Experiencing Love

This year I've experienced a series of events that I consider not to be a coincidence. In January, I had a sudden desire to watch the movie “Taken”. I had seen the second part, and I was intrigued to watch the original one. After I watched it, I had holy anger and my heart was heavy. Then Christine Caine preached at my church the weekend before we did Underground in Houston. She is the founder of A21, a social organization that rescues people from sex trafficking. Finally, the weekend we went to Houston to partner with Antioch church and Unbound I realized that my Father had been preparing my heart to be passionate about the issue of sex trafficking.  During the training, I was in tears, because it made me immensely sad to hear and see videos of how people are being abused, raped, and hurt.

When we went out to share the gospel and generate awareness on sex trafficking. I saw my Father’s passionate love for people. My friends Nathan, Anna, and I started walking down Memorial Park where we encountered a Hispanic woman with some kids. We talked to her about the theme of our trip, and she acknowledged that she knew 2 people who were involved in sexual traffic. As we continued talking, my Heavenly Father told me that she had been abused by all the men in her life and that she was terribly disappointed about it, but He wanted her to know that He is not like all those men she had met. I told her everything that my Father put in my heart and as I repeated His words I could see in her face that everything made sense; she nodded as a sign that the word I heard was accurate. We prayed for her and her daughter and it was a memorable moment to see my Father loving one of His daughters.

As we continued our walk, I saw an old African American man sitting on a bench made of concrete. I heard my father saying, “He used to be in love with me and serving me, but he’s run away and I want you to tell him that I love him and that I want him to come back to me”. I went ahead and told him everything I heard. He responded, “You have no idea, I used to serve in ‘Young life’. I used to be a preacher and worship leader”. His name is Curtis. When his mother passed away he distanced himself from the Lord. He had 2 kids but lost everything and end ended up homeless. Curtis shared with me how that very morning he prayed, “God, please speak to me”. He was so excited and happy to hear the Father reaching out to him and showing him His eternal love. It was so amazing to be a part of this!

The last story happened as we continued walking and came across a group of people. As we talked to them, we found out that they were part of a church. A guy whose name is Jimmy walked over to talk with me and when I saw him I heard my Father say, “Pray for his finances”. I asked him, “Jimmy, I feel like God wants me to pray for your finances. Is it ok if we do that?” Jimmy agreed, and I prayed for him. Soon after I was done, he told me that he and his wife had been struggling financially, that he felt the Lord calling him to be a pastor, and they really needed a breakthrough. He explained that when I told him that the Lord wanted me to pray for that area of his life, he felt the Father’s embrace, and that He knew that God cared about his situation.

It was so encouraging to see my Father at work; He is a good, loving Father. He is the best!

—Ivan Sánchez

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” -Romans 8:15