Hola, oye, que onda todos! That was a little slang from the South right there for my Nicaraguans here in Grenada. How are you guys from my church, from college, from New England, and other friends? Have you ever been thankful for having power? I never have until this trip because last night at about 6 am the power went out and left us to stew in our own sweat in the Nicaraguan hot air, without water! This happens every so often and the power and water can be out for up to three days eifuwaeenpifnaw glnwaeifnawincawic aiwn naivnajvnaueinfainvnwav awv awiwnwa n va vwavi!@@@@!@! I thank the lard that the power came back on at about 9 am, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to post this and…man there is Christmas music playing right now, “Let it Snow.” I can’t wait to return and have a snowball fight with the renown Staplefords and the arm of Mr. Stapleford. How is the Nativity Scene coming along and where is it going to be this year? I am more than amped that, what’s that? Oh yeah, Allen Iverson is on the Pistons, what whaaaat, and who did they beat last night? The La LA Lakerrrs. Pistons are going to be the 2009 champions? Yep.
God is so good, guys. He truly has so much power and he gives us everything we need when we follow his voice. I have not been let down yet, which doesn’t mean there hasn’t been many struggles because there has been a ton of spiritual warfare, doubt, and physical pains in following him. I have been praying about what to write to my friends this week and it rang clear at 2:45 am last night. I haven’t told the story of Andy yet! It is my favorite experience here so far and it has been on my heart to share it. I know I have been asking all of you to pray for him because he is a very new Christian that overcame the powers of darkness in his home–so I would like to share the latest news first.
However, that would leave all of you out who haven’t heard out to dry. I feel like this is appropriate to do, so I am going to give a direct entry from my journal to you guys. OOO right? Tapping into my pm’s, you are so lucky right now. Here is the story of Andy, a now follower of Christ!
God is Amazing. We got back (from the hike to the cross with Vida Joven one of the blogs ago) and found the immediate need to shower and leave for Restoration Church. The service was sweet-awesome salsa music and compelling service-the pastor cried and so did others, 18 people were Baptized. We were given a white towel to remember God’s love in our life (it felt like we were at a Chicago Bulls game because everyone was frantically waving these during Worship).
So (on the way home), Caleb and I decide to buy this amazing papas con queso thing and we sit alone on this wall. God brings this man to us and completely uses us for Him. The guy introduces himself and gives the same spiel and asks for money. We say,
“We’re sorry we have no money, we have something greater, we can offer you prayer.” “Give me 20 Cordova, please, friend, I need it…”
“We have no money.”
“Just 19 Cordova…15 Cordova C’mon friend…”
“We are being honest, we spent 15 on papas con queso and Caleb gave the rest away.”
“Please, Amigo…10”
“Dude, we have no money.” (A little frustrated at this point)
-“8 Cordova…” Down to one!
“We can offer you prayer.”
He explains that he has been looking for God for a long time but the Diablo is strong and has too much sin in his life so it’s impossible. I responded by saying,
“The devil has no power over your life, I have sin in my life too, I drink just like you but Jesus died for us and took away our sins. Jesus Christ loves me, you, Caleb Spitler, that guy.”
“I know,” he responds, “but my life is a sad story…” And he cries and tells us his life story about how there is so much temptation in his house and his wife left him and he went to the bottle.
“The Devil is in my house!” He declares with anguish and tears.
We explain to him the good news of the Bible but he still isn’t convinced the story applies to him, since he is so deep into sin, “THE DEVIL HAS POWER,” he kept exclaiming over and over.
He states, “Come to my house tomorrow,”
God gives me great words to this, “What if you are dead tomorrow or me, where will you go?”
“Enferno…” With fear and recognition he says this.
“You need to ask Jesus to come into your heart.”
He is compelled to sit with us on the park benches across the road and so we agree and I pray the prayer with him! He didn’t quite understand because he thought the devil had too much powering his life and God wouldn’t save him. “YOU ARE IMPORTANT!” Then I ask my friend J.D Russell, who happened to walk by in the distance, to come over and I explain the situation to him because he knows more Spanish than I do. We pray so hard that God will give him the words to speak and he does! Caleb Spitler searches for the verses to give the man encouragement and truth and two times he opens the Bible, looking for a verse that God put on his heart and he opens to unmarked passages right off the back, with no prior knowledge of their reference. We have a chain going on, I have my hand on Andy’s shoulder praying my heart out, Andy is sitting with tears down his face as truth after truth is poured out to him from Caleb to our translator and orarator J.D Russell. At one point, money falls out of Caleb’s Bible and he gives it to the guy! Weak and crying, Andy invites us to his home and while reading him multiple Bible verses (with God’s help) and giving him information on the Restaration Church and other churches around him he shows us pictures of his kids. Finally, praying the prayer for real, J.D and he are crying with joy, Andy is welcome into the book of life, I just want to leap! It feels so good to be part of Gods plan, that was all him, he groomed and brought us all there at the same time for a specific purpose. In leaving, Andy states,
“My legs feel lighter!”
Praise God!
Wow, huh? I am so excited to tell you the current news, bear with me for more of my words. Last Sunday, marking two weeks after this event, we sought after Gods child and went to Andy’s house to bring him to Restoration Church. Once we entered his house, it was like God had prepared his heart for us. Though he was shirtless and hadn’t eaten yet, he exclaims,
“I was thinking of coming to Church this week.”
He looked better than ever, happy as a clam. He asks us if it is okay that he eats and meets us there in fifteen minutes. The whole house felt like a great oppression was lifted. We said that would be great and a little while into the service, there was Andy, amidst crazy Christians dancing to salsa-style worship music in between two Gringo’s, J.D and I. The sermon was all about the necessity of prayer and how God calls us all to speak with him and pray-very applicable to Andy and us all I thought. So we walked home and Andy says about the girls on team,
“Are those your Girlfriends?”
“No.”
Completely perplexed he cries, “?Porque?!?@!@”
Ha, well that is the full story of Andy, he is doing great! Thank you all for praying for him and continue to do so!
I miss my peeps back home a lot and cannot wait to get back and do some world shaking. You guys have had it easy because a lot of the Panton boys have been out of town. I will return around Christmas time in a whirlwind of lizards and rice and beans. Before this time though, I have to bring up a financial issue that I have. I received an email from David Gross, head of Adventures in Missions saying that I need to raise $480 this month to stay on track with my total funds. Everyone has been great about supporting me financially, and I thank all of you for everything you have given. I trust God on this and if he has put it on your heart to give please do so.
Please pray that I continue to search Wisdom from God and pray that he gives me the words to say when needed. Pray for John Rood and his religious meetings with Karl Steen because that is so cool to do in school. As always, I will continue to pray and thank God for everyone back home, and I will continue to do insane things here in Nicaragua-We’re still strong on No Shave November, who’s with us??
—Jose Cartier
Joe you have every reason to feel that your “legs feel lighter!” What an amazing God. Truly amazing story. I about lost it when you describe the money falling out of the Bible. Increase!
Bill O’
Hi Joe,
I just read your story about Andy….God bless you and the work you are doing…..I am totally blown away by what God does… I was praying for a missionary cite that I could make a donation to and I came across FYM….your story caught my eye (andylisciosness) because my last name is Liscio which is part of your story title!!!!how’s that for God getting my attention….anyway, please let me know how I can donate to you…I saw you needed to raise some money to keep on track….
God bless you,
Jen
Hi Jen,
Joe doesn’t have access to the internet very often, so I’ll answer…
It is very encouraging to see your post! A little about Joe- he came home to Vermont from his first year in college this spring and told us of a call from God that couldn’t be ignored. He felt compelled to serve, and to go as soon as possible. After evaluating several ministries, we felt AIM was the best for him, as it offers excellent training and discipleship in addition to service. Joe went to Nicaragua in September, and as you read through his posts, you can see the growth in him as well as how the Lord is using him. We stand in awe of what’s taking place! He has a 9 month committment with AIM.
If you feel led to contribute to the costs associated with his training, there is a tab here on his website to donate- it’s called “Support Me” in the upper left hand side of the page. If you’d like to know a little more about Joe, feel free to post again with any questions!
Thanks so much for your encouraging post!
Joe’s Dad
Hi Mr. Carter,
Thanks for getting back to me. And thanks for the information on how to donate to Joe. I will be sending along a donation by mail. I am so inspired and encouraged by your son….he sounds like a great kid. I will pray for him and the work he is doing and the work God is doing in him. I will also keep you in my prayers as I am the parent of 2 college aged boys and I worry about them constantly…you must be a great and faithful man for your son to be inspired to work missions… I will keep in touch…May God keep Joe safe until he returns home to you…..
God Bless you,
Jen
joe,hows it going.well what i hear is your doing great.That is great and i am very happy for you and i am telling all my friends what you are doing. I think that what you did with this andy guy is great and so cool. keep it up. the other day it snowed a couple iches at school and i couldnt wait to get home and jump into it but there was not a spec of snow at our house.well joe i got some bad news.the lead singer for p.o.d cut his dreads off.its terrible.well good job down there or up there or across there.well i dont know what direction it is but you probably dont either.keep up the good work.
-shep
I was laughing at Shep’s comment to you about the lead singer of P.O.D. cutting his dreads off. I watched the video where he explained his reasoning and I cried. I was so sad to see a fellow dready without his trademark locks. 🙁
Jose,
Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth, Rise up and Walk!
You are following in the footsteps of the saints! GO JOSE!
No shave November not so good for us girls. But Julia and Alex love Josh and Nathaniel’s very cute facial hair!
We are praying for you, can’t wait to hear some your stories in person!
Love,
Lisa R
Hey Joe,
Thanks for writing your blog. I get up early in the morning to read it. When finished I am so pumped to go out into the world and live for Christ. It will be great to see you in just a few days. Safe travel- May God continue to use you for His glory.