Heaven is the goal!

Marcelo grew up in Argentina but spent his entire adult life in his father’s home country of Costa Rica. An astute businessman, he worked in the insurance industry. In September 2020, he connected with Academia Cristo’s online classes. By September 2022, Marcelo had completed the first level of classes, and I began connecting with him one-on-one. Through these classes, Marcelo became a committed Lutheran. He also felt it was important to share what he had learned with others, so he started our second level of classes to train as a group planter.

L to R: Rev. Nathan Schulte, Alyssa Schulte, Flor, and Marcelo

I would visit Marcelo in Costa Rica and observe him leading his group. He was a confident leader, patient, and skilled at guiding discussions. Although Marcelo was a mature believer, leading his own Bible study group pushed him to grow even more. This past January, he called me to study the biblical support for why we can forgive someone else’s sins. His group had asked about it, and he wanted to learn more Bible passages for the conversation. We scheduled a Zoom meeting and started going through a few stories and Bible verses that show we have the privilege of announcing God’s forgiveness to people. One of the passages was from 2 Corinthians. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). When we read this passage, Marcelo teared up. “Wow,” he said, “we really can give this gift to others. That’s so special.”

Over the past two years, Marcelo was not only working on group planting , but he was also suffering from bone cancer. The cancer was painful, and soon he couldn’t work as much or meet with his Bible study group as often. Then, July 2, 2024, the Lord took Marcelo home. I miss Marcelo’s phone calls, his eagerness to learn more, and his correction of my Spanish when I made mistakes.

However, I am thankful to know that he is in heaven now. His passing is a powerful reminder of our purpose as missionaries. We want to bring people along to heaven with us. Heaven is the goal! Thank the Lord for the gospel.

Written by Rev. Nathan Schulte, world missionary on the Latin America mission team in Quito, Ecuador.

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