The Holy Spirit did some amazing things while our team was in Honduras. Countless lives were changed, and many children encountered God in a fresh, vibrant way.
I’ve been home for a week now, and have only now sorted through all the pictures to show you the best of the best from my personal role there. In this post, you’ll hear testimonies of the Spirit’s moving in Comeyagua, Honduras, and you’ll get to see some of the images of God’s work among the children.
On the 4th day of our trip, I led the chapel for the preschool kids. These preschoolers worshipped like I had never seen. I was supposed to share a salvation message, but I felt more like they should share one with me! Nevertheless, I took the stage and shared the message using some fun “illusions” that I brought with me to illustrate the points. Several kids raised their hands for salvation, but I knew God wanted to do more.
With the help of a translator, I said, “These are just tricks. The ball didn’t really disappear—it’s just in my pocket. But God has real power. When Jesus was here on this earth, he worked many miracles. He healed sick people, walked on water, and raised dead people back to life. Then He told His friends, the disciples, that they could do the same things if they believed in Him. In fact, He said that they could do even greater things…” Then I talked about Him promising the Holy Spirit and what happened on the Day of Pentecost. “And for 2,000 years,” I continued, “God has been filling people with His Holy Spirit as they ask for Him. If you want to be filled with God’s power to do the things Jesus did and show God’s love and power to people so they can get to know Him too, come to the front so we can pray with you.”
Sixty preschoolers rushed the front of the room to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I had to call the whole team up to lay hands on them and pray. It was awesome! We even had three teachers come forward. Of course, I couldn’t tell you how many spoke in tongues because I don’t speak Spanish, but it was awesome to see the hunger in these little kids as they passionately sought God. My translator, who runs the preschool, said she was amazed at what God did in those kids, so I know there was a significant move of the Holy Spirit.
On Day 5, we mostly did work projects at the youth center. But during part of the day, one of the staff took us on a hike up one of the mountains that overlooks the city. This was especially significant to me because of what I sensed happening in the spiritual realm.
From the moment we got on the bus in Honduras, I was sensing a lot of spiritual warfare in the mountains and spiritually perceiving what I can only describe as “giants” that had a grip on the people. I shared this with the missionary, and she said many people who come down there see and describe the same things. In fact, the specific spirits I was discerning (how they operated and influenced the people) were also confirmed to be what others had sensed. When we reached the top of the mountain, I spent a few minutes in prayer and prophesying over the people. Without a doubt, God answered, as we saw in the days that followed.
On Day 6, we visited a boys’ orphanage. We brought them ice cream, shared testimonies, and I presented a gospel message. The response there was great, and we saw several more salvations.
On Day 7, I shared my testimony and the Gospel at the youth center, and about 25-30 street kids (many of them teens) made a decision to abandon sin and know Christ!
On Day 8, I led an open-ended Worship Night for the teachers of the school. The missionaries wanted them to experience what it is to “flow in the spirit,” so my role was simply to demonstrate. We ministered to God, and He ministered to us. It was an awesome time. I started with playing an electric piano, but something happened to the electronics that fried its internal computer.
I finished the evening with guitar. Thankfully, God isn’t restricted to a particular instrument–nor is He relegated to a language like English or Spanish–and we still encountered the manifest presence of God in that place.
On Day 9, I had the 1st-5th graders again (about 100 of them). This time, I spoke about hearing God’s voice and led them in a time of worship, prayer, and ministry in which the kids were praying for and prophesying to each other. The Holy Spirit moved among the kids, and they really engaged in this time of interacting with God.
Later that day, we ministered in one of the mountain schools before building them a new kitchen (actually, it was just a steel frame and a roof…which happened to be a tremendous upgrade from what they had). After our team ministered the Gospel, our translator led an altar call, and 15 kids (almost all of them) came to receive salvation.
The translator then began prophesying over them. The missionary told us what she was saying, and it was powerful. God is doing something awesome in Comeyagua, Honduras, and I’m so excited that I had an opportunity to be part of it.
In my next blog post, I’ll share about day 10, which I believe will be considered a significant day in the history of the school there. You’ll get to read about the supernatural breakthrough, the territorial strongholds that lost their grip, and the revival that took place among the students and teachers.
[EDIT: I forgot to write the following day. The Day 10 testimony is found in the article "Discerning Strange Signs and Wonders," published October 7, 2010.]
In closing, I’ll share with you just a few more images of the children responding to Jesus:
God bless, –Art
