Related Updates:
- Report 1 (8/31/06)
- Report 2 (9/3/06)
- Report 3 (9/4/06)
- Report 4 (9/8/06)
With the Children’s Institute in Pachuca on our hearts remembering all that the Lord accomplished, our team drove 6 hours to the town of Guanajuato. With a fairly early start the next morning we toured this legendary mining city which is home of the 2nd largest silver mine in the world! Yes, we bought some silver for our sisters and mothers. The city was beautiful with old mines turned into the many underground roads that navigate you around Guanajuato. Like Venice, Italy with its many canals, so was Guanajuato with its undergrounds roads and mines.
Castle St. Cecilia
While camera batteries were expired and memory cards were full, in the evening we finally made our way to the town square with its old buildings and quaint landscaping. What happened next encouraged our faith in a way many of our team have never experienced before.
As we arrived in the main town square there was a captive audience awaiting our arrival that only the Lord knew of before we arrived. With Guanajuato being a larger city and one of the biggest mining towns in the world, it has a large university. Sitting all about enjoying the beautiful evening were university students with nothing to do. On all other nights of the week there is some form of entertainment for them, but on this Monday night, nothing was before them but idle chatter and time for thinking about life. Little did this crowd know that we were thinking about life as well … the abundant life in Christ that makes the soul and spirit rich and adds no sorrow with it.
Our team and the passersby as we sing about our Savior
We arrived and surveyed the scene. We pulled out our guitars, violins, and started singing hymns and praise songs while part of the team handed out tracks among those sitting around and passing by. As we were lifting up the name of Jesus in the languages of Spanish and English our spirits were encouraged as a few people walked by and mouthed the words to songs about a Savior that is alive and real. If our time there was only for those that walked by and by hearing the Word of God had their faith strengthened, it was worth all just for that. Those that heard did not only wonder but also experienced the presence of Christ as they walked by.
A young couple walked up to where we were singing. They were spending four months in Guanajuato studying Spanish with St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. They had a Bible in their hands and started singing along with us. They commented to us that their walk with Jesus was encouraged as they saw the presence of the Lord having effect on the people around. They said that something was different about our group as we sang songs about our loving God and risen Savior. They had just finished a Bible study with some of their fellow Spanish students and they spent the next few hours with us as we swapped stories of our faith and the power of Christ Jesus’ life in us.
Mr. and Mrs. Phariss were able to share their testimonies and the light of Christ in their lives with students from the university in English, Spanish, and French. The students were open and hungry for the truth. As we finished our impromptu time of lifting up the name of Jesus, the students cheered and clapped and asked when we were coming back!
Praise the mighty name of Jesus.
Testifying of Christ and His Kingdom before the hungry university students
At castle St. Cecilia in Guanajauto
