The harvest is plentiful. The harvest is ready.
This week, my team alone saw four salvations. Four people had been waiting to give their life to the Lord, and he put an end to that waiting.
Monday morning, I started my day in prayer and scripture. Last week, I found myself struggling with feeling like I was incapable of being used by the Lord, or that I wasn’t being used in “good enough” ways. I prayed, “Lord, show me how you use me today. Allow me to see it.” We had an option of doing manual labor, which I asked to do. My squad leader told me there were too many people, so I ended up going to SMT.
The church we worked with for the week was a bit farther away, and we hadn’t been in that community before. As we were heading out after lunch, there was a house with three teenagers sitting outside, an older man, and a few others coming in and out. I felt like we should talk to them, but I let Lidany, our translator lead. He walked up to them and asked if we could talk. They responded and said that they were all Christian, except for one of the teenagers. He said he was waiting on the call of God. We asked him what he meant by that, but we didn’t really get an answer (or it got lost in translation.) We continued asking basic questions about them, and in doing so, I wondered: what does the call of God look like for him? So I paused and said: “I believe the Lord sent us here to talk to you today, do you believe that’s the Lord trying to call you or speak to you in any way?” Without hesitating, he nodded his head and said he wanted to accept Jesus. I asked him if he wanted to know more about what he was about to do and got to share the gospel with him. After, we led him in prayer to give his life to christ.
I stood in amazement of what I had just witnessed. A 14 year old boy decided to give his life to Christ. In front of all his friends and family. Without hesitation. Without caring what others would think. He was hungry for the Lord. He was ready. And the Lord had been ready for him- He loves him enough that he would send a random group of Americans to his tiny Dominican village in the mountains, that he would put an end to his waiting.
The Lord loved me enough to use me, to patiently meet me in the lies and show me that I was capable of being used by him.
Thursday morning, we served with a church that we frequently do ministry with, meaning we have already been in most of the villages. As the translators led us to the village, I questioned why we were going there again. I assumed it wouldn’t do any good- we had already been to practically every home, and the people had probably gotten annoyed with us at this point.
We continued walking to find a lady sitting outside her home; our translator asked if we could talk and she kindly had us come into her home. We explained why we were there, introduced ourselves, and started asking her questions. She told us she had only been living there for 15 days because her home was under construction. That meant she wasn’t living there the last time we had visited and would only be there temporarily (aka divine appointment lol.) We continued asking questions, and she expressed a hunger for the Lord. She said she had listened to Christian radio, that she wanted to go to church, and more. Out of the blue, she said she was very happy we had came, because she had been wanting to accept Jesus for months and felt she could do that right then and there. Once again, I sat in amazement as she prayed for Christ to enter her heart. With tears rolling down her face, she continued to thank us and told us she would see us at church on Sunday. She too, was ready. She had been ready. As I questioned why we were going back there, the Lord knew why. He would put an end to her waiting.
As I type out these stories the Lord is so beautifully writing, I’m filled with excitement and joy- I can’t help but be in awe of the Lord’s goodness. Because the harvest is SO ready. The people here are hungry for the Lord, they are waiting for the good news. Waiting for salvation. Waiting for healing. Waiting to come out of hiding, for light to be shined over the darkest parts of their lives. They are waiting, but they are wanting and ready. And WOW, how cool is it that the Lord is putting an end to their waiting AND that we get to be a part of it.
He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. – Luke 10:2
andi, you are SO worthy of being used. thank you for being a vessel. thank you for serving others and walking in your identity as a daughter! so thankful to be working alongside you in this harvest season. love love love you!
Perfect title, unquestionably the harvest is ready. Those were amazing stories of your outreach efforts with the boldness of the Holy Spirit to lead you into conversations to share the gospel and into helping other experience the freedom of accepting Jesus Christ. Yes, that makes you a part of the great commission!!