Sometimes the Lord just cracks me up…and sometimes I wonder why He would ever choose to use people like us to be His hands, feet, mouthpiece – and to being His message of truth in love to one another – and many, many brothers and sisters throughout the world. The LORD frequently blows my mind with His power, purpose, timing, and provision — then there is everything else like His grace, abounding love, challenges, and His power at work in me.
Wednesday was an incredible day – a day worth reflecting on – and if you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to read Jeremy Harris and Lucas Tillman’s blogs for their account of our mind-blowing God experience with our translator Sylvia as we walked the streets of our little ministry neighborhood in San Juan.
The day started off a little slow – but we felt that 1/2 of our team was to stay back at the church and interact with our little ninas + ninos while the rest of us took to the streets. As a group of four we prayed together and asked the LORD to guide our steps and reveal specifically where he wanted us to go. After a short time of wandering semi-aimlessly, we reconvened and prayed again asking the LORD for specific direction of where to go. The general consensus at this point was that there was one specific person we needed to pray for today – and it involved healing.
The Lord spoke to myself and Sylvia about being “light” and children of light…and Jeremy reminded us that we are carriers of the Kingdom. We felt the Lord calling us to walk as the Kingdom down the streets – and that He had someone very specific who would approach us. Lucas saw a vision of a crown and impressed on his heart was the idea of walking as the Kingdom. The Lord spoke to me about a soldier – and so with all these pieces we began to walk. Images of a cemetery and a colorful archway kept popping in my mind. As I voiced this, our translator realized it was nearby, so we ventured there. After a few short minutes we prayed silently by ourselves…not sure what to do, who to speak with, or why we were sitting in front of a cemetery archway. I began to question if I’d heard/seen right — when Sylvia called us over to speak with a man. His named was, ironically enough Victor-Reyes and as Sylvia translated this to us, the weight and reality of what was taking place her overwhelmed her to tears. His name…when translated in a little Spanglish = Victorious King…(hence the vision of a crown). We were overjoyed and overwhelmed. We prayed for our new found friend (who had approached us) asking for healing + for the Lord to shine light on the dark areas of his life. Victor explained to us that he is a watchman for the cemetery (which has great spiritual significance – and we believe he is to be a watchman for the neighborhood bringing glory to God). He asked for a Bible and we agreed to bring him one on Friday (below is a photo of him receiving the Bible on Friday).
At this point, Jeremy felt that Victor-Reyes had information we needed to lead us to the “one person” we were supposed to pray healing for that day. We caught him as he was leaving – and asked. Without hesitation Victor gave us specific directions down the street to someone’s house who needed healing and salvation. Hum…neat! Sylvia knew just where to go…and no more than 5 minutes later were entering a metal fenced in home. Four plastic chairs were set out for us – and we sat with a man named Antonio as he puffed away on a cigarette. He apologized for being drunk – and told us that he knew he wasn’t right with the Lord. At this point we hadn’t said much about why we’d come, other than that God had led us to His home and had something to offer him. Antonio and his wife Antonia expressed their hearts and hunger for the Lord. Antonio said that a lot of Christian missionaries had come to his house to speak with him before – but we were different…He saw “life” on our faces. This made me smile – because we’d prayed that the Lord would shine on us – and were walking as the Kingdom, as children of light and LIFE in Christ…of course we LOOK DIFFERENT!!!
Antonio said he knew if he died today he would go to hell and not spend eternal life with Christ – and when he chose to live for Christ, he wouldn’t return back to his old life. At this point Jeremy offered to blow his mind with some truth…the wind began to blow heavy and thick – we knew this was the Lord reminding us of His power and presence.
We prayed for Antonio – and felt a sobering come over him as the Lord’s blessings descended on this man’s heart and household. His entire family surrounded us – and more kept coming – watching, smiling, delighting in the work being done here in their “big papas” heart. The LORD showed me a picture as we prayed of Antonio doing declarations of his freedom after we prayed. Encouraging him to raise his arms in the air with me I had him repeat “I am a son of God! I am free! I am free indeed! I AM FREE indeed!!!” and finally the 3rd time with great strength “I AM FREE INDEED!!!!” He shouted this one…and it felt like a great release happened. He laughed out loud and we all joined him in celebration of this freedom! Lucas, my teammate heard pigs squealing at two distinct points of this process – first when Jeremy prayed that Antonio was no longer a slave to sin, but a child of righteousness in Christ, that he was set free…and the second time when Antonio declared “I am FREE INDEED!”
This is a photo of Antonio on Friday when we visited him and reminded him about church. His daughter, grandson, and friend Victor-Reyes joined us at church … and we celebrate with much gratitude, and mind-blowing humility the new life God has brought in this man – and his neighborhood. We know this is just a start!!!!!
