To See The Rough Man Cry

     While walking down the street, you see seven men. They aren't businessmen, they aren't students. Quite frankly, they are thugs. Under Armor, Du-rags, tattoos, piercings, ripped, and posed like statues as if to say "This is my street, keep walking."
 
     Your first thought? "Oh! I want to tell them about Jesus!"

      NO. Your first thought is, "Don't make eye contact, keep walking." However, when I saw those men - seated together in an open lobby trying to stay in a dry place before the Panamanian downpour hit- I wanted nothing more than to ask them to follow us and come see the drama that would change their lives. But our line was moving fast, and before I could blink, we were at the end of the street and the men were behind me.

     "What's the point, God, of doing the drama, if we don't invite EVERYONE that we pass to come see it? How can we call ourselves missionaries if we don't take the time to catch every one? God, please send someone to those men...they need you as much as anyone else." I tried to take my mind off of it after praying, and decided to leave it all in his hands.

     The end of the street came, and so did that down poor I mentioned. Two seconds and we went from a drizzle to a flash flood! Three seconds and we went from a nice walk down the street to a mad scramble for shelter - half our team back tracked, half ran into the church across the street. I was part of the group that back tracked, my breath caught as I saw where we were running to: the very lobby that I had seen those thugs in! I looked over at Kayla, and she looked at me. We both smiled as we thought the same thing:

     This place is just the right size for a drama!

     Everyone else must have felt the same thing; as we entered in Sterling began to share his testimony with the men with David as translator, Marc and Ray ran back up the street and into the church to grab the rest of the team, and the rest of us began praying as we watched God's glory unfold in the eyes of seven rough men. Just in time, the rest of the team showed up, and in the seconds to follow we set the stage the fastest of any team I had ever been on.

     We had only one concern. If the rain let up, we knew the men would be gone. Sterling acted on this, and passed out tracks to each of them just before we began, and as he was off stage he began praying, "God, make it rain harder so they can't leave. Make their hearts long to stay. Don't let them leave. Show yourself to them, God!"

     The Gentle Ruler blew life into the People of the Land, and accross the sky of Panama there was a flash of lightning and a bone rattling crack of thunder...we thought it had been pouring before? Well, it was dumping now. Those men were stuck here whether they wanted to be or not.
 
     I had a thought of seeing each of them, in all their built toughness,  jumping in quick fright as the dragon came out. I was determined to see that thought come true, and as my group slowly slinked out I positioned my self in a place that I would be sure to end up in the face of the big black man in front. One...Two...Three...AAAHH! I had never seen a man this rough looking, jump in shock...but now I have. And I would see something even more amazing in the minutes to come.

    The drama ended and our men walked the two foot distance to speak with the crowd. I stayed back and watched...what I saw will always be with me. Tears spilled from the eyes of the man I had scared. He found it! He sees now! He KNOWS! Even then, his friend tried to get him to leave (the rain had let up after the drama and people were walking around again) but he looked at him and said "No, this guy is making a lot of sense, I need to hear it." The friend walked away in a huff, and our soft-turned-thug came in closer to pray for God's forgiveness and salvation.

     Our willingness to be HIS witness, their souls that were unconsciously seeking for HIS love, became HIS divine encounter. It is the same everywhere...when we are willing under any circumstance, to speak to a seeking soul, God will bring about a divine encounter. Obedience is the first step to any salvation. It was our obedience to his calling that gave us the opportunity to see the rough man cry, the blessing to call six of those seven men our brothers in Christ!