The following is a blog post of a testimony that we recieved immediately after leaving France. Carlos is a man that we prayed for on Sunday afternoon at the retreat. God dramatically set him free. This is his story.

The day I was born again
by Carlos H. Figueroa

There was nothing particularly special about that Sunday morning. Except for the fact that the church service would be held at a little place up in the Alsatian mountainside. So, without any expectations my wife and I hit the road. After an hour-drive, we had finally arrived and the setting was beautiful. Plus, the weather was especially nice that day.My friend John had mentioned that a group of American pastors (who were on their way to the Ukraine) would be sharing that day. I did not know what God had in store for me that day.The service took place: people shared, prayed, worshipped. You know the usual Sunday morning service that you would have on weekly basis. We even had communion, and to be honest, I was not even there. Physically I was but, my mind was elsewhere. So, after the service was over and once we were done with formalities, we sort of spaced out for a while, and waited for lunch-time. And it was then that John introduced me to his friends (some of whom I was supposed to have met a couple of days before but, had not), and after getting acquainted, they said that they wanted to pray for Violette and I. And then, BOOM!Ever since I was a kid, I had seen people being touched by the Holy Spirit in various ways: people speaking in different tongues, laughing, falling flat on the floor, prophesying, having visions and so on and so forth (Acts 2:2-4). But nothing I knew, nothing I had already seen, could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. As soon as the group of pastors laid hands on me (2 Timothy: 6), something surreal happened. I had never experienced God like that. I knew that I had a relationship with him but, I had never fully enabled His Holy Spirit to fill me up, shake me and turn me upside down. I had never experienced the power, strength and authority with which God's Holy Spirit pours down His grace upon us, and cleanses us from the inside. It came and it blew inside me, a new and refreshing wind of hope and peace. A power that knows no flaw. A power that comes with authority and takes no prisoners. A power that comes and wipes out everything which stands between Jesus and us. A mighty power which strikes so precisely that today, the armies of the enemy tremble in fear for they know that their time is near (Revelation 12:10).I could go on and on about what I went through, and what I experienced. And I am truly grateful for what God has shown me, and also, done in me. But I am not different from anybody else on this planet. I am a regular guy who pays taxes and has just realized that God has caught up with him. I do not deserve any more than you, or anybody else. I just choose to believe that God is real, that His relationship with us is real, and most of all: I believe that He can live in us and live through us.I feel that God is calling us to believe and get ready to see people being empowered by His Holy Spirit and become vessels of His will. We will see wonders and miracles being accomplished everywhere. And we can choose to just believe it, and that is fine. But, I believe that Jesus is compelling us to believe and live our relationship with Him.Let His Holy Spirit into your life, your heart, your soul and your mind. Let us become one with Him. Let us stop just being believers, and let us become living vessels of His love, power and authority on this earth.I want in, do you?In Jesus.