Ocotal aka Locotal!
The city made me loco for God and I also have a crazy love for the family we stayed with. In My "How Honduras Stole my Heart" blog I mentioned the pastor that took us to the hospital every day- Alejandro. Now I get to tell you just so much about who he is and what he is about. The minute we put our bags down at Alejandro's home, we left and went to a church which was just a foresight of our week. Little did I know how much I would learn from this incredible group of people. First service we were at, we each were asked to stand up and recite a Bible verse by memory. Thank God I started memorizing verses at the beginning of the race,and thank God they all left my head when they asked us to do this. I stuttered, but did indeed make it through, with my trusty Jeremiah 29:11-14. Then they asked if anyone had a testimony or a story of how God has been working. Darcie took the boldness award for the day and shared something God put on her heart- and she did it all in Spanish. Us other slackers, we weren't prepared. But after that service we all came up with something we could say if they asked us again. A few hours later after some rest, we were back at the church for another service.
Over the next week we would spend almost every night in the church. One night was a. Worship service- we indeed stood in front of the church and sang them a song. The lead worship lady said "that was nice but we didn't know it so we just had to listen". We were all like, I know the feeling!! We also attended a dinosaur conference (our God is good and just and that is why the dinosaurs didn't survive the flood!). We had some great times.
But this was just church in the church. The members of this church didn't keep church confined to their building. They took it everywhere they went with them- home, work, the streets.
The highlight of my week was how many house visits we were blessed to pray in. The idea of house visits used to freak me out. I mean you walk to people's houses and have to pray for them, out loud. What's more is that we also sang acapella at every house too. Acapella worship! It ended up being so cool. The confidence and introduction that Alejandro gave us was also incredibly humbling. He told the people we were praying for that we had the power of God in our hands. He told hem about the healings from the hospital in Honduras. He talked us up I tell ya! We went to so many homes and God had different appointments at each one. Sometimes the people weren't home so we would go to someone else's. Sometimes the person we were going to pray for wasn't there so we prayed for the only person that was home. Often times you work for The Lord and you don't see the harvest. The last night in Ocotal we went to a worship session at one of the houses we had prayed at earlier in the week. We got a big gift. Each of the people we had prayed for was there. One by one they talked about their experience with us. They talked about problems that were solved immediately after we left, they talked about having peace that they've never experienced before in their life, they talked about how blessed they were and how they felt the power of God in their homes. We all cried. They ended by singing acapella for us- how great thou art in espanol. It was beautiful.
The people we prayed for ranged in age from 20s to 90s. One lady was 94 and she was one of the founders of the church- she sang worship to God 95% of the time we were at her house. One lady was the lady who taught Alejandro how to pray and read the Bible when he first became a Christian. Funny how the impact she had on his life got passed all the way to a group of girls from the United States 10 years later. We prayed for a man who was being slandered and possibly going to jail- the charges against him were dropped the day we prayed. We went to pray for a woman but her daughter was the only one home so we prayed for their family and that night they had a big family meeting to discuss and bring to light some things that had been happening and healing came from that. We prayed for a man who had prostate cancer. Despite his own illness, he spent 4 hours every Thursday praying for people at the hospital. These people were incredible believers. Their faith and the way the lived it was such a lesson.
It brought to mind Matthew 5:13-16
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
These sweet people didn't let age make them lose their salt. They were a light to the whole community. I tasted the goodness that came from the work they have done in their lives. They have used the resources that The Lord has given them to touch as many as they can in their lifetimes. It was the best possible ending to Nicaragua, and such a huge gift.
