10/17/10
This week was an incredible first week of ministry here in
Honduras, and I am so thankful that we have 2 more full weeks here. We went
into Los Pinos a few times and ended up bringing 7 of the boys back to stay on
La Finca with us for the weekend to keep them off the streets and out of the
harsh environments where they live. This morning, my team along with Cristo and
Ronnie got up early to walk about 4 miles up the road to catch the early bus to
Los Pinos for church. I really love taking public transportation here! It’s
always an adventure-it takes somewhere between 2 and 4 hours to get to our
destination which in reality is only about 30 minutes away by car. Today, the
bus was somewhat on track with time and we luckily made it to church early.
[me, Alex, Christy, Amanda]
Tony brought the other 5 boys with him in the car and they
picked up Lillian (4 of the boys’ mom) and their grandma. The church is located
atop a hill overlooking the entire community of Los Pinos and Tegucigalpa. The
windows were open during church and the view was absolutely breath-taking!! The
service began with an intense prayer inviting God’s presence to fall on that
building, followed by some worship including some little girl dancers and two
boys waving flags. I was mesmerized watching the boys and Lillian worship
whole-heartedly, which is something they would have never done just a few weeks
ago. Tony used to practically have to drag them to church, and now they can’t
get enough of it. They were dancing around, raising their hands, and singing
their hearts out with no shame. It was truly an amazing sight!
[view out
church window]
When Pastor Jonny began the message, he started out by
praying, declaring, and prophesying over Los Pinos that it is going to change
and it will start with the youth. It was so incredible because that is Tony’s
heart and purpose in that community. During the message, he was very passionate
as he preached on Exodus 3 about how God called Moses and raised him up as a
leader and Moses’ response was, “Who am I that I should go?” but God answered,
“I will be with you.” That was all that Moses needed to hear. The pastor then
related Moses’ story to that of the youth in the church. He talked about God
raising them up as leaders in their community and they will be the ones to
bring change and hope to
Los Pinos.
[Los
Pinos]
At the end of the service, the pastor prayed again and invited
people to come down to the front of the church to be prayed over. They asked
our team to surround the people as they were getting prayed for because some
would be “slain in the Spirit” and fall to the ground. I have seen this before,
but have never really been a part of it like I was today. I helped catch people
and lay them down gently so they wouldn’t hit their heads on the ground as they
fell. I made my way over to Lillian as Tony was praying for her. I could tell
the Spirit was heavy on her and she began to shake as she lifted her hands. I
took one of her hands in mine and caught her as she fell. She layed on the
ground for awhile, still shaking, and she began crying out in prayer as she was
overwhelmed by what God was doing through the Holy Spirit in her. As she began
to sit up, I took her hand and helped her stand back up. Then, I stood behind
her and began to pray peace and restoration over her family.
I have already seen a change in her and her boys since we’ve
been here for about the past 10 days. Her boys were the ones out living on the
streets doing drugs just a few weeks ago and now they are clean and in love
with Jesus. Those boys definitely have the potential to change their community.
Many of them were approaching rock bottom, but their lives have been
transformed! I truly believe they are on the brink of a huge breakthrough in
turning their community to Christ. Praise the Lord for their incredible
testimony!!
——————————————————————————————————–
“And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of
bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I
am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD. I will deliver you out
of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” –Jeremiah 15:20-21
