There is a Wall at Zion’s Gate (pt.2)

If you have not already read part one of this blog,
now's the time 🙂

What came in a Vision
led to a conversation….
…..that unveiled a desire
to create a space
that would bless(ed) a ministry. 

Day 4 of Honduras

I had been sitting on the swing for a half hour, waiting patiently for that time when the sunlight turns to honey and fire. I closed my journal as the warm golden hue of sunset met my eye-line. Looking up, I could just make out two figures in the distance sitting on the roof of the "Jesus Lives Wall". As I walked closer to watch the sunset over the mountains, I recognized the figures to be my teammates Suzy and Amanda.

 Everyday someone could be seen atop of the wall, pacing, seemingly conversing with the heavens.

 I decided to explore this oddly shaped eye-sore of a wall just after dusk that day. Standing in front of the wall, I climbed over the ledge and sat facing the dusty yellow concrete. I felt at peace, like I could sit and rest there for hours.

I ventured behind the wall and what I discovered seemed at first glance as overgrown and lifeless as the rest of the property. I heard only the sound of leaves crunching as I found my footing on the uneven piles of pineneedles.   I took a deep breath in. A familiar tingling filled my lungs and rushed all the way to my toes. {I was standing on holy ground.}   The thick, permeating presence of this old friend of mine surrounded me as I stood between these two walls.   Tears weld up in my eyes as I realized I had been homesick for an encounter with the Holy Spirit. 

 

Standing in this glorious unseen of holy ground, hidden away from the rest of Zion’s Gate property, I had a vision of my friend Zach (E Squad).

 |Barefoot, he paced back and forth between the two walls, pounding his fists, shouting petitions and praises for heaven’s ears.|

[I knew E Squad spent last month here at Zion's Gate, and I had to wonder…did my curiosity construct that day-dream of Zach praying?]

Whether I experienced a prophetic vision or a day-dream, I could not deny the spiritual presence that enveloped me as I stood behind that wall. This must be a sacred place.*

{I pictured the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, people leaving their prayers and burdens here for others to find and intercede.}

*Weeks later I got to skype with Zach and found out that not only did he spend time praying behind the Wall, but his Squad (E) had turned it into a 24/7 Prayer Room the previous month during their ministry. We found this piece of cardboard under the brush near the wall.

I climbed the ladder to the roof of the Wall and sat, facing the darkening horizon. Beside me lay a piece of cardboard with the scripture from Isaiah 62.

"I have posted watchmen at your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest…"
 

photo by Denise Escamilla

Early the next week when Amanda came to me with ideas of a prayer room and somehow we ended up standing in front of this wall the vision I’d had some days before came rushing to my mind. {We are standing on holy ground. This old water tank is the refuge of Zion’s Gate.} 

I told her about my vision of the Wailing Wall and my friend praying. We bounced ideas and vision casted a way to turn this crumbling, ugly mess of a moldy water tank into a holy place of rest, prayerful expression and intercession for the missionaries, Tony and his family.

We brought the idea to Tony that night and he loved it, he started to vision along-side us and we could see the excitement in his eyes when he imagined a place where he could find peace. He said that several months ago they were thinking of tearing down the old, hollow, concrete building, but something halted the plans to demolish it.
 

He told us how every squad that’s come to Zion’s Gate has been drawn to the Wall, and although he’s never pointed it out, people seem to keep finding their way there. And He told us that several days before talking with us, three pastors came and prayed over the ministry, prophesying that someone was going to build a wall.

[That’s all we needed to know that our visions
and bold, crazy plans weren’t pipe dreams.
This dilapidated, crumbling Wall held a place
in the Kingdom, and we’re simply carrying on 
the process of bringing it to fruition.]

In an effort to keep the momentum of this outlandishly crazy idea flowing, Amanda and I enlisted our teammate Suzy, a jack-of-all trades interior designer, for some inspiration and practical advice on the remodeling of this “Prayer Wall”.

After some sketching and several conversations with Tony’s contractor Renaldo, we came to the final decisions on the new design for Wall, and also received an estimate on the cost—approximately $400 USD. Now the biggest giant we were facing was… Who is going to pay for this?

Well, between the 41 people of D Squad, we weren’t too worried about raising the funds, and sure enough, after mentioning it to the squad, people chipped in over the next few days and we raised enough money to buy the paint we needed, a little under half the total cost of the project.

We only had a couple weeks left at Zion’s Gate, and we knew this project would take 10 days to complete. Familiar with the uncertainty of “Central American Time” I had a quite a large pile of reservations concerning the completion of the Wall. I tried to remember that all I could do is meet each day with my best efforts; all the rest is the Lord’s. I had to repeat that to myself every day for the next two weeks.

The week flew by, and our greatest success had been scraping off the eight layers of paint till we were left with a slab of blue and yellow sprinkled concrete.

Each day the Wall Project faced a new set back… [cracks were discovered, the contractor didn't show up, repairs were made, long trips to the store (each took an entire day), the contractor failed to show up…again…etc.]

We had four days left at Zion’s Gate, 

and of course, just in time, it all started coming together. People occupied all month by other projects now had free hands to pitch in. Renaldo, the contractor, made last minute repairs.

 People started commenting that the wall looked almost complete. But according to our list of plans, we were only halfway finished with the project.