Today was a 14 hr day of Ministry but was amazing. Our students never whined or complained about the schedule or the work. They are amazing! We started the day with School Assemblies. The students were receptive but it was a tough crowd. These are school and neighborhood without a lot of structure and discipline. Our team just kept rolling with it.
There are not words that can truly describe today. We kick off the day at going into a juvenile detention center. There were young men in there from 14-22 years old and some of them had never encountered the Love of God. Groups played games, did drama, and have small group discussions. God broke down so hard hearts and did things that only He could do. The statement that ripped everyone's heart out came from one of the young men. He said, "I thought we were forgotten. I thought no one loved us." How heartbreaking! We were humbled that God chose us to love on the unloveable and reach out to the forgotten. God gave us favor in a dark place and open some of the coldest hearts.
Today started early! We had to be at the church for our first service by 8am. Everyone was quiet on the bus ride and a little worn out. Once we arrived and the service started it life was breathed into us all. Our students helped with the Kids Ministry in the first service and helped in the main Service at 10am. I was honored to get to speak in the 10am service. We saw around 10 people give their lives to Jesus in that service. We called people into the altars that needed prayer and the altars filled up. Our team walked through the crowd praying for people and God radically touched a lot of lives. With both services today we ministered to over 500 adults and kids.
As long as today was, it was equally incredible! We started the day off with training. We have had to learn a few songs and a drama. Training is never the highlight of a trip but always a necessity. Around lunch time we split into our different teams and headed out to the streets.
We are here and settled in. Day 1 is not even over yet for us. The students are currently learning dance and drama routines as I type this.