Friday, September 30, 2005

Hispanic Harvest!

The Lord spoke to me 2 years ago and told me that there would be a great harvest among the Hispanic community. He told me that their culture was very open to the supernatural and that if we went to them there would be a strong release of signs, wonders, healings and miracles to confirm the preaching of the Gospel. Since that point, we have been endeavoring to learn some Spanish and mix with the Hispanic community. Also, when we go to preach the Gospel to the poor here in Woodstock, many of the poor happen to be Hispanic. We have just begun to see the first fruits of that harvest.

This week, we went out with Rosa, our Spanish teacher to a community that is probably 90% Hispanic. It’s a little duplex neighborhood here in Woodstock that is run down and not much to look at. In the evenings, groups of Hispanic men sit out on there front porches and lawns just relaxing after a hard days work. We went at a good time, when many of them were hanging out and started to walk up to them, one house at a time and simply tell them that Jesus is King, His Kingdom is on the earth and that they need to bow and give their life to Him.

The first person that we approached was a young guy sitting on his front porch, watching a kickball game in the cul-de-sac. We tell him that Jesus is King and His Kingdom is on the earth. While our Spanish teacher is speaking to him in Spanish, the Lord shows me a couple very simple characteristics of this guy. I see that he is a man of truth, like Nathaniel in the book of John. I ask if I can share that and start talking about how the Lord is showing me that he is a man of truth, the Lord is pleased with that and that God specifically wanted to bless him in his work because he has remained faithful to speak the truth, even when it hurts. He starts tearing up and just looks at me like, “How did you know that?” He opens up, tells us about all of his problems and says that he knows that he is not right with God. We tell him that today is the day to get right with the Lord and he agrees. Through tears and the presence of God, He dedicates his life to the Lord, repents of His sin and welcome Jesus as his King and Lord! He agrees to welcome us back in a week or two, where we will get him baptized and added to a house church in his neighborhood.

We’re excited, I see that while Rosa is starting the conversation off in Spanish that I have a moment to ask the Lord to show me something for them, unlike when I am leading teams myself and have little time to “feel out” words of prophecy.

We come up to a group a guys sitting on their front porch. There are 5-6 guys standing on this one porch area and 4-5 guys sitting on the duplex porch right next to it. They have been watching us go around and are eyeing us, some of them mocking and ridiculing as we come up. They think that we can’t understand and are surprised when Rosa and I greet them in Spanish. We’re in a groove now, while Rosa is giving them “The Kingdom of God is on the earth and Jesus is King” I am asking the Lord for words of knowledge, discernment of spirits, etc. The Lord shows me something for the obvious leader of the group and I start sharing what I see. It’s fairly low level discernment of spirits, nothing fancy, we are just calling destiny and purpose out of them, things the Lord has planted in them like leadership, gifts of healings, etc.

Next thing we know, we have been there over thirty minutes, prophesying over all of them, just one after the other. They were mocking when we first arrived and kept at it for a few minutes, but soon their mocking becomes silence, their silence becomes rapt attention and their rapt attention becomes awe. They are in awe of God. They simply can’t comprehend that God would send someone to them to speak of their destiny and purpose. They begin to tell us that they are abused and treated poorly by their daily employers. The majority of them are illegal, so they have no one to tell but us. They go out every morning and hang out in a square, where business owners, landscapers, and others come by and pick them up for day labor. Some treat them and pay them well, most do not.

They tell us that they are hungry for God, but because they cannot regularly attend church meetings because of their work schedule and because of this, most churches do not want them and reject them. I tell them that when Jesus walked the earth, He walked among the people and the common man. We tell them that we are bringing them the word of God and will come back, if they are hungry. They are elated and ask us to hear more. We preach the Gospel to them and speak of repentance, giving their lives to Jesus and making Him King and Lord of their lives. We tell them that they cannot be ashamed of the name of Jesus and ask if they are ready to give their lives to Him. To our surprise, they all said yes! They pray with us, some kneeling with us in the dirt, some crouching down. In just a couple of minutes, nine men give their hearts to the Lord!

All in all, in just over an hour and a half, ten people give their lives to the Lord, we prophesied over about fifteen and prayed for several people with sicknesses and diseases. Others may call that a banner night, but do you know what I call that?

“Wednesday”

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PSIf you know of someone in the North Atlanta area that speaks both Spanish and English, send them my way! We need translators!!!

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