the view from our beachhouse(not too shabby)
a very familiar scene
Children at the Fiesta lined up to hear about Jesus
Worshipping together
Out among the volcanoes!
We had 934 confirmed decisions for Jesus Christ for the week! Amen! This does not count all of the seeds that were planted and hopefully will be harvested soon.
Our week consisted of worshipping in 4 churches Sunday morning and 4 different churches Sunday night.
Then it was off and running Monday morning with 2 groups doing 2 fiestas for the children. We did these fiestas 4 a day through Thursday. These fiestas involved a local pastor who would lead the children in some silly games for prizes and candy. Then our group would step in and perform a skit (Sin Box Sally) to present the gospel. After the skit we would divide the group into girls, boys and women. And once again the gospel would be shared and we would ask for decisions at that time. And of course at the end, they got lots of candy.
Then each evening we would head out to a large 4 acre plot of land for our crusade. Our job for the crusade was to work the fringes. You see they set up chairs for 1000 people, but we had close to 3000 there. So lots of people hanging around the back, on top of their buses (12 bus loads of people were brought in) or on their bicycles. So we would walk around with one of our 7 incredible interpreters and find a group to present the gospel to. Lots of decisions were made during this time. I have to say I felt totally unprepared for this so called street evangelism. And the only way I could find myself doing it was through the power of the Holy Spirit. You see one night (Wednesday night), I had caught the eyes of 2 kids (cousins), so I began to talk to them, and so did Rebecca. As she talked a larger group gathered around as was typical. One of those that gathered around was a girl of about 18 (Erika). She was also a cousin of the first two kids. As Rebecca shared we were able to lead the 2 kids to Christ (you could see the transformation in their faces--amazing). As we went around the group to ask each one if they wanted to accept Christ's free gift, we came to Erika---and this is what she said.... "why is she (Rebecca) the only one talking now? I want to hear the other's stories. " So Tracie shared and as she did Erika began to cry, and then she wanted to hear my story... and as Rebecca said... the Holy Spirit took over and I just shared with her from my heart how only Christ is the way, the truth and the life....Erika shared that she thought Christ could not forgive her for things she had done, and she was having a hard time forgiving a boyfriend that had hurt her. We shared our Christ has already forgiven us, if we will just accept. That night however, Erika was not ready to accept Christ, but she wanted to see us tomorrow. So we promised her we would be there and we would be ready to talk again.
As we arrived at the field on Thursday (our last night there), Erika and her cousin approached us. This time Erika had a big smile on her face and we shared some more with her. Her little cousin the one that had accepted Christ the night before, pointed to me and asked to hear my story again. After I shared, I asked Erika if she was ready yet.....her little cousin, hanging on Erika's arm, leaned over and said to Erika..."I did it last night, tonight it is your turn!" What a witness. However, Erika was still not ready. So we asked her to watch our drama that night, and listen to our pastor preach and find us before it was over. And even if she still was not ready to accept Christ we would love her and be praying for her. Well unfortunately, I cannot tell you if Erika has accepted Christ, for we did not see her at the end of the evening. We had to get on our buses and leave before we found Erika again. Only God knows what is in Erika's heart, and we will have to wait till heaven I suppose to see if we see Erika again. So please pray for this sweet 18 year old. Pray that her 2 young cousins will be a witness to her, pray that her heart will reach out and grasp Jesus.
