THIN SPACE
This week, Prayer Hour continues the theme of REVIVAL.
We’re going to be checking out revivals from as early as 1727 to revivals that are still going strong in 2020!
Today… it’s all about the Almolonga, Guatemala Turnaround.
Before 1974
In the mid-1970s, the town of Almolonga was typical of many Mayan highland communities: idolatrous, inebriated and economically depressed.
Burdened by fear and poverty, the people sought support in alcohol and a local idol named Maximon. These were dark times; families were broken, crime and violence were an everyday occurrence, many were in poverty, and the people made pacts with evil gods and practiced witchcraft.
This was a town that needed a loving God, that needed a Saviour, that needed the Holy Spirit to work a turnaround. Spoiler alert:That’s exactly what happened!
Seeing their town in such a lost and dark state a group of local intercessors, including their pastor Mariano Riscajché, got busy. Riscajché brought his small congregation into a time of prayer, a time of prayer that lasted for 5 hours from 7pm to midnight. They were filled with faith and prayed, “Lord, it’s not possible that we could be so insignificant when your Word says we are heads and not tails.”
In the months that followed
The power of God was felt flowing through the town
Many men and women were delivered from evil spirits
A Maximon cult leader named José Albino Tazej came to Christ
The sanctuary of Maximon was removed from the city
Many desperately diseased people were healed
People were raised from the dead
Massive numbers were saved
In the years that followed
Nearly two dozen evangelical churches in this Mayan town of 19,000 were built
Most churches have 1000 members attending them every Sunday
Church leaders include several men who, in earlier years, were notorious for stoning believers
The commercial streets are lined with business’s given Biblical names
The town’s crime rate has declined steadily. In 1994, the last of Almolonga’s four jails was closed. The remodelled building is now called the ‘Hall of Honour’ and is used for municipal ceremonies and weddings
The town has become an agricultural epicentre - nicknamed “America’s Vegetable Garden,’ Almolonga’s produce is of biblical proportions. In previous times they would export four truckloads of produce per month, they are now watching as many as 40 loads a day roll out.
5 hour prayer
So, 1 of the big things that has struck me over my 2 Prayer Hours on revival is the dedication to fervent prayer. In these 2 amazing stories (The Hebridean and Almolonga revivals) they have a common thread and that is - prayering for 5 hours. We looked last week at how the faithful sisters Peggy & Christine Smith prayed from 10pm - 3 in the morning, asking God to bring revival. Today we saw how a pastor in a broken town gathered believers to pray from 7pm – midnight, praying the exact same prayer! Coincidence, I think not.
Next Wednesday, starting at 7pm, I’m going to do just that and if you’d like to join in with this time, wherever you may be, please do so 😊
My amazing house group shall be joining me and we’ll be finishing off at midnight. It will be an amazing time to remember what God has done and the revival’s that we have learned about. But let’s not just look to the past but look to what God can do right now.
So let’s pray.