Last week, we went back to a small town called Soyapongo about 30 minutes away from where we are staying to visit a school and perform a drama called “La Silla” (The Chair) for all of the different classrooms. It is a skit where the first person comes upon a chair with a sign that says “No Tocar” (Do Not Touch), but the person rips the sign off and sits in the chair anyways. Later, when they try to get up from the chair, they are stuck. Then, one by one other people come by, and the first person allows everyone else to touch the chair to try free them, but one by one everybody gets stuck. Finally, a person carrying a Bible enters the scene and finds the sign on the floor. The Christ follower then proceeds to pray for each person and sets them free. Our contact then comes up to give a short message to the kids that when you are tempted into something like drugs, gangs, or alcohol, you get stuck, and the only way that you will every get away from it is to ask Christ to release you.
We had done the drama several times, and all of us were ready to get started with our ministry for the day. We were so excited just to get to spend time with all of the kids. However, the instant that we entered Soyapongo, I felt extremely aprheensive. On our first visit to the small community, our translator was telling us about all of the gang signs that marked almost every building in the town, claiming the entire area as their territory. As we went further and further into the city, I kept feeling more and more anxious about being in that place. I am just a girl from a small American town, I should not be in a place controlled by gangs where everything is out of my control. I had no idea what to do…
Should I tell my teammates how I felt? Was Satan attacking me with fear to keep from the work that I was supposed to do? Or was the Holy Spirit telling me something was not right, and I needed to get out of there?
I was frozen and did not know what to do, but as we continued driving, I got an incredible urge to pull out my Bible and read from the book of Acts. I had been reading Acts earlier that morning, so I simply picked up where I left off. I started the next chapter, which was Acts 18, and as I got to the bottom of the page, there were five lines of red letters. They were the only red letters on the entire page. Verse 9 and 10 say, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. FOR I AM WITH YOU, and no one is going to attack or harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
Wow! I do not know that I have ever felt the Spirit speaking to me so strongly, and it was all I could do not to cry. It was and incredible encounter with the God of the universe. For months prior to the Race and every day since, Dustin and I pray for safety and protection. We are confident that God hears our prayers. He holds us in His righteous hands, and will never let go. We are HIS CHILDREN, and He cares for us so deeply.
We want to thank you so much for following our blog and supporting us! We are leaving El Salvador today at 12:00 p.m., and we are headed to Honduras for our second month of ministry. We will post another blog saying goodbye to El Salvador and our first month of ministry as soon as we get another chance. We crave your prayers for safe travels and for God to continue moving in mighty ways. We are not sure what our internet situation will look like next month, but we will keep you all updated as often as possible. We miss everybody back home so much, but please know that God has been working powerfully through our team this month. We will talk to you soon, thank you again!
