The “Gringo” Gives HUGS!

David shares this story from the one night at Plaza 7 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  It can be likened to Times Square in NYC.  Our band was playing for some time, worshipping the Lord and testifying.  It was during the break when I looked out into the crowd and loved what I saw.  Everyone on our team had a translator and were talking and praying with individuals.  And as I looked around, I then saw behind me three guys who were listening and watching intently. They were semi-drunk and everything in their demeanor was screaming, “I am hopeless, I’m in despair, I have nothing left in my life, I am homeless, I’m poor and I’m a hopeless drunk." And I knew that some of them did not even care. I knew I had to give them some love. So I just started hugging them. One guy had a very large cut on his chin, and he had a wipe to keep it from bleeding. And I knew they were shocked that this great big "gringo" they didn't even know wanted to hug THEM. And I just started praying over them.  I declared the Father’s love over them, His care over them, binding the strongman over their lives; drugs and alcohol, lust and perversions because as soon as I started hugging them I could sense these things from them. And I’m very sensitive to lust because of my life with lust before Christ saved me. 
And all of a sudden, Samuel (musician/translator) comes up out of nowhere. And it was so cool and timely.

They had an incredible conversation, and Holy Spirit was upon them. We found out that one guy used to be a believer. He used to know the Lord, and at one point he said, I wish I never knew the Lord. And I knew what he meant, and I quoted back with scripture, But God's greater than your heart because you know the truth but you don’t want to live the truth anymore and therefore your own heart condemns you. And he looked back at me and said, “That’s exactly what it is. I wish I didn’t know because I know God.” And then he starts telling me, “God’s loving! God is gracious! And I knew it!” And I thought, “Oh Lord, He’s getting closer to the kingdom every time he speaks.” 

We got three fish right here ready to get brought in, it’s the harvest time for them. One guy couldn’t even lift up his head because he was so guilt-ridden and ashamed. And we prayed and prayed, and I thought we should get Tio Pedro (the leader) involved.  I believed that God could get these guys into a rehab. So we brought them over to Tio Pedro and he got out his pad and paper and started writing down the addresses of where it is. Of course, we prayed over them that they would make the right choice. 

We really hoped the "leader" of the group, the backslider, would "break" and would just once again believe, and come home to the Father who would accept him on the spot and the other two would just follow him. It would be like James and John who just followed Peter wherever he went. Tio Pedro prayed for them too, and his prayer was that these men who were ready to go would have a bed open for them at these rehabs. When he called, there was room!