Day: September 21, 2010

Posted in Mission Stories, NW_Discipleship, NW_Frontpage, Personal Stories

Women’s Conference Day 3…

Posted on by Castillo

At 4am today we had our first prayer service. We challenged everyone last night at the conference to come to the town square at 4am to pray for the Mole! There were hundreds of people this morning! They were on their knees -hands in the air –  praying loudly – for over an hour! Indeed – Revival has broken out in the Mole!

I wasn’t sure with all the rain whether or not people would show up today for the seminar! But we had more women today then we did yesterday!!

Diane Cornelius talked first today. She had a broken cup and a regular cup. She explained that God can take us in our broken place with all our broken pieces and make us whole again. He glues our parts back together with His love, His grace, and His mercy!

The next speaker spoke about patience. That God has a plan for our life! If you think there is no way out of your current situation – lean on Him for understanding. Wait upon the Lord and He will answer you. Continue to have faith even when you feel there is nothing left to give. Pray for strength and He’ll give it to you – each and every day.

Because of the rain we moved the conference inside. I thought there would be less people. WRONG AGAIN! The shelter was packed from front to back. It was standing room only!! I mean crowded like opening night to Jonas Brothers! When it was time to start singing and dancing – you never seen a crazier bunch of Christians! I could have sworn some of them were dancing in mid-air! Jean Claude had come to visit us and he was getting his spiritual groove on! It was kind of funny! I love the way they praise the Lord here – there is truly nothing like it – NOTHING!

Today is a day that I will never forget.  Elirose is Momma Gigi’s sister (or Gigi’s Aunt). Elirose has worked for me for about 4 years. She is not a Christian. She hasn’t shown much interest in our ways – but she’s a good lady! So I brought her family out here to the Mole with me. The staff has been praying for her since our move here in June.

She has been coming to the conference every day. Magdala, our St. Louis du Nord ladies, and some of our staff went to call on her at her house during our dinner break. A very teary-eyed staff embraced her as she told us God has been speaking to her this week and she wants to accept Christ! We will baptize her this Sunday! Tears flow down my cheeks even as I type right now! There is a dance of jubilee tonight in the employee homes – for we have a new sister in Christ!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY – FOREVER AND EVER – AMEN!

Posted in Mission Stories, Personal Stories

Women’s Conference Day 2

Posted on by Castillo

It started raining this morning and I wasn’t able to post this from yesterday:

Today we had a great seminar! We started the morning off with my mom speaking about the Rock! That if we hold onto the rock – even though the world may fall apart all around us – that Rock of Jesus will help us through every obstacle.  Following her speech, we had a Haitian Woman share her testimony of how God saved her from a life of prostitution and took her ugliness and found something beautiful.

Then we had Allison from Savannah Christian Church share her testimony. She reminded every Haitian that everyone has a story unique to them and by sharing it with each other – we can find comfort. Following her speech  -we had another Haitian lady give her testimony about the Grace God has given her . At the end of the seminar but before the final conference at night – we handed out peanut butter to all the ladies! 🙂

In-between talks – we taught them a song. One of my favorite songs to sing in Creole is about having the spirit in  – Your Head, Your Hands, Your Heart, Your Stomach, Your Back, and Your Legs. You add a part of the body to each round and then at the end you go really fast and sing them all! It’s kind of silly – but a lot of fun! The ladies LOVED IT! Diane Cornelius recorded us singing it on the stage tonight at the conference. I’m going to try to upload it later.

The theme of the conference was translated – God knows you better than you know yourself. The Pastor was on fire tonight! He had such a great analogy. He said a Haitian man was driving down the road and his truck broke down. He just bought this Toyota truck and was so upset that he didn’t have it one day and it had broken down. He raised the hood – did everything he could think of – but nothing would make the truck work. A man walked by and the driver told him – how can this be? I’m not a mechanic – I’ve used all my money to buy this truck – AND now it’s broken.

The man told the driver to raise the hood of the truck. He then told the driver to start his truck. Immediately the truck started. He said I don’t understand – I raised the hood too but could not fix the problem. The man laughed and said – I work for Toyota. I built this truck. I know it better than you do – though you are the driver!!

In the same way  – God made us -and knows us better than we know ourselves!! Great analogy!

He preached about the desert – how we can find ourselves in the middle of it – the sand too hot to walk on and the sun beating down. But if we would allow Jesus in our life –  He can send a hurricane right in the middle of a desert! He will carry us on His back. His feet will take that burn for us. Do we not realize that if it weren’t for Jesus  – we would already be burning?

There were a few people who came forward at the invitation but the thing that really touched my heart was two children who couldn’t have been more than 12 years old. They were coming down to accept Jesus. The same two little girls I always see at VBS and out on the street when I walk outside.

I just LOVE the Mole people! Tomorrow morning we’re having a special 4AM prayer service! Indeed – God is moving in the Mole!