Let us spur one another on.....

Hi Friends,
The Lord is doing some cool things with "A Church Without Walls".  I'm going to be posting a weekly testimony feed, which will highlight what God is doing in and around the world.  If you have an encouragement, testimony, answered prayer, ministry that the Lord has laid on your heart, prayer request, etc, please share it with me and I'll post it on the page.  Thousands of people can be connected through the internet.  What a great way to act as the "larger" body of Christ!  We can also meet people from all over the world and share our walk with God, with others.  What a great way to practice Hebrews 10:24 - "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds".  I'm in faith that God will use our stories and encouragements to bring glory to himself, bring Jesus to the lost and help others in their daily walk.  I'm confident that the Lord will use YOUR story to minister to someone else and you may not even realize it's happening.  I'm aware of the fact that you might feel weird about being some of the first ones to share, but let us live in the light, as he is in the light.  All for His glory and his name sake!

I received 3 testimonies this week of how God has used my post about going to minister to the homeless, to encourage others.  These testimonies, in turn, have encouraged me and stirred me up to want to go out more.  It's the concept of sowing and reaping and it's sweet!  What a great example of how the "Body of Christ" should be functioning.  I'm in faith that God will give you the courage to share.  If you'd like to stay anonymous, that's ok too. 

1.  From my niece in NC - "Hey Jimmy. Your new thing you started has really encouraged me to reach out. mom and i have been working on inviting girls over for a group. that didnt work because everyboody was busy. so were having a big Christmas party saturday, but its sort of embarrassing to invite all these girls. but you've really gave me courage to from your post. Love youu(:"

2. From friends in upstate NY: "My husband and I were reading your blog, and are very excited that God is leading you to this awesome minstry. We feel lead to contribute to you and your new adventure both in prayer and finances. We will put you and your family on our prayer list. It can be a scary thing and that is when God calls us to hold each other up in prayer."

3.  From a friend in Chesapeake, VA:  "Hey Jimmy, I don't check FB often and read on it even less often, but was very inspired by your commitment to putting faith in action for homeless. God's love has got to look like something. God bless!"

I have also received 6-7 committments from people in NY, VA and NC who have agreed to fervantly and regularly pray for "A Church Without Walls."  This is amazing in and of itself.  People from different states, denominations, etc praying for one Church!   Please note that I'm not saying that you don't need to attend a local church, as I believe each Christian should.  However, I believe these should be places of equipping.  Too often, the gospel of Jesus Christ stays inside the walls and never reaches the heart of our world.  The Light of Christ is breaking through those walls and each of us are called to live as the New Testament Church!  Love you all!  Blessings...


Jimmy

People of Prayer

Good evening,

"A Church Without Walls" is becoming more and more of a reality each day.  My wife and I drove down to the city after Church today, to scope out W. 19th Street. (The land that the Lord has set before us)  I also spoke to a dear friend about "A Church Without Walls" today and how we are to move forward in this vision that God has given us.  During our conversation, we both agreed that prayer must be our starting point, as we seek to advance and introduce the gospel, to the darkest parts of our community.

I'm wondering if anyone would feel as if they have the gift of prayer and would be willing to commit to praying for our mission and the hearts of those we'll encounter?  I take this very serious and am looking for serious commitments, please.  The reason why I take this so serious is because of the danger that we could face, as we go into the darkest areas of Norfolk/Va Beach.  It's important to know that those who will go have been bathed in prayer. 

I'm looking for the Isaiah's, Jeremiah's, Ezekiel's and the Hosea's.  Where are they?  They are needed "for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." 

Please message me if you would commit or atleast would like to consider it.  Thanks for your support.

A debtor to mercy,

Jimmy

My Prayer & God's Answer

Welcome back!  I'm really excited to tell you how God moved tonight at "A Church Without Walls".  I love when God interupts my plan with his plan.  I feel like tonight was a monumental moment in the life of the vision I believe the Lord has given me.  Here's what happened:
I arrived downtown a litte before 7:00 this evening.  I parked my car and headed to the Waterside Park.  Once again, when I arrived, no one was there.  I sat down on one of the benches and started to pray.  As I was praying about how God would have me move, God put a song in my mouth.  I started singing " You are Holy, Holy, Holy.....You are Holy, Holy, Holy"....I was singing this out loud - loud enough where anyone within 50 yards could here me singing.  I remembered John 12:32, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."  I continued to sing for about 15 minutes, random songs, that God brought to my mind.  Off in a distance, I saw someone walking towards me.  The person got about 25 yards from me and sat down on a bench.  I immediately got up and walked towards him.  Moments later, I stood in front of him asking him if he would like to hear some good news.  He looked up at me a little confused and said, "sure".  I introduced myself to him.  His name was Carlos.  God gave me 2 Corinthians 5:17 for him. I said, "Here's the good news Carlos... If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away, behold ALL things have become new".  I said, "Are you in Christ Carlos?"  If you are your life is brand new, do you realize that?  No matter what you've ever done, in Christ the old has passed away and ALL things are new.  I continued talking to him for about 10 minutes about my story and his. 

After, talking to him, I walked over to another bench on the other side of the park.  I noticed a man riding a bicycle.  The bicycle had a basket on the front which carried a bag of cloths and a pair of  boots.  I approached him and asked him if I could read to him.  He looked at me with hesitation and I said, "It's ok brother.  I want to encourage you."  He agreed to let me read to him.  I read Romans 8:35, 38 & 39 - "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  I asked him his name and he said, "My name is Victor."  I asked Victor if he has ever heard about the love of God?  He said, "No."  I said, "Victor, God's love is not like man's love.  No matter what you or I have done or will do, nothing can seperate us from God's love, did you know that?  He loves us with an everlasting love.  He will never leave you nor forsake you, Victor."  I said, do you know that God wants a relationship with you and that he sent his son Jesus, so that you could be reconciled to him?"  Victor didn't say much, so I asked him if I could pray for him.  He let me pray for him and he peddled off.

After Victor peddled away, I sat down on another bench.  I said, "God, where are they all?  I know there are more homeless men and women than what I'm seeing."  Immediately, God brought the Salvation Army to my mind.  I pulled out my cell phone and put "Salvation Army" into my GPS on my phone.  It was about 6 miles away, so I got up and started walking to my car.  As I walked, I could picture homeless people sitting outside of the Salvation Army on the steps or something.  I hopped in my car and started following my GPS.  As I got within a mile or so, I realized I wasn't in the best neighborhood. It was dark and there were several people standing on the streets.  As I turned on to W. 19th Street I was amazed at what I saw....

There were atleast 20-30 people lying on the sidewalk under the canopy of the Hope Center - AKA Salvation Army.  They were covered up with blankets.  Some of them had the blakets pulled up over their heads.  Many others were sitting on a wall talking.  I drove through utterly amazed at what I was seeing.  I've heard of homeless people, but I never knew there were this many people who had no where to live in one spot.  I was deeply moved with sadness, but fear took over and I didn't have the courage to get out of my car.  I totally wasn't prepared for this.  I asked God to show me where they were and he definatley did.  This is what God has called me to, but because I have lived as a Sunday Christian for most of my time as a believer, I'm not sure how to respond.  Pray for me...these folks need someone to bring them the good news.  Sadly, I drove away in fear, but I'm asking God to give me the courage to go back there next Saturday night. 

To be continued.....

Praying that God would just give me "one"...

Last Saturday was the initial kickoff of the vision the Lord gave me to establish "A Church Without Walls" I went to downtown Norfolk on Saturday night looking for those who were homeless with a desire to share the gospel with them. I went to a park where I have seen several homeless people in the past. However, this time, there were none there. There was a parade and several of the streets were closed and there were people everywhere. I waited in the park for about an hour, praying that God would send me just "one" homeless person, whom I could share the gospel with. I waited and waited and none came. I began to get cold, so I got up and started walking down Granby Street in downtown Norfolk. There were people everywhere and I felt as if God was calling me to pray out loud as I walked down through the crowd. Although, this was very hard for me as I struggle with the fear of man, I obeyed and started declaring freedom for the captive in the heart of the inner city. There I was, walking down the street with my bible in my hand, declaring God's freedom over the streets of Nofolk, VA. As I was walking, I looked off to the right and I noticed a person who was all bundled up and sitting in a dark little park. Immediately, I felt compelled to go. It's almost as if I could hear God saying, "Here is your "one". I approached her and said, "Hello ma'm, my name is Jimmy Foster and I've been down in the city for about 3 hours tonight. I believe God has called me down here tonight, because someone needed to hear about God's love. I've been praying tonight that God would lead me to one person, who needed hope tonight and I believe he led me to you". She introduced herself as Mira and was very attentive to hear what I had to say. "I paused for a moment and with a quick prayer said, "Lord, what is it you would like to tell Mira tonight"? I aksed Mira if I could pray for her and she welcomed my prayer. She was obviously hurting and I began to sense that she was very angry about something. She started speaking to me in a loud passionate matter, about how there were people sleeping in bushes in the cold. She said, "There are people who are hungry, sleeping in the cold and there are rats in the empty vacant buildings downtown, who were warmer than people". She continued to exclaim, that rich, wealthy politicians and business owners wouldn't open their buildings to the people who are in need. God began to make it clear to me that there is an obvious need. I let her do most of the talking, but when she was finished, I shared my testimony with her and told her about the love of Jesus Christ. I told her how Jesus had restored my life and our only hope in life is to live for Him and Him alone. I prayed for Mira and told her I would be back down there this Saturday if she would like to meet me in the Waterside park with any of her friends or those who she knew were homeless. I expressed to her the passion that God has given me to help them in some way. Can't wait to see what God will do!