Written by Josh
So tired. One of the greatest pleasures of serving God is the ability to rest your head knowing that the day had a positive eternal impact. Today was there was no doubt for any member of our team.
We began our day going to La Paz, a colegio (think Jr, High) that we have visited every year. When we first went to schools 7 years ago we hit 3-5 every day for a week! This year we only planned this one colegio. By acting strategically we were able to spend time with the students, build relationships in a day, strengthen those contacts by immediately connecting people with the young leaders at the local church, and the school has been impacted so much by our visits over the years that we had complete license to preach and defend the faith openly!
This is astounding in a culture dominated by Humanism.
Two, hour long sessions with small classes went deep and drove truth into the students' greatest doubts, challenges in life and issues with Christianity. There was so much happening that I'm going to shift gears so that it doesn't sound like a list.
Instead, I want to touch on those cultural difficulties I mentioned. Many people here reject faith at the mention of it. Notice I said the mention of faith and not Jesus or even God. Just the word, "faith" prompts a negative response! It is completely unreasonable but it's what is pounded into them as good reason. Homes are especially difficult places for those who do not live in a house where every family member believes.
Faith is seen as a distraction from important things in the real world.
I believe this is a spiritual stronghold and I ask those who are covering us in prayer to intercede on this point. In particular, we will be heading to the University tomorrow night for a conference and we need the atmosphere to be impacted so that the Spirit can move in truth. Thank you again for praying.
Our final task tonight was a church service where our team led worship, brought the Word, and moved in power as we followed the Holy Spirit in a joyful family reunion! Before it began, we had dinner at Pastor Juan Carlos' house.
The meals at this table are some of the most powerful times of every trip.
This is where relationships go deep, get real, and are enriched by loads of laughter. I'm so thankful to come from a church where fellowship is understood to be an essential element of strength for the people of God. We stay true to this belief on mission trips. In fact, we've been told that eating together with our hosts is one of the most personally impactful things we do for the leaders we go to serve alongside. These times demonstrate the reality that we are family, and we serve the Kingdom as equals.
On the way back to our hotel I enjoyed stealing Hannah's spot again (3rd time so far) and the team was just giddy with the strength of experiencing the presence of God in way that brought different individuals, from different people groups, who speak different languages together as one family!
Oh yeah.
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