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This past weekend a church in Copán put on a youth "congreso". It was a Friday night and all day Saturday, with guest speakers, pastors from other cities in Honduras, a famous singer gave a concert, a vocalist from Guatemala, and several dramas from the youth in the church. AMAZING. Absolutely incredible. Such LIFE, Passion...It was an unbelievable blessing for me. God is going to use this church, these youth, to change Copán to do something amazing here!!
The music, messages and dramas really, really spoke to me. Friday night I was so full of JOY!!! I walked home with a huge smile on my face...just because I knew God is good and he's given me a smile!!
Friday night was SO GOOD! Some of the things that stuck with me...
Quiero nadar en el rio de Dios (I want to swim in the river of God)
Que me falte todo menos Dios (That I lack everything, except God)
God doesn't make mistakes, He knows what He does.
The harder the battle, the greater the VICTORY!!!
The youth did a drama Saturday that struck my heart and made me cry. It begins with
Jesus giving us His identity
A drama. Each came in doing their own thing...drunk, diva, music, shopper, etc. The devil gets ahold of them and their labled and left. Then at the end Jesus came, tore off their tags and gave them His own identity. this gorgeous bride, decked out to the T, prancing down the isle...singing praises, loving on God...she sits on a chair in the front where a Bible and bag await her. She looks at the Bible for a moment, then sets it aside. She looks in the bag and begins fixing her make-up, hair, nails, etc. As she sits there prunning herself, one by one people come down the isle, seeking, asking for, begging, pleading for the BRIDE. "Where is the bride??" They cry. "Bride I need you!!" "They've told me the BRIDE can help me." They were drunks, drug additcs, homeless, pregnant teens, suffering from AIDS, homosexuals... all screaming, searching for this BRIDE...this BRIDE that they heard could help them...would help them. Each one arrives at the front, where the Bride sits, oblivious of their cries for help, their pain, their presence. One by one they fall to the floor, not having energy to continue on. Finally Christ comes in His glory and the Bride is eager to rush to Him and be embraced. But He stops her and shows her the countless hopeless that lay at her feet. Finally she realizes why she had been waiting so long for
"Where is the Bride??"
The Bride of Christ spends her time fixing her veil, while the searching and suffering fall at her feet in desperation. Him. Instead of simply sitting there, making herself comfortable and "beautiful", she was to be leading these people into the Kindgom. She was to be sharing with them the light and love of the precious Savior. Oh what shame she felt as she turned to those suffering around her. She loved them with the love of her Lord and led them to the arms of Cristo. She felt such shame at her failure. But Jesus didn't condem her. He embraced her with forgiveness and love.
Oh it struck me.
Even now I can hear the desperation in the cries of the lost. "Novia! ¿Dónde estás Novia?" "NOVIA! Te necesito novia!" "Dónde está la novia? Me dijeron que ella me puede ayudar." "NOVIA!! NOVIA!! AYUDAME NOVIA!!" (Bride! Where are you Bride? Bride! I need you! Where is the Bride? They told me she can help me. BRIDE! BRIDE! HELP ME!)
It rips at my heart! Not only because the emotion that was in the drama, but even more so the TRUTH of it all.
Where are we, the church, the Bride of Christ??? How many of us are sitting, comfortably, making our lives "beautiful" while "waiting" for
Deysi and me
Deysi is a super special friend of mine! I absolutely love her beautiful spirit and sweet smile!!! I am going to miss her SO MUCH! the Lord return? Are we worrying about our nails and make-up, fixing our veil and dress...what color the carpet is, what hymn book, what version, etc. etc. etc. And while we spend our time, effort and resources on making everything lovely, they are begging for our help. Pleading for our attention. Looking for love. Dying for lack thereof. THEY ARE DYING WITHOUT CHRIST ALL AROUND US AND WHAT ARE WE DOING????
It cuts me how much time I worry about my comfort, what I'm wearing, fitting in, the food, ME ME ME... and I'm sitting right next to someone that has no idea of the HOPE Jesus has. The people I see everyday, the ones I talk with, those I call my friends...
But even beyond that...what about those represented in the dramas. The drunks, druggies, homeless, pregnant teens, those with AIDS. They need something. Many are begging, dreaming, pleading for SOMETHING. And we have it.
WOW.
The whole congreso is something I will carry with me for a long time. It was like a pure shot of spiritual edrenaline right in the heart!! God told me He's doing something here. PRAY for it please!!! One of the speakers said, "Right now tourists come to Copán Ruinas to see the RUINS. Old stones. But one day people will come because of what God is doing in Copán...giving NEW LIFE!!" I claim that and am awed as I see it happen!!!
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Ben
non-member comment
Great Story
That was good! Thank you for sharing hopefully its message goes beyond this blog. Please write more and many blessings for ya.