A Week of Refreshment and Spiritual Replenishment

I prayed last week for a week of refreshment and replenishment - and I was not expecting it to come to fruition like I wanted; however, I had one of the most spiritually rejuvenating weeks of my life!! While I am still physically tired (I really need to just go bed earlier mosts nights), I have entered this week confidently and with a sense of spiritual courage new to me.
The week started off pretty typically, but we had speaker from Kenya named Clair Good. Clair shared a lot of this message from personal experience and stories. I really enjoyed this and it changed many of my opinions on foreign tribal missions and the culture encountered there. Though the traditions (both savage and very spiritual and more "Christian" than you might imagine) had profound impact on me, the speaker that really impacted my faith on a deeper level was yet to come.
Gustavo Ramirez came on Wednesday to share on the topic of "The Father Heart of God". He stay from Wednesday morning through Thursday evening and was a true blessing to the entire group here at HDC. Gustavo has had one of those experiences that makes me really appreciate my family in a new light, I ended up writing them a thank you note I was so touched. He had a major falling out with an abusive and alcoholic father that left him as a child. To make a long story short, Gustavo was able to forgive his father after many years of pain and saw his father on the street one day. He invited him home and told him he forgave him - his father and the rest of his family became Christians (Gustavo's mother was the only other Christian at this time) due to this love and forgiveness (including a drug addict brother). During one of his personal stories about his daughter and some medical issues he had to walk with her through recently, something very strange happened; I had a tear form. Now this may sound goofy to you, but the ability to cry for anything like that has eluded me for so long and my team has been praying for me to be able and open to being broken and humble before the Lord (and I wanted to release the emotion in that way). I shared this with HDC that night and it actually opened the door for me to minister to several others guys that felt the same way.
That evening I talked to Gustavo personally for about two hours. I have also had the prayer of being confirmed by the Lord in my calling to pray boldly and with passion for others and be able to minister in a prophetic way. I feel called and blessed by God this way and I will wholly submit myself to Him to develop these gifts as He sees fit.
That was my last week in a nutshell. I would like to share more with you if you ask sometime, but I need to be finishing now.
Also, in response to previous blogs about the kids that come to play at HDC, we had a yard party here at the center for the community. We had games, bike repair for the children (professional), music (I was one of two DJ's!!), and BBQ chicken for the rest of the community to come and enjoy. This was really a blessing to us and the community. My only issue was talking to one of the kids (about 5 years old I would guess) and asking him to come off the stairway he was not permitted on and it ended by me getting spit on directly in my right eye. This is the respect the kids have grown up with and show - and they know we can't do anything to punish them (which is good since none of us really have authority and discernment in that area).
Sorry to end a great news blog with a negative note, but I wanted to get in some news of the weekend.

Blessings and thanks to all of you!!