Than he asked me,
what does that mean
What’s another word for desperate…
Patted down and searched and led down a dimly lit hall way we made our way through the maximum security Guatemalan prison.
In the middle was a courtyard where prisoners roamed freely. All men, most with their shirts off playing basketball, and others were standing around watching.
At first sight, it was a little intimidating –they weren’t in prison cells as I had imagined. We walked through the mass of them and into a room filled with 60-70 inmates sitting neatly in chairs waiting for the service to begin.
We sat in the back as we watched everyone stand up and begin to pray –to really pray…hands lifted high, voices crying out from the depths of their souls, tears streaming down their faces.
This is the face of desperation.
I don’t really have much experience leading worship. I play the guitar but I’ve never played on a worship team. I don’t have any experience leading worship in Spanish, and I’ve definitely never led worship in all Spanish in a prison. But somehow through my mispronounced Spanish words and my speeding up and slowing down tempo, God showed up and we worshiped in that prison.
After I was done singing, three prisoners came forward with their own classical guitars and with a blend that sounded like Johnny Cash meets Spanish folk, their souls cried out in worship.
This is the sound of desperation.
It wasn’t until after we had left that I heard the testimony of one of the men who regularly leads worship in the prison. He was the grandson of a pastor in Guatemala and was wrongly accused and sentenced a few years back. But rather then becoming bitter and resenting God, he chose to view his circumstances as where God placed him. His mission field is behind bars and he’s serving the Lord there with Joy.
This is an act of desperation.
It’s when we become desperate for Him, when we are lost without him, when we choose to do His will above all, to go wherever he leads us, when we want Him more than anything, that he can truly use us.
What if God called you to the hard places?
I am in Apastepeque, El Salvador at my new ministry this month! I will update very soon on everything that’s going on here!
Currently I have $9,604 of the $15,500 that I need raised by July 1st to be fully funded. My next deadline is April 1st and I need a total of $11,000 in my account. If you would like to support me click on the link to the left bellow my profile picture that says "Support me!" Muchas Gracias!
