An Encounter with God 

Written April 2004
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“Pastor, I want to get baptized right now!” Andrés exclaimed through his tears as he rushed up to Israel and embraced him. This was moments before the end of the last meeting of our Encounter weekend held in March, and Andrés was yearning to express his new devotion to the Lord down at the swimming hole. He had not taken advantage of the baptism we held that afternoon because he wanted to have more of his friends present to witness the ceremony, but now, deeply touched by the Holy Spirit, he wanted to go ahead with it anyway. However, we had to board the rented bus, which had already been waiting for us for an hour. 

Called El Encuentro in Spanish, this two-day event is part of the model we are using to help new believers get firmly established in their walk with God. As its name suggests, we take a group of young people (who have generally been saved through our youth-led cell group meetings) out of the city to have a “face-to-face” encounter with their Creator. They spend two nights and two days receiving intensive ministry and teaching on subjects vital to starting out right in their spiritual lives. 

At the opening night of the Encounter, we challenge the youth with the question, “What do you want out of life?” and teach about how essential the Bible is for growing in the faith. The next day they learn about their inherent value as children of God, about the importance of forgiveness towards those who have hurt them, about God’s plan to save and heal their entire families, about wisely handling their sexuality, and about the freedom that comes through the confession of secret sins.

Ministry time includes a session dedicated to extending forgiveness to their parents for childhood wounding and receiving healing from God for those hurts. Each young person also receives an opportunity to speak to a pastor or leader about issues such as abuse or sinful habits that have burdened their minds and consciences up until that point, and receive prayer for healing and release. 

The last day, after breakfast and devotions, we teach on deliverance from spiritual oppression and explain all the different ways that we humans can open doors for the enemy of our souls to come in and cause problems in our lives. We follow up with another ministry session where we pray with the youth for freedom from past bondages. After lunch we hold a water baptism, and then bring the event to a climax praying over the group for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. 

It is hard to describe what happens in the lives of these young people through this time of Encounter with God. Every one of them arrives at the event with a deep hunger for Him, and every one of them leaves completely saturated with His presence. The group that we took this last month was so full of joy that they sang praises at the top of their voices the whole forty-five minute drive home. The bus driver was so impressed by what he saw in them that he dropped the price he was going to charge us for transporting them home. 

By the way, Andrés is still planning on being baptized. We will hold another baptism very soon, and he can’t wait to plunge down under those waters with Christ!