Leaving Honduras, walking into Nicaragua I knew the Lord was about to move in a way I have never experienced in my life before by the simple fact of being assigned “Ask the Lord/Unsung Hero” for our ministry. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it would look like, how it would look, or what exactly that really meant. I knew I was going to be challenged, pushed out of my comfort zone, come to a new dependence upon Him and learn what it truly looks like to live a life completely reliant on only His voice leading me, along with my team.
We landed in Nicaragua, had debrief with our whole squad at a hostel, and then quickly came the time where direction was needed as to which way we would walk out of the door. During debrief, I got sick with an extreme cough and fever, some days not even being able to get out of bed. This was no way to start off a month full of adventurous travels.
Something I felt the Lord call us to do as a team was meet for an hour of prayer every morning. This was something that we continued throughout the whole month. At the end of every hour we would share what the Lord showed and spoke to us. It was truly amazing to see how easy it is to hear from God when you sit and take the time to do it. He delights in speaking to us and what an honor it is to be the listening ears of a mighty God.
The first prayer time, the Lord gave me a vision of my team and I walking around the central park of Granada, where we already were, 7 times for 7 days and then the local people joined in with us. Another girl on my team saw the color blue and was uncertain as to what significance it held.
Deciding to stay another week in Granada to be faithful to the vision, we prayed about where to stay. A couple of girls and I went on a prayer walk asking the Lord to lead us to the perfect place. This particular day none of the tourism information spots were open and we had no idea where any hostels were so we took that as the Lord not wanting us to have a map. As we continued to march around the city asking the Lord where to go at every street corner, we felt called to chart unknown territory. We continued straight down the unknown street until a little sign caught my eye from afar that read “tourism.” At last, we had found a place where we could gather information on hostels that were in the area. We asked the lady about a hostel and she said, “Oh, this is a hostel here.” We looked around and her statement didn’t seem factual. She proceeded to tell us to follow her. Going with the flow she walked out the door and lead us down the street and a block to the right to another hostel, hostel de libertad, meaning “hostel of freedom”. Not only was the name instantly appealing, but it was the same color blue my teammate saw and it was right on budget. The Lord was already beginning to provide for us in ways that only He is capable of receiving glory for.
Every morning we got up, ate breakfast and spent an hour in prayer together and then opened up with what the Lord revealed to us. Some days feeling flooded with revelation and other days shedding tears of frustration because some didn’t hear anything at all. One thing we learned was through it all, the Lord is faithful and is always with us.
The afternoons consisted of walking 7 laps around the park. I truly believe that with every step that was taken something in the spiritual atmosphere of Granada, Nicaragua shifted. Chains were broken, healing was granted, strongholds were no more, freedom reigned, and victory was claimed over that city.
After a few days, our faces became familiar to the people and hearts began to accept us and what the Lord was doing through our obedience. We would have street venders yell out the number of lap that we were on every time we passed their daily station. We had the chariot drivers go from yelling, “Heyyy lady, you wanna ride a horse?” to smiling and giving us warm welcome hello’s as if we were natives. We had street kids, who were sniffing glue and walking around with no shoes, giving us homemade flowers from leaves and then joining in our walk. We had a well-known, mocked lady worshiping with us in the center of the park and even singing her own worship song for all to hear.
After we walked everyday, we would meet in the center for prayer. The stares were coming from every corner and you could see minds wondering. We all were sitting in the circle of so much unity, peace, and love. It grew bigger and bigger on some days as more bodies came to be apart. Upon finishing up with prayer, we would walk around to the many benches filled with people of hopelessness and ask if we could pray for them and sometimes people approaching us for prayer.
During this time the Lord didn’t just do something in the spirit realm for Granada, but He did a miracle in the hearts of the people on our team. Some experienced street ministry for the first time. Some experienced visions and the Lord’s voice for the first time. Some shared the Gospel for the first time. It was such a beautiful thing to witness the Lord’s work through your own obedience.
One day when we were walking back, a man came up to me and Markelle, a team mate, and said, “You must be Christians?” We looked at him puzzled as to why he assumed this and then assured him that we were. He went on to say, “I knew you were when I saw you. You carry the presence of the Lord and I have been watching you. Thank you for all you are doing for the people of Granada.” After a short conversation, he was on his way and we were reminded of a greater impact we were making than what we will ever know.
May the walls continue to crumble in that city; for one week in the history of Granada, God used team Rhizoo to dedicate the land to the Lord step-by-step and break down every wall built up against the will of the Lord through victory shouts and praise.
