Raul and Elba

Guanabo, Cuba.  Crazy Henry takes us to meet his fellow revolutionaries, the atheists, Raul and Elba.  We walk in the gate, they are sitting on their front porch, Henry introduces us, then he turns around a walks out the gate!  And they are two of the meanest looking old people I had ever seen!  Raul asks where we are from and my interpreter, Isabel, tells them she is from Havana and I am from America.  They ask why we were at their house and I said we were Christians and wanted to tell them His story.  They said they were not interested because they were atheists but welcomed us to sit down because they were Cubans.  So we took a seat and began to ask about their life here and about atheism and how it had served to make their life better.  I told them I would like to tell them a crazy story about Jesus and would like to hear about their beliefs (or the lack of beliefs). They agreed and said since I was a guest in their country I could talk first, to which I quickly agreed to do.  I started by saying, I know you do not believe in God, but since my conversation was going to be about Him I ask if for a few minutes could they just pretend there is a God.  They said yes, they could pretend there was.  Then everything I said, I prefaced with the phrase, "well since we are pretending there is a God, can we pretend that He had a Son, and can we pretend He sent His son to earth to solve a problem for us?  And can we pretend this Son of the God we are pretending exists offered to die for the sins of the whole world?  And can we pretend that this Son who died for our sins was raised from the dead after three days?  And can we pretend that He was seen by over 500 people at one time and appeared to His followers for 40 days?  And can we pretend that anyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven, will have a meaningful and abundant life, and will have eternal life with Him in heaven?"  Then I said, that is the message I came to deliver to you and I just sat there quietly while they looked at me.  After awhile I asked them, "what if that were a true story, would you want that forgiveness and that life?"  Then I just waited for them to say something.  Raul looked at Elba and Elba looked at Raul, then they looked at Isabel, then they looked at me, then they looked at each other again.  Then after what seemed like a long silence, they both said at the same time that IF it were true, they would want that.  I then said, we would like to pray for them and ask God to show them, in their hearts if the story was true or not.  They agreed and we prayed, as we were praying, and Isabel was saying it in Spanish, I heard her gasp, so I looked over a her and she motioned to look at them.  I had never seen someone physically change their countenance like Raul and Elba.  It was so obvious that God had shown them the truth and now they even looked different.  They were smiling and "softer" looking.  We gave them hugs and welcomed them to God's family.  We began to tell them that was why we came so the Lord would start a group of believers in their town.  Shortly after that, Enrique comes through the gate, looks at Raul and Elba, then shouts out, "You are both Christians now, I can see it in your faces!"  We sat for a little while longer then said we were going to tell more of their neighbors this story.  We told them we were going to looking for a house where the new believers could gather and much to our surprise, Raul and Elba offered their place.  And as far as I know, the church still meets at their house...the house of former atheists!  Does God have a sense of humor?