What I'm about to share with you is an amazing testimony of God's faithfulness and his greatness. He really does take us from faith to faith and glory to glory. I'm still very affected by how God showed himself faithful to me, once again, through this most recent event.
Last week, during my personal prayer time, I felt like the Lord was saying very clearly, "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes." I questioned this and began to ask the Lord what it was he was asking of me. As I listened to the Lord, I believe that he was calling me to take yet another step of faith in regards to ministering to the inner city.
Up to this point, we've ministered to the homeless each and every Saturday night for almost a year, but the Lord reminded me of the initial vision. He wants to do so much more in the inner city than just minister to the homeless. Although, the homeless are precious to the heart of God, he's ready to do more. The questions he posed to me were these. Are you ready for this work? Are you ready to surrender everything? Are you ready to leave it all behind for the sake of this great gospel?
He led me to Ezekiel 36:33-36 and it was obvious what he was saying. Here's what the scripture says, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. They will say, This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited. Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it."
The Lord quickly revealed the place where he was calling me to, the projects of the inner city. He gave me a picture of me and others working on bicycles in the inner city. I believe he was showing me that the bicycle repair ministry would bless the kids and ultimately get us to the families. The word is love, love, love - serve, serve, serve. I had a conversation with my new friend Brandon Lannie from Richmond, VA who leads a bicycle repair ministry in the projects of Richmond with the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC). Monday, he sent me the whole outline of how he does things and ideas of how to get started. I must confess, I haven't really worked on bikes in my life, so this was really just a faith thing as I have no clue what I'm doing. God told me to do it and I want to be faithful.
Sunday, I spent 4 hours seeking the Lord and forming the vision for the "project ministry". The Lord quickly gave me the name for the ministry based on Ezekiel 36:33-36 - "The Ezekiel Project." (Remember this name) I typed up 3 pages describing the vision. It was amazing, how the Lord was giving me ideas and clarity.
Monday, I put a post on Facebook, sharing my vision about the "Bicycle Repair Ministry" and asking folks to consider giving me damaged bikes for parts before throwing them away or discarding them. I planned to start taking bikes apart and putting them back together, so I could learn how the parts work together and how to assemble and disassemble. I received 4 bikes total to be donated, just yesterday. Later that day, I went to the local bike shop to get a new tube for my little girls bike. I'm still not quite sure how she got a flat tire on her bike, but I know now it was the will of the Lord for me to go to the bike shop. I walked in and asked for a 16" tube for Adah's bike. The man working was very helpful and handed me the tube, quickly.
There were two men working on some bikes on stands. As I was speaking to the two guys, I said, "You may think I'm crazy, but the Lord has given me a vision to start a bicycle repair ministry in the inner city of Norfolk, VA. I was wondering if you guys ever have spare parts or junk bikes that you'd be willing to donate to bless the children of the inner city. I noticed the one man stop working on the bike he had on the stand. He looked me dead in the face and said, "I knew you were coming, I heard about you and I already started saving bikes for the kids. I have some parts too." I said, "Sir, you must have the wrong guy, as I just finished this vision today and only started working on it Saturday." He said, "Well my friend Eric is the one who told me about it and he's very prophetic so I'm not sure if this was a prophetic word or what, but I just started working on bikes and I have them in the back, ready to go. I was blown away in that moment, but that's not it....
I just so happened to bring my 3 page vision with me to the bike shop. I handed it to the man and said, "Take a look at this paper, as this is the vision the Lord has given me." He looked at it and immediately tossed it on his work bench and started to cry. He paced back and forth breathing heavy and looking into the air. I said, "Are you okay man?" He didn't answer right away, so I asked again, "Are you okay?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "My name is Ezekiel!" (The Ezekiel Project) He immediately said, "Man, I need to talk to you. Can we meet tonight?" I said, "Sure." It just so happened, Jeremy and Rebekah Miller were coming over for a cookout. It all happened so fast, I realized after I left that I didn't get his phone #, but I wrote mine down and gave him my address. Several of us were waiting on him in my living room I started to get worried that he wasn't going to come. As soon as I said to those in my living room, "I hope he shows up," I noticed him riding outside of my house.
The next thing I know, we're sitting in my living room with about 10 people who are involved with "A Church Without Walls," listening to Ezekiel tell us about his 2200 mile bike journey. He has forsaken everything just to lean on the Lord and watch him provide for his every need. He called it a "journey" where he lived strictly on faith. Trusting God to provide his daily food going from town to town playing music and telling people his story, blessing them with his amazing harmonica talent, playing the banjo, etc. He walked several miles as well and it's important that you know, he did this all on a prosthetic leg. He said his leg would hurt if he walked for a small distance, but as he was on his journey, his leg didn't hurt. Isn't that amazing?
He's going to not only come help us with the bike repair ministry, he's going to help us learn how to blow glass, play the banjo, and raise honey bees. :) God has provided again!
This is our great God! Who is like him?
Check out this link of my new friend Ezekiel! Let's help him get a new leg!
https://vimeo.com/49110825
"A Church Without Walls"
There is none like our God!!
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