Ruby

Hello world. I'm coming to you from the ranch of Open Hearts Mission in Managua, and the 2009 First Methodist Houston youth mission trip to Nicaragua.

It is our second full day in Nicaragua. I am feeling a little tired, and a little hot, but I have the joy, joy, joy, joy. Down in my heart.

Really. I do. I have to. Ms. Ruby told me I do.

Yesterday (Saturday, June 20), a team of 24 missionaries from First Methodist Houston went to see Ruby Temple. Ruby is – and this really is a spot-on descriptor – a prophetess. She speaks truth, through prayer and through the Spirit, directly to people. Spending time with her is a remarkable, inspiring, somewhat-frightening experience.

We spent about three hours with her. Our team piled out of our school bus and piled into her cozy home. Along with her sister, Ruby welcomed each one of us personally. We then sang some songs together. Ruby, who stands about four-and-a-half-feet tall, I’m guessing, strummed a blue acoustic guitar and led us in about five songs. The last one was probably the crowd favorite, with these lyrics: One, two, three, the devil has no power/Four, five, six, I place him under my feet/Seven, eight, nine, I don’t care if he dies/Glory, glory, glory, glory be to God. The best part was when she told us we weren’t stomping our feet hard enough.

Following the sing-along, Ruby then divided the team. It was girls versus guys in Bible trivia. She asked us questions about Samson, Isaiah, and Jephtha. That’s right – Jeptha. I told someone that seminary was not this hard. The girls won by two points, although the official scoring system seemed to be a bit inconsistent at best.

Then the party really got cranked up. Ruby, who is originally from the “Mosquito Coast” of Nicaragua - invited her sister to stand beside her, and her sister handed her a vial of anointing oil. Ruby then invited the men, women, guys and girls on our team to come forward, two at a time, and be prayed for. Two by two, everyone in our group had hands placed on them and received fervent, Spirit-filled prayer.

Ruby prayed for the young people to be obedient and to be faithful. Every now and then she used the phrase, “God is telling you,” or "God has a message for you," and then she finished those phrases with something like “that he wants you to forgive a relative,” or “to let go of a past sin,” or “to fight for God.”

As you read this, it may seem that those words – words from God through Ms. Ruby - are somewhat general. However, I have now been ministering with these students for a year-and-a-half. In that time I have gotten to know them better and begun to share life more deeply. As I listened to Ms. Ruby pray for these young people, it was nothing short of amazing how she seemed to be speaking right into their specific lives. Amazing is one way to describe it. Spirit-led and Spirit-filled is probably a better way.

After everyone was prayed over, Ms. Ruby invited people to share testimonies. She invited us to share what the prayer time was like and what God was doing in our lives. One student seemed to capture the spiritual energy in the room when he said, “I’m ready to do whatever God wants me to do.”

That student spoke for just about everyone, I think. Thanks to Ms. Ruby, and the spiritual gift she obviously has, many of us have a heightened sense of what God is doing in our lives. These students are fired up – fired up for God – and we are only on day two.

Thank you, Ms. Ruby.

Thank you, God.