First off, this blog will not do justice of how powerful the Lord was at 10:00 p.m on September 18th, 2016.
As my team gathered late at our local pizza shop to use the wifi, a storm began to roll in. In the middle of video chatting with our parents, everything went black. Heavy rain started pouring down as all the local town’s power was out. As we hopped on our bikes to go home, our crazy brother Destrey decided that we were going to go to the beach instead. Ten minutes of intense peddling later under the downfall, we made it to the closest beach. We chained our bikes and sprinted to the violent waves in the pitch dark. About 5 minutes into being pounded by waves we couldn’t see, I approached Mark and told him that I wanted to get baptized that night. We gathered and held hands while we prayed in the ocean for over 20 minutes. There was an unexplainable peace surrounding us even though we had to hold each other up from being toppled over. After much prayer, tears, and laughter, Kole prayed, “I pray that you will overwhelm Zac with the promised river of living water that is your holy spirit… no, a raging ocean of living water that is your holy spirit.” Of course, in that moment, I alone got leveled by a huge wave and flew to the ocean floor. I stood up, we said, “Amen!”, and we walked until we could not stand anymore. In that moment, His Hands surrounded me as Mark baptized me.
As Matthew says, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, who’s sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Hold Spirit and with fire.” As I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I was younger, I am now truly repenting from my previous life and dedicating my new one to the one who gives eternal life.
This blog was written in Costa Rica yet has had a tremendous impact in this past month. As month 2 in Nicaragua is winding down, The Lord has used this month to transform me immensely. His Hands has been working with an all girls team from our squad at Casa de Gozo, which is essentially a Boys and Girls Club for the local children in El Crucero, Nicargua. Our ministry was essentially just to pour into these children’s lives whenever we had the chance and to show them the love of Christ. We spent hours on end playing sports, preforming skits, cooking for them, and attempting to teach them English or to play instruments.
Tomorrow, our squad will be traveling to Africa and will remain there for two months. There is currently a lot of political unrest in Ethiopia and as a result, our route has bee changed to Rwanda. The only details that I have towards our ministry in Rwanda is that we are in a city and will primarily be doing evangelism.
I am $3,400 short of my final deadline which is December 31th. As my brother stated in his blog: If my story or what I am doing has affected you or touched your heart in any way, please consider donating to my missions fund so that I can continue to work on the field. Reminder- I receive no pay for what I am doing and the only way I am able to continue doing what I am doing is through donations from those back home. All donations are tax deductible (if that is something that entices you.) I know the Lord will provide, as He always does, but I have to do my part in order for Him to do His. Please continue to pray with me over all of the things I have mentioned above, prayer is the biggest thing everyone back home can do for me.
Please pray for:
Fundraising – that I will meet my deadline and continue His work
Team Changes – our entire squad will be switching up teams, please pray for wisdom for our leaders and unity within our new communities
Spiritual Growth – within us as individuals, as a squad, and our new communities
Morgan – as many of you know, my brother is on 11n11. Please pray for him and his team throughout this entire journey
