by Craig Lingo
BBFI missionary to Colombia
Francisco is from Spain. I’m not sure of all the details of his life. But I do know that by the time he and his wife came to our Parent’s Evangelistic Camp, he was pretty much a basket case. He is probably in his early 40s. His skin has a yellowish tint because he has a severe case of cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol abuse, and he is so tense that he smokes like a smokestack.
Francisco was not a happy camper! I don’t know if he did not realize what he was getting into — having to sleep in a different dorm than his wife and only being able to smoke at designated times and in a designated area — but he had an attitude problem as severe as any teenager I have ever seen! The first night of the camp his wife wanted to accept Christ as her Savior, but Francisco opposed her vehemently. In fact, according to one of our facilitators, there was a pretty strong argument going on, and Francisco prevailed. By the following morning he was almost uncontrollable.
On the final morning of camp, we always have a sports activity. Everybody is invited to participate in a basket-shooting contest. The requirement is to make ten baskets in a row — the prize, a very nice watch for both the man and lady who wins. In Colombia there isn’t much chance that anybody is going to make ten baskets in a row, since basketball is not a widely practiced sport. I suppose we had around 150 contestants, and the most that anybody made was two baskets in a row. Nobody won a watch!
Having finished the contest, we went to the auditorium to discuss the results. One lady complained, “You set the bar too high.”
“I’m so glad you said that,” I replied. “Let me show you God’s standard,” and we flashed the Ten Commandments on the screen. As we went through them, you could just see people, especially the men, sinking down in their seats. It was a pretty severe indictment, particularly when they discovered God said if a person broke one commandment he was guilty of all!
There I stood with the two watches in my hand. We had already agreed they would be given to the least cooperative man and woman who had shown a pretty bad attitude — Francisco was chosen. He was sitting on the first row, and I asked him, “Francisco, would you please receive this watch as a gift from us?” He sheepishly came to receive his watch with an embarrassed, “Thank you.”
Afterwards, he sought me out and asked, “Why did you choose me? I didn’t even compete … I don’t think I deserved it.”
I replied, “That’s grace! It is a gift you don’t deserve!”
He walked away with a very pensive look on his face. Later that morning we had our final service. Francisco was the first one to stand when the invitation was given!
We took 336 unsaved adults to camp. The final tally was 112 saved — Francisco was one of them!
By the way, Francisco is a very sick man. He and his wife have been coming to church and he always looks me up and shakes my hand with a very pleasant smile on his face.
It’s amazing what the grace of God can do! Aren’t you thankful that God offers grace to the unworthy? We wouldn’t trade our job for anything in the world!
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Craig and Fran Lingo have been Baptist Bible Fellowship missionaries to Colombia since 1971. During their tenure, they have participated in planting five churches in the city of Bogota and two missions in nearby cities.
In 2005, the Rawlings Foundation teamed with the Lingos to build The Highlands Colombia, a camp facility a few miles outside of Bogota, in an effort to reach more Colombians with the gospel. In 2008, once the construction was complete, the Rawlings Foundation continued their involvement by financing moral value retreats and evangelistic camps. During these evangelistic camps, well over 50 percent of the adults and young people of the Lingo’s ministry are involved in some aspect of the camp ministry.
The first moral value retreat was held in March 2009 and the first evangelistic camp was in May of the same year. Two hundred and eighty campers attended that first evangelistic camp, with 194 professions of faith.
In August 2010, after much insistence from the kids’ parents, The Highlands Colombia held its first evangelistic camp for parents. In attendance were 244 parents of which 99 were saved.
Since the camp’s inception, a total of 1,731 young people have attended the evangelistic camps and there have been 789 professions of faith. The parents’ events are also increasing with a total of 611 parents attending camp and 208 professions of faith. This totals 997 people who have found life eternal in Jesus Christ.
“The Rawlings Foundation continues to expand its camp ministry — having built similar facilities in Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean,” says Lingo. “They continue to invest all over the world, sending kids and adults to camp, reaping an amazing harvest of souls.”