Kingdom Encounters

Sunday, June 24th:

Tim decided that we should enjoy the experience of taking a Mexican bus into Zacatecas for church this morning, which was an adventure in itself! We arrived early for church, and Tim said that we should go out on the street and hand out invitations to church. I stayed behind to photocopy some invitations, and when I caught up with Tim and John, they were already talking to a man sitting in the doorway of the church. He had a cast on his leg, and I guessed him to be about 50 years old. I could tell he was in some distress, and I saw Tim begin to pray for him.

After Tim was done praying, he explained to me that the man (Jesús) was 31 years old, had severe diabetes, and had been addicted to cocaine. His blood sugar level was extremely high, and he did not have the money to buy the insulin that he needed. You don't always know if these people are on the up and up, but he did have several prescriptions that looked legitimate, and Tim decided to buy the insulin for him. They gave him the insulin, and invited him to come to the church service. One minute, he said he would come, and the next, he wanted to leave. He ultimately did leave, and you could almost literally watch the battle going on in his life. Looking at that man, I know his days are numbered, except for the divine intervention of God. I pray that divine intervention started today.

At the end of the service a lady came up for prayer because she had been suffering from a collapsed lung. Pastor Juan asked me to help him pray for her. I put my hands on her, and the same thing happened that has happened each time before; I could feel a surge of power that felt like electricity going through my hands.

After the church service was over, the lady and her sister invited all of us over to their family home for dinner. We arrived at their house, which was very simple and modest, and the ladies immediately began bustling around arranging the tables and chairs, and the sounds of chopping and mixing could be heard coming from the kitchen. We truly felt like the guests of honor, and they began bringing in plate after plate of food.

The first course they started with was "Menudo". At first, it looked like it might be tortilla soup, but I quickly found out that it was the infamous soup that contained cow stomach, yes, I said stomach. I knew that I couldn't eat a whole bowl, but that I had to try at least a little. After all, when in Rome (or Zacatecas)....and besides, how many people can say that they've eaten cow stomach??? The soup itself was actually quite tasty, but the piece of cow stomach tasted like you were chewing on a piece of white rubber!

Then, they started bringing out the tacos. There were a couple of different kinds, and they said that one of them was called "Lengua", which I found out was actually beef tongue. I found the beef tongue to be quite tender and delicious; better than the regular beef ones.

The food kept coming and coming, until finally I couldn't eat any more! All of the fellowshipping is done around the table here in México. Many times I've noticed in the smaller Méxican homes that they don't seem to have a living room, or even any living room furniture. But that is because when guests come over, a meal is served, and then all of the talking is done while sitting around the table. There is actually something very homey and intimate about it.