I'll keep my testimony brief tonight, but I do want to communicate what has transpired as of this evening. Noah and I arrived in the city around 5:30 pm and began serving food and drinks to our friends. After we served those who were there, I began to preach about sin and repentance - sharing the gospel, etc. The Spirit of the Lord was upon me and I could tell that the word of God was reaching the hearts of some. It was a powerful time of the Spirit empowering me to speak the word in grace and truth.
However, after the preaching of the word, I went back to serving drinks and just hanging out with my friends. I know this will sound very weird to many, but I sensed the enemy like I never have in my life. Out of the blue, there were some who showed up who I haven't seen before in the streets. It was almost like an army of the enemy, coming to fight. It was so strong and so powerful, that I sensed it in my Spirit and it was very obvious. Of course, I feared for Noah immediately and I was not prepared to fight in rebuke and prayer. We packed up and left not long after.
This is real guys! I was reminded that we do not battle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Something hit me on my way home...Typically, I usually have several people who go to the streets with me, however, many people were out of town for the Memorial Day weekend for various reasons and it was just Noah and I. When the army of the Lord is there, we have authority over the powers of darkness, but tonight, I felt like I was a POW -alone - and the other army of the enemy was surrounding me. Two men almost started fighting and there was hated, anger, a spirit of this world among us.
This week three men entered a discipleship home and they are on their way to walking with God, because of our work. Each has made a profession of faith. I saw two of them today, while we were in Richmond for a meeting at the ROC church. The enemy is not happy about what is happening! I expect the attacks to come from the Sanballet's and Tobiah's. However, we will continue to rebuild the wall and we already have won the battle through Christ!
Please pray for us, again this is a spiritual war, not an earthly battle. Peoples lives and eternal destiny's are at stake and we need to stay in the fight!
Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world!
I trust and pray that you have experienced the joy of the Lord in tangible ways this week. There is much joy in serving the Lord! He continues to meet every need that we have, even at the last minute. He is so faithful, and I'm beginning to understand why he only requires a mustard seed of faith...Once he starts moving, faith keeps growing. Here are a few testimonies from this week.
The Farm:
Steve, Debbie and I went to a very kind farmer friend's house two weeks ago, to observe how to raise chickens. We've all been reading and studying how to care for them. Friday night, I found free lumber on craigslist and Steve, Noah and I went and picked it up, on Saturday. We had to pound some nails out and clean it up a little, but we walked away with enough wood, to frame our first chicken coop. The coop will hold 12 chickens and it's our feeble attempt at taking a "mustard seed" type step towards developing a farm. The purpose of the farm is to get folks out of the inner city and give them a second chance in life. We feel that getting them out of the "inner city culture" is an important part of discipling them and helping them know God better.
All that we need is a couple bundle of shingles and the first coop will be complete. We all understand what Noah felt like when he started building an ark in the middle of the desert, because he heard from the Lord.
The Lord Provides:
This week, we saw the Lord provide in many ways. It started with the free lumber for the coops. We took about 25-30 perfectly good 2X4's and some plywood. He also provided a $100 gift card via Home Depot to be used for the coops. We received a call from a friend who volunteered to make food this week for our trip to the city, which is a huge blessing and a little break for Laura. Also, we received $90 in the mail to be used for the ministry and we are meeting one of our friends at the ROC tomorrow, to brainstorm how to effectively minister to the inner city. I'm very grateful for each blessing we've received. It's awesome to watch God provide and we have not ever had to take from our own money, to provide for the needs of the ministry.
Three men off the streets:
This week was a special week, as we had the opportunity to watch three more men who desired to get off the streets, go into the ROC's discipleship home. We are so grateful for the ROC as they are an awesome picture of what the New Testament Church looks like. Pastor G and his staff have been so helpful to me and our team. This is one of the fastest growing churches in America and what blesses me the most, is that they are all so accessible.
Here's a church that has several thousand folks come through on any given week and they are interacting with me about our ministry and I don't even attend there. Two weeks ago, I went up to the ROC to visit and it was like a little community of believers living life together, serving the needs of the hurting. There was a lot of activity and the place was filled with the love of God. I believe the ROC is an answer to our prayers. Although, it's a little drive, I'm grateful that they are helping us meet the needs of the hurting and broken in our community.
My brother-in-law - Harry - drove down from Richmond again on Thursday to pick up Allen and Tony. (Allen is the man in the blue with the white towel around his neck.) These are two men who we've been ministering to in the street for the past several months. Both accepted Christ as their Savior about a month ago and I was privileged to pray with them. Last night, they checked into a discipleship home at the ROC. That's where they'll be for the next 6 months, being discipled, working and growing in their relationship with the Lord. They are new creations and the old has passed away. Allen called all week - in excitement - making sure that we were coming to get him. He was like a little kid at Christmas!
Another man named Joseph is a very skilled man and he went to live with my dad in Richmond. At first, I was a little hesitant about this, but I talked to my dad today and they seem to be getting along fine and Joseph was even able to pet my dads pit bull. (Which isn't an easy thing to do without getting your arm ripped off) :) My dad is trying to help him get a job and I think he likes having the company. God knows it all, doesn't he?
Please pray for Allen, Tony and Joseph as this next week will be difficult as they seek to find a "new way" of living. A way that is narrow and few find it. They are no longer on the wide road that leads to destruction, but are walking down the narrow path that leads to the small gate! Praise him! Thanks for your prayers and support. God Bless!
This week, we have the privilege of seeing the fruit of our labor first hand. I trust and pray that Harry's testimony will not only encourage you, but also motivate you to pursue your God given destiny with passion and zeal!
Before you read Harry's testimony, I'd like to explain something. Harry was willing to drive from Richmond to Norfolk (2 hrs) to help a man who was hurting, for the sake of seeing him restored. As you all know, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, so what you are about to read is an exhortation, not a condemning act. However, there is a difference between condemnation and conviction. "Blessed are those who are not easily offended" I'm going to be real with you, again not to condemn, but to motivate some of you to get off your couch, get away from your TV, quit spending your weekends indulging in yourselves. For the sake of God's Kingdom and for the one who paid a high price to establish this Kingdom, GO! The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
There is a dying, hurting, dead generation that needs restoration. I'm zealous about this, as I see men and women wasting away and I see those who claim to be regenerated going about their cozy, pretty little lives, talking about and doing things that have no value.
Last night, I had about 4 people downtown approach me about going to Richmond to The ROC. On my way home it hit me and I looked at Aaron and said, "Why in the world with all of these Churches in Hampton Roads, especially Norfolk, do we have to take these men and women to Richmond, VA. What are we doing? Where are the soldiers of God? We have all of these Church buildings and there are people sleeping on the curb, hungry and hurting? What is the army of God doing? Are we really an army who is fighting a battle or are we using the Lord to establish status quo, find a soul mate, establish our social network, etc? The Lord reminded me of Jeremiah 2. I would encourage you to read it if you have time.
For those of you who have sent cloths, money, food, spent time praying, or who have even went with us to the city, below you will see the fruit of your labor. The below story of hope is only possible because of you. There are men and women's lives being restored and you are a part of it. I have so much to share, but for the sake of length will do so at another time. Below is a story of hope! You may need to refer back to the last BLOG to understand all of this, but check it out. Arise and shine, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
Brian is a young man, who was on the streets and we took him to Richmond two weeks ago, to get him into a discipleship home. He was broken, hurting, hungry, dirty, ashamed and unloved. Now, he's in the hands of the Lord, hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and being restored. Here's his story!
By Harry Fox:
I made my journey to Norfolk on Thursday to pick up Brian with excitement and anticipation. As I sat in traffic for about hour & ½ at a dead stand still (5 minutes before the Hampton Roads tunnel due to an accident), I thought to myself, “Satan doesn’t want this to happen and wants me to get discouraged and turn around and head back to Richmond!” Have you had moments like that? Well, unfortunately for the devil, he’s used this scheme enough that I recognize it well and he didn’t have his way! I picked up Brian, however unfortunately we were unable to locate the other gentleman, and later learned that he had been in the hospital for several days that week. Brian and I headed back to Richmond and for 2 full hours, we shared the gospel and all God had in store for him! I’m surely no biblical scholar, but the Lord was imparting words like, “love,” “my son,” “encouragement,” “relationship,” “forgiveness,” “spiritual gifts,” “sacrifices,” “a new start,” “sin,” etc.
We arrived at The Roc for the Thursday night Bible Study, and heard another great message from Pastor G. on God’s amazing promises! Brian went forward for prayer after the message and then I took him to the Discipleship Home Intake once again to finalize the commitment that was about to take him on a voyage that God has ordained from the very beginning of his life. WOW! It is awesome to know that our lives are scripted from the beginning of time as we are formed in the womb by an all knowing, loving heavenly father! With Brian, it’s apparent that even after 42 years, God has a big plan for his life and to watch it unfold was extremely emotional for me! This should encourage all; it could be 42 years, 99 years or today, but God has a plan for each and every one of His children!
Brian asked me to get his belongings from my car as he finished his intake paperwork. I did, to find one plastic bag of miscellaneous items and 2 coats tied together! At that point (and even now as I reflect on it to write), I was absolutely wrecked! I was convicted about how selfish, irresponsible, and ungrateful I can often be with ALL that God has provided for me and my family!
After a few minutes, I composed myself, which was really quite impossible to do entirely, but I did so enough to carry Brian’s belongings back through the church to intake department. I handed Brian his things, gave him an emotional hug and watched him load the van that would transport him with the other men to the Hanover Discipleship Home.
I called Jimmy on my way home and was just overwhelmed with emotion at this first experience with something as huge as this, that we could be used as just a small instrument in what the Lord was doing in changing a life. If you’ll recall, this all transpired by all human accounts from a seemingly unplanned conversation just overheard from Brian, between Jimmy and the other men about traveling to Richmond the Saturday prior! God hears the smallest whisper among us and great things happen.
Well, fast forward 2 weeks; my family has the privilege to see and catch up with Brian about his new journey each and every Thursday and Saturday night at church service. My wife and children are often serving in other capacities so I typically save a seat for Brian to sit with me during service and he’s just sort of become a friend and brother to me. This week, we got to visit with Brian an extra time this past Friday night, as The Roc utilized their big screens and sound system they’ve been blessed with to host a Family Movie Night, transporting men and women from each of their Discipleship Homes, as well as men, women, children, and families in from the inner city to treat them to an experience at the “Movies,” something most from these neighborhoods can’t afford to do. Several hundred men, women, and children were ministered to and encouraged as we watched the movie “Courageous,” on the big screens with the experience of popcorn, soda, candy, and full concessions as children and families sat around bonding on blankets and sleeping bags or in seats throughout the auditorium bonding the way friends and families ought to be bonding, rather than the alternative on a Friday night! We love on and encourage Brian as part of the family, and he knows we’re there for him and that he is not alone on this journey. We will always be there for him and others as God calls us to the poor and broken!
Here’s the latest Brian has shared and I’ve asked his permission to share on Jimmy’s blog for the purpose of encouraging others: Entering a Discipleship Home has not been an easy transition compared to the life he had become accustomed to living without structure and hard work. The men at this particular ranch get up early each morning at 5am have breakfast and prayer and then ride in a van to The ROC for their daily assignment which includes at least 10 hours per day working within various ministries of the church. There is no TV or idol time and he spends a significant amount of time reading, studying, and being renewed, healed, and cleansed by scripture and has writing assignments due each week based on what he is studying. Brian has been assigned to work The Roc Love Of Jesus Thrift Store for the most part and enjoys the other part of his assignment which is to share the gospel with all he comes into contact with at the thrift store or various other ministries he is assigned to each day. Additionally, twice a week, Brian and others go “soulwinning” in various Richmond communities which is a vital part of the program and The Roc’s mission. This church knows how to win souls to Christ and is teaching these disciples to do the same! Brian shared with me last night that he shared the gospel with 4 young kids this week and those kids came to church Saturday morning as part of the Whosoever Bus Kids Ministry. Today Brian and others in the Discipleship Homes are serving on a team in an event called “Roc On The Road,” as a team of hundreds involved with The Roc head to Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA to team up with that church in community outreach and Pastor G. preaches during their morning service.
Brian’s facial expression and countenance has changed over the past week. Last week, my wife and I were a bit concerned that he may not stick with the program as the transition seemed to be somewhat overwhelming to him. We prayed with him and for him and encouraged him to stick with it and persevere and that it would get easier as he adjusted to a complete 360 turnabout in his life almost overnight! You can tell that the Holy Spirit is working in his life, he is being cleansed and renewed by being saturated by the Word of God and it’s really neat to witness the transformation and new found joy in his life. It is abundantly clear that God has big plans for Brian!
In closing, I would ask all to pray for Brian as he walks through this journey the next 5 & ½months at the Hanover Ranch and God’s future plan for him. God has big plans for all, and I am excited to be just a small part of what He is doing here on Earth as we learn to walk as disciples and followers of Christ. I would ask, as you read this blog to let the holy spirit through prayer saturate and convict you, as we all ask ourselves, “Are we really doing enough?!” This is just one example of how God can transform the course and direction of a person’s life if we will truly follow him sacrificially and do what He calls us to do. This man, whose future was otherwise hopeless, now is full of hope and joy and life! How would God be wanting to use YOU?!
It seems like each week God continues to amaze me with His faithfulness. Many of you will remember last week, that we took three of our homeless friends to the Richmond Outreach Center in Richmond,VA. This church body has a vision to transform the inner city of Richmond with God's love and they are accomplishing this through the power of Jesus Christ.
Many of you will remember my three friends accepting Christ and this week my brother-in-law - Harry - came to Norfolk to pick one of these men up, and enrolled him into a discipleship home. Harry called me on Thursday very emotional amazed that God would use us to possibly change the destiny of this mans life.
Here's what blew my mind. The week before last, I was at a shippers conference for my job and when it was over, because I was so close to the inner city, I decided to go see my friends. They didn't expect me, but were very happy to see me pull up. As I was talking to two of the men, inviting them to the Richmond Outreach Center on Saturday, there was another man who overheard our conversation. Well, when I pulled up Saturday to pick them up, this man was there and he asked if I had room for one more. I said, "Absolutely," and he jumped in the car.
This man was affected greatly at the service and was saved that night! Now, he's a new creation in Christ and the old has passed and all has become new! Here's what blew my mind. God prompted me to go to where he was after the conference. He knew that Bryan would be there listening in on my conversation with the others. He knew that Bryan would get saved and He knew how to get him off the street. I wondered what the outcome would have been if I wouldn't have followed the voice of the Lord that day. Would this man know God? Would this man still be on the street? As Jesus crossed the other side of the Jordan just to meet with the ONE demon possessed boy in Mark 5, so he went to W. 19th street to rescue Bryan. Isn't He good?!
Aaron couldn't go this week, as his brother was graduating from VCU and he was in Richmond. However, Noah (my 6 yr old) has been asking me to allow him to go with us for several months now, so I let him fill in for Aaron. At first I was hesitant for many reasons, but this week, I felt like the Lord was saying to let him go. Noah was eager to go and I felt like I should encourage him in doing the work of the Lord and this would be one small way to do just that. I was scared that he might hear a cuss word or wonder what cigarettes were, etc, but this is the real world we live in and I was able to help him understand things better after our evening. I am so glad I let him go, as he was a faithful worker and was a great example of the life of Jesus. He served whole heartedly as he handed out cookies for us tonight. He said, hello to everyone that approached the van for food and introduced himself. He told us at the dinner table tonight that he really wanted a soda, but he drank water instead to make sure there was enough for the homeless people. He served with a smile and several of my friends were drawn to him. It was a great opportunity to serve the Lord for Noah. Here is his testimony below:
By Noah Foster (6 yrs old)
"We loaded up the van with pizza and drinks to go preach the gospel to the homeless. On the way there, I was thinking what it would be like in my head. When we got to West 19th street, I met some new friends. I met a lady named B-More. She was very nice and friendly. I enjoyed serving cookies and soda to the people. We preached the gospel, shared the love of Jesus and talked with the homeless people. We prayed for them too. I hope I can go again, that's probably all I want to say. That's all I can think of. :)"
Steve also went with us tonight. Here's his testimony below:
A CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS – 5/12/12
In Church
Last night “A Church Without Walls” had it’s lights on at 19th Street as we ministered to our friends who live on the streets. As usual every lick of food we brought was eaten. We were relieved to see our friend Allen there last night. He had been missing for a number of days. As it turns out he was in the hospital with a leg injury, but who knew? Apart from seeing him on the street we have no way of contacting him.
When the food was about half gone Jimmy sat down on a borrowed milk crate and preached a message amongst friends about the healing power of Jesus. He talked about how Jesus went to the streets, just like we were doing. He came to show His love and compassion for us all, and healed people as a way to show compassion and the truth of His message of life.
I was able to follow up encouraging people to seek the Lord. To read their Bibles which we handed out to everyone who didn’t already have one.
A couple of really cool things happened last night though. First, as Jimmy was preaching Joy’scell phone rang and when she answered she could be heard saying, “Let me call you back, I’m in church right now.” Glory to God.
Another blessing happened when Jimmy explained that the Bible tells us that we are to anoint those who are suffering with oil and pray for them. It used to be that some folks would get up and walk away when the message started. Last night, not only did everyone stay, but when it came time to be anointed with oil, all of the guys took their hats off and everyone was anointed with oil…. Including Jimmy and I. It was a glorious moment.
Opportunity Missed
A lot of “A Church Without Walls” is found in the ways God works in our own hearts. We see all types of people on the streets. People just down on their luck, people strung out on heroin, crack addicts, abused men and women – the gamut.
Last night there was a man dressed in women’s clothing. I believe him to be transexual. He said his name was ‘X.’ It caught me off guard and we served him pizza and a soda. He went down to the end of the street and sat there isolated from the main group of people.
I thought I should go down to talk to him but I didn’t respond to the prompting in my heart. Later, when “X was leaving, one of the other homeless men made a joke about him. The young man sitting next to me asked if ‘we’ (Christians) can do that… laugh at people like him.
I shared the story of the adulterous woman who was brought before Jesus by a crowd all with stones in hand. This was the worst kind of sinner and they were ready for a righteous stoning. When Jesus said, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her," they all left. "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" He asked.
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
“God loves him too,” I told the group of them, “and we should do the same.”
In talking later with Jimmy, we realized that Jesus has sent us to love all of these people in His name. He will take care of straightening their roads out. He will convict them where they need convicted. We are not to judge. We are to love, and love unconditionally.
Lesson learned, and an important one at that.
God help us to be gracious to all. To show the reality of Your love to everyone.
Thanks for coming back to the BLOG this week. I'm eager to share what happened yesterday at a "Church Without Walls." Last week, we decided that we would change it up a little and do something different for our homeless friends. There are a few men who are really drawn to us, so we thought it would be nice to just take them out for the day. I had an impression from the Lord that he was calling us to just be there friends, so we took them on a road trip to Richmond, VA and spent the day at the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC).
Before I tell you about our day, though, I want to share a testimony of something that happened to me this week. I was attending a conference for my job and then on Friday I was playing in a golf outing with some of our customers and industry peers. Well, we haven't received a lot of ministry money lately and we had around $60.00 left in the ministry account that I was planning to use for our road trip to Richmond. I was in faith that the Lord would provide, but wasn't exactly sure how. Friday, I arrived at the golf outing and to my surprise, my partner and I were paired up with two other guys. They were extremely good at golf - and to make a long story short - we won the tournament and all received a $100 gift card to Home Depot. I was super excited, as I saw this as God's hand of provision for the Homeless Shelter we are working on.
Also, each person in the golf outing received a bag with some goodies and a raffle ticket. After they handed out all of the awards for the golf tournament, they started to prepare for the raffle drawing. I whispered a quick prayer and said, "Lord, please let me win this raffle and all of the money will go into the homeless ministry." They drew the ticket and the lady called my number! I just started laughing out loud, as I was like, "Lord, you've got to be kidding." I left the tournament with $650.00 for the ministry. That's the God we serve and he did provide for our day in Richmond and for many other needs we have.
Aaron Ransom arrived at my house at around 10:30 am on Saturday and we hopped in my car to go pick up our homeless friends in the city. We were loaded up and on the road by a little after 11:00 am. It was me, Aaron, Jermaine, Allen and Bryan and we were on our way. We stopped at KFC and we all had lunch together. It was nice to sit down and have a meal and talk with our friends. We arrived at the ROC at around 1:15 pm and went in to the sanctuary to watch how they did "kids bus ministry." Here we saw 1000 + kids worshipping the Lord with sincere passion and a ton of energy. They modeled the undignified dance of David and I understood why God loved them so much. It was awesome!
After the children's ministry, my brother in law Harry had arranged for us to go on the "adult bus ministry," with one of the pastors. Aaron and I went on one of the buses to go pick up adults out of some of the roughest projects in Richmond. I must confess, it was pretty intimidating as there were thugs everywhere and a lot of activity in general. But, I knew that the Lord was with us and we would be OK. We arrived at the first project where me and Eric went to the door to pick up our first guest. We walked through a crowd of thugs who looked me up and down, I believe sizing me up to see if I was a cop. :) I greeted them politely and continued down the ally to the house where we were going. We knocked and a little four year old boy named Israel answered. He was the cutest little guy we became buddies, quickly. He said, "call me Izzy," to which I agreed. :) Izzy came out with his mom, sister and sister's friend. We escorted them to the bus.
Izzy liked me and found it funny to steal my nose and then charge me a nickle to get it back. He racked up on my pocket change. This little boy was full of life and I realized that he didn't have a father. He was being raised by his mom, who appeared to be very stressed out. Izzy and I played rock, paper, scissors and the give me five, you're too slow game. We both had a lot of fun. He wanted to be a secret agent, so I gave him my sun glasses to assist him in playing his part. He was so funny! Here's a little boy who likes to have fun like my little boys. I was so sad to leave him knowing that he didn't have a dad and he was going to be dropped off in one of the most drug infested parts of the Richmond inner city. There were others that we picked up, but Izzy is who the Lord gave me last night.
Well, we arrived back at the ROC for the 6 o'clock service. There are several buses that go to the projects on different routes and bring the adults/families back to church. I realized that if the ROC didn't have the buses, many folks would not have the opportunity to attend. Most of them have no transportation. This is one of the fastest growing churches in America and they just received an award from Bob McDonald (Governor of VA) for volunteerism in the community. This Church is like none I've seen before, but I watched the Lord show up in power.
As a matter of fact, my 3 friends Jermaine, Allen, and Bryan accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior after the preaching of the word by Pastor G. I saw people getting baptized right on the spot. I saw people handing out food from the food pantry. I saw drunk people, crippled people, black people, white people all together encountering Jesus. What a perfect picture of the Church Jesus would have attended. I saw several people - who you could tell - had a rough life give themselves to Jesus Christ.
Also, 2 of my 3 friends were accepted into the discipleship homes at the ROC and will be returning to Richmond on Thursday to live. The Church disciples them through the teaching and preaching of the word, they work at the church cleaning, keeping grounds, etc. Allen and Bryan will be there for a minimum of 6 months being discipled in Christ.
Wow...what an awesome day! To top it all off we all went to Jason's Deli after Church and had a meal with my sister and her family. My 3 friends were excited and smiling. When we were on our way home Jermaine said, "Jim, I can't stop smiling!" I said, "Jermaine, Christ saved you tonight and that's why!" He just continued to smile.
God has charged me with this...I'm going to the inner city of downtown Norfolk, in His power and wreaking havoc on the kingdom of darkness. We've got to go take the gospel for the sake of the Izzy's of the world. He's innocent! Who's in?
This week three men entered a discipleship home and they are on their way to walking with God, because of our work. Each has made a profession of faith. I saw two of them today, while we were in Richmond for a meeting at the ROC church. The enemy is not happy about what is happening! I expect the attacks to come from the Sanballet's and Tobiah's. However, we will continue to rebuild the wall and we already have won the battle through Christ!
This week three men entered a discipleship home and they are on their way to walking with God, because of our work. Each has made a profession of faith. I saw two of them today, while we were in Richmond for a meeting at the ROC church. The enemy is not happy about what is happening! I expect the attacks to come from the Sanballet's and Tobiah's. However, we will continue to rebuild the wall and we already have won the battle through Christ!
