To end our time in Ecuador, my squad took a small detour to Baños, this is where we were originally supposed to have our debriefing but due to government issues we were not able to leave Quito. Baños is a smaller city deeper in the mountains of Ecuador more in the rainforest area. It’s such a cute little place filled with awesome coffee shops, bakeries, and adventurous fun. Our squad took a tourist bus and went to “The Swing At The Edge of the World” and took some amazing pictures and made even more amazing memories. Some people hiked a waterfall and others went rafting. I explored the cultural markets and connected with the local people and venders. We also did a city wide scavenger hunt that consisted of taking photos and videos of the challenges. My team won by getting a police officer to “dab” with us for a photo.
On our final day, our leaders challenged us with something, I admit, I was was very scared about. Street evangelism… going out and talking to strangers about Jesus. That is so out of my comfort zone, but boy am I glad I did it!
I was paired up with my squad mate Desiree. She had the awesome idea to take her guitar to the park and sing worship songs, so I happily agreed and we continued on our way. When we got there and started, we got a few funny looks but we brushed them off and continued. After a while, a man came by and sat next to us. He listened for a moment then asked us if we had some week. Of course we said no and continued to worship. After a little while longer he introduced himself and started a conversation about music and asked what we were doing. His name is Victor and he really likes to sing.
After a few minutes of talking with him in our VERY broken Spanish, one of his friends approached us, his name is Jefferson. We talked more with him and found out that he went to school to be an English teacher. We then realized God blessed us with an interpreter. We asked the gentleman if we could treat them to a cup of coffee, and they happily accepted. We started to walk to the nearest coffee shop when Victor spotted another friend of his and invited him to join us for coffee. We got to the coffee shop and ordered our coffee and we all sat down. For a while we were just conversing with small talk but then I asked Victor if he was a believer in God. He said no. But that’s not the worst part.
My heart broke as he continued. “The devil is inside my heart,” he said. Now how on earth was I supposed to continue with that? He continued by saying that he hears voices in his head and they tell him to kill himself and do bad things. I started to tear up as he told me a story of how he jumped off a bridge in hopes to kill himself because the voices in his head told him to do so, but he survived. I didn’t know how to respond but then God put a life story of mine in my head and I had to share it. It was about a time when I was younger and very far from God and vulnerable to temptation. I was feeling the presence of demons and ended up really suffering until my parents were swear of what was happening and prayed over me. After they prayed, the demon released its grip on me and fled from our presence. This story made Victor cry and I knew how i needed to proceed. I asked Victor if I could pray for him.
I’ve never been one to pray over strangers or even pray out loud, but I knew I needed to say a prayer for him right then and there to show him some of God’s love. He said no at first but after some puppy dog eyes, and a “pretty please” he said okay and willingly bowed his head in respect. I took his hands, like I never do, and started to pray. I prayed over his mind, I prayed over his heart, I prayed over his life, and I prayed over his family. I prayed for at least 10 minutes, just going and going listening to what God was telling me to pray for. As I prayed for him he squeezed my hands tighter and tighter as each moment passed, I could feel him understanding my prayer even though I was speaking a different language. When I closed the prayer, I looked up at him and saw tears streaming down his face. He stood up and excused himself to the bathroom.
While we waited for Victor to return, we conversed more with Jefferson and learned more about his background. He was raised in a Christian home and continue to practice that religion and he even worked with missionaries in Quito, Ecuador (where we had been before). We talked for about 5 minutes when Victor finally returned and sat down.
He sat down, still in tears and turned to me. I asked him how he was doing. “The voices are gone.” He said. I got goosebumps all over. The voices he had heard constantly and loudly for so long were finally gone. Finally he could hear the silence. He gave me a big hug and thanked me. We continued to talk about life and my mission work for a while until it was time to part. Before we left, I asked him again how he was doing and he said the voices were still no more. My heart rejoiced. He added on that while he was in the bathroom, he was with Jesus. As in, Jesus was there with him. He started to cry again and said that we showed him the love of Jesus and he will never forget that. He hugged us once more and gave us both big kisses on our cheeks and we parted ways.
That was the first experience I had with street evangelism first hand. Growing up in the church I herd so many stories of people praying over strangers and healing them or casting demons out but I never thought that that would be something I would do. God used me in a way I never thought I would be used and my heart and mind are forever changed because of this experience. God is so good. His love is so pure. His power is so strong.
