Returning to the Isthmus of Mexico for the second week in a row, our prayers and ministry focus were directed to the Zapotec speakers in an area devastated by the earthquakes of last September. Our joint evangelistic efforts proved to be a tremendous encouragement to the pastors who accompanied us.
After a day of visiting mostly “inconversos” (unsaved), we felt prompted to spend a day focusing on providing audio Bibles for the church leaders who could multiply the fruit by sharing the scriptures in Zapotec personally with their neighbors.
As we took the audio Bible to one of the founding members of the church, offering to pray for her and her ministry, she asked us to join her in visiting and praying for her sick neighbor, a man in need of our Savior’s touch. Quickly it became apparent that God had prepared this neighbor for an encounter with us that day.
Our team prayed over Andre as he lay in his hammock, first commanding any pestering spirits by the authority of Jesus’ name and his blood shed on Calvary to depart from the premises, rendering them powerless to keep Andre in pain and unbelief. Then we prayed for healing, thinking perhaps he had TB based on his description of chest pain and coughing up blood.
Andre then told us how some relatives had come to pray for him the night before, and how he felt the same sensation of a cool hand going over and inside his body, soothing and healing it. We explained that the only way he would remain free was to call upon the name of Jesus himself, confess and repent of his sins, and accept the free gift of salvation.
Andre began to relate a dream he had the night before, which our Zapotec interpreter explained to me in Spanish. In his dream, a visitor showed him a vision. In the vision, Andre was in his hammock, and a group of eight individuals were gathered in front of him, like a chain, all inter-connected. Before them was a big clay platter covered with ashes. One of the eight picked up the platter and began to blow until all the ashes were blown away. What remained on the plate were six kernels of corn. The eight visitors debated whether they should plant the corn, since there did not appear to be any soil, just a hard concrete floor.
At this point, I was translating the dream into English for my team members, becoming more excited as the story progressed. Just that morning, my husband Jim had again referred to the audio Bibles as “The Good Seed,” expressing a desire to only plant it in good soil. Earlier in our visit, we were debating whether to give Andre an audio Bible. Continuing to describe his vision, Andre said that the visitors did in fact plant the kernels of corn, and were thrilled that they all sprouted, a word in Spanish which literally means “were birthed.” After the crop was harvested, the man in the vision burned the field, and then told Andre he used to be like that burned field, completely dead, but now he was like the fresh corn - new life!
The dream was easy enough to decipher. There were exactly eight of us standing before Andre in his hammock, just like in the vision. Our prayers to dispel evil forces were the breath that blew away the ashes. The hard ground was the man’s heart prior to our visit. The corn, obviously, was the Word of God bearing fruit. The only puzzling part was the detail that there were six kernels of corn. Later we learned that the man’s household totaled six souls. We had prayed that Andre and his whole household would accept salvation that day. In faith, we believe for a harvest of all six becoming believers even though we only had the privilege of praying with the one. Andre cried actual tears as he prayed the prayer of faith, repeating the Zapotec words of his neighbor.
This is just a portion of all that transpired at one house on one day of two solid weeks of ministry, visiting in people’s homes, offering intercessory prayer, audio Bibles, and the gift of salvation for those ready to receive it in faith. It was exhilarating to see so many people set free from the bondage of sin and Satan, and others healed of physical or mental suffering. Many prayers were answered in dramatic ways, and we trust that the church leaders in the area will continue to visit the new believers and disciple them as they mature as Jesus followers. Most of all we are thankful that God’s Word remains in their hands to help them grow in knowledge and wisdom and to bear much fruit for the Kingdom.
Later we introduced her to the audio Bible we had brought her, playing the first chapter of John. Again, she smiled and seemed pleased, but made another remark in Zapotec, causing the ladies and the visiting pastor to laugh aloud again. She had said that she liked it very much – even though she couldn’t hear it. Oh, my. We were having so much fun, and yet not one word was getting through to her aside from the sense that she was loved.
