending gift is a really good gift that a guy, gal or kid can give to another guy, gal or kid.
1 Samuel 19 (667)