From Normal to anything but!

It all started with a normal activity.  Elvia went to pick up Julio, 18 years of age, who is attending a government run vocational school in Danli, which is about a half hours drive  from our Villa property.  As Elvia waited for Julio to come out of the school, she began to notice the antics of some of the girls who were waiting to be picked up. It was not pretty.  I don’t know exactly what they were doing but it was bad enough that Elvia could not contain herself any longer and decided to get out of the car to confront them.  Elvia told me that she didn’t want to intervene because she has a reputation for being “metiche” (sticking her nose into other people’s business) but she felt like she had to speak to these young girls about their behavior.  So she got out of the car and went over and began to share with them about the Real Changer of behavior and lives.  Several of them were very touched and decided to give their lives to Christ, including the ring leader.  And thus began what would turn into the most powerful moment in the Spirit that I have ever experienced.  What happened in the “Normal School” which is what this High School is called was anything but normal!

As God would have it, the Cedars Christian School team from Prince George, BC was serving with us during this time.  Three times they have come and three times the Lord has moved powerfully in them and through them.  The burden for these young people at Julio’s School grew in Elvia’s heart and she asked me if we could do a joint outreach with our kids and some of the Cedar’s team.   Elvia contacted the Director of the Normal School  and was amazed at the openness to her request.  So it was all set.  We would arrive at the basketball court on Tuesday morning at 9:00am.  Now I just have to share with you here that both Elvia and I were thinking “outdoor basketball court with a small group of students present.”  So when we arrived at 9:00am with our little Canadian/Honduran band, we were shocked to find that the basketball court we had envisioned was really an auditorium filled with over 400 students all dressed in white and navy and all waiting for us. 

 They were seated but there was nothing quiet about the atmosphere.  As the director helped us get set up, we began to feel quite small in relation to the task.  Our little worship band filled up about 1/10^th of the stage.  The worshippers which included two guitar players, a young Canadian on violin, and a vocalist started out timidly but began to take courage as my son Noe led the group in some bilingual songs.  Momentum started to build as one of the Canadian girls shared her testimony about how anorexia had nearly killed her after years of comparing herself to her twin sister.  The drama called “Everything” went well as our blended Honduran/Canadian youth team did a mime about the power of the cross. Some were already in tears when Janny got up to preach.  Elvia asked Janny to come and share because Janny had been a student at this school years before.  It was really a coming-full-circle moment for Janny to share the good news of Jesus here because she had not exactly lived a saintly life while attending the school.  She had since come to know Jesus and had worked at Jericho for a season before marrying and having three children.

Michael, Rebecca, Mariah, and Vanessa leading the singing

Janny preaching

  As Janny preached, many of the students, while not exactly unruly, were talking amongst themselves and the murmuring of their voices was growing louder as the minutes ticked by.  I wanted to go and grab the mic out of Janny’s hands and scold them, but there was no need.  As Janny asked them to close their eyes and think of Jesus and His sacrifice made on their behalf, the Holy Spirit began to move.  Silence took over the auditorium as each of the students bowed their heads and closed their eyes.  The Presence of Jesus became almost palpable as Janny asked if any of them wanted to stand up as a gesture to show that they needed to repent and ask Jesus into their lives.  No one stood.  Just silence ensued.  Janny continued to insist and suddenly one young girl in the back stood slowly to her feet.  At that moment something shifted in the atmosphere and while no one else stood to accept Christ, the gentle barely audible sobbing told us that the Spirit was moving powerfully.  One of our girls moved first.  Vanesa, now 16 years, rushed to pray for the one lone girl standing in the back.  The rest of the leaders began to reach out to the students sobbing in their seats.  More and more students were confessing their need for Jesus and standing to receive prayer.  Elvia reached out to a small group of boys and sensed that the Spirit would have her address the male student body.  She took the microphone and began to speak to the boys about pornography.  She invited any of the male students who were struggling with porn to go up on the stage where Noe would pray with them.  To our surprise, almost every boy went up on that stage.  Then Janny called any of the girls forward who needed prayer in relation to abortion and again, many of the girls went forward for prayer.  At one point I looked around and sensed how perfectly God was orchestrating this symphony of repentance and acceptance of His life!  It was so powerful.  Towards the end, I got some tracts and even in giving those out sensed an incredible anointing of his Presence.

There's no high like the Most High as Beth Moore would say.  In front are Danae and Brook, both of whom were used powerfully on this trip.  Janny, Elvia,Vanessa, Jaime and I are in the back with the ice cream man.

As we got ready to leave, Janny bought us all fudgesicles and we ate them gleefully as we tried to make sense of what we had just experienced.  There is a joy that Jesus gives when people are led into His Kingdom that almost knocks you over.  We were filled with that joy, almost like a wild high.  We recounted to each other what we had experienced as we made our way back to the Villa in the van. 

We are praying now for how to follow-up.  The Director of the Normal School has invited us back to share again but this time with the students who attend classes in the evenings.  We are excited to see how God will move again!