This last weekend, our YWAM group went out to a village called Apoderado. One of the staff members who works in the kitchen lives in this small village and welcomed us into her home.
Shortly after we arrived, Laura, a staff member, proposed that we go take a walk. I joined a group of about 5-6 YWAMers and we headed out for an adventure. We came across some typical Mexican houses, a few cows, and a really cute little black puppy. Finally, we stopped to introduce ourselves to a mother and her daughter of about 12 years old. What happened was extremely exciting!
As some of you know, I have been working on learning Spanish and have especially been pressing into understanding and speaking this language within the last week. Laura started speaking to them and I was able to understand the underlying conversation. She started telling them about Jesus, how he died for them, and how we can have eternal life with Him after we leave this world if we confess and believe in our hearts that He is the son of God and that he rose from the dead. Then she started to share some of the ways God has shown how real he is in her own life...but they were not receptive. They responded with skepticism. I was right there, praying for the situation, as I can understand but not really speak coherently quite yet (I probably sound like a two year old to most people, haha!)
This last week, I learned a lot about evangelism. One thing I took to heart was that each person has something about them that will open them up to receiving Jesus and that God will often give that to us as we speak out the gospel. So as I sat there listening intently, I began to pray that we would get the key to their hearts. Guess what? We did!
Both of them are Catholic, but hadn't actually received Jesus's gift on the cross. One of our YWAMers from Mexico City was actually raised Catholic as well, so he started speaking to them and they immediately opened up. He could actually relate to what they thought and explained how receiving Jesus is different from simply believing in Him. By the time it was over, they both received Jesus Christ as their savior from their sins.
As I write this, I reflect on what I have learned about evangelism this week and get super excited!! Jesus has a furious, jealous love for each one of us and desires a personal relationship with everyone!!! Just thinking about how many don't have this but could if I step out boldly, getting out of my comfort zone and being willing to tell people what God has done in my life is extremely powerful. It all goes back to having an intimate relationship with God. As I come to know Him and his character, I will begin to see all of His personal treasures (the human beings that God created) the way he does and won't be able to help but grab them for God's kingdom. There is no higher calling in this life than to win souls for Jesus! It is the only form of worship I won't be able to do for God after I die....so the time is now.
And that's not all that happened this weekend! We were working with a group of evangelists from another church called lighthouse. Today, we split off into three groups to do some skits for the villagers, inviting them to take a short break from what they were doing so we could share Jesus with them. One of the groups (not the one I was in) saw a crippled man who was also mute. They stopped to pray for him while they were going on their way to see what God would do. Apparently, this man had pain in his legs and hadn't walked since he was very young. After they prayed for him, they asked the man if he had pain...and he was able to say no! So there was the first thing-a mute man spoke and said he had been healed from the pain. Once this happened, they got excited and decided to pray for him again. This time, the man was able to stand up! With intense joy, he danced over to people, showing them the miracle God had just performed through these evangelists! The story ends with him accepting Jesus as his personal savior-the greatest miracle of it all!!!!
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