Today is the day of salvation!

This morning started with an anointed prayer time as the Word was shared (1 John 2:18-27 and 2 Chronicles 7:14) and prayer for the strongholds over this city persisted. The Lord even directed several of the team members during that time to pray specifically for various strongholds and spirits as they are very similar to those present in Plano. At the end of prayer time the missionary, Tiffany, shared her heart with us regarding her burden for this city and things her father told her about the strongholds that he experienced when God first called him as a missionary to Queretaro.

We headed back out to the church in San Pedro Martyr for more ministry with the children. After getting in some more play time with the kids we had service. With 39 kids present from the neighborhood we had a sing along to worship songs with the puppets, motions, and lots of dancing, and smiling faces. Brianna preached on Paul and Silas (Acts 16:25) and how they were in jail yet continued to sing hymns and praise God. She focused in on how God gives us joy. Jerry and Pastor Brian did a great job acting out Paul and Silas' time in jail. At the end of the message there was an invitation for salvation and 10 kids raised their hands to receive Christ. Praise God!
The church here also has some physical needs that will help enable them to meet the needs of those in the neighborhood. Before and after the service the guys (Pastor Brian, Jerry, Danny, and Tiffany's husband John) worked on installing a brand new toilet and fixed some of the plumbing. The other thing done today to address those needs was cleaning up the street in front of the church. There was a lot of stray trash and a lot of glass on the ground making it dangerous for the kids to play. Many of the kids were excited to help us and walked around picking things up. One of the younger kids just wanted to be part of what the older kids were doing so he kept picking up dirt and putting it into the trash bag.

At the evening service we were excited to see several new faces - both children and adults totaling 79 people. More adults joined us for the evening service than in the morning or yesterday. For the service we had a puppet skit that talked about the greatest gift given by Jesus in salvation followed by Pastor Amy preaching. Pastor Amy preached a salvation message taking the listeners down the Romans Road to Salvation. She related salvation to being given the ultimate gift and gave out small bouncy balls as an illustration of the necessity of receiving the gift. At the end the altars were filled and many accepted Christ; including adults.

God is working here. There is still much work to be done. As I looked around into the eyes of those from NorthPointe and those we've partnered with I saw a deep desire and passion. There was a greater urgency and fire to share the love of Christ and give the people here a relationship that exceeds all others. A relationship that meets all of their needs and leads to a victorious life that only comes from the cross. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day for breakthrough and a piercing of the darkness that has long covered this city...