Come Holy Spirit!

Honduras has been a wild ride! My squad and I partnered with a ministry called Catracho missions. It is a ministry focused on reaching out to communities to provide hope and share the gospel in such a way to bring transformation and joy. The husband and wife team were so obedient to the call on their lives that they gave up their respective careers of being an engineer and lawyer to start up a church and community center at the top of a mountain. They encountered people of peace to help get started on the mountain and as a result, God provided for them in so many ways that it blows my mind! They were able to start construction on homes for people in the community who lost them due to a hurricane. They were able to build relationships with the men who are leaders in the community. They were able to love on women in a sowing school nearby. Also with going door to door in communities on the mountain, they were able to share the gospel through conversational evangelism. Their goals are to empower and equip people of peace to take over the church so they can continue to go/do where the Lord is calling them. 

Before coming to Honduras, I felt the Lord say that my squad would be my ministry for this past month. He did not disappoint! It was so cool to partner with the Holy Spirit to release his Kingdom. There were moments with squad mates where I had the honor to share my testimonies of what I experienced through missions and the things I have done with the Lord. With the wisdom and knowledge I gained over the years from being a part of the Vineyard Church, it allowed me to freely give it away to others. I had conversations from a wide arrange of topics such as healing (physical, inner healing, deliverance), how to hear God’s voice, prophecy, and dreams. 

One Monday night, I had the privilege to facilitate an open invitation Holy Spirit Night for my squad and some members of Catracho missions. I taught on the difference between the Holy Spirit in you versus on you. Then I explained some about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I felt from the Lord to do some activations where we could encounter His presence and love. I started with the “waiting on the Holy Spirit” activation with a few volunteers so we can physically see how the Holy Spirit move before actually inviting the Holy Spirit to come on everyone else in the room. The night was so powerful. As soon as I said “Come Holy Spirit” the Holy Spirit came in such a beautiful way on the volunteers and eventually on people in the room. It really blessed my heart to see Him moving and touching lives to bring transformation. Also throughout the night I spoke with authority and imparted things that I have experienced over people. 

Although the Holy Spirit definitely moved, I did receive some pushback from the event. The next few days were filled with people from my squad gossiping about me, and tension and disunity grew from what I did, how I presented and what the Holy Spirit did or didn’t do for them. It was really hard for me emotionally to encounter such tension and disunity so I decided to have a whole squad discussion to talk about what happened and people to share their hearts from the event. They gave me some really great feedback and it was so good to hear where they were at regarding their different backgrounds, the Holy Spirit, and authority. I learned a lot from the event and following discussion which showed me some ways when I facilitate another event in the future of what I can change and improve on. It allowed me to be more aware of my audience, their backgrounds, and how I am presenting. Reflecting on these things with the Holy Spirit afterwards, he gave me this sense of peace. He told me “My love was in the room that night. You were wrapped in my love. You were transformed and so were the people in the room. My power was moving. I’m so proud of you. You already know what you need to do to improve, change and grow in for next time. Take in what was discussed, but let me touch their hearts. I will bless or redeem everyone’s night. Everything will be ok. I still trust you. And I love your obedience. Dwell in my joy and celebrate what I have done.” 

After hearing those words from the Holy Spirit, it sparked in me to record the testimonies from the Holy Spirit Night. Regardless of what happened, Holy Spirit told me to rest in His joy and celebrate! The following are the testimonies from the night: 

Jacob-As the Holy Spirit came on me, I felt a restored pure connection back to Jesus which was lost during worship at training camp (July 10-17). God also gave me a prophetic word for Justin (son of the leaders of Catracho missions) as a leader. (The next day, Justin led a small group to do conversational evangelism during home visits). 

Aliseya-I was led to pray and intercede throughout the night due to spiritual warfare. As the Holy Spirit came on me, I opened my hands, and I felt a heaviness. The longer I kept my hands out, the heavier they became. The Lord told me “Whatever I am giving, it is good. It will not be too heavy to carry”.

Samantha-I received so much clarity regarding the Holy Spirit in me versus on me. I experienced how the Holy Spirit can move on us in a tangible way. I felt peace throughout the night.

Jack-I felt a completely new experience that I have never felt before: eyes fluttering, rocking back and forth and shortness of breath.

Talaya-I received a vision from the Lord: The whole squad was in a lush green valley running around and laughing. We all looked up in the bright blue sky. Gifts wrapped in gift boxes began to fall out of the sky into people’s hands. We opened the gifts. Each person had their own unique flower. Each flower had all the colors of a rainbow. As soon as we touched the flower, it bloomed right away. At the center of each flower was a flame. 

Lindsey-The night before Holy Spirit Night: I gave my life to Jesus in my heart. The verse of the day came to me on my phone – Romans 10:9 and I used that to accept Jesus. After that, I started reading the book of Acts. It prompted me that whatever was going to happen tomorrow night at the Holy Spirit Night, I would step into it. I trust Brittany with having a sound mind. During Holy Spirit Night: During the “waiting on the Holy Spirit” activation, I was skeptical because I wanted to see the Holy Spirit move more powerfully. I didn’t think that the small things, like eyes fluttering and swaying back and forth was from the Lord. But I still chose to have an open mind of what the Lord was going to do. As Brittany said “Holy Spirit Come” on the rest of us, I started swaying back and forth and my eyelids started vibrating (which I couldn’t recreate after the event). I felt so hot. Then Brittany imparted the gift of healing. Healing is really important to me; my heart breaks for that area. Then I started crying and felt so overwhelmed by His presence.

Hannah-Before Holy Spirit Night: I prayed with another squad leader of Psalm 91 and against spiritual warfare. I prayed with Aliseya that something would happen to shake everyone’s foundations. We both fasted the day of the Holy Spirit Night. Jack and Lindsey came to our minds that the Lord would touch powerfully. Going into tonight, I was in an expectant good place personally. During Holy Spirit Night: my hands were shaking, I felt God’s presence-I was ready to receive. I was not afraid of what other people would think. The Holy Spirit came on me in a way that I needed. My spirit was so connected with His and I wanted to stay in that place for an extra hour. I felt a new experience of my jaw quivering, and taking deep breaths with Him. It was the first time in days where I felt peace rather than heaviness on the mountain. It matters that the Holy Spirit came, it should not matter how! After the whole squad discussion: I felt that the discussion enabled us to grow a greater sense of unity through trial. It was such a beautiful picture of what the church should be like. We were all able to listen to each other and share. 

After the Holy Spirit Night, people have been coming up to me in wanting to learn and grow more in the Holy Spirit! The next morning from Holy Spirit Night, I facilitated a time for some of my squad mates to practice hearing God’s voice more clearly where I led them to ask God how He saw them and waited for His response. It was so cool in seeing the Lord speak to each of them. The night before Lindsey’s birthday, Talaya and I did an inner healing/deliverance clinic for her with a few people watching so they can see how it works. I went through certain processes and talked through “how to heal inner trauma, nightmares and breaking off generational curses of mental illness” as we prayed for my friend Lindsey. I partnered with the Holy Spirit throughout the night in listening for the best ways to bring freedom and healing to those nightmares, curses/vows, and doors of guilt/shame that has been haunting Lindsey for years. The process took some time but at the very end it was so worth it! She started off feeling so heavy and bound to feeling very light and free! She told me few days later that since going through the inner healing she hasn’t had a nightmare (which beforehand she would get very often)! Come on Holy Spirit! Thank you so much for your healing power and freedom! 

Talaya and I also had the honor to co-lead a dream lab to some squad mates. We talked through our experiences with dreams and visions, where we see dreams and visions in the bible, different types of dreams, how to best hear from the Lord with dreaming and then went through a process of how to interpret dreams with the Holy Spirit. At the end, Talaya shared one of her dreams and I led the group in the interpretation process. It was amazing to hear Holy Spirit speak to each person to give Talaya some insight in what her dream meant. It really blessed my heart because for many of them it was their first time interpreting dreams with the Holy Spirit. After the event, they told us how it was an amazing night for them and thanked us for leading it. 

The Holy Spirit moved so powerfully on the mountain. It was such an honor to partner with Him to empower and equip my fellow squad mates and get the chance to see freedom and healing happen in them! Come Holy Spirit!