Carnaval 2011

During the last two weeks here, Mazatlan has been celebrating Carnaval which is basically just a huge party before Lent. It was really crazy, and I'm not just talking about all the drinking and Banda music. God really poured out His Presence on this place. First of all, there was a huge program called the Invasion that took place during Carnaval, which is where over sixty churches got together and strategized about how to reach this city for Christ, then they went out and did it. In the Invasion over 4,000 people came to Christ. We here at YWAM Mazatlan also took advantage of thousands of people being in this city for the festivities. The population of our base nearly doubled as people came in as backup to help us reach the lost. We split up into four groups, one ministering inside Carnaval, one ministering outside the gates of Carnaval, one working a free coffee shop, and one team just devoted to intercession. I was on the team outside the gates for about the first half, and then I went to the team inside the gates for the second half. We saw such a great harvest! Over 400 people prayed to ask Jesus into their hearts during this time just from our group! It was really great for me especially because I feel that evangelism has been one of my weaker points in my Christian life for a long time, so it was amazing for me to have this hands-on experience and see God work! God gave us some great ideas for ministry too. On the first night I was tied up, with a rope around my wrists and torso, blindfolded, and led and pushed around by two people who were accusing me, then we would stop in a large group of people and preach about how sin binds us and blinds us but how Christ can set us free. Also, God told one group that was inside Carnaval that He wanted to heal people, so they began to pray for healing for people. Eighteen complete strangers were healed in one night, including a mute person speaking. God is so good and He really loves the lost and desires them to come to Him!