Indescribable

Our last night in Atitlán was a turning point in many of these students hearts.

We sang songs of praise to the Lord, and Pastor Wilmer preached on how real God is, that He gives us the very air we breathe, that there is no life without Him, and that He is here with us. He talked about how if our nose were faced up or if our ears were on top of our heads, that our body would not work like it should. God made us the way we are for a purpose!

We broke into prayer and worship, and students felt God's presence like never before.  Our faiths were powerfully reaffirmed. Pastor's main message was: "Jesús no es una religión; es una relación" (Jesus isn't a religion--he's a relationship). It was simply indescribable.   

I asked some of the students to offer me one sentence to summarize their experience:

Maddy: "I have no words."

Jack E: "Epa!" ("Wow" in Mexican Spanish)

Julia: "It was a night that brought the team closer to God and to each other."

Allyson: "It was super-duper powerful and I felt like we were all filled with the Holy Spirit."

Collin: "God can move mountains. Púchica ("Wow" in Guatemalan Spanish)!"

Dani: "One sentence?! It was incredible to see the way the team bonded and how the experience left us without words."

Hailey: "God works in miraculous ways: I don't think there was a single person who didn't feel impacted by the Holy Spirit."

Cody: "It was cool to be able to feel the Holy Spirit tangibly and see others affected as well. It was also powerful praying with the Guatemalans."

Mary: "It was incredible, and so cool to see our team huddled on the floor, crying and praying and absolutely filled with the Spirit."

Joey: "I was praying with Pastor Wilmer, and I really felt the presence of God talking to me, telling me that I would become a youth pastor. Also, hola Mama, Papa, Faith, and Chloee!"

Lauren: "It was incredible to see how present the Holy Spirit was and our whole team praying and crying together and how powerful the Lord worked that night."

Noah: "It was both the best and worst thing of my life--I didn't know what was happening, but God took full control of my being, to say the least."

Allie: "If we didn't know God and His Presence before, we certainly do now."

Carina: "Never before have I felt the presence of God or the power of prayer but that night it was almost tangible."

Jack B: "When God shows up, He doesn't disappoint." 

Gabbi: "Let's just say, we serve a God whose glory and faithfulness cannot be described in words."

Indescribable. You know what else is indescribable? How proud I am of this team and how blessed I am to be part of this FANTASTIC group of students! I close with a note from Allyson's journal that she lent me for this blog: "Honestly, right now, it doesn't seem real. All I know is I'm giving everything to God with all I've got. We're going to Zacapa tomorrow, and we're all in."