Amazon Team Impact Crusade Update

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Let's just get down to business. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

One of our team's went to a school in a poverty-stricken area known to be frequented by drug dealers. We saw some of the students and teachers wearing shirts that promote the Festival of the Bull. Our entire team could feel the presence of evil there. It reminds us that we must persevere. After Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, the Bible tells us that he departed for a time. Jesus knew he would return, and we know he will return to these schools if we aren't persistent in our efforts to win these students for Christ.

This afternoon, one of our team members gave his testimony. It centered around choices. Choices that we make when we are younger effect us for the rest of our lives. They shape how we will react to situation as adults. Choices are like roads that lead us to specific destinations. If we make bad choices as teenagers, we are likely to make the same mistakes as adults. He shared with the students that he a tough guy when he was young. He took drugs and alcohol, and hung out with the wrong friends. He quit all those things when he had the opportunity to become an athlete. Years later, he lost his wife, and the mother of his small children, to cancer. That loss caused a huge hole in his heart. In an effort to fill that hole, he returned to drugs and alcohol for a time. He later realized that the only thing that could fill that hole was and is his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After his testimony, another team member noticed a teenaged girl that was totally focused on what was being shared. She asked the teenaged girl, named Johanna, what she thought of the presentation. Johanna said that it was the example about the road that caught her attention because that was the exact situation she had been in recently. She told us that the night before she prayed on her own to accept Christ and give her life to Him. We asked her what brought her to that point. She had been going through a rough time with her family because her parents had just divorced and her father moved to Germany. She realized that her life was going down the wrong road, and she realized she needed to give her life to Christ. Today, as she heard us talk about Jesus and what He provides for us, she was amazed that God had really listened to her prayers. She had been going to a Mormon church but has now registerd to attend a small group Bible study at First Baptist Church of Parintins.

Tonight, we heard Natalie's story. Natalie raised her hand to accept Christ before we finished extending the invitation. She heard the same testimony about choices from us and told one of us that she is now in the same situation as our team member. She is married and now has a young daughter. She is surrounded by friends who constantly getting her in situations where drinking and drugs are present. It opened her eyes because her current life is so similar to the past life our team member shared. She had heard of Jesus before, but tonight she realized that because of Him her life needed to change. She has been part of the Catholic church. She enjoys that church because when she's there she feels like Jesus is there. Because of the decision she made tonight, she now realized that Jesus is inside of her and that she can be with him wherever she is. She doesn't have to be in a church to be in God's presence. She also registered to attend a small group Bible study. The Lord has taken a testimony of one of our members who went through a difficult time of mourning and pain and is using it to bring redemption and joy to others.

At another high school, the gym was packed with 18-26 year old students. They were extremely receptive to everyone we did. One of our team members shared that he had been on drugs and alcohol and was thrown in jail. While in jail, he accepted Christ. People were totally drawn into his testimony. It was obvious that the hand of God was everywhere in that gym. At the end of the program, the principal came up to talk to the students. She told the students that she believed that God had sent this message to them and that we were His messengers. She quoted scripture saying, "Beautiful are the feet that carry the Word of God." Then, she encouraged her students to take advantage of the small group Bible studies being offered to them. Many of the students raised their hands to accept Christ. After the program ended, the principal told us that even before she knew we would be coming to her school, she had been praying and fasting for seven days that the gospel would come to the school in a different way.

At the same school, one of our team members noticed a girl crying. She wanted to talk with her, but she felt strongly that one of our other team members needed to talk to her instead. Thankfully, she followed the Holy Spirit;s prompting and had our other member speak to her. This young girl was going through was exactly what our team member had experienced earlier in her life. God led her to ask very direct questions. Every question she asked was a topic that the girl wanted to discuss but didn't want to bring up herself. She shared with this teenaged girl the verses she had read herself to get through these issues and encouraged her to read them as well. The girl shared that she had a good friend who is a Christian. This friend has been encouraging her to accept Christ. She did accept Christ tonight! She was super excited about getting into a small group. She told her Christian friend that she now realizes that God had brought this specific team member to her because they had experienced the same issues.

We can't make this stuff up folks!  Tomorrow is the first night of the Crusade in the stadium.  Please keep praying for us.

Happy birthday, Ellis Hernandez!