Rushing Wind

This morning my friend Walter, another YWAMer, joined me in Talubin for the Calvary Gospel School of Ministry. We caught a bus right in front of my apartment and got dropped of right in front of the school. The bus was definitely made for Filipinos. Even at that it had seen better days. My knees did not know where to go. The light overhead had bare wires exposed.

The school was as welcoming as yesterday. The staff has even made accommodations for me to be able to take a nap during the lunch period. (It was more tempting today than yesterday, but I had fun with the students as they worked at learning a song they heard during one of our breaks. - I had my mp-3 player hooked up to some speakers.)

Class went better. Students seemed more comfortable with me today and Walter did a great job of engaging them in Ilocano. I don't think the difference had much to do with me or my skills.

But the most amazing thing that happened had nothing to do with how to develop objectives or why evaluation is a good thing. As we were wrapping up class for the day, one of the students had a question. The question was only loosely related to the topic, but it led to some discussion. We played a worship song and I gave what we expected to be a closing prayer. But then the Holy Spirit poured through the room. The closing prayer became an opening prayer for an extended time of intense prayer. Students were sobbing, both men and women, as the Holy Spirit worked in their hearts. One student who had been questioning her purpose at the school and perhaps her faith in general encountered God and was reminded why she was there and who she is in Christ. Another young lady had talked to me yesterday and this morning about how she had been feeling far from God and had not felt His presence for a long time, was crying and knew she had been in His presence. Even many of the young men were crying as Walter and I moved about praying with students as God put them on our hearts. It was an incredible time!

Certainly there was nothing in what I did or said that prompted this move of the Spirit. I was so blessed to see God touch their hearts. Even after most had left, several students could still be heard behind the curtains of the stage, crying and praying.

This all began as we were wrapping up class at about 3:45 to end at 4. A little after 5, Walter and I finally left the room to see about heading back to Bontoc. Guess what, the last jeepney rolls through town about 5. So there we were, stuck. But the director of the school sent a student down to the road to stop every vehicle that drove by to see if they would take us back to Bontoc. About 40 minutes (and 6 or so vehicles) later, they found a ride for us. There was a vegetable truck heading this way. Fortunately for us, we were able to squeeze into the cab instead of riding in the back. (We are currently experiencing the additional rain of another typhoon so we would have probably been thoroughly soaked. The back of the truck was covered, but I am guessing not water-tight.)

In summary, the day was okay. The ending was fantastic.

Grace,
Tom