The bags were packed and had been loaded on top of the tiny van. All twenty three of us piled into the van ready for travel day. After twenty seven hours on the road, four hours of sleep at Emissary’s host home, two stops to drop off the other teams, Selah was only an hour away from Ometepe Island.
Team Selah boarded the ferry to take us to Ometepe Island that is in the middle of a lake in Nicaragua. (Yes I’m overwhelmingly happy to be back on an island). When we got on the ferry, we headed to the top deck to enjoy the view as we chugged towards the island. Once we sat down the Lord highlighted a man to me that was sitting across from us. I felt the Holy Spirit was telling me to talk to him, but in all honestly I was very nervous.
After sitting there for about fifteen minutes, I finally said yes and asked the Lord to give me the words and the courage to evangelize to him. I walked over and sat across from him and began to speak to one of my teammates who was standing by the rail. After a minute or so of Naomi and I talking, I began to talk to the man sitting across from me. We talked about why he was headed to the island. Jacob* told us he was on a journey. I asked if he had ever read the Bible. He said he had grown up in church and had studied the Bible. Jacob said “at this point in my life though it has served it’s purpose and I am now looking for more.” The more for Jacob was chasing and exploring his feelings to gain a deeper understanding of himself. We asked him how he processed through the darker feelings. He paused for a while and began to look sad. Jacob told us that he was still working on that but he likes to press into the darkness. He likes to go to places that make him scared and are dark to explore those feelings. I felt uneasy during this part of the conversation. Jacob talked about how he seeks darkness. He spoke of how his spirit and how he is working to understand his spirit. I felt God telling me this was the moment to talk to Jacob about the Holy Spirit. I talked about how Christ now lives in us because He sent His spirit to us when we believe. Jacob said “so you basically oppress yourself to make room for the Holy Spirit.” I said, “not at all. My spirit was once dead and when I received the Holy Spirit, it was brought to life. I now get to live in the fullness that God has planned for me. Before the fall and the destruction that humans have caused, I get to become what I was meant to be. I don’t make myself less with the Holy Spirit, I get to look like Christ and be transformed into who He created me to be. And become more Christ like.” Jacob said, “wow. You’ll change the world with that point of view.” I felt really encouraged after he said that. I could see the Lord working on his heart.
He eventually went on to tell us that he “has developed small communities in the U.S. and one in Nicaragua.” As he continued to speak and tell more about these “communities,” I had a suspicion in my spirit that he was actually describing more of a cult that he was a part of. This was confirmed when he started telling me how he believed he was god. I wanted to ask him more about this but felt the Lord telling me to just listen now. Naomi asked him alot of questions about how that made him feel and we got to hear more of his heart.
Before the ferry docked, I asked him if we could pray for him and if there was anything he needed specific prayer for. He thought for a few minutes and finally said that we could pray that he would meet God on top of one of the volcanos on the island. So we prayed over Jacob. I prayed that he would experience God (the real God) on top of that volcano. That God would reveal more of Himself to Jacob.
The Lord showed me a lot through this experience. He showed me that I need to be bold. I spent fifteen minutes getting up the nerve to go speak to this man, after God had clearly told me to. While I said yes and was obedient, my obedience should be immediate and I should have a quick yes. I almost let the fear of rejection of my God to keep me from sharing the Gospel. The Lord also showed me how to approach different perspectives and views with love. I watched as this man longed for more but didn’t know what more was. I had the key to what more was and all the Lord asked me to do was share it.
Please pray with me for Jacob’s salvation and pray that he experiences God in ways he can’t comprehend. As we got off the ferry on Ometepe Island, I asked God to continue to make me interruptible and to also give me boldness.
Update: Team Selah is currently living at and working with a protection center for children. We also get to work with the school that is on the compound here.
*Note his name has been changed for privacy reasons.
