One of the founders of Jesusbeat.com, Julian, is originally from Enterprise, a city in Central Trinidad, West Indies. He attended Enterprise Government Primary School (EGPS), and he still has fond memories of growing up with his friends there. Unfortunately these days Enterprise is making headlines for all the wrong reasons: gangs, drugs, arms dealers, kingpins, turf wars, shootings…. Could this be the reason the Lord was tugging on Julian’s heart to return to Enterprise and have a JesusBeat.com event there? As followers of Christ, we are God’s hands and feet. It is our duty to go to these areas that need Him the most and show them who Jesus is so that they could encounter this God who can mend their hearts.
The children of Enterprise seem to be the most affected by all this crime. Imagine having your older brother shot by a stray bullet while riding his bicycle; or having to hide from a few pushers on your way to school; or even a drive-by shooting at a wake where you are mourning the death of a loved one… that’s the reality that so many of them face.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
~James 5:16
As we set out to work with these children it became abundantly clear that the Lord wanted these children to know Him. As with everyone that He came to die for, He wanted to give them a new heart; He wanted them to receive His faith, hope and love. And here He was asking us to be His messengers. What happened in that school auditorium was nothing short of miraculous. Once again, the Lord had gone before us and made a path for us to follow, with our hearts and our hands firmly anchored in Him. This was one of the toughest assignments we had gotten from the Lord so far, as these children tested us as much as they could. Given the short timeframe we had, it did not look promising at all. However the Lord was with us, encouraging us to keep showing up and making sure to include Him in everything we did. And so we obeyed….despite how hopeless the situation seemed we kept coming back, taking authority as we arrived, and praying for the Lord to intervene and touch these precious children.
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
~ Ezekiel 36:26-27
Our God is faithful, and He certainly honored our prayers. Every one of the 50 or so children that were sent to us called out to Jesus to come into their lives. We still tear up when we remember it…every last one of them cried out to our Savior, inviting Him into their hearts. I can only imagine the celebration in heaven that day – even we couldn’t keep it together!
After this new life that they all received, we talked to them about the wonderful treasures that the kingdom of God offers, such as love and forgiveness. We taught them about worshipping God in song and dance, about praying and asking Jesus for help in any situation, and they received it all with joy! What a mighty God we serve!
You should check out our facebook page to see more of what happened during the “Change of Heart” season of our Beautiful Things program. God bless you!
