There was a youth at Iglesia Más Que Vencedores named Jaime (pronounced “Hy-may”). Even though he was only 16 years old, he was very involved in the church. He came to every service, usually early because he was helping with greeting or setting up. He participated in the dance ministry. In my opinion, he was very unlike most of the people his age in this way. I greatly admired his dedication to serving the church!
(Jaime is the guy on the far right)
For some reason, he stuck out to me from the first day I met him. I’m not even sure why exactly. All I can say, is that based on what I saw, I really could relate to him at that age…even still a lot of times. From the outside looking in, he seemed to be one of those kind of awkward kids, the ones who aren’t necessarily popular. He was friends with the people in the church, but he seemed to stand back a lot of times and didn’t seem to say much or be very outgoing. Yet, I could tell he was very sweet and had a compassionate heart. Like I said, these were only things I perceived and I could be way off.
About two weeks into the race, one of our activities as a team was to have a time of ATL or Ask The Lord. This is a time where you go out in the community and you pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you, whether that’s to have a conversation with someone, pray for someone, give someone a word from God, etc. As soon as I read the “instructions”, I immediately felt a nudge to pray with Jaime. I had felt the need to pray for him before, and I had, but I felt like it needed to go a step further. I wanted to pray encouragement for him, strength in difficult times, and that he would know that God created him exactly the way He wanted him to be. I just wasn’t sure when to do it. So I waited…and in that time I kind of made excuses for why it wasn’t the right time. One day before church, he was sitting on a bench by himself and so I knew it was time. I asked one of my teammates to go with me (and thank goodness she did, because she translated for me!). I prayed with him and my teammate explained what I had said, and we were able to have a conversation with him!
It wasn’t one of those huge, life-changing moments that sometimes happen with ATLs. I don’t even know if he understood completely, and I probably will never see the fruits of my labor. All I can do is continue to pray for him and know that God is at work.
“Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15:58
