Dear friends and family,
Last week I had the privilege of being part of the volunteer staff for the 7th Conference for Restoration of the Sexually Broken organized by Exodus Latin America.
We had the main participation of Mr. Joe Dallas, former Exodus CEO, and I was given the responsibility of interpreting for him, it was challenging as the spiritual warfare, the emotional burden and the content of the topics being addressed were challenging from the moment I accepted my participation for the conference.
To just give you a little perspective I will share that for several weeks before the conference I woke up and realized I had been praying while sleeping (or maybe dreaming I was praying) and fighting the good fight for those who would attend the conference.
The testimonies were heart breaking, but I was refreshed and challenged to hear men and women from all walks of life sharing their stories. Many of the participants shared about the abuse they suffered, about the lifestyles they adopted as a result of believing a lie and the healing and freedom they found as they embraced the cross.
I served for three days, every day the burden felt heavier, but I knew many saints were praying as I offered my skills and service. This conference not only brought light to the many people attending, it also shed light over my life, has been instrumental in bringing my own freedom and healing from wounds in my past.
EXLA 2011 has been an eye opener and a totally new ministry avenue as I get equipped to serve those facing sexual, emotional and spiritual slavery and brokenness.
After three intense days at the conference we loaded a van to go deep north in Katira, San Carlos in the province of Alajuela where I had the privilege of speaking to youth leaders. After my teaching participation I had the privilege of worshiping with my spiritual children, then is when we felt the rage of the spiritual warfare I had been praying for weeks before.
We faced a group of kids suffering bondage not knowing how to break free, as we sang we felt a huge brick wall between us and the audience, it almost felt like we were not going to be able to reach them and then we started having "technical" problems with the PA system. Some of my family members who accompanied us were praying as we literally were fighting to make our presentation happen.
After a somewhat frustrating 20 minutes we decided to improvise the setup of our backline, we cranked up our amplifiers and the only thing going through our mixboard and main speakers was my voice and the kickdrum. We were able to handle the rest of our concert and the kids responded in an incredible way.
We closed our concert with an altar call and no music, the Holy Spirit led me to have the kids come to the altar and raise their hands as they surrendered their lives. Worship breaks chains! The act of lifting up hands became an act of surrendering in the presence of the Lord and the Holy Spirit started moving as kids received their blessing.
Joe Dallas says sexual and spiritual bondage has reached an epidemic scale and I have to agree, for the first time in my life my eyes were open to this reality and I feel God is leading us to terra incognita as He prepares us to deal with the brokenness we are starting to see.
God finally opened doors to talk to kids who are desperate, to pastors who need help and are pretty desperate too as they see the tremendous need there is within the church.
I praise God for a fruitful week of ministry, for the new doors and avenues He's opening, for His faithfulness and for the saints who have prayed alongside with me as I face new challenges and warfare.
Thank you for your prayers as I continue to offer my life and service to the Lord, may we continue to see fruit as He establishes His Kingdom in people's hearts. You have a huge part in what God is doing to save souls everywhere.
Peace,
Carlos
