Our first month of the World Race is coming to a close and God definitely showed up this month. Meet some of the people God has put into our hearts and our lives forever:
Meet Oscar and Jackie:
Our wonderful hosts for the month! Oscar is one of the pastors at Teen Challenge and he and his wife had only been married two month before the seven of us invaded their house to live with them! They are extremely giving people, cooking our meals, planning our schedules, and driving us around while we were there. Oscar is very passionate for the Lord and about three years ago felt God calling him to pastor at Teen Challenge. He gave up a regular pastoral job with a steady income to follow God and His direction. He and his wife live out their faith in the way they took us in and cared for us while we were there. We will miss them dearly!
Meet Angelito (Little Angel):
We met Angelito one afternoon while we were doing street evangelism and handing out tracts to the cars passing by. Angelito is probably in his 70s and he was on the streets selling gum for about a dime a package. When we first got there, none of us paid much attention to him. Finally, I told Dustin that he should ask him if we could pray for him. He told Dustin that he had very bad eyesight, so Dustin prayed over Angelito and for his vision. Afterward, we told Oscar to go talk to him more since our Spanish was limited and ask him if he believed in Christ. As I watched from my spot holding the Teen Challenge sign, Oscar, Julie, and Shaun prayed with Angelito, and he accepted Christ to be his Savior. Afterward, we were able to give him a copy of the New Testament. When we first saw him, he didn’t say more than two words, but by the time we left, he couldn’t stop telling us what a blessing we had been to him. We prayed for his eyesight one more time and when we were finished, he said it didn’t matter if he could see now, because he knew he would see in heaven. As we left, he told Dustin that he had been working on this same street corner, selling gum, for 24 years, and not one person had every prayed for him or told him about Christ. It’s about time someone did!!
Meet Carlos:
Carlos is a student/cook at Teen Challenge and he has been our main translator while we have been here. Carlos left El Salvador and traveled illegally to California when he was 9 years old and grew up with the wrong set of friends and influences. He was rebellious and began doing drugs and drinking alcohol at a very young age. One story he shared with us was when he was 16 years old, he was walking with one of his best friends on the streets of California, and because of his friend’s reputation with gangs, he was shot and killed that night, right in front of Carlos. He has had to live with this hard reality for the rest of his life.
When he got older, he began selling heroine, which put him in jail a couple of times, the last time getting him deported back to El Salvador for the next ten years. He has two children left in Colorado that live with his father, but it is heartbreaking to know that he will not get to see them anytime soon.
He is here for the next ten years. Away from his life. Away from his children.
But God has a plan for Carlos’s life. He is finding restoration and joy through Christ while at Teen Challenge. Drugs did not satisfy him, but God is filling him up now. He has been a huge blessing in our ministry this month and we have been able to pour into him and provide encouragement for him. God provided a huge blessing to Carlos the last weekend we were there. His mom got to visit him from the United States and its the first time he’s seen her since he was deported. He has not hugged his mom in three years, and he is excited for her to see the changes he has made in his life. We will miss you, Carlos!
Meet Edwin:
When we think of Edwin, it makes us smile. Edwin is an energetic 37 year old guy who always has a smile on his face and who loves to joke around and have a good time. However, eight years ago, Edwin was in an accident and was paralyzed from the chest down. He was working with the military at the time and while he was working, a wooden telephone pole fell and landed on his back. He was not able to feel or have any movement from his chest down, but he had a couple of friends who believed that God was not done with Edwin. After the accident, one of his friends began picking Edwin up at 4:30 every morning and taking him swimming. Combined with fervent prayer and a belief that God is Healer, Edwin no longer uses a wheelchair, but uses a walker to move around. He can swim and walk in the swimming pool and is making great strides to walk again. He still cannot use his legs, but he does have feeling in them sometimes. Also, Edwin is a beautiful piano player and he told us when he plays the piano, he can move his left foot to keep the beat. Incredible! The last day in El Salvador, we hiked to a beautiful waterfall and some of the men we were with carried Edwin down so he could be with us. What a memory!
He continues to tell us what an inspiration we have been in his life, but he has blessed us beyond words. He is leaving his family and friends of El Salvador in December, has left his job at the military where promises of a promotion were almost guaranteed, and he is going to Mexico to attend a university for the next five years to become a pastor. If you were every wondering if God still does miracles, Edwin is living proof of a life restored with hope and a promise. (On December 7, Edwin is taking his car and driving 12 hours by himself to Mexico. He drives using his hands for acceleration and brakes, but it is still very dangerous for him to be traveling that long by himself. Please join us on December 7 to pray for his safe travels to Mexico!)
We made it safely to Honduras, and it has been unbelievable so far! We will have more blogs up as soon as we can! We miss all of you and love all of you so much!
