Raising up a chosen generation!

on Friday, January 29, 2010

Last night was such an awesome night. We went to a little church in Rosario. I think it's about 45 minutes to an hour east of where we are living. Hard to tell sometimes what direction we are travelling. The church is a young church plant of about 15 members, but other groups joined them to come and hear of all that God is doing. Our new friend, an American guys named John Vaughan was speaking. He shared his testimony of how he once knew God and walked away for a season and then met God again on the floor of his home. He told everyone how God didn't care how long he'd walked away or what he had done while he was gone. God welcomed him back with open arms and started to move in his life. He shared with the church the fact that God doesn't care who you are or what you have done. He wants to use everyone.

One of the groups that joined the church last night was a group of children that live in a ministry run home. The children are not orphans, most of them have parents who have arranged for the ministry to care for them because they come from extreme poverty at the dump and many from dangerous situations like physical or sexual abuse. This is similar to the Villa de Esperanza who ministers in the dump in Managua, but the ministries are to 2 different dumps. There were about 10 children that came and they were soooo present. It was so natural for them to enter in, to worship and to listen to the teaching.  It was the perfect time to activate the children of Nicaragua.

When John was finished teaching, we started a time of releasing prophetic words. Graeme invited the children to the back of the church and gave them a mini lesson on hearing the voice of God. These children are already taught about the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit by the Christian ministry that cares for them so this was not a huge stretch for them to believe that God would talk to them. I think that the stretch was more for the adults present in the service. Those attending, besides the local members, included staff and volunteers from a large, influential church in Managua and other Christian ministries. Graeme brought the children to the front of the congregation and demonstrated what it looks like to give a word. They were hesitant to step forward, but one little girl stepped out and took the mic. She called out a young woman in the church whom she didn't know and gave a word similar to what Graeme spoke over someone. At first glance it appeared that she might be copying. She said to the woman that she saw a mango seed over her head and that it was green. It didn't seem to mean anything to the woman. Graeme followed the little girl be stating that a seed over someone's head might speak of an idea that is going to grow and mature. The young woman's eyes lit up and she told me after that she had been thinking of an idea and just the day before she prayed and asked God for confirmation that it was the right thing to do. He told her that she must believe like a child to truly know His will in this. So this child bringing a word about a mango seed was exactly the confirmation that God told her would come. A couple more children shared pictures and gave words. It was really good.

After the time of prophecy, we were entering into a time to pray for healing. We wanted to activate the church to pray and not be the prayer team. So we invited anyone with pain in their body to come to the front and then we invited the kids to come up and lay hands on them. Through an interpreter the children were instructed on how to interview the person to find out the problem, to find out how much pain there was on a scale of 1-10 and then to pray brief and powerful prayers by inviting Holy Spirit to move and commanding the pain to go. Some people felt the pain leave immediately and others felt the pain decrease. For those who still felt pain we encouraged the children to pray again and they still saw more improvement. There were at least 5 people who said they were healed at the end of our prayer time. The children were so excited so see God move through them and the adults were surprised and maybe even skeptical, but some believed and were totally challenged. One woman told me that this was an unforgettable moment and it would stay with her the rest of her life. One of the staff from the influential church is a children's pastor and we are praying that God will give him opportunity and courage to bring this message to the children of his church.

There is no little Holy Spirit. It is so exciting to see children learn at a young age to listen to the voice of God and obey because they can move heaven and earth. When they see God move through their hands and their hearts, no one can ever take that encounter from them. No matter where life will take them there will always be that moment where God used them and it will be a moment to draw them deeper into the kingdom for the rest of their lives. To know God loves them and no matter how big, how small, how experienced or inexperienced ... God can use you anytime, anyplace, all He needs is a willing heart and an open ear ... oh ... and courage. Lord, give us more courage! Make us like children ... willing to step out in faith and take risks to see your power displayed through our hands. We don't need to worry about the outcome. God said to Graeme when he was really worried that God wouldn't show up when he prayed ... "Good thing it's not up to you!" We are not responsible for the outcome of our prayers. When we get that, the fear to pray for people is removed. The only thing we are responsible for is to bring someone into an encounter with God's love. They don't need an encounter with our words of persuasion or our knowledge of the scripture. They just need to feel love. We welcome the Holy Spirit and whether we feel him or not, He will always come when we call. And He will pour out His love and that person will leave changed. Just the fact that we risk looking like a fool to show God's love to someone is an act of love. So go, be a peculiar people, look like a bunch of Jesus loving weirdos and see the power of God displayed through your hands and as you display the love of God to the unseen kings. LOL - I think I get weirder everyday and more and more comfortable with the idea at every moment.

This picture is really hard to see, but I wanted to share the moment. We went for pizza after the church service. Ben spent a lot of time at the front of the shop, watching the guys making pizzas and he noticed the owner. She was limping and Ben deduced that one leg must be shorter than the other. He asked if one of the pastors would come with him to translate so he could pray for her. The pastors were cautious so Ben and Graeme honoured their wishes and didn't take a lot of her time, but they prayed none the less and we are hoping that she felt the love and the power.

Blessings.

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