God Sightings Continued...

Wednesday, August 4 cont'd...
God has opened doors for us to serve our schools in some neat ways this summer! My legs are still sore from pulling weeds at Stewart last week, but I'm really thankful for the chance to serve. I spent two hours Monday morning with Kids of Faith pulling weeds at the front of the school for Summer Serve, and another 3 on Wednesday with some team members from FaithWorks. GOD SIGHTING #3: At first it's hard to see where God is at work when I'm pulling weeds, but I'm pretty sure he was right there, cheering on our efforts. It's really important for me to have GREAT relationships with our elementary schools, and I want to build their trust and respect by proving that I care deeply about the needs of our schools and I'm always eager and available to meet needs. Chad Hippen and Janel Brush were able to greet many teachers and school staff by name as they came in and out of the building, and chat with Principal Harris about our mission trip. Thanks Lord for letting us serve Stewart!

GOD SIGHTING #4: Wednesday evening may have been the most significant part of the trip for me. I saw God at work everywhere! I saw His hands blessing the work of our hands as we made our way from the church parking lot down to Lot 28 in the trailer court and served dinner to our dear neighbors at Parkside Estates. Tears flood my eyes as I try to put words to these memories...God was there. God is there. (It's a good thing I had no time for mascara this morning, I'd be a mess :). For the last year, a team of high school students has walked the trailer court once a week with P. Tony praying for opportunities to love these people and asking God to move in their lives. I firmly believe that those prayers laid the foundation for what was an incredible evening of ministry! We set up a tent, a few tables and LOTS of walking tacos and cupcakes. Within no time, the doors of those dark trailers were opened and out came our neighbors to fellowship with us over dinner. We had no idea what to expect as we knocked on doors and invited them to join us, but God did! We had around 75 people come and eat and chat with our church family. Were there barriers? Oh yes - language and lifestyle like to keep us apart, but no barrier too big for God to bridge!

We fed young children who had been left to fend for themselves for the evening, we fed teenage moms who were scared of what the future held, we fed broken families trying to make sense of life, we fed young men searching for hope in all the wrong places. GOD was there allowing broken human beings to serve each other. Our high school students befriended high schoolers they had never spent time with before and invited them to be a part of our actities. Men from FBC befriended men in need of hope and invited them to join in on the roofing project the next day. I hope the picture in my mind of all of us gathered on Lot 28 never escapes me. It's a beautiful image of what the church should be.

God Sighting #5: After dinner, we walked around 25 children up to the church yard for a water balloon fight. Another image i never want to leave...Students and adults from our church walking hand in hand through the trailer court with our neighborhood children. Children are so precious to the Lord! My heart is so full of love for those dear boys and girls! I was SOO blessed to get to pour love into their little hearts for a few short moments that evening. I AM SO GRATEFUL that we did a local missions trip, because all i have to do to follow up with these children and families is hop up from the comfort of my office and make my way down a few hundred yards to their homes! PRAISE THE LORD!! I'm praying for direction on how to continue our ministry to these kids. God is good!

more to come...

FaithWorks - God Sightings #1 & 2

It seems it would be only natural to come to my computer completely exhausted this morning after a long, hard week of serving my community. Quite the opposite is true, however - I'm so energized after seeing God work in amazing ways through my church family! I don't want to forget a single memory of being in awe of the ways God worked...so I'm writing them here to share with you. I call them "God Sightings" - I saw him all over the place last week. Check it out...

Tuesday, August 3
God Sighting #1: We needed water, LOTS of water for FaithWorks. We were planning to hand it out at the Farmers Market, at dinner for our neighbors in Parkside Estates, at Celebrate Washington, and we needed it on hand to keep our work crews hydrated. In a morning meeting with two other pastors in town, Pastor Harald was told there were 1,000 bottles of water in the basement of a local eye clinic that the Dr. was hoping to give away to a good cause. WOW!!! That was God at work already!! I was awfully thankful it saved me a midnight run to Hy-Vee with my hubby!

Wednesday, August 4
Started the morning with a prayer walk with two junior high girls. God Sighting #2: God was with us as we walked the streets. HE opened our eyes to needs in our community that we never seem to see while driving...families saying goodbye to soldiers, children being raised in poverty, lives being destroyed by alcohol addictions. As we walked, I asked God to show us opportunities to minister to people...he answered and my eyes were opened, and my brain is spinning with ideas (more to come...:).

Okay, signing off for a short time...LOTS of God Sightings on the way. Check back in a few hours. :)

FaithWorks - Love you Washington

I can't wait for tomorrow morning! Our church will embark on "FaithWorks" - a mission trip to our hometown of Washington. I so desperately want the love of Christ to be known by every person, young and old, in this city. I pray that the Lord uses our service to change lives in Washington this week. I love Washington! Check it out...

Washington Church Chooses Hometown for Mission Trip Destination

Members of Faith Baptist Church in Washington, IA will spend the next four days on a mission trip in their hometown.

“We want to show love to the community we call home,” says Pastor Harald Gruber. “We’ve had some great experiences on mission trips all over the country and world, but we’ve decided this year we want to invest our time and resources right here in Washington.”

A group of over 30 individuals will begin this trip, called “FaithWorks”, tomorrow morning and continue through the end of the day Saturday. One FaithWorks team will roof a house, paint a house, and repair a front porch.

“As I was walking through my neighborhood one day, I realized a house that could really use a new roof,” Gruber said. “We want to show families in Washington we care about their needs, so we’re providing all of the supplies and labor to give this family a new roof.”

Another FaithWorks team will prepare meals for the Tree of Life Clinic, serve dinner to the church’s neighbors in Parkside Estates, hand out free waters and cookies at the Farmer’s Market, garden and clean at Stewart and Lincoln Elementary, and provide volunteers for Main Street Washington’s Celebrate Washington event on Saturday.

“We want all of our FaithWorks projects to show the people in our community that we love and care about them,” Gruber said. “We’ve been given life and love through what Jesus did for us on the cross, and we want to constantly share that love with others.”

“I Love Washington” is written across the front of the t-shirts that FaithWorks team members will wear throughout the trip.