LOVE is my #1 motivation!

The next 2 weeks in Mixco, Guatemala has been so amazing! God moved so powerfully!!! I am just in awe of what the Lord has done…

We did 2 kids ministry events where the kids (between 7-13 years old) learned about who Jesus is and what he has done for us. I also facilitated a time where the kids drew pictures of how God sees them by asking the Holy Spirit to show them who they are. It was so cool to see their responses such as, being “God’s son”, “Jesus is the shepherd, I am his sheep”, “I am good”, “I am happy”. We did another Beauty for Ashes event. In one of the lessons, the women went through a forgiveness exercise. They had a chance to write on a sheet of paper of someone they wanted to forgive and then after they had a chance to burn the papers in a bucket that we provided to symbolize letting go of the incident and giving it to the Lord. It was such a beautiful moment! So many women came up and burned their papers and they were literally set free from the hurt and bitterness that they carried for so long. I gave a salvation call. Out of the 21 women, 6 women accepted Jesus or recommitted their lives!! So amazing to welcome them into the family!

The following are 2 stories out of the many where the Lord moved so powerfully…

 

On one of our ministry days, we originally planned to minister to the police officers. But that afternoon, 3 gang leaders got out of prison and started threatening families for money 3 blocks from our church. So we couldn’t leave our church for awhile and the police needed to watch the community so they couldn’t come to the event. So we changed plans really quickly and prayed over the situation and spoke peace and protection over the police. After praying for the police, Ivana (our amazing translator who so easily became our good friend) shared with us her heart and what she was going through. She gave me permission to share her story: 

 

 

Ivana shared that she had a nightmare recently that comes and goes. The nightmare she has been struggling with was an incident that she went through when she was 10 years old. In the nightmare, the enemy told her that she is not pure and said other derogatory words. So it has been haunting her for a long while now and she told us that she wish she could be free from it one day. So Kaley (one of my teammates) asked if we can pray for her right now. She said “yes!” Everyone prayed for her for emotional healing and breakthrough. I felt God saying that I should take her to that moment of trauma when she was 10 years old and to have her ask where Jesus was in that moment. I asked her the following questions “What was Jesus doing?, What did Jesus say to you? and How did you feel?” Ivana gave me the following answers: “Jesus took me to that moment when I watched something I shouldn’t have on TV. Jesus told me to be careful of what I put in myself. But Jesus didn’t remember what I actually did from what I watched (he didn’t need too). I felt Jesus was standing right next to me, and I felt so comforted by the Lord.” I then asked her was there anything else that God was showing her. Ivana said “Yes. The Lord knelt down and I cried in His presence. I felt like a 3 year old baby hugging Jesus so tightly. Jesus then took me to a place where he was walking with me. He told me that I am still his child even when I fail.”

Afterwards, I had her to repeat after me of reaffirming what Jesus said and thanking Jesus that he calls her pure and broke off any spirits of impurity and other harassing spirits in Jesus name. After prayer she told me that she felt so free!! Come on Jesus! That was so good!!

If any one of you are experiencing nightmares, ask Jesus to reveal himself in those. He wants to show you where He is and help you become free to experience complete peace and rest in him! 

 

The 2nd story came from one of my home visits. I’ll call the woman in the story Isabel and her son Marcus to protect their identities…

 

We walked to Isabel’s home. She shared her story of how she has been an alcoholic and has loss her kids due to alcoholism and not being able to take care of them. She has been accused of beating her kids (15 year old girl and 7 year old boy). My team prayed and blessed her. Throughout all of our prayers, she cried throughout and felt so touched by the Holy Spirit. It was such a cool experience!

Pastor Alex spoke to her about surrendering her life to Christ and the goodness of God. Later I felt in my heart that I should ask Isabel if she wanted to surrender her life to Christ. I asked her if that was something she would like to do right now. She said yes! Isabel repeated after me a prayer of surrender and asking Him into her heart. 

Then Lauren (another teammate) asked Isabel if her son was here at the house so we can pray and bless him as well. As he came out, Pastor Alex talked about the Lord and His love. The team also encouraged him. Then Lauren asked if he knew the Lord/had a relationship with him. Marcus said no, but saw signs that the Lord exist through his mom by seeing her now and how she has been changed with the Lord. Our pastor asked if he would like to surrender his life like his mom just did. Marcus told him “Sorry, but I do not want to give my life to Christ. Still processing and I am not ready.” The team were about to leave the home, but I felt Holy Spirit prompted me to have Marcus experience His love. The Lord told me “Although Marcus didn’t say yes to me right now, I still want to show him MY love.”(Marcus originally told us, when we first saw him, that he is a designer.) First I encouraged Marcus: “How the designs that you make are so good. How you enjoy your designs when you are done is how the Lord sees you – you are created in God’s image. To the Lord, you are God’s masterpiece.” After that, I asked him if he ever heard the Father’s voice. He said “No, but I would like to experience his voice.” So I had him to put out his hands, close his eyes and repeat after me to encounter the Father’s love. I blessed Marcus and prayed that his eyes and ears to be open to hear from the Lord. When we finished, Marcus told me that he heard the word “forgiveness”! I told him “Jesus forgives you completely, for all the bad things you have done. Jesus loves you so much.“ After praying, he told me that he felt peace in his heart and felt so much better after receiving prayer. I then asked Marcus if he dreams a lot. He told me yes! Isabel mentioned that he gets a lot of vivid dreams. It was definitely confirmation because I felt that the Lord gave me a word of knowledge of dreams and that God wants to reveal himself and more of His love in his dreams. So I blessed him and his dream life – that his dreams will be filled with the Lord and He will reveal more of His love and identity to Marcus thru his dreams. I also broke the power of the enemy of nightmares and night terrors over him!

That encounter was so powerfully! Thank you Lord that Marcus and Isabel were able to encounter your love in such profound ways that blessed them so much!