(Feb 2019)
SALVATION TESTIMONY @ the gym! (Jan. 17, 2019)
I’m here in Minnesota with my good friend Steven Uggen and we decided to go work out at the local YMCA in Minneapolis. (Steven is left, Mauricio Trejo middle, I’m on the right.)
Earlier that day during prayer, I said, “Lord, give me a burn for the lost. Guide me today and give me a divine appointment.” (Note: if you pray these kinds of prayers, be prepared for answers.)
So Steven and I went to the gym and I’m just doing my thing. As I walked by the bench press after doing some cardio, I saw this guy pumping away and I thought it was Steven. When I got closer however, it was not him! However, I sensed the Lord wanted me to talk to him so I waited on God and asked the Holy Spirit to open the way.
I then get an impression that there is something going on with his brother and this is a key to his heart. After a little more time and some more sets, I decide to strike up a conversation. (Note: Flowing with the Holy Spirit does not need to be awkward, weird or obnoxious. Just be normal and allow God to move through you.)
So he tells me his name is Mauricio and that he normally works out at a different YMCA but for “some reason” he decided to come to this one today because they had just gotten new equipment, and he wanted to check it out. Steven had come over around this time so I introduced them and told Mauricio we were pastors… preachers to be more exact. After a little more small talk, I mention to Mauricio about the impression the Lord gave me about something going on with his brother. Mauricio then begins to explain to us that his Mom, who is a very Christian woman, had been diagnosed with cancer about six months ago and it has totally shaken up the family. Although he is one of nine siblings, his youngest brother has been the most severely impacted by this trauma and has totally gone haywire with drugs.
Somewhere during this time, Steven gets an impression in his spirit of a Hispanic woman on her knees weeping for her children while praying in Spanish. Steven then looks at Mauricio and says, “We are here because of your Mom’s prayers. You have a praying Mom.” Mauricio looks shocked and then says, “Yes she is always praying for everyone in the family. As a matter of fact, she was supposed to die but she and others have been praying and she is beating the cancer!”
Steven and I share a bit of the gospel with him. We tell him that God sent us to pray for his Mom, his brother, and that he would come back to the Lord!
Mauricio admitted that he had fallen away from the Lord. At one point during the gospel, Steven says, “When you come to know Jesus it’s like the Matrix movie and you totally wake up out of your slumber! Have you seen that movie?” Mauricio’s eyes bulge and he says, “That’s my favorite movie!” Lol. God is THAT good right?
Mauricio then says, “Ten years ago I was in a church service and a prophetess called me out of the crowd and said, “God is pointing you out. He is showing me that your favorite movie is the Matrix. And you will be used by him.”
Mauricio had always struggled to believe in God. But his mother’s relentless prayers had tipped the balance in the heavens. We were overjoyed in the spirit as Mauricio said he was ready to surrender his life to Christ. We prayed with Mauricio to recommit his life to Jesus right there in the YMCA sitting on the bench press!! (We even prayed in the Holy Ghost!)
Mauricio said that just that morning he had talked to his Mom who said, “I’m praying for you!” His whole countenance changed after the encounter with Jesus Christ. Mauricio was in holy shock. He couldn’t believe how real God was and how God had been pursing him time and again. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! (Heb. 13:8)
Please pray for Mauricio, his brother Carlos (the one who is going to be delivered from drugs), and his mother Juana.
To God be the glory! Toda la gloria a Dios!