In my journal I don't have much written for Thursday in Lima. We were pretty busy the days that we had "off" from VBS. That didn't mean we were "off" for ministry tho.
Thursday was a relaxing morning from what I remember. We didn't do much that morning, but the time that afternoon was spent at one of the Indian Markets in the area. It is a building where there are many little shops set up and people selling goods that they have made or whatever. There are alot of venders there and they all compete with each other on their prices. Alot of pottery and clothing and little trinkets can be bought there. We went around a bought things for our families and prayer partners. It was a fun time, but you can spend money fast and really get tired fast.
Thursday evening, what a night. It was an amazing night for God to show up. This night was the night of the evangelism meetings. All the American pastors were to be split up and go to 4 different sectors. Pastor Phil, Pastor Tony, Pastor Brad, and Pastor Louie (I hope I spelled his name right?). This was the big night to bring unsaved people in and give them the message of the gospel. Lima, like every city in the world, is full of lost people walking the streets everyday. This was the opportunity for those to hear of Christ and His truth.
So we are there at Pastor Gino's church. I can't remember those of us who were staying to do our part, but I do remember that Pastor Phil was our speaker. We will get to him and stuff in a minute. Here we go, we are ready to have our service. The church is open for anyone to come in and hear the gospel. We all start getting the feeling tho that something isn't right. Other than those of us from America and the ones from the church, it seems like there are only about 3 people sitting in this huge church. It just wasn't right. So as we are all looking around, I guess the people at the church knew it wasn't right either. They started grabbing chairs and moving them to the sidewalk, outside, and right next to the street. They moved the speakers, microphones, musical instruments, and everything else that it would take to have a church service outside. Then, the fire in all of us got lit up. We all felt it then. "This is where we are supposed to be. On the street, bringing to them, what they won't come in and hear". The feeling I had that night just came back to me as I was writing about it and I got chills. I can't explain it, but I know that it was an amazing move that changed the mood of the service, the mood of every helper there and the mood of the night it self.
The band played and prayed as people walked by. I remember testimonies being given. People on the street would stop and listen to what they heard. I remember children with their parents walking down the street and the kids wanting to stop and listen, but the parents moving them along. I know one kid stopped for a while and the parent just kept walking, but a little while later they came back and got their kid. It was just interesting to see the people being very curious. In the tiny little confines of our sidewalk, God was still going to do His will and change people's lives. We had only a small amount of space, but we did the human video to "Set Me Free". For us not having much room, it went great. Once again, people stopping to watch at this time. The girls that were with us ended up doing the "Here I am to Worship" dance. I remember seeing a group of people watching that performance. They looked confused but curious. Somehow, during all this time of our part of the service, several people have started sitting in the seats and standing on the side between the seats and the street. It was time for Pastor Phil to give his message. He has been studying Spanish for several years and he has an entire evangelistic message that he knows in Spanish. That is the one that he gave that night. No interpreter, just him with the microphone. But God is the one that draws people to Himself. Pastor Phil may say the words in their ears, but it is the heart that God speaks to. After Pastor Phil was done with his preaching, several people came forth. I don't know if all were for salvation or for giving their lives back to God, but it was an inspiring and amazing night. I am so thankful that God allowed me to be a part of that. I love seeing people come to Christ. I love seeing salvation change a person's heart.
There is a story about this very "change" that I will tell you about from our week in Pucallpa, but that is several more days away. So you will just have to wait in anticipation. For now tho, this was the best evening from our stay in Lima, Peru.
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