Thursday we headed to a small local church that was getting ready to
celebrate their anniversary. They really wanted to repaint the church for
Sunday but didn’t have the money or the man power to make it happen. A
couple of the locals that have been driving us around and helping us
with our ministry, go to this church so we were exited to be able to
bless them along with the church because they volunteer all of their
time. So we arrived on time in the morning, which we are starting to
learn better than to do because they always seam to be running about a
half an hour behind, or on Guatey time, as we have started to call it. So
after waiting for about 30 minutes for the guys to get ready to go, we loaded
into our windowless panel van, with no seats and went over to the church.
Then we had to send some people to the store for supplies. When
they got back, they told us that we should start cleaning the
building before we painted. At this point it was about 10:30 or so and we
where suppose to be done around noon to go home for lunch. Those of you
that know me well know that I like things be efficient and that I have
a hard time when something is…well…not. So you can guess that I was
already having a hard time at this point not just taking over the whole
project. And then to top it all off, they wanted
to add water to the
paint. I didn’t think that it was a great idea, but what do I know?
Maybe
they do it differently down here, so I didn’t say anything. As we
started
to paint I could see that it was a mistake. The paint was so thin at
that point, that it didn’t cover the old color hardly at all.
Fortunately they didn’t mix all the paint with water, so we added the
part
that was not mixed in with the mixed and it was not to bad. It still
was going
to take a couple coats but hopefully not five like the first batch. As
I was just finishing up this process, one of the guys dumped in more
water. It was all I could do not to scream as I stirred it in. Then he
came
back with more, and the time for being quiet and trying to respect
different ways of doing things was over as me, and half the team all
but
yelled “no mas”. The guys didn’t under stand why we wouldn’t want more
water but they let it go. So finally we could begin painting. At
that point I was just really frustrated and so everything felt like it
was
not working right. I didn’t like the color, the paintbrushes sucked,
and so on. And I realized that I had to have a talk with myself and
remember that its not about me. The paint job doesn’t have to be
perfect. All I have to do is what I can do and what the Lord asks me to
do. So I quit complaining and just started painting. All of us realized
that there was no way we where going to be done anytime
around noon and were trying to make a plan and the pastor came and told
us that
they were making us lunch, which was really good and there was lots of
it. We got done with lunch and finished up the trim which didn’t have
any
water, so one coat totally covered it. And the whole thing actually
turned
out really great, the church looked great and they told us they were so
blessed. And I really had a good time talking with the Lord while I was
painting and just letting go.
As Friday rolled around we realized that we hadn’t even been here for a
week and it felt like we have been here forever (in a good way 🙂 And
fortunately we had the first part of the day off to recharge, which we
really needed to get ready for Friday night. Because we were going out
to the bars to minister to the prostitutes who work there. Our local
contact picked us up around 8pm, just as we where finishing getting all prayed
up for the night. He drove us down to a small bar and he went in to ask
permission for us to come in. We had been praying some sort of miraculous intervention but we
still didn’t know how that was going to work out. Our guy came back out
a few minutes later and motioned for us to come around to the back of
the bar. As we rounded the corner we saw about 8 small hotel
rooms right in the back of the bar. There were some women waiting as we
walked around. Our girls began to talk with the women who worked at the
bar and to pray for them. Me and the other guys on our team stood
behind our girls praying over then and interceding for them.
After a
little while a man in his 50s came over and was introduced to me and a
couple of the guys as the owner. I wasn’t sure how to approach this
situation. On one hand I want to punch him in the face and on the other I
knew that he needs Jesus just as much as the women do. I waited for a
second and then we asked him if there was anything that we could pray about for him
for. He told us that he has been having problems with his heart. As I
began to pray for this mans physical heart, I also prayed for his
spiritual and emotional heart. I prayed that the Lord would break his
heart for the women that work there and that the Lord would show him
what this place is doing to these men and women. We finished praying for
him and he thanked us.
We went back over near our girls and kept praying
over them. As I was praying and watching over our girls, I could see men
and women coming and going from the bar to the rooms. It’s one of
those things that you always knew happens but it’s unbelievably hard to
stand and watch. It seamed so natural to them and so much less out of
place than it should. As I was absorbing the whole situation and
wondering how to react to it, the owner got up and walked over the the
only women that was still talking with our girls. As he approached her,
he pulled a key out of his pocket. I couldn’t tell what he is saying but my mind
automatically jumped to the worst. After he talked to her for a few
moments, she went over to the nearest room and opened it. Inside I could
see that it isn’t a room, but a storage area, and she began to pick up some
sodas and took them into the bar and traded them for cold ones out of
the fridge inside. She then returned outside and offered us all a soda. This
man who knew that we were there praying for the women that work there
and praying that they would find a new line of work, basically, trying
to shut his business down, he was giving us all sodas and thanking us
for praying for him. Wow. God is so good, He can work in even the hardest
heart and arrange supernatural favor for us.
Later,
when we got home and
we debriefed the night’s events. One of the girls on my team that
had been praying with the women told us that she realized that God had
told her about one of the women seven years ago. And that this was the
woman’s first
night of work there and that she was pretty sure she would leave. God
is so amazing, He takes the littlest things and weaves them into our
lives in such a way that we never realize until we have a moment where
He lets us see the whole pattern and we notice that all these little
threads have been brought together to make a difference in one other
person’s life that will be with them forever.
After an amazing and exhausting week our contact offered to take us to
the beach. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The ocean I had seen down here
so far wasn’t exactly the cleanest but I decided to go check it out. It
was incredible. The water was almost too warm, there were palm trees
all over the beach, right up to the water line. It was so wonderful to
just relax for a day and get ready to see what the Lord has lined up
for next week 🙂
