I am a witness...so why not act like it!

It has been a week since the high school retreat, and God is still working on my heart.  I pray He is doing the same for the students that were there.  God showed up in powerful ways, in ways that I have never experienced until last weekend!  I think part of me writing this blog so much later is the fact that I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that God DID show up and he DID move and it wasn't a dream as well as the reality that some may not believe it is true!  I still am not sure I can accurately describe how great of a weekend it was, but I will try!


The Axis peeps with a student(Caleb, Stephanie, Daniel, and Alisa)

 A group called Axis was here from the states sharing with our students for the weekend.  They worked through a view different worldviews with the students allowing them to see how others think about the natural and spiritual worlds.  They also challenged the students in their thinking about the evidence they have for the existence of God.   The Axis group imparted some great wisdom and thoughts to our group that I will take with me as well. 



 

Ronnie and Natalia gave their lives to Christ

We got to the camp Friday afternoon with a great schedule ahead of us, but God had other plans.  The plan for Friday night was for the Axis group to do a session and to have some worship.  The projector seemed to be broken and no one could get it to work properly.  The Axis group's presentations are multimedia presentations, so we had to change some things around for the night.  Instead of hearing them, we got to hear from the students.  Ryan opened up the floor for students to give their testimonies to the entire group.  All I can say is that the spirit moved students to share things that some had never shared with anyone before.  That night we heard stories of planned suicides stopped by God, eating disorders turned into blessing by God, parents that persecute their children because of their belief in God, the healing of relationships, those being humbled through conviction of sin...all the while God showed off by allowing those students to see that He redeems us, his children, over and over again.  That night 2 students gave their lives to Christ, and I am pretty sure the testimonies of His faithfulness helped in making that decision. 

The Sheet Drops...what is their name? This was hiliarious!

Saturday, with no surprise, the projector worked just fine.  :)  I love that God used a broken projector to spur us into testimonies!  Saturday, brought more great information from Axis, free time, get-to-know you games, games against classes, and some great worship that night where some students shared a song they wrote about Friday night's powerful testimonies.    It was very powerful and spoke of the Holy Spirit being in there and asking for more!  It was so good!  Afterward, we had a rousing game of Hunger Games inspired capture the flag (no students were killed or harmed...although one of the Axis guys got a pretty nasty gash on his leg).  

Students sharing a song they wrote.

Sunday, we awoke to a great breakfast.  In the middle of breakfast, one of our seniors, Luis, started having trouble breathing.  A couple of his friends took him outside away from the crowd to get some air.  His chest became tighter and eventually his face, arms, and hands went numb.  We didn't have a nurse, so a few different people offered their opinions on what should be done.  In the meantime, I got my phone and started calling people to get the number of doctors that work with SAM for their opinion and to ask where the nearest hospital/clinic was.  At one point, Luis was moved to laying on his back with his feet in the air.  Different people tried to calm him down and get him to breathe deeply, but nothing seemed to be helping.  His mom was on the way.  While standing there I remembered one of my fellow teachers and friends sharing that she believes that the Lord has given her a gift of healing.  I found her off to the side and asked her if she had prayed for him.  She said she had.  After a while, I asked her if she had asked if in Jesus' powerful name she commanded Satan to leave and for the fear and anxiety within Luis to be taken away.  She had not, so she went to praying.  At this point, there were 5 of us with our hands on Luis praying in English and Spanish for the Lord to be victorious over the darkness.  As I held his hand, I felt the tension and seizing of his hands begin to subside.  I watched as his breathes get longer and deeper. As the praying continued, the darkness slowly released him from bondage.  Within 3 to 8 minutes of prayer, Luis set up shook out his hands and exclaimed 3 or 4 times that he was ok.  I stood in shock, amazement, and tears watching this miracle take place knowing that it was truly God at work.  He went from someone writhing in pain with no breath to someone who was overcome with peace surrounded by his joyfully, weeping friends.  It was unbelievably overwhelming to realize that I had just experienced the healing of someone before my very eyes.  IT WAS NOTHING WE DID!!  All we did was pray...even the students were circled up in the meeting room praying fervently for their companion.  The healer was Jesus and in his powerful name he overcame the darkness within Luis!  He continued to heal Luis after this by allowing him a chance to share his testimony of pain, loneliness, and struggle with the students.    I continue to pray for Luis's complete healing physically, emotionaly, and spiritually.  I know that God is not done with this amazing guy, and God has given him another reason to share his story with others.



Luis with Caleb and Stephanie from Axis

If you know me, a few years ago I would have read this doubting every second of the story about Luis.  When one of my best friends, Amy, went on a mission trip called the World Race, she blogged about seeing people healed and God moving in ways that no human could have worked.  Her blogs challenged my faith in understanding ways that our God really does move, not the ways I think or was taught that he works these days.  I had just assumed that God stopped working like that in this modern era, but He continues to show me I am wrong in what the true power of his name will and can do.  I praise his name for allowing me to experience the healing of Luis, and I pray that if you see this as a untruthful story ask God to reveal to you the truth of what he is capable of. 

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.