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...