(Written Jan 23, 2014)
This week has been a whirlwind of events. There was hardly ever a time we were not busy. Casa Verde has been piling on ministry after ministry and we are all thankful. They have given us opportunities to do different kinds of ministry instead of just one ministry for the whole month. This place is a great place for the first months of racers because when we leave, we will have a little bit of experience in many kinds of ministries that we will do in other countries. We won’t start off green each time.
Last week we went to a nursing home to play Bingo with the residents. Jade and I paired up with a woman named Francisca. Even though we could not speak Spanish nor she English, she had no problem communicating with us. She would sing to us and whisper about the other residents to us, pulling us in close, whispering into our ears and pointing. But she was so sweet also, when I asked for a picture, Francisca would act bashful and cover her face, but she pulled her hair out of her bun and combed it down for our pictures with her. She also allowed me to record a video of her singing. I hope to have it translated someday.
That night we also had a session of intercession and prayer in a gazebo on the water. It was filled with the Holy Spirit. That night a woman was prayed for and she fell to the ground filled with the Holy Spirit. As we worshiped that night, rain fell and drove away all the people around trying to distract us. Kim and I danced. We soon started to pray for healing for the members of our team. Kyle received a vision that we should all stand in a circle around the gazebo and face the outside, praying in a 360 degree circle for all of Puerto Barrios and declaring blessings on it. As soon as we started praying, the rain fell again. To me it felt like God was anointing Puerto Barrios with oil. It hasn’t stooped raining until today since then.
A major portion of the ministries we have been doing is street ministry, going door to door, and business to business, asking what do they need prayer for. Many people opened their houses to us. I was able to meet the owner of Casa Blanca (the house I stay in), Hermana Maria’s (our cook) family, and affect so many lives. They were grateful we came. We’ve also gone into bars and brothels, praying (with permission) for the establishment and the women who work there. We were even invited to go pray at the local government building, so some people worshiped outside while we walked through and prayed for people. Later on at the bars, the building of Department of labor was across the street from us and they asked us to come in and pray for them when they saw us worshiping and praying for Puerto Barrios in another 360 degree circle. It was quite a blessing!
We have been, almost every night, going to different Churches which is a great opportunity. Churches here are divided and if one church plans an event one night, another church plans an event the same night so their members will not go to the other church’s. It is saddening to see such disunity and animosity in the body of Christ. We should stand as one whole, instead of divided. God did not intend there to be division, yet it reigns supreme in all our denominations today. At the churches we will lead worship, share our testimonies, perform skits, speak with the adults, and play with the children. One night I danced with almost every female separately much to the joy of onlookers. They taught me a clapping game. I had so much fun with two girls named Gloria and Ilsa.
Another place we went to was the children’s hospital to color with the kids. One little girl, Norma, would not speak to anybody but the nurse. Not even Spanish speakers. Kim and I just prayed and sang over her; she shrank away from our touch. I do not know what was wrong with her but she was coughing so hard that she cried. I also colored penguins with a boy named Byron.
I believe one of the most impactful ministry we have done is the dump. Every Thursday, including today, we go to the dump to feed 150 people, adults and children. We play with them and love them, speaking with them. The smell is terrible and there are lesions covering their faces but they are so happy to see us and interact with us. Yesterday we also spent a day working with them in the dump, sorting the trash into different types of recyclables so they can earn money from them to feed their families. It’s a lot of hard repetitive work, never ending. Even the young children help, they don’t go to school. Our hearts were saddened and broken. Some spent almost all the money they had earned to buy tacos for a group of us and didn’t eat at all.
Please pray for the people working in the dump! Please pray that they will always have full bellies and that God provides for them. Much of what they have and wear comes from what people throw away. I found a full bottle of shampoo a lady took to use and an unopened bag of chips that a family grabbed to eat. It really makes me wonder about our own trash heaps in America, and what I throw away. On one hand it feels like I am wasting, but on another, it is their treasure and provides for them. Our trash, what we throw away, is their blessing and enables them to live.
