Judgment House, 2017

The last minute prep finished up on Wednesday afternoon and the work of "presenting" Judgment House began about 6:30 p.m.  Stephen's is playing the piano in the sanctuary where the groups await their turn to enter the presentation--he's at the very beginning.  I'm working at the very end--in counseling.  We see only those people who are ready to make a decision for Christ as a result of the presentation.  I'm on the computer, keeping track of all the names and compiling the results for Pastor Julio and Pastor Steve.

God has provided miraculous results over the past three nights (Wednesday through Friday.)  Here are some of the stats so far:

ATTENDANCE:  1,369

PROFESSIONS OF FAITH:  155

REDEDICATIONS:  124

 Praise the Lord for the lives that are being changed!

Judgment House Prep--2017

Stephen and I spent all day Monday and Tuesday at the church helping with construction and setup for Judgment House.  As last year, we spent most of our time turning the big room on the third floor into Heaven.  Here are some pictures of the process.

Getting started by blocking off the light from the windows

Covering the blue walls so everything will look white

Adding the celestial window and curtains to the room

Looking back at the entrance (in the middle of the two sets of gold curtains

Finished view looking into the room (Jesus in the back)

Another view of the back of the room (white floors and hanging branches with flowers and candles

Jesus with one one of the young girls in heaven

Judgment House

We've been on recess from Judgment House until Saturday and have enjoyed the down time to rest, relax and recharge.  Today I made it to PriceSmart and the grocery store.  

The upcoming weekend will be busy as not only do we have Judgment House on Saturday and Sunday, but we have dinner with our IDEM group on Friday night and I have a baby shower on Saturday morning.  I'm on dessert duty for Friday night and have to take treats on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, so I've have to find time to bake (or buy) goodies.

Here's a video invitation to Casa del Juicio in Lourdes which was posted on the church's Facebook page.  It will help you get the sense of what the presentation is all about.  Click here.

I'll leave with a picture taken during the scene in Heaven when Jesus is talking to one of the drama attendees.

Casa del Juicio--Saturday and Sunday

I ran out of time to do a post yesterday, so I thought I'd just wait and do one post for the weekend.  

On Saturday and Sunday we started at 4:00 p.m. instead of 6:00 p.m. which allowed more people to go through.  Saturday 676 people came through; Sunday was the largest of the week with 769 people.

Misha (a girl from Alabama who is here to teach English at New Life) worked with me all week.  She wanted to see the presentation so we went through last night.  The story this year is based on the life of a family in the church.  Their daughter, Cindi, died of leukemia when she was 17; so, even though I knew the story, it was still very impactful.  The actors did an amazing job.  

There were 92 professions of faith on Saturday and 96 on Sunday.  The totals for the week were:  

                   Attendance:               2,649
                   Professions of faith:      290
                   Rededications:              134

All of the sets are being torn down today because New Life Christian School classes will be in session tomorrow.  On Wednesday everything will be taken to our Lourdes campus to be set up on Thursday and Friday.  The final two days for Judgment House 2016 are Saturday and Sunday, February 13 and 14.

Thanks for praying along with us for this evangelistic emphasis.  Please keep praying as the follow-up starts in earnest this week. 

Casa del Juicio--Friday

We are settling in to a routine of leaving the house about 5:15 p.m. to be sure we have a parking space relatively close to the church.  Arriving by 5:30 gives Stephen time to get ready before he starts playing the piano and gives me plenty of time to get my area (entry to counseling/counseling stats board) set up for the evening.

Last night we had less help in our area, so Misha and I were busy the whole time.  Seventeen groups (424 people) passed through; there were 55 professions of faith and 18 rededications.  The total for the week is 101 professions of faith and 54 rededications.  The last counseling group finished at 12:10 a.m. and we were home by 12:30 a.m. 

Today and tomorrw we start two hours earlier, which, hopefully, will mean we'll get home no later than 11:00, but we'll see.

Keep praying for the health of the workers and for the Holy Spirit to convict those people who see the drama and bring a great harvest of souls.

Casa Del Juicio--Thursday night

Thursday night was the first "official" night and it went very smoothly and quickly.  Unlike Wednesday when everyone from the church was supposed to come (and almost 600 did,) Thursday night was for invited guests.  

We start at 6:00 p.m., but very few people are home from work at that hour, so we knew it was likely to be a slower night.  There were 9 groups and a total of 198 people; however, there were 24 professions of faith and 15 rededications, which was just what we were hoping.  We were able to leave before 10:30 p.m., which made it an early night.  

We'll see what happens tonight--because they won't have to get up and go to school in the morning, it's the "unofficial" youth night.    

Casa del Juicio--dress rehearsal

Last night was the dress rehearsal for Judgment House, which really means that it was the night for church members to come.  We arrived about 5:15 and were able to get a parking spot on the street.  

We helped with some last minute work, including a trip to Patty and Julio's house to get some plates/glasses for the scene in heaven.  Patty and I hide in one of the rooms while the first group entered the scene.  After that we settled in to our task of helping with the flow of people into counseling and then keeping track of the night's statistics.

The night was long, but successful--21 groups (made up of 582 people) saw the drama.  Of that number, 22 made a profession of faith and 21 rededicated their lives.  

We left the church about 12:15 a.m. We're not complaining about the late night because a majority of the people who are involved have to get up and go to work the next morning. So, we are very fortunate to be able to sleep in so we can be ready for tonight.  

Church members were encouraged (required) to invite only lost people to the rest of the performances, so we are praying that many, many people will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior as a result of Judgment House 2016.  

Please pray for health and stamina for the workers and for God to bring a mighty harvest.

Costumes are Done

I didn't make my original deadline to be done with the robes on Sunday afternoon.  However, I delivered them to David this afternoon!  Tomorrow we will go to church to help set the scenes in several of the rooms.  

I'm pretty sure that there are two things that need to happen now:  1) Clean up the mess and my house, which I've ignored for the last week and 2) get out of the house for a walk or to enjoy a special treat (frozen yogurt) before the event starts on Wednesday.

Judgment House Prep

Vida Nueva is presenting Judgment House at the Miralvalle campus, February 4 to 7, and at the Lourdes campus, February 12-13.  Please check out the info on the Judgment House website (here) to get an overview of the project.  Our church writes its own script so that the the characters and scenes are based on the reality of life here in El Salvador. 

 The undertaking is a huge one, involving 100's of Vida Nueva members in various roles, construction, registration, actors, guides, security, child care, counseling and more.   

I picked up some black fabric at the church on Friday because they need some additional costumes for the demons who are in the "hell" scene.  Although they said there was a pattern, after I got home with the fabric, I realized the pattern was the one robe that they found.  The first step was to desconstruct enough of the robe to be able to use the pieces as patterns for the new robes.  Here are some pictures of my work and the final product (one of four), minus the hemming on the sleeves and bottom.

I told Stephen I  might not be able to sleep tonight!  I'll be glad when I'm finished.  Next year I think I'll request to help with the "heaven" scene.  

The performances start with dress rehearsal on Wednesday (night for church members to come) and then run through Sunday night.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we'll start at 6:00 p.m. and, if it's like years past, we'll finish after midnight.  Saturday and Sunday performances start at 4:00 and should end by 11:00 p.m.  Please pray for everyone involved--most of the people will be working all day.  Most importantly, please pray that the Holy Spirit will convict those who attend the drama and that we'll see many people come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. 

Judgment House

I think I mentioned our church is having Judgment House again this year.  I know that I included it in the list of things to pray for in our February newsletter.  We aren't having school next week because the logistics team will be setting everything up.  Since the church doesn't have any unused rooms, our classrooms are used for the Judgment House scenes.  Last year, in addition to the school rooms, there were three scenes set up in the parking lot--cafeteria scene, birthday party scene and funeral scene.  I don't know the details of the story this year, but they will likely use every available space again.

Stephen will be working with Jeff (not sure what area) and I will be working with Paula in the nursery.  Everyone involved will be out very late (usually well after midnight) so please pray for health, stamina and safety.  We're among the lucky ones who don't have to go to work the next morning.

Please pray for the unsaved and unchurched people who have been and are being invited to come.  We want this to be a powerful tool to reach people for the kingdom.

Here's the graphic for this year's presentation . . . . The Rescue!