Spanish Christian Rock was on blast and we were ready to take Jesus to the streets with our handmade “Free Hugs” and “Jesus Loves You” posters. This was our third attempt to invite the youth to the 1st annual Mega Party since the two previous times we were rained out. (A brief weather overview for the island – it’s sunny one minute, and a downpour the next.) We all left with our raincoats in hand, until my teammate said, “Hey, we better leave our jackets. It’s NOT going to rain this time.” So in faith, we left our coats, expecting big things.
We walked the 20 minutes to the beach where the nightlife starts around 7pm, and began to pray against the enemy’s attempts to stall us from inviting people to hear about Jesus. Some were feeling ill, one of our friends had her phone stolen, and another had been stalled in returning to school because of a mix-up in the paperwork… again. These same things happened last year when they were attempting to radically share the gospel, so we prayed boldly against the enemy’s schemes.
And off we went.
Every hug we gave and received was DEEPLY genuine, and the smiles were way bigger than I ever expected. The boldness of the youth with us (ages 12-19) was astounding. They walked and talked with confidence about the the party the church was throwing and invited strangers without fear.
Neon balloons were taped to the ceiling (hello low-budget helium!) and about 30 minutes before the party, we walked to the nearest neighborhoods and began inviting children. These sections of the town were packed with kids riding barefoot on bikes and running through the streets dodging various motos. As we talked to one child, then another three came, and then another five, pretty soon there was a crowd and within 30 minutes, we were holding 50 tiny hands on our way back to the church.
With one bag of chips and a three liter bottle of Coca-Cola, in my mind, there was now way we were going to feed all these kids.. But God multiplied it, like the loaves and the fishes. We fed them both physically and spiritually, and showed them that God is loving and definitely NOT boring through games, a dance party, a short sermon, and a testimony…
Frustrated by my inability to speak and understand Spanish to the level I wanted, earlier that day I prayed I would be able to understand and speak clearly, if not indefinitely, just for the night of the Mega Party so I could share the gospel with who needed to hear it.
He answered my prayer with a yes. I was able to understand the morning’s sermon, and that evening He challenged me.
“Las chicas vienen al frente”
Go to the front?! Why?
“One of you is going to share your testimony..”
Right now?
Yes.
In Spanish?
Sí.
So I shared my three sentence testimony in front of 50 kids, scared to death and shaking like a leaf.
My hope is that God will use that to impact one person… even if the verb tenses were incorrect. But that was just a small piece of that evening.
God worked mightily through the whole night. Watching my teammates play with those kids and love them even though they only met then 15 minutes earlier, was a beautiful picture. Everyone was thriving and I couldn’t stop smiling.
This is just the beginning.
Next year, let’s pray for 100+ kids to fill this room and hear of a God who is more than a wish-granter, but a Father who cares deeply for His children and is uniquely writing our stories day by day.
Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, so him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen”
