Saturday, April 23, 2011

SEEING THE CAPTIVES SET FREE IN SAN VICENTE

April 2011

When the Kingdom of God breaks open in a locale, many people are liberated from the kingdom of darkness in their lives in significant ways. Jesus sets this out in Luke Chapter 4:

16 He (Jesus) went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

We are seeing a tangible breaking open of the Kingdom of God in San Vicente. This past week, which would be a ‘landmark week’ in many places, seems to have been par for the Kingdom happenings in the Village.

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Lori went down last week for her ‘one week a month’, and I joined her on the end of that trip. Lori has been working consistently with the women of the Village for 3.5 years in sewing classes and economic development, and has made some strong connections with a number of women there. Many have come to Lori for prayer and advice, and Lori has networked with Pastora Marta in the Village in this area of ministry.

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Last week, we went to the funeral of Isidro, a Saint who lived in the Village and beloved by many. During the all-night funeral service (no kidding!), somewhere around 11pm, Isidro’s two sons responded and gave their lives to the Lord. They confessed how they had been resisting God, but couldn’t do so any longer. One of the sons is a well-known ‘narco-trafficante’ in the region.

As we found our way to our quarters (around midnight, the funeral was still going on), I was reflecting how Pastor Jose Luis had been telling me before the funeral that two major ‘narcos’ had come to the Lord in the last week there at the church. We laughed together at the ‘new problems’ of having former ‘narcos’ filling the church…

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Lori and I were walking to the church in the dark. The saints were rehearsing their “The Heavens Sing” Easter outreach music. Since we were needing to leave the next morning, Lori wanted to hear her ‘ladies’ singing their songs in rehersal.
We hear ‘Lorena! Lorena!’ in the distance, and see a woman running to catch us. It was a sewing student Lori had prayed and counseled with in times past. As we talked under the corner streetlight, she began to pour her heart out and expressed her deep need to return to the Lord in the midst of many trials and tribulations. After quite some time, we began to pray together, and minister to her as the Holy Spirit led. What amazing things the Lord did! By the end of our prayer, arms were lifted towards Heaven and God was praised for His wonderful liberation. We parted warmly and continued on to the church.

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At church, one of Lori’s ‘ladies’ told us how she is actively looking for a place we can stay at in the Village. “I saw a place, but somebody rented it the next day”, she related. “I’m going to keep looking. The Lord told me you belong here”, she explained.

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We are working out details to rent a place to stay at and minister out of in San Vicente. Carving out a local presence ‘in country’ is always a bit tough for any missionary.
It’s clear that the Lord is doing something special in San Vicente, and He’s calling us to be there for more.
We want to be where the Presence of the Lord is manifest, where people are being set free, where the blind see real light, where the time of God’s Favor is sung out at the top of our lungs… and we get to be a part of a Visitation.

Your brother, Chris

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