Stars and bright opportunities
Though the season for celebrating Christmas has passed for another year, Pete and Liesl Hypki continue to reflect on God’s faithful work in unexpected ways as they celebrated Christ’s birth.
There was the day Agapito and Pedro sat on their couch, gazing at the Hypki’s Christmas tree.
Questions filled the room. “Where did you get it? How much did it cost? How did you bring it here?”
A thoughtful pause followed as they surveyed the tree with admiration.
Then their observation: “Y unka se sital pa tahpa.” “And there’s a star on top.”
Pete responded, asking the two men if they knew why there was a star.
They answered, “No.”
So Pete proceeded to tell his Nahuatl friends the story of the wise men who followed the star to Bethlehem to find Jesus.
“That’s right,” they answered. “Isn’t Christmas the day that Jesus was born?”
“It’s a genuine question, one I cherish—an open door that the light of the Christmas story can shine through,” Pete writes.
For Pete and Liesl, who just spent their third Christmas in the Nahuatl village where they minister, there is bright hope for a day very soon when the Nahuatl people will hear clearly in their own heart language the Good News about God’s plan for their redemption.
The star at the top of their tree has some extra significance as well.
A star looks different through Nahuatl eyes. In local tradition, Pete says, there is a tale about a naughty boy who deceived and tricked and schemed until he was turned into a star as his punishment. That boy, now just a mischievous twinkle, serves to warn misbehaving children that they could share his fate.
To Pete and Liesl Hypki, a star brings to mind a very different kind of reminder.
“Here in my Bible,” Pete shares, “a star announces a King’s arrival. … He now sits in the heavens … and reigns forever. And we can share in His fate. The hope of glory. Life eternal.”
Pray for God to continue to prepare Nahuatl hearts to hear and respond to the gospel. Pray that the King Whose earthly arrival was announced by a star will soon reign in Nahuatl hearts as Savior and Redeemer.
And if God has tapped you on the shoulder about sharing His Good News with unreached people, you can start by looking at your opportunities.