Report from Central America: 11-02  

Isaiah 9:2

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death; upon them hath the light shined.”

You have helped shine the light of Christ on many who could not see Him, as you supported me in going overseas with finance, encouragement and prayer. I’d like to give you a report of some of the results of your labor. Of course, the United States has a big piece of my heart and always will have. I so appreciate you standing with me as I labor here, but sending me overseas was one of the strategic moves of the Lord in taking the ministry to that “next level” that we have prayed so much about.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize

For 10 days in the beginning of November, I was at the Agape Missions Training Center in Camalote Village, Belize. I went with a team from Idaho and traveled around the island ministering. We had services at the training center for the villagers and also pastors and missionaries. We then went to a place called Roaring Creek village. Horrible poverty there. A surprise for me was to see the apathy among the Christians. In Roaring Creek there were backslidden Christians who came home to Jesus, the pastors were greatly encouraged. We went to San Pedro Island, Belmopan, Belize City and Spanish Lookout. Traveled on a barge across the river and saw bugs as big as my hand not animals, BUGS! (Click on to Article #16 to see one of these creature!) They were great! The heat was generally around 100 degrees and the humidity was 100 percent most of the time, except for when we had a two day tropical storm.
All over the country, wherever we went, Christians were being shown the power of God. The Lord showed His power there to wake up Christianity and it worked! Many prostitutes told me that they felt like they were virgins again. Joy was on their face! I’ve had many letters since my return of glorious reports of God’s keeping power.
You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a third world country prison. Oh Yeah! They only have 1 prison in the entire country and it is running over full. The men’s prison has a full time chaplain, (a man by the name of Jeff, originally from Okalahoma, pray for him….) who has been there for 7 years, a chapel AND Christian music playing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Jeff has worked wonders in that place.
After we went through the lovely process of being admitted into the prison to minister, we women went to the women’s section of the prison. No Jeff there! No chaplain, no chapel, no music, no nothin’. The women are so mean that they can’t get anyone to come and preach to them. They had one old lady come for awhile to teach sewing, but before too long, they ran the poor gal off. One of the missionaries that I met at the facility who was helping the Warden, said that in the women’s prison just 6 months earlier, they shot and killed a missionary who tried to preach to them and just 2 months earlier, they stabbed someone. So here we go.
You can only imagine the filth and dismay of this place. The women are hitting each other and cussing. There were only 2 guards in the entire women’s prison that I could see. They use attack dogs for a lot of guarding, problem is, they don’t care who they eat. If you get in their space, they will come after you. “Too bad” they say! The guard who was telling me this was pretty "matter of fact" about it. Although we didn't have the thrill of experiencing the dogs - we just had to "believe" they were around, somewhere!
So 4 of us women walk in there, one with a keyboard to sing. We walked into the cafeteria to have our “church” service and I could hear so much cussing from the back of the cell block that it was making me mad. So, I had the girls play a couple more songs to the ladies who had decided to have church in the cafeteria and I proceeded to the back cell block. The guard looked at me and said, "You go alone Maam." I said, “I have no troubles.” She smiled, but wasn’t coming with me. I walked through the ran down entrance to what they call "lock down" and the minute my feet hit the ground, they were quiet (earlier they had been yelling a multitude of foul things and me, Jesus and even their own Mothers!). They said, “You are a woman of the cross, what are you doing back here?” “I came to share the cross with you” I said, “but, if you don’t stop cussing, you’ll have to get the cross the hard way instead of the easy way. Which way do you want it?” They started shouting and told me to leave. I told them “No! I came to give you the cross, now you’re getting it, easy or hard, but you’re getting it!” I told them I wasn’t going into the other room until they quit their profanity. I told them they should respect Jesus more than that. They asked why and started to curse again. I looked up at them and started to cry and said, “Because He loves you enough to visit you here today.”
Then, one woman got up off the floor and moved toward me. I was standing just outside her cell which was locked. I reached my arm through the cell door. Through the rusted damp, cold steel and grabbed her arm. I said, “It’s Christ in me, the hope of glory that comes to save you today.” I didn’t know it, but she was the leader of the cell block. Figures, she was running things from lock down. She began to cry and said that she knew Jesus once but had rejected Him and that’s why she ended up in prison. Her name was Belinda and I asked her how long it had been since she prayed. We visited, prayed, cried and laughed. She and her cellmate were saved 5 minutes later. Many other women in their cells, who were not allowed to come into the cafeteria for service, were also saved that day.
Then Belinda ordered the cell block to “pipe down” and said “These Christians here today are real, let them alone.” I was glad for that, because I was having trouble imagining preaching about Jesus with people swearing up a storm. Somebody else could have done it maybe, but I knew it was going to be hard for me.
So as I was preaching, instead of cussing; every now and again, I would hear one of them shout, “Amen, Sister Sandi. “ It was a fantastic testimony of Jesus getting past our fear. If I had listened to the devil and not gone in the back, they would not have seen Jesus in me, only the fear in me. It was the Holy Spirit that did such a great thing. When I started to go back there, an inmate at the end of a table, brushed my hand as I walked by and said “No.” I kept walking and thought to myself, “Either I was supposed to come to this prison or not. God said come, so I will come in His strength, not my weakness.” Whatever we are, we must BE IT!
By the end of our time there, most of the women in the cafeteria prayed the sinner’s prayer of repentance. Many of them wanted special prayer, so we had an altar service and God moved mightily. The women were crying uncontrollably, for it was the Power of the Holy Spirit upon them. Something happened in there that I want to share with you.
As I prayed for these women, one on one, I hugged them but something seemed wrong with some of them. A reserve that I couldn’t figure out. Then I saw it. About ½ of them couldn’t hug me back. So, I began to put their arms around me and say it’s okay, I will be your child, I will be your Jesus, I will be your Mother, hug me! They did, and that’s when many of them had fantastic breakthrough. The worship team began to hug the women and minister to them as well. It was such a beautiful thing to see. It had to have been 110 degrees if not more in that old closed in building with all those bodies in there. The humidity was unbelievable and the smell more unbelievable. As I hugged them and they hugged me, all of that went away. Faces were soaking wet with tears and sweat! No smell, no sweat, only the Holy Spirit who gives abundant hope. These women needed love yes, but more than that, they needed to GIVE love. It was medicine for them. I will forever feel them grabbing my shirt and pulling me hard to them. God gave salvation, hope and love to them. I have been in touch with some of the team that is still there and they said that the women are having Bible studies in there now. Good old Belinda!
Next, we went to the town of San Ignacio, across the jungle, about 150 miles from the Guatemala border and had some fantastic services. With an interpreter, I spoke to them about the power of a living God; the power of being a child of God. I called them to the front and the Lord met many of them before they ever got to the altar. We had a grand time of celebration for quite awhile after everyone had received prayer. It seemed like we were there for 2 days! The people were at the altar or against the walls of the church while God was moving upon them. People were called out into tremendous ministries and God passed out giftings that the people were ready to receive. Those in compromise willingly repented. So many people got “electrified” in Jesus! I've stayed in contact with one of the missionary residents there in Camalote Village in Belize and she says that things are going very well. We pray for power that moves in passion and presence for them, and nothing less. 

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