I haven’t been staying too up to date on the blog lately. My mind has been pre-occupied with the concerns and burdens of life. When I returned from Africa, I was greeted a few days later with the news that the small salary I was receiving would no longer be offered. Right now our only income is Carol’s and what few donations we get. I have begun sending resume’s to employers around the area and answering help wanted ads, but so far with no success. I have enough left from cashing out my retirement savings in April to pay our rent for the next 2-3 months, but there is no money for anything else. Carol and I are currently praying about which things we let go of. I find myself telling God that my trust is fickle. I trust Him with eternity, but for some reason I struggle to trust Him with our well being. Bare cupboards and empty gas tanks have a way of revealing what is really inside of you.
The past 4 Junes have been very painful times for me. In June of 2006, I informed my church leaders that I felt the Lord was telling me it was time to move on. They received this news with an offer of their own….cutting my salary in half. In June of 2007, I was working to bring a Hispanic house church group into a partnership with the church I pastored. I spent most of June being called many unkind things and being accused of giving away “our church.” In June of 2008, the Lord called me to a week of silence, really a modern day equivalent of sack cloth and ashes. Daniel chapter 9 was the focal point of the week and by the time the week was over the Lord had me deliver the most devastating call to repentance I have ever spoken or heard. Now we come to this year…I gave up on making ends meet several months ago. I’m just asking the Lord to give me some guidance and to arrest the fear within me.
On the streets near Simplicity things are beginning to happen. Normally the things I described above are directly proportional to God’s activity somewhere else in my life and this period of life is no exception.
4 weeks ago we began an open prayer time on Tuesday nights. We placed two bright posterboard signs on our front windows with the simple question: “How can we pray for you?” 3 weeks ago as we were preparing for Sunday morning worship, a man ran across the street from the auto repair shop. He pointed at the sign and said “I need to find an apartment today.” We prayed over this man, Eddie was his name, and just as quickly as he entered, he departed.
2 weeks ago we found an envelope in our mailbox, addressed to the Simplicity Prayer Group. In this prayer request a woman cried out for deliverance for her husband from physical, emotional and financial strain.
This past Thursday as we were having our Organic Group, a disheveled man walked in off of the street. He smelled of alcohol and his request was the common request for the area…money. I spoke to him for a few minutes and offered to feed him, but I asked to pray for him first. The Lord led me to place a hand on his should and one on his chest. As I prayed over the pain in his life, the tears began to flow. The Lord began to release the pain in Kevin’s life. Kevin is still out on the streets, but he has been stirred by the touch of the Lord.
On Sundays we set out 5 gallon cooler of ice water and some donuts or other snacks for people to freely take. This last Sunday I watched as a woman walked up and took the whole box of donuts and all of the snacks, leaving none for anyone else. She stuffed them into her trash bag and talking out loud as she went immediately walked across the street. A few moments later, I saw her headed the other direction, the trash bag was now gone, but she was carrying “her box of donuts.”
We are seeing the effects of spiritual walls that permeate this neighborhood. It is our prayer that the walls come down, the eyes come open and Holy Spirit rains down.