This past week we have been staying at the hotel ‘Casa Mateo’. Groups of us have gone out each day into the barrios of Diriamba. The average income of these families is $100 per month. Many of these homes are built out of corrugated tin. With the volcanoe so close, the sulfuric acid in the air rusts these homes out within 6 months. The floors are often packed dirt, and not flat.
Yesterday we were in one of these houses. The woman (again no man in the household) of the house called for us to come in and pray with them. So we jammed into this little house. This home is about the size of a shelter out on the Appalachian trail, and often at least six people live there. The ‘structure’ is on the side of a hill, and the floor sloped at least 20 degrees.
We started praying for the family, and there was a young girl, she looked about 13 was holding her baby. This girl was very sad, her baby also was very sad. On the baby were bracelets, which are put on by witch doctors. Each house we go into, the babies have been through 8 days of rituals for protection. These babies are basically zombies. As we pray with the families and take off these symbols, as we claim territory for Jesus, we see joy begin to fill people’s faces. Babies that were zombies come alive and start giggling, to the astonishment of their moms.
As we were praying for this mom (13 years old, and maybe 90 pounds), she was led by Diego to Jesus, and the house filled with joy. As we were praying one of the dogs got into the “kitchen” (a wood stove about 2 feet from the bed) and killed a chicken. So that was a little weird, the oldest woman just smiled and said that would be dinner.
After all this, I was so excited, and one of the girls, about 8 years old was smiling and looking so cute, I just did my best tommy boy impersonation and thought “she needs a hug”. I guess I moved too quickly, because I scarred her for life. She was so afraid, her body stiffened and I felt her take a big breath in. I put her down before she let out her first scream, and headed out the door. I heard the rest of the family start laughing, and everyone had a good laugh, while I was out feeling like an idiot. When I went back inside this girl was totally latched onto Linnea, she did not want to let go, it was so cute.
Hm, I forget if I had a point to this, or if it was just a cool story. Oh, yeah, joy. Spiritual battles. Babies under curses, set free. Again, this stuff is real. As we enter house after house, we are met by incredible sadness and hopelessness. We talk with them, we pray with them, house after house is hungry for the freedom and life Jesus promised. We leave the houses, we walk away from people who are laughing and smiling, tears of joy. New lives.
The Harvest Is Plenty!
