In this blog I want to share a moment with you from our last Sunday in Honduras.
Picture: A small concrete building sitting atop the steepest hill in Los Pinos. Out the two windows you see the capitol of Tegucigalpa spread below you. The lighting is natural, the people are friendly, and the stage and plastic chairs take up most of the room. Loud, charismatic music fills the space. A woman has a mic and is yelling Spanish while the pastor is in the background marching to the rhythm of the beat. It’s madness. It’s loud. It’s Central America.
As the service gets going, the pastor begins to pray over people, blowing on them and repeating over and over for the Holy Spirit to come. People begin to collapse. A woman is screaming, shaking, and people in the room are dropping like flies. We are called to the stage and the congregation anoints us with oil and lays hands on us. As the pastor reaches me and begin to blow on my forehead, I think “This is nuts. What am I doing here?� Multiple people pray over me, and the last prayer is from our missionary friend, Aben. His prayer is simple: “Be bold. Take the name of Jesus to the nations�. Tears began to cascade down my cheeks as the presence and love of Jesus filled my being.
What am I doing here? Aben’s prayer is why I’m here. Jesus. It’s all about Jesus.
I don’t need to figure out all the craziness going on around me. I don’t need to feel a pressure to preform or fall out and appear super spiritual. I’m sticking to what I know. I know Jesus died for me and loves me with a passion that has changed my life. I know I desperately, more than anything else in the world, want to follow Him. And, for the next year it’s to the poor and hurting in His world. I know this year will stretch me in what I believe. I know I will see and be a part of things that are uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Jesus, you are what I’m sticking to. I’m pressing into your presence and following your lead. Jesus, I know you are real, I know my relationship with you is the most important thing in my life, and I know Sunday I was overwhelmed by your love. You’re with me in the unfamiliar and the uncomfortable. Lead me to love your people.
